How American Hunters

Abuse U.S. Foreign Aid

Author: Chris MERCER
Published: June 10, 2011

Hunting, along with dealing in wildlife trophies, has been banned in Kenya since 1977. Trophy hunting was accurately described by the new Kenyan democratic government as ‘a barbaric relic of colonialism.’

Unfortunately, other assaults on wildlife have been at work.

A wave of migration from strife-torn Somalia and Sudan has aggravated the human over-population. The Kenyan birth rate is among the highest in the world. The population has risen from five million in 1946 to thirty million in 2006. This has resulted in massive human encroachment into range land areas which surround the game parks and that in turn causes human - animal conflict,and the snaring of wildlife on an unimaginable scale. Kenya’s wildlife has declined over 40 percent in general terms in the last few years with some species such as buffalo declining over 90 percent in numbers. Roan Antelope are down to 900 (from an estimated 20,000.)

Photographer, Rob Carr Hartley believes that within a few years Tsavo West National Park may be denuded of it's wildlife. Poaching is completely out of control. Deforestation in all six watershed areas of Kenya is causing the rivers to dry up and even some lakes and rivers such as the Mara, are expected to run dry soon. Kenyan wildlife is in deep trouble. With wildlife woes of such magnitude, adding hunting pressures will simply aggravate the problems, and could properly be described as environmental terrorism.

In 2004 a lavishly financed campaign by Safari Club International involved flying Kenyan conservationists and officials to exclusive, elite hunting farms in South Africa and Zimbabwe in order to persuade the Kenyan government to resume trophy hunting. The President decided to refer the hunting issue to a national public participation process, starting with a Wildlife Symposium, which took place in September 2006. The government appointed a Steering Committee, who asked me to attend,  as I have campaigned against canned hunting for years.

The reason for holding the Symposium was to test Kenyan public opinion on the issue. However the hunting industry never sleeps and the conference was sponsored by USAID, an American Foreign Aid agency with close links to Safari Club International, and greatly involved in using U.S taxpayer's funds to benefit the hunting fraternity through schemes such as the notorious Campfire programme in Zimbabwe. The incontestable fact is that American tax funds were used to finance an expensive international conference in Nairobi whose sole relevance to Americans was to enable the trophy hunters to devastate wild lion prides and other animals in East Africa – for fun.

 

The Symposium itself was a great success. It was attended by about 160 people and included the director of Kenya Wildlife Services, members of parliament, and other dignitaries. It was jam packed for both days by everyone who was anyone in wildlife conservation. It was mid- afternoon before I got up to speak and show my presentation. There were gasps of shock from the audience as the first videos showed a poor lioness being shot out of a tree with an arrow and a wounded lion charging a hail of bullets from a mob of hunters. When I followed this by explaining the colonial aspects of hunting there were spontaneous cheers from many delegates. The sponsors looked shocked.

The conference was not playing out as planned. The meeting became intense. As I explained how hunting propaganda deceives the unwary, with video footage for visuals, the symposium became noisy, with loud cheering for each point made. Then I got onto the Snap or Snipe statistics, published in Africa Geographic magazine and based on Ian Michler’s research, which show how poorly revenue from hunting benefits the country, when compared with that from eco- tourism. After my presentation, the expression on the faces of the USAID organisers said it all – they were visibly glum and looking shell-shocked. 
Eventually, the Kenyan government decided against the hunters. But I am sure that Safari Club International, and it's ally in the American government (USAID), will do all in their power to expand and maintain their killing fields in Africa.

