Ger: To Be Separate is a new documentary by award winning Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu. The film is a poignant portrait of former child soldier and lost boy, Ger Duany’sjourney back to South Sudan after 18 years away (watch Duany talk about the film above). At the age of 14, Duany fled the conflict in the formerly united Sudan by walking first to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, then to one in Kenya. Luckily, Duany eventually escaped by airplane to the United States where he is now a successful fashion model and actor. Duany took South Sudan’s momentous vote for independence last January as an occasion to return home and search for long lost family members.
To help Duany tell his amazing story, visit the film’s Kickstarter page.
You’ve probably watched “Lost Boys of Sudan” or “God Grew Tired of Us” in theaters and you cried your heart out and subconsciously still wonder, how the hell are these lost boys from Sudan adapting to the American life-style?
Well, it’s your lucky day because they are doing fine, well, at least we know one of them is and his name is Ger Duany. No, he wasn’t in either films mentioned above, but, he was one of the child soldiers and lost boys who fled the war in the formerly united Sudan and walked for miles to get to a refugee camp in Ethiopia then Kenya, and after many struggles he was one of the lucky ones that made it out on a plane to America.
In America, he encountered many obstacles but fate led him to his debut on Hollywood's silver screen where he played a refugee in the movie “I Heart Huckabees”. Director David O. Russell said he wanted someone who endured the real life experience of being a refugee to play the role. Soon after, Ger met supermodel Tyson Beckford, who saw Ger's modeling potential which opened doors to a modeling career and a shoot with photographer Norman Watson and many other photographers.
And so during all these years and the distance he lost touch with his family and land, but in January 2011, he hopped onto another plane this time back to South Sudan to vote for independence. And in July 2011, South Sudan finally got its well-deserved freedom and Ger was there to celebrate his new nation's independence, search for his family, and help build South Sudan.
Awesome right?!? Don’t you think this story would make a heartfelt real-life documentary? The kind that would complete the Lost Boys of Sudan trilogy that we got going on here? Well, the good news is that award winning Kenyan filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu (From a Whisper, Pumzi) has been documenting Ger’s life for the past year and she has captured some wonderful footage and the documentary is in the final stage of production. We're very close to completing this unique documentary and like any creatively awesome and life changing endeavor, we need moolah to finish this project. So we’re knocking at your door and hoping you’ll pledge and donate what you can to finish the editing of this unique story. We’re counting on you to help us see this through!
I was on my way to Santa Fe last summer marveling at the technology that allowed me to be online in flight. I slept through the first leg from JFK to Minneapolis, struggling with how to finish the piece I was writing on the esteemed anthropologist, choreographer, and bad-ass Black woman, Katherine Dunham. Dunham was in my dreams. I woke up as the plane touched down with greater clarity than I had yet to have over the past few weeks while grappling with the central questions of the piece: what it means to work at the intersection of anthropology, performance, and social justice with young black women.
I was part of a group of very lucky scholars/artists who were participating in a week-long seminar at the School for Advanced Research investigating the intellectual, theoretical, artistic, and social justice (just to keep the list manageable) impact of Dunham’s legacy. In the chapter I was working through, I wrote along the seams of anthropological theory, ethnographic practice, youth cultural studies, and dance. Continually challenged by and irritated with my own and others ill-defined, overused, and implicit interchangeable usage of the terms “social justice education” and “arts activism,” I was writing (and dancing) towards what I craved: clearer, more productive definitions, along with greater specificity in the application of the pedagogical and creatively transformative work these terms are meant to represent. Throughout, Dunham served as frame of reference and guide.
Up Tempo
Sometimes, “We support you,” can be the most intimidating words to hear, regardless of how long you have waited to hear them. I entered a faculty position at Fordham University this fall, a move made precisely because I believe these words to be true. The support offered from my colleagues and the administration extends not just to me but to the communities of young black women from Detroit to Newark whose lives have been intertwined with my own since the late 1990s. The nature of these relationships has most concretely taken shape through our creative work together in The BlackLight Project.
The BlackLight Project emerged while I was completing my dissertation on a homeless shelter for young women in Detroit and concurrently working as the interim director of the shelter. This was a period in my life where I attempted to shed my identity as a dancer as I just recently left Ailey II in the hopes that the “life of the mind” might be more holistically gratifying and materially sustaining than the life of a dancer. It was here in the space of this shelter and predominantly African American, that I first witnessed the speedy disruption of the illogically drawn oppositional categories I used to make sense out of and order my life: artist/scholar, university/community, researcher/researched – binaries Katherine Dunham ignored with glamour and finesse for most of her life.
The tighter I held onto the false distinctions I believed would validate my work as a budding anthropologist, the more intriguing became the unspoken counter-testimony from the residents through the way they lived their lives and responded to the multiple factors that often made this living incredibly challenging, if not untenable. Their partial reply to the competing obstacles in their young lives took the form of dancing and writing their individual and collective stories. More than just a creative expression program, these reciprocal self-crafted performances were social statements with political relevance. Within a few weeks, I was dancing and writing with the residents; and within a few months, the idea of young homeless women dancing and writing as social commentary was intriguing enough to acquire grant-supported funding. Although funding was truly a gift – allowing the residents to receive paid training so that they could lead creative workshops and discussion groups within and outside of the shelter – it also came with a fair amount of constraints.
Ultimately, the young women perceived the grant-supported programmatic aspects of their creative political work as much less important and influential (in their own lives and in their own communities) than the unfunded and “unprogrammable” street theater events they staged at bus stops, sidewalks, and in public housing courtyards. For, it was in these contexts, where their dancing bodies and reverberating voices met the tangible physical parameters of the urban landscape and the insightfully frustrated grumblings of other Detroiters, that the non-profit model of a youth program or traditionally organized performing arts project lost it meaning. You cannot, as these young women showed, program social justice or bullet-point the fundable objectives towards grassroots social transformation.
