APRIL 7-9 2011
	The Gwendolyn Brooks Conference for Black Literature and Creative Writing
The Gwendolyn Brooks Conference for Black Literature and Creative Writing welcomes the Affrilachian Poets to Chicago State University! The Affrilachian Poets are an ensemble of African-American writers who challenge simple notions of an all white Appalachian region and culture while drawing on traditions such as the Harlem Renaissance, the Black Arts Movement, and experiences of the African Diaspora. The poetry of the Affrilachian Poets celebrates this complex African American heritage through food, music, and land. The Affrilachian Poets were founded by Frank X Walker, Nikky Finney, and Ricardo Nazario y Colon in 1991 at the University of Kentucky. Founding members also include Crystal Wilkinson, Kelly Norman Ellis, and Mitchell L.H. Douglass. Chicago State alumni Randall Horton and  Parneshia Jones are members of this ensemble now celebrating its 20th anniversary. PBS produced a feature-length documentary about the Affrilachian Poets in 2000, and the group has been featured in numerous magazines and journals. Their work inspired the creation of Pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts & Culture, published by the University of Kentucky  Poet Nikky Finney headlines the Gwendolyn Brooks Spotlight Reading Nikky Finney was born at the rim of the Atlantic Ocean, in South Carolina, in 1957. The daughter of activists and educators, she began writing in the midst of the Civil Rights and Black Arts Movements. With these instrumental eras circling her, Finney’s work provides first-person literary accounts to some of the most important events in American history. Educated at Talladega and Atlanta University, Finney cultivated her craft under the direction of African American scholars such as Gloria Wade Gales and chance encounters with the likes of Nikki Giovanni, who took an interest in Finney’s work and became an ever-present mentor. Finney credits the words of Gwendolyn Brooks as well as Walt Whitman and the surroundings of Talladega’s famous Amistad murals, painted by world-renowned Hale Woodruff, to her beginnings as a writer. After her formal education, Finney spent several years working and studying with writers like Toni Cade Bambara who formed the Pamoja writing group in Atlanta before immersing herself as an educator, activist and artist in the progressive San Francisco artist movement in the mid-eighties. In 1985, and at the age of 26, Finney’s debut collection of poetry,On Wings Made of Guaze, was published by William Morrow (a division of HaperCollins). Finney’s next full-length collection of poetry and portraits,RICE(Sister Vision Press, 1995), was awarded the PEN America-Open Book Award, which was followed by a collection of short stories entitledHeartwood(University Press of Kentucky, 1998). Her next full-length poetry collection,The World Is Round(Inner Light Books, 2003) was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award sponsored by the Independent Booksellers Association. In 2007, Finney edited the anthology,The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South(University of Georgia Press/Cave Canem), which has become an essential compilation of contemporary African American writers. Her fourth full-length collection of poetry,Head Off & Split, was published by Northwestern University Press in February 2011. Finney and her work have been featured on Russell Simmons DEF Poetry (HBO series), renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson’s feature “The Meaning of Food” (a PBS production) and National Public Radio. Her work has been praised by Walter Mosley, Nikki Giovanni, Gloria Naylor and the late CBS/60 Minutes news anchor Ed Bradley. Finney has held distinguished posts at Berea College as the Goode Chair in the Humanities and Smith College as the Grace Hazard Conklin Writer-in-Residence. Finney is currently an associate professor at the University Kentucky and serves on the boards of Cave Canem and the South Carolina Poetry Initiative and, additionally, has served as a judge for theMaureen Egen Writers Exchangesponsored by Poets & Writers, Inc. She is a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets.
Mitchell L. H.Douglas is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis. His poems have appeared inCallaloo,Crab Orchard Review,Ninth Letterand the anthologiesThe Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South(University of Georgia Press) andZoland Poetry No. 2(Zoland Books) among others. A Cave Canem fellow and cofounder of the Affrilachian Poets, his debut collection,Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem(Red Hen Press, 2009) was nominated for a 2010 NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding Literary Work-Poetry category and a 2010 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award.Douglas, a Louisville native, resides in Indianapolis.    Recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and the Margaret Walker Short Story Award, Parneshia Jones is published in several anthologies includingThe Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South;Poetry Speaks Who I Am,a book/CD compilation of classic and contemporary poetry; andShe Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems, edited by Caroline Kennedy.Jones has been featured on Chicago Public Radio-Chicago Amplified Series and is a member of the Affrilachian Poets, a collective of Black voices from Appalachia. She has performed her work all over the United States including the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City, the Art Institute in Chicago, and Vanderbilt University. In 2009, Parneshia was commissioned by Art for Humanity and the city of Chicago, to write a poem for an exhibition unveiled in Durban, South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. She was also commissioned by ShoreFront Legacy to write a poem about the history of African Americans on the North Shores of Chicago. Jones is the head of sales and international rights for Northwestern University Press and conducts publishing workshops and lectures for creative writing programs and writers. She is currently on the board of the Cave Canem, the Guild Complex and the advisory board ofUni-Verse of Poetry: A United Nations of Poetry. She serves as a judge for the Cave Canem Northwestern University Press Poetry Prize. She is a Ragdale fellow and holds a M.F.A from Spalding University.    Kelly Norman Ellis is an associate professor of English and creative writing at Chicago State University. She is also the associate director of the MFA in Creative Writing program as CSU. She is a poet whose work has appeared inSisterfire: Black Womanist Fiction and Poetry,Spirit and Flame,Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature and Art,Boomer Girls,Essence Magazine,Obsidian,Calyx, andCornbread Nation. She is a recipient of a Kentucky Foundation for Women writer’s grant and is a Cave Canem fellow and founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. Her first collection of poetryTougaloo Blueswas published by Third World Press in 2003. Dr. Ellis is at work on a new collection entitledThe Shoe Cobbler’s Daughters. Currently she lives on Chicago’s south side with her partner Kevin and their daughter Naomi Zora.   Featured Writers  Quraysh Ali Lansana is author of five poetry books, including They Shall Run: Harriet Tubman Poems (Third World Press, 2004); a children's book entitled The Big World (Addison-Wesley, 1998); and editor of eight anthologies, including Dream of A Word: The Tia Chucha Press Poetry Anthology (Tia Chucha Press, 2006). He is Director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University, where he is also Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing. He is a former faculty member of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School and former Associate Editor-Poetry for Black Issues Book Review. Quraysh earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree at the Creative Writing Program at New York University, where he was a Departmental Fellow. Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy & Social Justice in Classroom & Community (with Georgia A. Popoff) was published in January 2011 by Teachers and Writers Collaborative. He currently serves as a Contributing Editor for The Writer’s Chronicle of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs.    Thomas Sayers Ellis, co-founded The Dark Room Collective (in Cambridge, Massachusetts); and received his M.F.A. from Brown University. He is the author ofThe Maverick Room(2005), which won the John C. Zacharis First Book Award, and a recipient of a Mrs. Giles Whiting Writers’ Award. His poems and photographs have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, includingCallaloo, Best American Poetry (1997, 2001 and 2010), Grand Street, The Baffler, Jubilat, Tin House, Poetry,andThe Nation. He is also an Assistant Professor of Writing at Sarah Lawrence College, a faculty member of the Lesley University low-residency M.F.A Program and a Caven Canem faculty member. He lives in Brooklyn, NY and is currently working onThe Go-Go Book: People in the Pocket in Washington, D.C.A photographer and poet his new collection of poetry,Skin, Inc.,has just appeared from Graywolf Press.     Ifa Bayeza is an award-winning author, playwright, producer, composer and conceptual artist. Her plays include Amistad Voices, Club Harlem, Kid Zero and Homer G & the Rhapsodies, for which she received a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays fellowship. Her play The Ballad of Emmett Till received a 2007 Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Center Fellowship and had its world premiere at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, winning the 2008 Edgar Award for Best Play. Hailed as “breathtaking … brilliant,” “a masterful look at history,” “a marvelous celebration of life,” and “a major American work,” The Ballad of Emmett Till  received its West Coast premiere at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles in 2010, winning four Ovations Awards, including Best Production of a Play, and five Drama Desk Critics Award nominations. Bayeza served as the original dramaturg and set designer for her sister Ntozake Shange’s landmark production of for colored girls… at the Public Theater. She and Shange have co-authored a new novel, Some Sing, Some Cry, chronicling seven generations of women, the men and music in their lives. The novel has been hailed as “gorgeous” (NY Times), “dazzling” (Essence), and a “musical, magical must-read!” (Elle) A graduate of Harvard University, Bayeza is a fellow of the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in Arts and Media, the Centennial fellow of the Arna Bontemps Museum of African American History and a founding board member of the SonEdna Foundation of Mississippi. She lives in Chicago.    