 

First Annual WEAVE Poetry and Flash Fiction Contests

Deadline: July 31, 2011

First Place $100 Poetry Prize

First Place $100 Flash Fiction Prize

 

Poetry Judge: Lisa Marie Basile

Flash Fiction Judge: Bridgette Shade

 

Online Entries Only - Details Below

Enter Your Writing Here

 

GENERAL RULES & GUIDELINES

 

• Manuscripts must be submitted via our online management system and should be submitted in PDF, RTF, or MSWord formats only. Revisions are not permitted during the contest. 
• The author’s name should NOT appear in the manuscript. Author information is collected separately in Submission Manager. Do NOT include author name, author bio, or any other identifying information in the manuscript file. Manuscripts will be read blind.
• The entry fee of $6.00 is payable via Submishmash.
• Winners are expected to be announced by September 2011. All entries are eligible for publication in WEAVE Magazine; separate submission during our open reading period is unnecessary.
• Eligibility: Writers writing in English are eligible. No previously published work. Students and former students of this year’s judges may not enter; close friends of the judge are also not considered eligible. 
• Simultaneous submissions are permissible, but entrants are asked to notify us immediately if a piece becomes committed elsewhere.No refunds will be offered for withdrawn material.

POETRY GUIDELINES

• You MUST submit each poem in a SEPARATE document file. 
• You may submit up to THREE poems. 
• Your name should NOT appear anywhere on the uploaded submission documents. 
• You may submit a brief cover letter using the form on Submishmash. 
• DO NOT UPLOAD A COVER LETTER. 
• Winner will receive $100 and publication in the seventh issue of WEAVE, plus one contributor copy. 
• Up to three honorable mentions will receive publication in the seventh issue of WEAVE, plus one contributor copy. 

FLASH FICTION GUIDELINES

• You MUST submit each flash piece in a SEPARATE document file.
• You may submit up to THREE flash pieces.
• Your name should NOT appear anywhere on the uploaded submission documents.
• You may submit a brief cover letter using the FORM on Submishmash.
• DO NOT UPLOAD A COVER LETTER.
• Winner will receive $100 and publication in the seventh issue of WEAVE, plus one contributor copy. 
• Up to three honorable mentions will receive publication in the seventh issue of WEAVE, plus one contributor copy.

Enter Your Writing Here

 

WEAVE Magazine, a member of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, conforms to the CLMP Code of Ethics.

 

The CLMP Code of Ethics: CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believes that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines -- defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.

 

 

 

 

 

Vita.mn's $1,000 Summer Story Contest 2011: We want your sex

June 2, 2011

By Simon Peter Groebner, Vita.mn Editor

Vita.mn is back with our third annual Summer Story Contest, with $1,000 in prizes for talented Twin Cities writers. And this year, we've got sex on the brain.

You could win a $750 cash prize, a Kindle 3G, have your story published in our pages, and/or be invited to read your story at the Vita.mn Summer Story Contest event. The first year the contest theme was "last night." Last year it was "water." This year we're going for broke. Yes, your theme for the third annual Summer Story Contest is "sex."

Everyone's favorite topic, right? A pretty broad one, too. Interpret it however you like, as long as "sex" is the theme of your story.

We're not talking Penthouse Forum here, and we're not looking for straight-up erotica. But if you can make us think, make us laugh, or even creatively turn us on, you might have what it takes to win.

To enter, write an original story -- fact or fiction -- with the theme of sex in 300 to 600 words and email it to promo@vita.mn by July 4. One winning storyteller will win the $750 first prize. Finalists will have their stories printed in the Summer Story Contest issue of Vita.mn. Several more writers will be invited to read their story at our special event on July 27 -- where the crowd favorite will win a Kindle 3G.

The following words should be excluded from your story:

• fuck
• cock
• cunt
• pussy
• tits

The point here is not to censor you, but to challenge your creative abilities.

Here's to some hot and heavy times between now and the deadline. Have fun!

Official Rules: Vita.mn 2011 Summer Story Contest

1. No Purchase Necessary. The Vita.mn 2011 Summer Story Contest is sponsored by Vita.mn and Star Tribune Media Company LLC, located at 425 Portland Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55488. Prizes are provided by Vita.mn and The Star Tribune Company. No purchase is necessary to enter or to win.

2. Contest Period. The "Contest Period" begins at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 2, 2011, and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. on Monday, July 4, 2011.