Nonetheless, upon leaving Detroit for Newark, New Jersey, I wanted to find a way to at least see how young black women in Newark, regardless of their life circumstances, viewed their creative efficacy, and what that might mean for supporting their transformative artistic work in their own communities. The overriding question for me was, and still is, how to do this without acting as the all-knowing researcher whose institutional authority should suffice for true experience and real relationships. How, in other words, could The BlackLight Project be programmed in Newark without merely staging a replication of the work of the young women in Detroit? And, perhaps, even more importantly, how might I know if it should even be done in the first place? BlackLight, although called a project, is really a movement. This is work that is inspired and literally moved and propelled forward by the motivations, values and passions of young black women. I at least knew enough to know that these powerful forces are not the same for all young black women across time and space and circumstance. The multiplicity and complexity of what race, gender, sexuality, class, and youth categories mean in Detroit or Newark or the five boroughs of New York is the uncategorizable solidarity that grounds BlackLight.
Pas de deux: The Pairing of Social Justice Education and Arts Activism
Over the past year and half that I have been living in Newark, New Jersey, I have been sustained by the work with young black and brown females who fearlessly dance, write, and perform new pathways for realizing community transformation. In the words and movements of these incredible young women of BlackLight, I’ve seen the most elevated aspects of who we are as a global community. And yet, as buoyed as I am by their passionate and fearless belief in themselves, and a city that some would have us believe only a Cory Booker could love, I have to remind myself to not operate by way of a deficit non-profit industrial complex mindset. I am always anxious about sustainability, even after a successful series of events that culminated with a powerful performance in May and the possibility of expansion and new collaborations with other grassroots organizations. I still ask myself: Will the kids stay? How will we go on with little to no funding? How do I continue to honor this work and get tenure? Are we really having an impact? Does it matter? Even though I know that these questions should not apply to BlackLight’s implicit mission to be something different from and, perhaps, more than a non-profit program, it is not easy work for me to completely step outside of a mindset that believes that adults have to “program” and “project” social justice for young people. Furthermore, a mindset that suggests that the only way to stay relevant is through the financial support of the very foundations and corporations that necessitate our need to organize and develop radical interventions in the first place.
I have learned so much from the fierce black and brown girls who have participated in BlackLight in both Detroit and Newark. Most of what I have learned has come from really listening to their brilliance and paying better attention to the ways in which they move through the world outside of the context of our program. One of the first young women to join BlackLight in Newark, Rita, is a member of one of the close to a hundred youth-led street teams in Newark. On the surface it looks as if these groups of 40+ young women and men ranging in age from 14-25 are just throwing large-scale public parties for other young people for fun and personal profit. If you take a closer look, you will see one of the most progressive models of cooperative economics, community building, and social networking in our society. The online presence and marketing capacities of the street teams encourage hundreds of young people to come together in peace – dancing, making music, and nurturing the type of careful solidarity that leads to (or already is) mobilization – the very thing that BlackLight aspires to in our work. The ways in which Rita and other young people on her team navigate city politics and establish relationships with diverse contingencies of adults and young people throughout the greater NJ/NYC area provides them with a realistic understanding of how systems based on social, political and cultural capital work, while enhancing their capacity to affect change in and beyond their communities—this is the real social and political mobility adult administrators leading progressive minded youth programs often just talk about. The philosophy of BlackLight has always already been a part of how young people see and exercise their roles in community—a fact that will remain so with or without the structure of a bonafide program or budget, regardless of the support offered or denied in any new institutional space or geographic location. The challenge now, however, is to figure out how to ask for real support rooted in shared visions and courageous acts of community solidarity. This minimally means figuring out how impressive titles, institutions, and material resources are used to open access to young people in the ways they define as essential, rather than using them as tools to implement control or take credit for young people’s courageous creative labor.
Radical Choreographies
The Sexy Walk, The Patty Cake and the other dances that creatively emerge nearly every month out of a collaborative improvisation of street team DJs and the club dancers who bring the DJs playlist to life, are a visible and visceral roadmap of black-folks-embodied-cultural-history in the United States. I love the fact that, as Rita told me, a new dance usually “hits” when someone who is trying to master one of the current popular dances fails and comes up with their own physical riff on the original. That, to me, is the essence of who we are as black and brown women, young and old, with access to capital and without—continually making something newer, flyer, bolder, hotter than what came before….and for good reason. The money that the street teams raise from the parties goes back into the organization and often supports the community in charitable ways. The lifted energy they create is the fuel, the vapor in the air of cities like Newark and Detroit, that keeps us all alive–whether we realize it or not.
In an interview conducted in East St. Louis in 1977, Katherine Dunham talks about being “inculcated with the idea of eliminating social injustice.” We feel you, Katherine. We feel you on our streets. We feel you in our black and brown female bodies. BlackLight feels you as we keep making plans and making art and remaking life—fearlessly. I feel you as I continue to confront my own tendency to rely on the false comfort of the partitioned off spaces, disciplinary distinctions, and discretely defined ways of being that unimaginatively undermine all of our movements.
Aimee Meredith Cox is an assistant professor of Performance and African and African American Studies at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. Dr. Cox’s research and teaching interests include expressive culture and performance; urban youth culture; public anthropology; Black girlhood and Black feminist theory. She is currently completing a book entitled, Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenshipin Post-Industrial Detroit.Shapeshifters is an ethnographic exploration of the performative strategies young black women in low-income urban communities use to access various forms of self-defined economic and social mobility. She is also the artistic director of the young women of color-led BlackLight Project, and is completing her book, Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship.
"When I was in bed, I was begging the sheriff, 'Please let me free -- at least one hand,' and he said, no, he didn't want to," Juana Villegas said in an interview with a local Nashville television station. She was describing the experience of being shackled to her hospital bed as she went into labor. Villegas gave birth in the sheriff's custody, after she was stopped by local police while driving without a valid license.
According to Elliott Ozment, Villegas's lawyer, driving without a license is generally handled with a citation, not an arrest. He believes Villegas was only brought in because she was an undocumented immigrant.
Like Villegas, Alma Chacon, and Miriam Mendiola-Martinez gave birth in the United States shackled to their hospital beds, without their husbands, and in the presence of a prison guard. They also were not violent criminals, but rather, they were all undocumented and charged with an immigration-related offense in Sheriff Arpaio’s jurisdiction of Maricopa County, Arizona.