Lawrence Jackson, a native of Baltimore, is Professor of English and African American Studies at Emory University, where he specializes in African American literature and literary history. Dr. Jackson earned his doctorate at Stanford University in English and American literature in 1997, and he also holds a master’s degree from Ohio State University and he completed his undergraduate work at Wesleyan University. He began his professional career at Howard University, where he was promoted to associate professor in 2002. In January 2003, Black Issues in Higher Education recognized Jackson as one of the outstanding African American Ph.D.’s of the new millennium. He is a recipient of grants and fellowship awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation. He has been a Resident Fellow at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute and the National Center for the Humanities in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. For over ten years, Lawrence Jackson has been building a national audience for his work. He is a nationally recognized expert on twentieth century African American writers and, perhaps, most broadly known for his televised appearance in the broadcast of the P.B.S. documentary Ralph Ellison: An American Journey (January 2002). In June of 2008 C-SPAN Book Notes TV carried a panel discussion featuring Professor Jackson at the National Black Writers Conference called “Historical Representations of Resistance and Transformation.” In October of 2010, professor Jackson lectured and was interviewed widely in Maseru, Lesotho, as an invited guest for the United States Embassy Lesotho.  Professor Jackson was also a member of the National Book Award non-fiction jury of 2003. Dr. Jackson is the author of the acclaimed Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius (2002), the first biography of Ellison. The New York Times welcomed his “rich and meticulous” biography and considered the book a literary achievement that “evok[ed] Ellison’s environment brilliantly.” His new book is the highly anticipated literary history The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960 (Princeton University Press, 2010).  Publisher’s Weekly called the book “monumental,” an “encyclopedic book [that] offers a chronological, old-fashioned history of literature, covering a period desperately in need of thoroughgoing research and detail, and presents a deeply documented, dense but thoroughly readable.”  They predict that the book will “guide the way African-American and American literature is studied.” Dr. Jackson has also published portions of his forthcoming Virginia family history From the Staunton to the Dan in leading literary reviews. Southern Quarterly published his “The Will” in summer of 2009, and the New England Review carried “To Danville” in spring of 2007. The entire project, which chronicles the lives of two enslaved male ancestors, Edward Jackson and Granville Hundley, lays bare the difficult ground necessary to begin a recovery of the past broken apart by enslavement. The book is expected in spring of 2012.  He is currently writing a full-length biography of the African American writer Chester Himes.     Paul Martínez Pompa is the author of My Kill Adore Him, which was selected by Martín Espada for the 2008 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize and was a ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year finalist. His chapbook Pepper Spray was published by Momotombo Press in 2006. Martinez Pompa's poetry and prose have been anthologized in Telling Tongues and The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry. He earned degrees from the University of Chicago and Indiana University, where he served as a poetry editor for Indiana Review.    Kristiana  Colón  is an adjunct English professor at Chicago State University, as well as an experienced poet, performer, and burgeoning playwright. She is proud to see her work anthologized in Dzanc Books'Best of the Web 2010and Haven Books'Not a Musecollection. Other recent publications includeOrgans of Vision and Speech, hinchas de poesia, Our Stories, chickenpinata, among several other online and print journals. Her short plays have recently appeared in NYC Rebel Theater's Sunday Reading Series, American Theater Company's The Silver Project, in Teatro Luna's 10 x 10 Festival in conjunction with the Goodman's Latino Theater Festival, Dramatist Personae's Artist Gumbo series, and Simple Theater's K.I.S.S. festival. Her most recent full-length projectone week in springwas a finalist for Victory Gardens'Ignitionfestival and had its first full staged reading in Teatro Luna's Lunadas series in October 2010. Her first playbut i cd only whisperwas the 2nd place winner of the Theodore Ward Playwriting contest in 2008, and her playthe darkest pithad its world premiere at the Prop Thtr in 2009. She is an MFA graduate from the School of the Art Institute and has been seen on HBO'sDef Poetry Jam. More information aboutKristiana, as well as text, audio, and video samples of her work, can be found atwww.kristianacolon.com.    Duriel E. Harris is the author of Drag (Elixir Press, 2003) and Amnesiac: Poems (Sheep Meadow Press, 2010).  A poet, performer, sound artist and scholar, Harris holds degrees from Yale University and the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois (Chicago) Program for Writers.  She has been awarded grants from the Illinois Arts Council and post-doctoral residencies at the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of California, Santa Barbara and is currently at work on AMNESIAC, a media art project funded in part by the UCSB Center for Black Studies Race and Technology Initiative and an Illinois State University, University Research Grant. A co-founder of the Black Took Collective and Poetry Editor for Obsidian her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including A Best of Fence, African American Review, Encyclopedia, Mandorla, milk, nocturnes, The Ringing Ear, Shampoo and Xcp: Cross Cultural Poetics. Feature performances include appearances at The Babel Theatre (Beirut, Lebanon), The Blue Note (Poznan, Poland), Dixon Place (NY), Links Hall (Chicago), MCA Denver, and The Poetry Center (San Francisco). A recent resident at the Rockefeller Brothers’ Marcel Breuer House in Pocantico Hills, Harris is a Cave Canem and MacDowell Colony fellow and a member of Douglas Ewart and Inventions free jazz ensemble. She is an assistant professor of English and teaches creative writing, literature and poetics at Illinois State University.   