3. How to Enter. To enter, write a story about 'sex' in no more than 300-600 words and send it via e-mail to promo@vita.mn during the contest period. Stories can be fact or fiction. With your entry please be sure to include name, phone number and any other pertinent contact information. To be eligible, contestant (sometimes referred to herein as an "entrant") may only enter one story to vita.mn. Stories can include a caption that provides background on the subject matter of the story (each story and caption entered in the Contest are jointly referred to herein as a "story"). All stories (including related captions) submitted must adhere to Vita.mn and Star Tribune Media Company LLC standard terms and conditions for user-generated content. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any story for any reason. To be eligible, all entries must be received no later than 11:59:59 p.m. CST on Monday, July 4, 2011 (the "Entry Deadline"). All entries remain the property of the author, but the sponsor will receive first-reading rights of the story. Sponsor assumes no responsibility for lost, illegible, incomplete, damaged, late or misdirected entries, all of which will be void.

4. Submissions. By entering the Contest and submitting a story to Sponsor, each entrant has represented (i) that the entrant is the creator and copyright owner of the story, (ii) that the entrant has granted to the Sponsor an irrevocable license to publish, republish, distribute and copy the edited Story an unlimited number of times in any print, electronic or other medium, and (iii) that the entrant has obtained from anyone identified or depicted in the story (or the parent or guardian of any child identified or depicted) all permission necessary to grant the Sponsor the foregoing license.

5. Selection of Winners. On, or about, July 8, 2011, the Contest judges will select the top Stories to be read by the Vita.mn Judges panel. Contest judges will judge on quality of submission. On or about July 14, 2011, one first place winner and up to 20 runners-up will be selected using the criteria stated above. A “Fan Favorite” submission will also be selected after all stories have been read aloud at the Vita.mn event; this winner will be determined based on number of votes received by attendees of the event.  The decisions of the Contest judges regarding entries and winners shall be final.

6. Prizes. First-Place Prize. One (1) first-place winner will receive the First-Place Prize, which will consist of the story being published in Vita.mn, the opportunity for the author to read his/her story at an upcoming Vita.mn event and "$750." Up to 20 runners-up will have their story published in Vita.mn and also have the opportunity to read at an upcoming Vita.mn event. Fan Favorite Prize. One (1) fan favorite submission will also be selected from all stories read during the Vita.mn event, the author of this submission will receive an Amazon Kindle 3G. Each winner accepts responsibility for compliance with any and all applicable federal, state and local laws pertaining to use and acceptance of each prize.

7. Claiming Prizes. To claim the prize, the winner must respond by email or phone within four (4) business days of prize notification, at the phone number designated. Within 10 days of claiming prize, potential winners must provide appropriate photo identification (e.g., passport or driver's license) and must fill out such eligibility declarations, publicity releases, and prize acceptance documentation as Sponsor shall provide; failure to timely claim prize in such manner shall result in forfeiture of prize. All federal, state and local taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner. Prizes may not be substituted and are not refundable, transferable or redeemable for cash, except at the sole discretion of Sponsor.

8. Eligibility. This Contest is open to legal residents of Minnesota or Wisconsin who are 18 years of age or older. The Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. This offer is void where prohibited or restricted. Employees of Vita.mn and The Star Tribune Media Company LLC, any companies owned by or affiliated with Star Tribune Media Company LLC, the Participating Company, the advertising and promotion agencies representing any of such companies, and members of those employees’ families are not eligible to enter or win. By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to all the terms and conditions of these rules; agrees to be bound by these rules and the decisions of the Contest judges; and consents to the use of his/her name and other information for purposes of direct mail or similar solicitations. Each winner accepting a prize consents to the use of his/her name and/or likeness and any submitted story for advertising, trade and promotional purposes without further compensation, except where prohibited by law. Each entrant waives the right to assert, as a cost of winning any prize, any and all costs of verification and redemption or travel to redeem a prize and any liability that might arise from redeeming or seeking to redeem a prize. Each entrant releases each of the following from any and all liability with respect to or arising out of the acceptance, use, misuse or possession of any prize and/or the loss or misdirection of any prize: Sponsor and the Participating Company; their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, divisions, franchises, advertising and promotional agencies; and their respective officers, directors and employees. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, amend and/or revoke this Contest at any time due to printing errors or other mistakes.