Cases such as these have garnered outrage from immigrant rights advocates. Critics take aim at both the legal classification of immigration-related offenses and the standards of prioritizing undocumented mothers' rights at the state and federal level.
VICTIMS OF A BROKEN SYSTEM
While many immigration violations are civil cases, ICE classifies some undocumented immigrants as criminals when they are apprehended for certain immigration-related offenses. One of those is "re-entry after deportation."
"To ICE, re-entry after deportation is not an immigration case, that is a criminal case," explained Melissa Brané, director of the Detention and Asylum program at the Women's Refugee Commission. "They've criminalized being undocumented; the act of entering after being deported is now a crime. You're in the criminal system, and ICE will say they don't have any authority over it," Brané said in a phone interview with HuffPost LatinoVoices.
Shackling during childbirth is illegal in 14 states and is against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy. But women being held for immigration-related offenses classified as "criminal offenses" can still legally be handcuffed to their hospital beds by state authorities in the 36 other states. Those women can also be denied the right to have a family member in the birthing room, or to hold their newborns for longer than 24 hours.
Malika Saada Saar, executive director of The Rebecca Project's Anti-Shackling Coalition, believes that state authorities should take into account the circumstances under which pregnant women with undocumented status are put in behind bars. "These mothers are not prosecuted criminals, but simply mothers detained for lack of documentation," Saar said in a phone interview.
Miriam Mendiola-Martinez gave birth to a baby boy on Dec. 21, 2010, in Maricopa County, Arizona. She did so chained to her hospital bed and without any family members present. Mendiola-Martinez had been found using false documents in order to obtain work.
Her newborn son was taken from her within 48 hours of his birth and given to a family member, according to an interview Mendiola-Martinez gave to New American Media. Her attorney, David Black, said in the same interview that if Mendiola-Martinez had not been undocumented, she could have been released on bond before she gave birth, as is the case with women charged with other nonviolent crimes. Under Arizona state law, however, possession of false documents is grounds for denying the right to post bail.
Alma Chacon and Juana Villegas, while residing in Arizona and Tennessee respectively, gave birth under similiar circumstances. Chacon was detained for a non-violent criminal offense and shackled to her hospital bed. Chacon was allegedly not allowed to nurse or hold her baby until she was released from immigration custody almost 70 days later when she gave birth in .
For Juana Villegas, going into labor while in prison meant that her ankles were cuffed together on the ride to the hospital, and that she was denied a breast pump by local authorities after she was given one by medical professionals. Without a breast pump, "she was in great pain" after she gave birth and had trouble sleeping in prison, Ozment, her attorney, said in a phone interview.
WATCH: Villegas tells her story
Villegas has since been awarded $200,000 for her mistreatment by local authorities, and Chacon's case has been part of an investigation by the Department of Justice concerning the role of local agencies in federal immigration proceedings.
MORE THAN HANDCUFFS
Human rights advocates like Mallika Dutt believe that abuses of undocumented pregnant women by state enforcement agencies include more than shackling. Last week, Dutt's advocacy group, Breakthrough, released a documentary that highlights the experience of one such victim. The protagonist, referred to in the film as 'Maria,' says she was mistreated by state officials, border patrol agents and even medical professionals when she went into labor at a traffic stop four years ago.
In the short film, "Checkpoint Nation?," Maria explains how she was stopped with her husband and two U.S.-born children in Tucson, Ariz., in December, 2007.
Isabel Garcia, an attorney and advocate from Tucson's Derechos Humanos organization, said in a phone interview that the family was stopped for "no reason aside from their race."
Tuscon police spokesmen maintained in an interview with the Associated Press, however, that the family had been stopped as part of a "random license plate check," which indicated that insurance on the vehicle was suspended. When Maria's husband failed to produce a valid driver's license and admitted to being in the United States without documentation, authorities called the Border Patrol.
Maria claims to have been pushed forcefully by a local enforcement agent into a Border Patrol car, causing her water to break. Shortly thereafter, she went into labor. She says that she was then accused of faking contractions, and told that she was going to be deported back to Nogales, Mexico, before she had the baby. She was not allowed to be with her husband as she gave birth and he was deported within the week.
WATCH: Maria's story in "Checkpoint Nation?"
A Border Patrol agent was stationed in the birthing room, and Maria claims that as she was in labor, he continued reminding her that she would be returning to Mexico as soon as her son was born.
"I've got this agent right next to me. La migra is by my side as though he was my husband. He was saying to me, 'Come on, push, push, because you're going to Mexico with the baby.' It was a nightmare," Maria says in Spanish in the short film.
"We talk about cops in other parts of the world, and we say 'Oh, they don't respect human rights,'" Breakthrough's Dutt said in a phone interview. "But where are we now? If something as important and sacred as someone giving birth can no longer be treated as human, where are we?"
After giving birth, Maria was deported to Mexico. A few weeks later, she crossed the border again, to be with her two older children who are U.S. citizens -- this time with her newborn child. Crossing the desert with her baby, she says, took seven days.
FEDERAL VS. STATE RESPONSIBILITY
With hundreds of state agencies working to uphold federal immigration law, things can get messy. Detention standards for immigration cases are made up of a complex patchwork of individual contracts between state and federal agencies. ICE rents bed space from 250 different state facilities around the country, and detains about 33,000 people at a time, according to ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen.
But if women like Villegas, Chacon and Mendiola-Martinez are abused under state purview, can ICE be held responsible?
Brané, of the Women's Refugee Commission, claims that although ICE policy includes language about the treatment of pregnant women, it's not "proscriptive" or "legally binding."
"They say, our policy is that we don't shackle women, but they don't say 'Don't shackle women,' and they don't hold anyone to it," Brané said.
While most of the cases that have garnered media attention have occurred under the purview of local authorities, Brané says that ICE should specifically be held accountable in "detainer" cases -- those in which ICE has the authority to specify that pregnant women not be detained. Local enforcement agencies often hold individuals for a 48-hour detainer period in order to allow ICE to decide whether or not it wants to assume custody.