Sandra Jackson-Opoku was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Columbia College in Chicago for three years, majoring in Journalism. She then transferred to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she changed her major to Communications/Afro-American Studies, attaining her BA in 1976. During her college years Jackson-Opoku studied under two people who she cites as literary influences, African writer: Chinua Achebe and Caribbean writer Michael Thelwell. Jackson-Opoku also gains inspiration from her vast experiences abroad. Her first novel, The River Where Blood Is Born, began as a travelogue from journals written as an exchange student in Nigeria in the mid-1970's. The novel won the Black Caucus of the American Library Association Award for Fiction in 1998. Jackson-Opoku has received several honors and awards including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and two Gwendolyn Brooks Poet Laureate Awards. She is also the author of the novel Hot Johnny (And The Women Who Loved Him). She is a faculty member of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Chicago State University.   Nnedi Okorafor is a novelist known for her complex characters and weaving Nigerian cultures and settings into science fiction narratives. In a profile of Nnedi’s work titled “Weapons of Mass Creation”, The New York Times called Nnedi’s imagination “stunning”. Her YA novels includeZahrah the Windseeker(winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature),The Shadow Speaker(winner of the CBS Parallax Award) and Long Juju Man(winner of the Macmillan Prize for Africa). Her first adult novel, Who Fears Death, was chosen as a Best Book of 2010 by Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly and the School Library Journal and is currently a Nebula Award finalist. Her YA novel Akata Witch (Penguin Books) was released April1, 2011. Okorafor holds a PhD in literature and is a professor at Chicago State University. Visit Nnedi at nnedi.com.     Rev. Dr. Brenda Eatman Aghahowa is Associate Professor and former Chairperson of the Department of English, Communications, Media Arts and Theatre at Chicago State University.  She has earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, and also has earned the Ph.D. in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a specialty in Language, Literacy, and Rhetoric.  A prolific writer, she has more than 25 years’ experience as a reporter, editor, free lancer, public relations account executive, and English educator.  Dr. Aghahowa has made scholarly presentations on issues related to rhetoric and retention of African-American college students in venues around the United States and also in England for the Oxford Round Table.  Dr. Aghahowa’s many community service affiliations include    membership in the international public service sorority Delta Sigma Theta and board membership with Hope 4 Us Ministries, a faith-based organization specializing in programs related to prison reentry, education, intergenerational mentoring, financial literacy, and affordable housing.  An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC) since February 1988, Dr. Aghahowa has served as an associate pastor in churches and as a chaplain in hospitals.  She is Pastor of the nondenominational fellowship Faith, Hope, and Love Ministries (Richton Park, IL), which she founded in June 2009.  She earned the Master’s of Religious Studies and Doctor of Ministry degrees from the University of Chicago Divinity School.  Her D.Min. dissertation has been published as the book, Praising in Black and White:  Unity and Diversity in Christian Worship (Cleveland:  United Church Press, 1996).  She also is co-author with Oteia Bruce of, The Sheriff Ain’t Comin’ Right Away:  A Practical Guide for Those Facing Foreclosure and Eviction (Chicago:  TEAM Network, 2010, ISBN 978-0-578-07167-1).  She is the mother of three biological children.    Pancho McFarland is associate professor of sociology at Chicago State University.  He is author of Chicano Rap: Gender and Violence in the Postindustrial Barrio (University of Texas Press, 2008).  In addition, he has published numerous articles concerning hip hop and Latin@ culture and history.  His latest book, New Millenial Mestizaje: Hip Hop and Chicano Identity, is forthcoming from Michigan State University Press.  He is active in the local food justice movement.   Ra Perre L. Shelton got his start as a youth poetry slam champion. Ra has a Bachelor’s Degree in African-American Studies, specializing in the Africana Diasporic experience of women and male-bodied femaninity. In 2005, he became the youngest ever Def Jam poet featured on HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry, and the youngest champion for Chicago Black Pride’s “Windy City Slam.” Ra is a 2008 recipient of the Collin Higgins Foundation Activist Award where he was acknowledged with a $10,000 grant for using his poetry as an effective means of social upward mobility. He has worked with the Chicago Foundation for Women, POW WOW, Youth Pride Center, the “Real Men Read” initiative, SANKOFA women’s organization and many other organizations that promote the upward mobility of those who remain socially silenced by cultral hegemony.