9. Inquiries. Sponsor does not accept correspondence or telephone inquiries regarding the status of entries. For a list of winners, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope, accompanied by a signed request, to: Vita.mn 2011 Summer Story Contest Winners' List, 425 Portland Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55488 after August 1, 2011.

Coming in Spring 2012

Magnus Books Presents   For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough A collection of writings on living life, confronting obstacles and believing in yourself Photos by Mark Corece. © 2011     Edited By Keith Boykin       About the book   In 1974, playwright Ntozake Shange published a choreopoem called For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. The book/play/poetry would go on to inspire legions of women for decades and would later become the subject and title of  a hugely popular movie in the fall of 2010. While the film was selling out movie theaters, young black gay men were literally committing suicide in the silence of their own communities. It was around that time when Keith Boykin, a New York Times bestselling author, and Magnus Books publisher Don Weise first discussed the possibility of working together on a book in response to the outbreak of suicides among young men of color.     In the same time period, a young Rutgers University student named Tyler Clementi took his own life after a roommate secretly videotaped him in an intimate setting with another young man. In response, syndicated columnist and author Dan Savage created a YouTube video with his partner Terry to inspire young people facing harassment. Their message, It Gets Better, turned into a popular movement, inspiring thousands of user-created videos on the Internet. Savage's project targeted people of all races, backgrounds and colors, but Boykin and Weise wanted to create something special "for colored boys." When they decided to create a new book, the title was obvious: For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough. It was almost the same title author E. Lynn Harris had once considered for his memoir. The new book responds to the crisis of youth development and suicide in the black community, and more specifically among young gay men of color.      Background   Although some assume that suicide is not a major problem in the black community, a study published in April 2008 found that young black men aged 13 to 24 were more likely to commit suicide than their white counterparts. Unfortunately, recent news events have confirmed that suicide does affect the black community.   April 2009: Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old black student in Massachusetts, hanged himself. Carl was a young football player and Boy Scout who had endured months of harassment and anti-gay bullying. He was just one week shy of his 12th birthday when he committed suicide.   April 2009: Jaheem Herrera, an 11-year-old Atlanta boy who had suffered constant anti-gay bullying at his Dekalb County school, took his own life.   September 2010: Raymond Chase, a 19-year-old openly gay college student studying culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island, committed suicide by hanging himself in his dorm room.    October 2010: Joseph Jefferson, a 26-year-old black gay youth activist, took his own life. Joseph had worked with HIV/AIDS charities and helped to promote Black LGBT events. “I could not bear the burden of living as a gay man of color in a world grown cold and hateful towards those of us who live and love differently than the so-called ‘social mainstream,’” Jefferson posted on his Facebook page the day he killed himself.   January 2011: R&B recording artist Marsha Ambrosius releases a groundbreaking music video for her single, Far Away. The video depicts a young black gay man who commits suicide.   May 2011: CNN News Anchor Don Lemon "comes out" and dedicates his new book, Transparent, to Tyler Clementi.     How to submit an essay   From May 20 until July 20, we will accept essays and other writings to include in For Colored Boys. We are looking for inspirational stories centered around any one of the following four major themes: faith, family, love and work. Submissions should be between 1000 and 5000 words. Some of the essays published in the finished book will be long and some will be short. Send your submission to info@4coloredboys.com. Please include your name, email address, phone number, brief 1-paragraph bio and a jpeg photo with your submission.   Unlike traditional anthologies which tend to use established writers, we also want to tell the stories of real people (ordinary and extraordinary) who have dealt with, or are still dealing with, adversity in their lives. Of course we intend to include essays from gifted writers, published authors and well known public figures who have overcome obstacles. But we are also looking for college students, suicide survivors, and those who have faced bullying or harassment in their lives. It doesn't matter if you call yourself "same-gender-loving," "down low," "gay," "queer," or none of the above. We're not interested in labels. We are interested in well-told stories that will educate, entertain or inspire others.   Ideally, we would like to include the voices of Latinos, Asian-Americans and other people of color in this book. And we expect to include the voices of those who are straight, bisexual, transgender or questioning, so long as the stories are relevant to the purpose and the themes of the book.    Finally, we don't expect every story to finish with a happy ending. That's not the way life works. Nor do we expect every essay to deal with suicide, harassment or tragedy. We want this to be a balanced but inspirational book about real life. Your voice and your story are critical to make that happen.   The book will be published in March/April 2012.