In the past, Brané says, if a woman went into labor during the detainer period, her case would be handled by local law enforcement agencies, and she would be vulnerable to the policies of state agencies. However, she believes that in accordance with recent prioritization memos, ICE should ensure that detainers are never placed on pregnant women to begin with.
"One of the shortfalls of ICE is that they won't push local authorities enough -- they're very happy to wash their hands of things, and say, 'That happened under local authority, not our authority.'" Brané said. "If you know someone is interpreting your request in a way that is illegal -- just like with racial profiling -- I think you have a responsibility to clear those ambiguities up."
Aggie Hoffman, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles, believes that abuses of pregnant women seem to occur when "local law enforcement agencies act either out of ignorance of immigration proceedings or because they were not properly trained." She also believes ICE must work harder to hold local law enforcement accountable for such abuses.
Christensen, the ICE spokeswoman, said in a statement that "it is against ICE policy to use restraints in medical situations, absent extraordinary circumstances." Furthermore, she says that "guidance issued to the field in ICE Director John Morton's June 2010 Civil Enforcement Priorities memo directs agency personnel not to detain pregnant or nursing women, unless they are required by law to be detained because of the severity of their criminal history or other extraordinary circumstances."
Hoffman, like Brané, hopes that this memo "will help close the information gap" between state and federal law enforcement agencies, and will end treatment of pregnant women that appears "devoid of humanitarian considerations."
Villegas, one of the undocumented mothers shackled before and after she gave birth, was interviewed by the Nashville Tennessean in August, 2008. "I don't know that much about the law or any policy," she said, "But this ... it does not seem right."
phoscottography asked: When it's All Said & Done What Would You Want People To Remember Your Photography For?
That my work always had a greater meaning & that I pushed people to be better.. when I’m gone, all this “stuff” will fade. Relationships, interactions, and living for something bigger than me will remain. & thats what really matters to me
bara-bruh asked: There are maybe 10-15 individuals in this world, dead&alive, that inspire me. And you, sir, have just been added to the list. Truly phenomenal work. Next time i'm in NY, I have to experience your art in person. I'd be honored just to witness you in the flow. I'm a worshipper of all sorts (through time, music, photography, appearance, etc.) Saw a quote from Hillsong, are you a believer (in CHRIST)?
It’s a honor, king. I’m working on something so a lot of people can witness my art in person..that’s what it’s all about. I think God for the gift that he has blessed me with, and just pray that he enlarges my territory so I can have a lasting impact on peoples lives. I’m a believer in Christ/higher power.. I’m a believer in living right, doing right, being a man of my word, and paying it all forward…
Anonymous asked: i have been looking at your blog and really appreciate your love for art. i even read your posts on your blogspot and i have to tell you i am inspired by the passion you have to change the world with what you do. keep up the struggle. thank you. i have been looking for an everyday bag and really like the one you have in your pictures, any chance you want to reveal what brand it is?
Thank you so much for the support.. i can’t explain how much it means to me & how much i wish there was more of it in this world that we live in. This life is a beautiful struggle.. I do my best to enjoy all aspects in the pursuit and to challenge the mindset of everyone around me.
The bag is a Filson tote. I picked it up at J. Crew a while ago. Again, thank you! Peace.
*I had an awesome time hanging with my brother in Harlem yesterday. The brownstones and the energy is always refreshing, and the area will forever remain classic. Of course, the day is never right without a photo
dolceinscence asked: Your work is phenomenal, every time i look at your blog i fall in love more and more with photography.<3 thanks for having such a creatively inspirational head on your shoulders. I look forward to see more of your work in times to come but for now thanks for giving the art of photography a shooting chance to capture the heart of others the believe anybody can take pictures. when Photographers interpret life like no one else can, GOD bless you, I look forward to more of your work :)
hey there, queen. thanks for reaching out and the kind words :) the support means a ton!
i thank God for the gift and eye to do what i do. capturing the essence of the beautiful souls on this planet is something that i want to do for a lifetime. i guess you can call it my calling :)
ellaskye asked: I'm sure you've gotten this many times before, sorry, but what program do you edit your photos with?
No worries.. I use lightroom most of the time, but often use a combination of lightroon and photoshop. I say just learn the programs and see what you like.
hotelrobesheikh asked: Just wanted to say I truly admire the work you are putting out, and I hope all of your future endeavors fair well. You're an inspiration. Have a wonderful day.
Thank you so much for this! I’m excited to show some of my new work soon.. lord willing it will continue to inspire folks and we can all pay it forward.
theblindedowls asked: Wow! Fashion Week Shot Is Truly Indescribable!! Amazing! Your My Favorite Photographer Right Now, Ur Work Is Inspiring To The Fullest! I'm Constantly Getting On Tumblr Just To See Ur New Work.. Truly Amazing. Itd Be So Dope To Be Shot By U! Thanks For Putting Your Photos Online And Showing Them Off Your Art Is Incredible! Thank You!
Thank you good sir, I guess I need to start working harder so it can last longer than right now.. back to work i go!
sevabokov asked: Hi, just wanted to say that you can so amazing things with just your d7000 and one dx lens. You have been an inspiration to me because of that (but not only that). I myself don't own any camera gear, I just borrow it for now since I'm only 13 and don't have the $$$ at the moment to buy some. I mainly learn through free videos online. It would be great if you would check out my photo blog found on my main blog sevbokov (since you cant add links in questions) and let me know how I'm doing. Thanks!
Good morning brother. Thanks for the compliment and I promise to do my best to keep the inspiration coming. It seems like you already have the ball rolling.. keep using you’re resources and shooting as much as you can. You’re photos look good. All the best to you!
ebonix asked: Hi. I stumbled upon ur blog and I love it!! I want to get involved with photography, professionally but I'm a total beginner. What camera do you recommend to get?
I’m glad you had a good stumble! I started with a Nikon D5000, thats probably the 3100 now days. I would focus on having fun more than about the camera.. everything else will fall into place.
hvtbphotography asked: wow, looking at all your photos has just really inspired me! I love them and your style is very unique and special. You are a wonderful photographer!