      If you are interested in attending CSU, please complete our graduate or undergraduate form, and we will send you admissions information. Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved. Chicago State University | 9501 South King Drive, Chicago, IL 60628-1598 | 773-995-2000

 

 

African Women in Revolution

by admin on Mar 19, 2011 •

Author: W.O. Maloba

This book is an ambitious, extensive and detailed analysis of the roles played by African women in seven revolutionary movements in post World War 11 Africa. The revolutionary movements covered in this book occurred in: Algeria, Kenya, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The book describes and analyzes the nature and impact of women’s participation in these revolutionary movements. How did these revolutionary movements define women’s liberation? What is the linkage between feminist theories of liberation and national liberation? Did the national liberation movements betray women? And what has been the fate of the original commitments (and impulses) toward women’s liberation and gender equality? At its center, this is a pioneering broad interpretive work. Drawing on the theoretical formulations and advances in economics and economic theory, political science, sociology, anthropology, education, history (of several countries), and feminist studies, this book is a significant contribution to the study of African women’s history and struggle in recent African history. For the first time, African women’s struggles for liberation in these movements are studied, and analyzed under one roof. By considering seven movements in one book, Maloba provides opportunities for both direct and indirect comparison. Also considered is the destructive impact of globalization on African women. The case studies of Senegal, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe show not only how each country has been affected, but the specific effects on women and their families; how household economy and gender relations are continually adjusting to the challenges posed by globalization. This timely and valuable book is written without jargon. It demonstrates that some social questions, like the status of women in society, are best understood if they are studied in an interdisciplinary manner, and not limited to one discipline.

W.O. Maloba is Associate Professor of History at the University of Delaware, where he founded and directed The African Studies Program from 1992-2002. He is the author of Mau Mau and Kenya: An analysis of A Peasant Revolt (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993, 1998), and several articles on nationalism and decolonization.

Paperback: 316 pages
Publisher: Africa World Press, Inc.; 1st edition (March 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1592214460
ISBN-13: 978-1592214464
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches

The Daily Show on Obama's 'Unconstitutional War'

By Chris Good

Mar 22 2011, 12:15 PM ET

Daily Show host Jon Stewart and correspondent Aasif Mandvi mock President Obama for authorizing airstrikes in Libya without seeking a congressional vote.

The kicker they deliver: a quote from Obama as a senator. "The president does not have power under the constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

 

The Daily Show - Odyssey Dawn - Unconstitutional War
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

 

LIBYA PICS.....22/03/2011

>> TUESDAY, MARCH 22, 2011

Libyans gather around the wreckage of a US F-15 fighter jet in Ghot Sultan, South-East of Benghazi on March 22, 2011 after crashing while on a mission against Moamer Kadhafi's air defences. The US Africa Command said the aircraft had experienced equipment malfunction over northeast Libya, adding that the two crew members had ejected and were safe.