OFF THE BEATEN PATH:

Re-exposing

Violence Against Women

June 9th, 2011 by Marice Sy

Image from AddShots.

An exhibition hosted by Art Works for Change, Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women, and Art “[addresses] violence against women and girls globally and their basic human rights to a safe and secure life.  The beauty of this project is that it combines the highest integrity of art with important social messaging and storytelling to help create awareness, inspiration, and address systems for positive social change and action.”  Program partners include Amnesty International, the Global Fund for Women, UNIFEM, UNESCO, and Art for Amnesty.  The exhibit explores violence against women from several perspectives: from the individual, within the family, within the community, in culture, and in politics.

OTBP will be featured in the Global Health Odyssey Museum in Atlanta from the June 6 to September 23.

From the curator, Randy Jayne Rosenberg:

When we encounter violence against women, we often experience a sort of blindness.  We choose not to see devastation of domestic violence, calling it “a family affair”.  Honor-killings of women…become nothing more than a “cultural difference”.

We ask the artists to help us create a new vocabulary–new representations–through their artworks and, in doing so, heal us, transform us and help us feel and understand the essence of the problem of violence against women.

 

Photo From the IRC Global Crescendo Project.

The photography installation Voices from the Field was by far the most effective work I saw from the Virtual Tour.  The IRC Global Crescendo Project distributed digital cameras to women in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d’Ivoire, all war zones.  Voices from the Field is a disturbingly candid photographic representation of violence against women in war zones.  In a self portrait, Assetou “told villagers her husband beats her if dinner is not ready for him.”  The photo captures her pounding maize with one hand and holding a child to suck on her breast on the other.

Another caption writes, “Teenage and very young girls are the favorite targets [of rape].  The rapist is often a member or friend of the extended family…in one case a widow settled with the man who had raped her 10-year-old daughter for…$13.35.”

I have selected a few more works an commentary from the exhibit, find it under the cut.  To see more of the collection, take a Virtual Tour of OTBP at Art Works for Change.

Image from AWFC.

Art Works for Change will be featuring OFF THE BEATEN PATH/AFRICA, an adaptation of the original OTBP adapted to West Africa, focused on the communities of Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria.  OFF THE BEATEN PATH/AFRICA will be featured in the French Cultural Center in Dakar, Senegal, from July 12 to August 31.

 

Miwa Yanagi‘s My Grandmothers captures the projected futures of several young Japanese women whom she interviewed online, asking them how they foresaw their future.  To her surprise, they did not dread aging and did not conform to the image of a traditional silent woman in Japanese society.  Instead, they saw their old age filled with respect, power, and adventure.  In her photographs, she interprets their responses into photographs that depict strong old ladies who are free to express themselves however they like.

 

In The Sleeping Self, Polish artist Gabriela Morawetz explores the dichotomous meaning of the bed–on one hand, a bed offers dreams, rest, and comfort; on the other, beds are crime scenes, where trust is destroyed and the body violated.  Morawetz’s beds feature strange objects, such as light filaments, bubbles, or glass balls.  From the Virtual Tour: “As in a dream, these images are removed from any particular time and place.  Sometimes the figure is missing altogether, leaving the viewer wondering what has happened to the vulnerable sleeper.”

 

Photo taken from Art Works for Change.

The photo above depicts a scene from a Yoko Inoue performance peace.  From the Virtual Tour: “In some communities, where direct intervention is culturally impossible, women respond to severe domestic violence by assembling outside of the household in question and bang out an alarm on pots and pans.  This informs the man that the spirit he attempts to break belongs to many, not one.”

 

OTBP Photos from individual artists’ websites: Miwa Yanagi [Kwanyi and Tsumugi] and Gabriela Morawetz [Voyage de noces ...].