Thanks a ton! It really helps me to keep pushing forward. it looks like you shoot too? Keep it up! Cheers!
This photo tragically, and yet remarkably encapsulates this entire week for me. The seen: a photo of a woman dressed in what one could only describe as a poor man’s phoenix from Kanye West’s Runaway in a feathered headdress half-ass-less bikini combo having her uncovered assets photographed by another photographer, as she’s being photographed by Dre. Truth. An inexplicable truth, but the truth nonetheless. And this is what fashion week has become. Gone is an emphasis on art, misplaced is creativity and overshadowed are innovation and craftsmanship. What remains is celebrity, engineered hype, and an ass-less appeal.
hpwk1993 asked: im using you as research and inspiration in my college work after coming across your blog a few weeks ago, and i can honestly say you have quickly moved up to my favourite photographer at the moment, what body and lens is it you use if i remember rightly you said you only use one, thanks for being a massive inspiration your outlook on what you do is amazing. keep it up.
I’m truly honored. I hope I can stay at the top! :) I’m using a Nikon D7000 + 35mm f/1.8 That’s what I have used for all the shots you’ve seen of mine.. as you can see, it doesn’t take much. Take care!
flamming-faggot asked: The way you capture beauty is a gift and a blessing. You are an amazing photographer and everything you do is beautiful. Please stay blessed and continue on doing what you do. I love your work.
Thank you so much.. it’s definitely a blessing to be able to have any type of effect on people with my art. I thank God everyday. I also give thanks for all the beautiful people, including yourself that support me. Much love.
dolceinscence asked: Hi, I just recently stumbled across your blog, then i found your website and, then i fell in love!!!!. I am aspiring photographer and i have a Nikon point and shoot at the moment but i want to upgrade. I was wondering if you could help me out with any suggestions or just advice. :) Your photographs are truly inspirational, I thank God for creative and imaginative people like you :) Have a blessed one
Hello there.. thank you, you are far too kind. My advice is to get out there and shoot. We often time get caught up in looking and comparing when we just need to get out there and shoot & create. Find what you like, find what you don’t like, and most of all.. have fun & build great relationships
lokitalinda asked: how do you get so much depth in your pictures, it seems as though the color is much more intense than say..mines aha. is that just the settings on your camera? a different lens? or an artist's secret? :)
hmm, i think it’s a combination of things… location/time of day + camera + lens + editing. try new/different things, thats the only way you can truly find out.
creationfluxuation asked: Are you ever going to create a photography book? I saw one; It was a book one a Japanese fashion Designer Iko(not sure if that's the proper name I just remember an "I" lol) but I feel like your book would look really amazing. graphically and a really nice collection of street photography and professional photography. You have such a unique blend of the two worlds it would be an amazing book to pick up and learn from. Have you ever given it any thought? =)
Hey. That is definitely the move.. all type of print is the move. So yes, I agree with you.. and it’s in the works :)
*met up with luella today, a good friend of mine and chatted about life, chasing dreams & changing the world. always a good time with her.. you should all be in tune with the amazing work she has in store
thesecondhandmankc asked: I see you rock the Filson Tote. As an everyday bag how does it work for you? I'm trying to decide on that or a Jack Spade. Does it fit your laptop, camera, books, etc. ?
It works out pretty well, i like it a lot. Somehow I always end up with my camera, laptop, 1 book, & a notebook in it.. The canvas material is also mint!
fullylo-aded asked: Firstly, I should say that you are my role model and appreciate everything you do because you inspire me to be greater everyday. Second, I was wondering how do you plan your shoots? Do you just wing it?
Hey there. I appreciate you, because people like you keep me going.. so we really inspire each-other. I usually come up with a concept and build from their.. model, location, outfit, ext. You always have to leave room for creativity tho.. don’t over plan. All the best to you!
sweetshotofsherri asked: Your talent is simply awesome! Amazing photography... just amazing! :-)
Thank you so much. I thank God everyday for giving me a way to communicate what I see in the world. Keep coming back, I have some awesome stuff in the works :)
*i always think about how things used to be before machines. like when kings built pyramids and structures & communities came together as families. when queens knew their worth and was the backbone for all…
Anonymous asked: Your photography is truly beautiful. What inspires you to take these? And is there a story behind each one?
Thanks for the kind words. There is always a story.. i’m just documenting the times of my era in an artistic and creative way. Hopefully some day, people will look back on them and see reflections of our generation..
smitty07 asked: Hello sir! Your photography has been very inspirational to me. I am a highschool student and I recently bought a D3100, and was wondering what a good portrait lens would be? Thank you!
Peace bro. Thanks for the love, and the inspiration is free! I would go with a 35mm f/1.8 or a 50mm f/1.4 or 1.8. If you’re not going to have many other lenses I would go with the 35 just so you won’t be so tight if you’re shooting indoors. I hope this helps.
afrikan culture and african civilization. cheik anta diop explains the origin of humanity including the origin of europeans all other races. why and how afrikans are the original man.
With careers spanning over 40 years, Sly and the Family Stone have become undoubtedly one of the most influential, game-changing bands to have graced the world of music. Chart-topping singles such as “Dance to the Music,” “Everyday People” and “Hot Fun in the Summertime”, and groundbreaking albums such as Stand (1969) and There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971), are all arguably so innovative that they were decades, centuries, thousands of light-years ahead of their time. Sly and the Family Stone were simply masters of feel-good music that traversed and fused many genres together. Sadly, tensions within the band got the better of the members, causing them to split and go their separate ways.
However fear not, The Family Stone are back with a 2011 worldwide tour. And not only are three of the original, founding members are together, but they’ve added some new folks to their family unit. Founding members include Jerry Martini on Sax, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Cynthia Robinson on trumpet, and fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and R&B Pioneer Award recipient Greg Erricoon drums. The new additions are Trina Johnson on vocals, Blaise Sison on bass, Nate Wingfield on guitar, and taking the empty chair of Sly Stoneis Alex Davis on lead vocals and keyboard.