 Libyans inspect the wreckage of a US F15 fighter jet after it crashed in an open field in the village of Bu Mariem, east of Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, with both crew ejecting safely. The U.S. Africa Command said both crew members were safe after what was believed to be a mechanical failure of the Air Force F-15. The aircraft, based out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Italy's Aviano Air Base in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn.

Libyans inspect the wreckage of a US F15 fighter jet after it crashed in an open field in the village of Bu Mariem, east of Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 22, 2011, with both crew ejecting safely. The U.S. Africa Command said both crew members were safe after what was believed to be a mechanical failure of the Air Force F-15. The aircraft, based out of Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, was flying out of Italy's Aviano Air Base in support of Operation Odyssey Dawn.

A Qatar Air Force fighter jets on the ground next of a Cyprus airways Airbus A330 aircraft at Larnaca international airport, Cyprus, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Two Qatar Air Force fighter jets and a cargo aircraft were heading to Crete Tuesday in the first sign of military operations by Qatar so far to help enforce a no-fly zone overLibya, officials said. The planes made an unscheduled stop at the island's Larnaca airport, and government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said in a statement that the two Mirage jets and one cargo aircraft would depart after refueling.

A British Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon takes off from Gioia del Colle NATOairbase in southern Italy March 22, 2011. NATO tried again on Tuesday to resolve a fractious debate on who should command the military campaign against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya once the United States steps back from leading the operation.

Missiles are seen inside the Gioia del Colle NATO airbase in southern Italy March 22, 2011. Italy repeated its demand on Tuesday that military operations againstLibya be placed under a joint NATO command, underlining the growing differences in the anti-Gaddafi coalition.

A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR4 takes off from RAF Marham, in eastern England March 22, 2011. Only one in three Britons agree with the decision to take military action in Libya, a poll published Monday showed.

Libyan rebels retreat as mortars from Moammar Gadhafi's forces are fired on themon the frontline of the outskirts of the city of Ajdabiya, south of Benghazi, easternLibya, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Coalition forces bombarded Libya for a third straight night, targeting the air defenses and forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, stopping his advances and handing some momentum back to the rebels, who were on the verge of defeat just last week.

Destroyed army vehicles are pictured at the Boussetta Libyan navy base on March 22, 2011, the day after it was bombarded some 10 kilometres (six miles) east of Tripoli center.

People stand in front of the wreckage of the Boussetta Libyan navy base on March 22, 2011, the day after it was bombarded some 10 kilometres (six miles) east of Tripoli center.

A Libyan soldier checks vehicles damaged by coalition air strikes at a naval military facility in eastern Tripoli, March 22, 2011. Anti-aircraft fire and explosions reverberated across Tripoli for a third night on Monday and state television said several sites had come under attack in the capital. A U.S. general said, however, that attacks on Libya -- launched in a U.N. mandated operation to stop attacks on civilians by Muammar Gaddafi's forces -- were likely to slow in the coming days.

A man holds a picture of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi as he stands in the wreckage of the Boussetta Libyan navy base on March 22, 2011, the day after it was bombarded some 10 kilometres (six miles) east of Tripoli center.

 A Libyan naval officer flashes a victory sign at a naval military facility damaged by coalition forces air strikes last night in People's Port in eastern Tripoli March 22, 2011. Anti-aircraft fire and explosions reverberated across Tripoli for a third night on Monday and state television said several sites had come under attack in the capital.

A boy looks out as mourners pray during the funeral of a rebel killed by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Ajdabiyah, in Benghazi March 22, 2011.

Mourners gather around the body of a rebel killed by forces loyal to Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi in Ajdabiyah, during his funeral in Benghazi, March 22, 2011.

Curious Libyan onlookers take pictures of dead African teenagers, members of Moamer Kadhafi forces on March 20, 2011 in al-Wayfiyah, 35 km West of Benghazi hit by French warplanes.

Boys hold toy guns during a protest by supporters of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi at Green Square in Tripoli March 21, 2011.

A Libyan man reacts after identifying his killed brother in the morgue of the Jalaa hospital in Benghazi, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. His brother was killed earlier in fighting around the city of Ajdabiya, where rebels clash now for weeks with troops of Moammar Gadhafi.

Libyan rebels gather on a hill on March 22, 2011 as they massed for a second day on several kilometres from the key city of Ajdabiya to try to attack government forces that have encircled the town.