Photography and Narrative:

An Interview with

Kameelah Rasheed

Posted on October 14, 2010 by liveunchained  

 

  

 

Live Unchained had the pleasure to interview Kameelah Rasheed. She is a documentary-based photographer and co-founder of Mambu Badu, a photography collective that highlights female photographers of African descent. Kameelah discusses her photography and inspiration here. Her work tells the stories of people from South Africa to New York.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and background?

In a small Bay Area neighborhood named East Palo Alto, I was raised on a harmonious, yet eclectic mix of Islam, old Gil Scott-Heron records, and tofu as the other white meat. I was the black nerdy kid who read too much, hung out in the science lab selecting daphnia from the Carolina Biological company catalog for the next science fair, and wore cornrows with beds when perms were the norm. By the time I got to high school, I was 13 and the sole Muslim kid at an elite private Catholic school and one of maybe eight other black students on scholarships. I graduated from high school at 16 and attended Pomona College, a small elite liberal arts college in Claremont, CA. There I studied Public Policy and Africana Studies graduated as a Harry S Truman Scholar, Rockefeller Brothers Fund Fellow, and Phi Beta Kappa. During my senior year, the U.S. State Department awarded me with a U.S. Fulbright Grant to study urban planning and housing in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Throughout my education, I loved to tell stories and focused solely on written narratives. It was not until I moved to South Africa that I explored the possibility of telling stories with photographs. When I lived in Cape Town, South Africa as an exchange student in 2005, I photographed the children I worked with at the orphanage. When I moved to Johannesburg in 2006, I began to photograph townships, nation-wide strikes, political events, community events, and city life. I was eager and insatiable. I was learning and lacked the confidence to take more risks. Despite being in a few gallery shows, I did not take on the title of “photographer” until a few months ago. Now, I consider myself a documentary-based photographer. Simply, I like to tell the stories of “regular” people through photographs. I also love poetry especially Harryette Mullen, e.e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, and Yusef Komunyakaa. I imagine photographs as a visual poetry with it’s own set of grammar rules that should be broken at times. In my mind, the power of a poem is the achievement of depth through some clever manipulation of brevity. The same goes with photographs.

Can you tell us a little about your creative process?
Do you carry around your camera wherever you go,
or do you set out to shoot something in particular?

Last night, I walked pass a group a young Caribbean boys and girls talking to a young group of Hasidic boys in Crown Heights. The juxtaposition of skinny jeans, Caribbean accents, and brown skin with black suits, Yiddish phrases, and peyes was something worthy of several shots and an interview. These moments fascinate me. I was curious. Whenever my curiosity is peeked, I shoot. Unfortunately, it was too dark to shoot, but am looking forward to similar opportunities.

And yes, I carry my loves with me everywhere. I used to carry three cameras, but I now limit it to EZRA, my Nikon D90.

 Do you have a place where you enjoy photographing the most?

Anywhere and everywhere. Photographing somewhere unfamiliar is always a lot of fun. It forces you to take risks and become more familiar with the community.

Your photography from South Africa is particularly compelling! Can you tell us more about those pieces? What did you learn and experience there?

I lived in South Africa on two occasions. First in 2005, I was an exchange student at the University of Cape Town. When I graduated from college in 2006, the U.S. State Department awarded me as an Amy Biehl U.S. Fulbright Scholar to South Africa. I lived there for 9 months from 2006-2007. This was the best 9 months of my life.

Many of the photographs are from local as well as countrywide protests and friends. I hung out with a sundry collection of folks in Johannesburg: activists, photographers, printmakers, writers, a rasta or two, and a hip-hop group. There was plenty of inspiration. More than anything, I felt really comfortable and complete in Johannesburg. I shot with the thought in mind, “What do I want to show my family and students about South Africa? How can I articulate how at home I feel here?” At the time I did not have a DSLR but a clunky point and shoot. I loved it.

As a graphic designer, I’m always intrigued by photography, because it has a way of capturing raw, instantaneous moments in a way that is different from other art forms. What are your thoughts on the power of photography?