Late at night on September 6 Philip Javens caught up with The Family Stone in their dressing room at Ronnie Scott’s in London to talk about their legacy, their purpose and influence as a band, their relationship with Sly, Cynthia’s advice, Jimi Hendrix, their love for London, the future for The Family Stone, some Glastonbury Festival2013 performance talk, and the possibility for a family reunion… Well, what can I say? I’ve renounced my faith and have had to readmit myself back to music school after seeing them live, as The Family Stone were out in full force to preach the word of peace, love and funk. They literally broke the rules for Ronnie Scott’s audience discipline-in-enjoyment philosophy as Greg Errico told me, “This is traditionally a jazz club. I’ve been told that they never get up and dance or anything like that you know. It almost felt sacrilegious.” After all these years, The Family Stone still portrays the same potency of bliss and unification within their music to their audiences, “It has no boundaries of geographical separation. Music is powerful, it really speaks to everybody. It’s one of the instruments that brought the world together, in some degree.”
As a founding pioneer for the all important drum beat that has paved way for many R&B tracks that we know and love today (but more importantly the utmost gentleman), Greg explains the necessities for the band and what he loves about the new line-up in The Family Stone. “We play for the moment, you know. And also, it’s really a magic that happens when you get the right chemistry. We tried to put together a few times with different configurations, and this is the one that really works.
“And you know when it’s right; it’s when you don’t have to discuss it anymore. It just comes, it’s just there.” It seemed important for me to ask whether he felt if the new family were connected on that higher level, “We’ve been hitting home runs since May. It feels good. That’s what we have now, we had that chemistry back in the day, you know.”
What fascinated me was their level of execution and cohesion as a band without Sly himself, after all it’s hard to deny that Sly was a big part of it, arguably a lot of it is his work. So how do they function? What are they trying to do? Dame to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and quite frankly one hell of a silver fox, Cynthia Robinson discusses with me her thoughts, “With or without Sly, his music is well received. We try to stick to the original music and writings as close as possible.”
Sly & The Family Stone – “If You Want Me To Stay”:
As a witness to their London performance, I can assure you they did it to the beat whilst funkin’ out their classic tunes with upmost precision. Jerry Martini, who has a voice fit for a spaghetti western film or Duke Nukem game, added, “We’re not trying to improve on the original side of The Family Stone, we’re just trying to emulate it. It won’t get any better than this.” As the first inter-racial/inter-gender band in Rock & Roll, The Family Stone’s website states that their songs’ are “bringing you peace, love, and social consciousness through musical harmony.” I asked Jerry to elaborate on this, “All the messages that we’re giving away was already given by Sly. All we’re doing is carrying the torch.”
It was evident to see that their relationship with Sly is nothing but great love and admiration, as Jerry enthusiastically compliments, “He was a fucking genius. None of us are as good as Sly, not one of us. He was a fucking genius and one of my best friends in my entire life. We can’t improve on what he did. What we have tried to do is make it as close as possible to what he wrote.” Jerry reminisces with a smile and looks into the distance. “Him and I go back to when we were kids. I’m older than him. I was born October 1st, 1942. He was March 15th 1943.” I quip that that’s not much older. “Not a lot. But if you look at us, people would say that it is.” I don’t think so – Jerry continues to smile.
For such an influential band that has arguably changed the global setting of music, I needed to ask if they knew, at the time when making these songs, that they’ll have such a powerful effect on the world? Jerry darted in, “Yes. We knew we were ahead of everybody else. Guess what, it’s like three generations later and they’re playing our songs in all the movies, all the different soundtracks. Our music in not going to die, it’s great.”
Speaking to one of the new additions to the band, guitarist Nate Wingfield hits on a poignant note, “It really was way ahead of its time. It was way ahead of its time, but it was on time.” The music of Sly and the Family Stone featured all the right elements and innovative risks to carry forth truly original songs with deep, positive messages about peace and togetherness, especially in a time of prejudice and a social movement for the black population of America, and also the outcry against the war in Vietnam.
“Sly and the Family Stone was about freedom” at the very core – it was liberalism. It fused together multiple instruments, genres, races, and gender into various political contexts of themes and issues, and it worked. “Sly was fearless, you know. He didn’t do things that everybody else did, or was cautious, or nervous. He got up, got in your face and had a great group behind it, and everybody got it. The Family Stone gave us a new way to listen to how people grooved.” I couldn’t agree more with the man. “As Miles Davis said one time, ‘Sly Stone is my only peer’.”
It’s a tough act to follow.
I asked Cynthia if she has any advice about how to achieve such a result, “You gotta do you your homework before you get there, in terms of being able to execute whatever that is you been doing – you need to work on it. The real job about in playing in a band is actually the rehearsal. The show is like (she clicks her fingers) a minute compared to the amount of time you have to rehearse in order to get it right. That’s the only way you’re gonna be able to build shops anyway – to be able to play at ease for an hour and a half.”
But, at the end of the day the members of the original Family Stone are people like everybody else who have however had extraordinary lives – it was interesting to ask what their definitive moment was?
Cynthia: “When Sly told our manager that ‘you keep on telling us that we’re stars, so let us be stars’ – it really hit me.”
Jerry: “Woodstock (1969), absolutely.”
Jimi Hendrix was at Woodstock, and I had to know (as a bubbling enthusiast) what their relationship with him was due to the stark similarities in music. “Jimi was a friend of mine; I was on the road with him when he died…” Jerry looked away. It must have been quite hard for a musician to lose one of its own. “Absolutely, he’s like one month and 27 days younger than me. God bless him. He was a genius, and we all loved him.”
I later found out through Nate Wingfield that Sly was on the way over to meet Jimi Hendrix in regards about a possible collaboration with him, and with the late, great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Such an astounding trio of musicians. Maybe that’s what God’s voice would have sounded like? I guess some things are just not meant to be.
So, as visitors to the UK, I had to ask what they thought of London. New front man of the band Alex Davis (who strikingly looks, sounds and plays like Sly with astonishing talent) portrays his love, “London is a home, it’s a part of me that I always wanted to visit but only imagined. Being here for whatever short time we are, I’ve enjoyed everything.”
Jerry muses his opinion about London, “They’re so far ahead. I’ve always thought that London was more advanced than New York City. New York City is supposed to be the capital of the world in jazz and music, and I want to tell you online here that I think London has everybody beat – very ahead of everybody.” Safe-to-say, we’re at the top of our game.
Although, what of the future of The Family Stone? Are they going to venture into producing new songs? Are they going to collaborate with any artists? I asked Cynthia if they got plans to write any new material for the future, “We been talking about doing it, I’m sure I’ll probably be able to contribute some thought.” She later jokes, “I get a good thought every five years, so I’m overdue.” And overdue they are. The simple fact is that there hasn’t been any new music like this for a long time. The simple fact remains that the community of the world needs The Family Stone.
Soul sister vocalist Trina Johnson forwards her wishes for the band, “I would love to see a nice new album with some new great music, still with that same positive spin, positive vibe, and getting that younger generation. I think we can take it to another level.”
Jerry – “We have a lot of plans. I can’t disclose that right now. But yes we do.”
Alex mentions to me his wishes, “My view of the band? Yes, I would like to do some more material that hasn’t been released by Sly. I would like to see the band do some solo writing. I’m also in the process of doing some writing of my own.” So is that a hint for some new material? “Oh yeah! As long as we’re still breathing.” He gives me a cheeky smile, “I advise you to keep an eye out for us because we are going to be doing some very positive things.”
In terms of collaboration, I ask for whom they wanted to bring into the family. Cynthia mentioned, “Steven Tyler. He’s a very good entertainer, singer, and a lot of energy. Has a big heart.”
So it’s hard to not see that The Family Stone are looking to the future with a bright optimism that illuminates an exciting future of new material, collaborations and live events. It seemed only fitting to ask if they have any plans to play at Glastonbury 2013. “Oh yeah, we would love to. We’re in the process of getting in touch with those types of venues. But we would love to do Glastonbury,” Alex replies. Cynthia adds, “Have us back as soon as possible because we love it here.” Their manager, whom is sitting near me, overhears and quickly tells me that its articles like these that spurn the interest to make things happen. So, Michael Eavis if you’re reading this, MAKE IT HAPPEN!
The band’s inspirational approach to music has literally changed the outcome of music over the years. However, on a lasting note it seems only right to ask if there will ever be a chance that Sly and all the other original members of The Family Stone will ever get back together for a family reunion. Nate smiles, “You know what, I always think there is a chance. Each member of The Family Stone still loves the music. Each one of them are still as funky as they ever were.”
Still, The Family Stone are back in full force carrying the torch for Sly’s music across the world once again, touring in aim for future things to come. You never know though, Sly may well join. I hear he’s being experimenting in his laboratory; “You know we were rehearsing [with Sly], and he was playing [us] some new music of his, and we were listening to it. Sly is still Sly. He’s still Sly.”
You can keep up to date with The Family Stone on their website here, and see their tour dates here.
Note to Reader:
Blaise Sison disappeared before I could interview him.
Greg Errico was stolen from me by another reporter before I could get to interview him further.
I also found out that most band members agree that The Family Stone’s most definitive single was “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” – incidentally, it was the first time anybody heard of the slap bass technique by founding member Larry Graham.
Following the Rick Ross featuring “Break My Heart” London’s very own Grammy award winning Singer/Rapper/Songwriter Estelle returns with the very impressive follow up single “Thank You” from her forthcoming album All Of Me. I’m actually blown away by this song and the way the lyric video is put together, it’s just dope. I’m going to let Estelle talk you through this while I watch the visual and listen to the song on loop. Take it away Stellz!
I am really excited about how well “Break My Heart” is doing and REALLY grateful for all the love #mydarlings and my radio darlings have been showing the track. I wanted to share my next single, “Thank You,” with you today. Those of you who’ve met up with me while I’ve been on my whirlwind summer promotion tour may have hear me perform it.
The song is written by Akon and produced by Jerry Wonder. Usually, I don’t think I’m a good singer of other people’s songs. This HAD to be something I was feeling. If I was going to do a song written by someone else, I wanted it to be done right. I wanted it to be something I felt through my heart, through my body, through my mind. When the words came in for this song, I was just…..By the time I got to the chorus of this song, I was damn near crying. It just resonated just SO much with me. I play it for my guy friends and THEY even start crying. It’s just that kind of song. I’m honored to be able to bring it to you. ‘Til next time #mydarlings! xoxox
4 AWARDS: $1,000 each for Novel, Short Fiction, Essay, Poetry // $4,000 in awards
The $3,000 PORTFOLIO AWARD, offered from 2003-2007, HAS BEEN SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. OTHER SOURCES WHICH LIST THE PORTFOLIO AWARD ARE NOT CORRECT.
RESULTS LETTERS BY NEXT MAY
by e-mail if you include e-mail address, or by snail-mail if you include a SASE
ALL WORK MUST BE UNAWARDED and UNPUBLISHED WHEN SUBMITTED TO US AND NOT PROMISED FOR AWARD OR FOR PUBLICATION, EITHER IN PRINT OR ONLINE. YOU MAY SIMULTANEOUSLY SUBMIT since we publish only in very rare years when we have an agreement with a literary journal. If your work is accepted elsewhere meantime, you can still win our monetary awards.
POEMS, STORIES, ESSAYS, OR NOVEL EXCERPTS ALREADY PUBLISHED INDIVIDUALLY ARE NOT ELIGIBLE, EVEN IF SENT FROM PART OF A LARGER BOOK WHICH HAS NOT BEEN PUBLISHED.
IMPORTANT: FOR ALL AWARDS, THE TERM MANUSCRIPT DOES NOT MEAN A FULL BOOK. We mean first 40 pages for a Novel ms., 1 short story for a Short Fiction ms., 1 essay for an Essay ms., and 5 poems for a Poetry ms.
OUR 4 AWARDS
DANA AWARD FOR THE NOVEL is $1,000
for the first 40 pages ONLY of a novel either completed or in progress (in-progress submissions should be as polished as possible). All types of novels accepted (NO MEMOIRS). No novels for or by persons under 16. Typed, double-spaced only.