I think the power of photography is the ability to present a fragment of reality while presenting the opportunity for another reality to exist in that same space. Photography has the power to change us from spectator to engaged advocate. Photographs are supposed to reflect or even just be constitutive of some reality. They are by no means objective, but they capture something “real.” Even when you look at an image of a starving child or young refugee, you are confronted with reality of that situation, but photography also pushes you to want to change that image. A friend asked me what good art was. I told him that I believe good art is anything that causes you to pause and rethink your next set of behaviors. I think good photography has this power.

You are a history teacher. Does having a knowledge of history influence your thoughts on photography and/or your artwork?

More than having any particular historical knowledge, being a lover of history is about curiosity and chasing after that hidden story. This is what I teach my students in Crown Heights. As a photographer, I think about taking photographs that tell a story that gives voice to that marginal narrative. Because I approach photography as a storyteller, I believe formal and informal interviews of the people I photograph are central. I am in the process of beginning a project with an audio-based component for each photograph. Also, I believe doing research before and after shooting is important. I want to know what kinds of narratives (written and visual) have already been captured so that I give some love and shine to narratives that have received less attention.

Being a historian allows me to be conscious of my relationship to the people I am photographing. It’s no longer about creating an image; it becomes an opportunity to create new relationships between human beings if only for that moment. I want to express my love for humanity and steer clear of exploitative shots that reinforce existing stereotypes…and I want to do this while staying true to what I see in that moment. I do not want my shots to be decontextualized ethnographic shots.

Do you have a community of artists around you that help feed your creativity? How do you push yourself to produce your very best work?

Having moved to New York only 3 months ago, the physical community is still developing and I feel inspired by everyday scenes that push me to think about how to craft a photograph that tells a story. Back home in California, my family was a great source of support.

One source of inspiration has been Mambu Badu, a photography collective founded by Allison McDaniel, Daniel Scruggs and myself. Mambu Badu is a photography collective that seeks to find, expose, and nurture emerging female photographers of African descent. “Mambu Badu” is an adaptation of the KiSwahili phrase “Mambo Bado” which is loosely translated as “the best has yet to come.” At this moment, we dwell in an exciting space of possibility where we can grow as artists. We invite other female photographers of African descent to join us in this journey. We are approaching our art and this collective with a humble heart, a curious nature, and a persevering spirit.

You live in New York. How does the character and environment of New York influence your work?

New York reminds me to look at the details and to find beauty in the mundane. Things are much busier than my small California town of 30,000 people. The fast pace of this city makes photography even more intriguing—the opportunity to slow time down…just a bit.

Can you share with us some of your photography?

"Black Girl Pain," 2010 (Brooklyn, NY)

"Regina," 2008 (Protea Glen-Johannesburg, South Africa)

"Yellowman," 2008 (Newtown-Johannesburg, South Africa)

"Kele," 2010 (Brooklyn, New York)

“Sunset,” 2008 (Protea Glen-Johannesburg, South Africa)

“Sulaiman,” 2010 (Brooklyn, New York)

“Un Secreto,” 2010 (East Palo Alto, California)

“Blow,” 2010 (East Palo Alto, California)

“Hujjaj,” 2008 (Oakland, California)

“Jabu,” 2008 (Downtown Johannesburg, South Africa

“Public Sector Strike,” 2007 (Pretoria, South Africa)

“Second Helpings,” 2010 (New York, New York)

What does living unchained mean to you?

Living unchained is not waiting for permission to be great.

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__________________________

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST,

PHOTOGRAPHER & WRITER,

KAMEELAH RASHEED

• My essay, "Lines of Bad Grammar" is published in the book I Speak for Myself:  American Women on Being Muslim, which will be released on May 2nd. 
 

• I am heading to Johannesburg and Durban in late April to work on a photography project around spatial politics and youth.
 

• Wrapping up a text-based project around the commodification of virginity.
 

• I am a co-founder of Mambu Badu, a photography collective that seeks to find, expose, and nurture emerging female photographers of African descent. Our PDF magazine will be launched in April and our physical exhibit will open in the Washington, D.C. in late summer.

• Interning for Liberator Magazine and I am organizing interviews with amazing artists based in NY.

>via: http://www.afri-love.com/2011/03/interview-with-artist-photographer-writer-ka...