DANA AWARD FOR SHORT FICTION is $1,000
for the best short fiction (NO MEMOIRS for this award. Instead, submit under ESSAY category below). Maximum 10,000 words per short story. No stories for or by persons under 16. Typed, double-spaced only.
DANA AWARD FOR THE ESSAY is $1,000 for the best Personal Essay, Memoir, or Creative Non-Fiction Essay. No essays for or by persons under 16. (Limit of 10,000 words per essay.) Typed, double-spaced only.
DANA AWARD FOR POETRY is $1,000
for the best group of 5 poems, judged on the overall excellence of all 5. 5 poems per entry. No light verse or verse for or by persons under 16. Poems may be thematically related but need not be. Poems longer than 100 lines are discouraged. Typed. Single-spaced preferred.
READING FEES
· · $15 per 5 poems
$15 per short story
$15 per essay
$25 per novel entry
·
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: "DANA AWARDS"
From outside U.S., send INTERNATIONAL money orders, traveler's checks, or bank checks (all must be formally stamped by the issuing bank as "U.S. funds" AND must be drawn on U.S. banks only).
COVER SHEET: Include SEPARATE COVER SHEET with name, address, phone number, e-mail address, title(s) of work(s) submitted. NO AUTHOR'S NAME ON MANUSCRIPT.
Michael A. Bucknor (University of the West Indies-Mona) and Ian Bethell-Bennett (College of the Bahamas) extend an invitation to submit articles for a special issue of the Journal of West Indian Literature for publication in April 2012. The issue will focus on “Masculinities in Caribbean Literature and Culture.” The date for submitting articles is October 31, 2011, but the co-editors encourage potential contributors to send work ahead of the deadline.
Description: In spite of the growing significance of issues of masculinities in gender and other interdisciplinary studies, publications on the role of masculinities in Caribbean culture have been modest in literary and cultural studies. Curdella Forbes points out that it was not until the appearance of works “such as Belinda Edmondson’s Making Men (1999)… that major discussions of the subject appeared” in Caribbean literary criticism (From Nation to Diaspora 2). In Anglophone Caribbean cultural studies, it is primarily music that has attracted gendered analyses that focus on masculinities. While there have been some discussions linking masculinities and sexualities, masculinities and education, and masculinities and socialization, and there have been inter-disciplinary collections of essays that engage masculinities, the range of artistic modes that contribute to masculinities discourse is still to be explored.
This Special Issue of the Journal of West Indian Literature invites multiple readings of gender that underscore the role of masculinities in a range of literary and cultural expressions in the Caribbean. Against the background of studies of the social construction, performance, interrogation and political posturing of hegemonic masculinities, we ask for explorations of some leading questions: Have the depictions of male characters changed over the last five decades or so from Naipaul, Lamming, and Lovelace to such contemporary writers as Junot Díaz, Kei Miller, Anton Nimblett, and what ideological agendas have been served by these depictions? Is there a relationship between migration/diaspora and revised Caribbean masculinities? Of what significance is the geo-political world of the family, the community, work and leisure to the construction of Caribbean masculinities? To what extent has the role of the Caribbean male been altered by modernity and postmodernity, late-capitalism, late-postcolonialism, globalisation or neo-liberalism? These and similar questions are issues this JWIL publication endeavours to highlight.
Although JWIL is a literary journal, the editors encourage submissions from all areas of cultural production: literature, film, music, visual arts, theatre (including forms of popular culture) and any field of study that examines masculinities in Caribbean cultural and artistic expression. They also strongly encourage the submission of comparative work between the Anglophone and other linguistic groups of the Caribbean or between different modes of cultural production.
The editors invite papers of 20 to 25 double-spaced typed pages in English and formatted to the MLA style guide. A copy of each paper should be sent by October 31, 2011, by e-mail, to one of the co-editors:
Dr. Ian Bethell-Bennett (School of English Studies, College of the Bahamas, Oakes Field, P. O. Box N 4912, Nassau, The Bahamas) at bethellbennett@gmail.com
Dr. Michael A. Bucknor (Department of Literatures in English, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica) at michael.bucknor@uwimona.edu.jm
Painting from Ebony G. Patterson’s series “Faces from the Dancehall”
The Tapestry of Bronze is sponsoring a series of poetry contests to celebrate Greek and Roman mythology and the Olympian gods. The subject of the eighth contest is Artemis (also known as Diana), the Goddess of the Hunt. The deadline is November 30, 2011.
All poems remain the property of the authors. However, the Tapestry of Bronze reserves the right to post winning poems and those receiving Honorable Mention on the Tapestry of Bronze website. E-mail your poem (no more than 30 lines) to the following address: tapestryofbronze@yahoo.com
Do NOT e-mail any ATTACHMENTS! Paste the poem into the e-mail instead. Don’t get fancy with your formatting – pretty pictures and peculiar fonts are distracting and may irritate the judges. Please limit your creativity to your poem.
MAKE SURE your poem is about Artemis / Diana.
Please include your real name, and your alias if you have one. Make sure we can respond to your e-mail.
If you are an adult (18 or over), simply indicate that you’re an adult!
If you are under 18 please include the month and year of your birth. If you are under 13, then we need the permission of your parent or guardian. So, when you send us your poem, please also include their e-mail address too. (If your age is 13 to 17 you may get parental permission but we don’t need it.)
Entries will be evaluated by the owners of the Tapestry of Bronze and additional experts at their discretion. No cost to enter, but each contestant can only enter once, so take time to make your poem your best!
The first prize winner in each age group will receive $50 (US).
So it’s hard to not see that The Family Stone are looking to the future with a bright optimism that illuminates an exciting future of new material, collaborations and live events. It seemed only fitting to ask if they have any plans to play at Glastonbury 2013. “Oh yeah, we would love to. We’re in the process of getting in touch with those types of venues. But we would love to do Glastonbury,” Alex replies. Cynthia adds, “Have us back as soon as possible because we love it here.” Their manager, whom is sitting near me, overhears and quickly tells me that its articles like these that spurn the interest to make things happen. So, 