Libyan rebels duck for cover as they come under tank fire from Moamer Kadhafi's forces on the outskirts of Ajdabiya on March 22, 2011 as rag-tag rebel forces massed for a second day to try to attack government forces that have encircled the town.

Lybian rebels deploy for a second day on several kilometres from the key city of Ajdabiya to try to attack government forces that have encircled the town on March 22, 2011.

Lybian rebels unload rocket propelled grenades from a car on March 22, 2011 as they massed for a second day on several kilometres from the key city of Ajdabiya to try to attack government forces that have encircled the town.

>via: http://kickmugabeout.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-pics22032011.html

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Eastern Libya’s Tribes, Jihadism: Did U.S. Consider ItsOwn Libya Intel?

Documented evidence that rebel areas of Libya were the greatest per capita source of foreign jihadists in Iraq and that Libya is the most fractured and tribe-oriented of the Arab/Muslim states. So what is our strategic interest here?

March 22, 2011 - by Brian Fairchild

 

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I believe most Americans support military actions that protect the vital interests of the United States. Major American military initiatives, however, especially those involving the military invasion of a Muslim country in the era of the global jihad, have consequences and should only be taken because our vital strategic interests are at stake.

Thus far, no vital American strategic interests regarding Libya have been stated. Rather, official government policy appears to be designed to get rid of Gaddafi because he’s a tyrant, and to protect Libyan citizens on humanitarian grounds.

Our policymakers seem to believe that once this mission is accomplished some benign coalition of pro-democratic leaders will arise and take command, and all will be well.

There seems to be a huge general assumption that anti-Gaddafi forces are pro-American forces that should be armed and organized by the United States, but as you will see below there is documentary proof that at least some of the anti-Gaddafi forces are anti-American and pro-jihadist.

Even more disturbing: I have heard nothing from any policymaker, either political or military, that indicates that any of them have the slightest idea of the nature or make-up of Libya’s tribal society and how this will impact our ability to establish post-Gaddafi governance.

According to Libya expert Hanspeter Mattes of the Institute of Middle East Studies at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Libya is the most tribal of all the Arab states.

The country has not had a constitution since 1977, and there are virtually no democratic civil institutions — such as trade unions or PTAs — in the country, making the 140 tribes, clans, and powerful families key elements of society.

About 30 of these tribal entities have significant political power. Some, like the Maqarha and the Warfalla tribes, are in alliance with the Gaddafi tribe and have dominated the army, police, and intelligence services since Gaddafi took power. Others, such as the Zuwaya, control the key cities in the Gulf of Surt — where oil is exported.

While knowledge of the political power and connections of tribes is a must for any policymaker planning on transforming the country, this isn’t the only knowledge required.

Tribes are notorious for doing only what’s in their interests, which means that they often change sides. This is why the Iraqi tribes in al-Anbar province went from fighting American forces alongside al-Qaeda to joining American forces to kill their Muslim al-Qaeda brothers.

They made this dramatic shift because the U.S. could better serve the tribes’ interests by providing money and services — such as civil projects and government jobs — that al-Qaeda couldn’t deliver.

Another aspect of tribal society that is vital for policymakers to understand are the tribal concepts of honor, humiliation, and revenge. Tribes seek revenge against all who have dishonored them, and an understanding of these dynamics can mean the difference between success and failure when attempting to build tribal coalitions to govern the country.

The importance of tribes and the lack of democratic civil institutions in Libya should have been a huge red flag to any policymaker contemplating an intervention there, especially given the fact that the U.S. has a dismal record of understanding and dealing with tribes. It took our military leaders four years of trial and error in Iraq before they realized that dealing with the tribes of Anbar could give us the leverage we needed against al-Qaeda. Moreover, after more than eight years of fighting in Afghanistan, we still haven’t figured out how to deal with the tribes there. This lack of grounded truth and strategic thinking didn’t work in Iraq, isn’t working in Afghanistan, and won’t work in Libya.

Some of the questions our policymakers should have answered definitively before any serious military attack was contemplated:

Who are the protesters?

What do they want?

How are they organized?

How do they view the U.S.?

Are they likely to work with the U.S. in the region after Gaddafi, or might they side with Iran?

To what extent are they Islamist and have sympathies for the international jihad?

While some of these questions will take time to know, the answer to the last question is completely known, and disturbing.

Our first erroneous assumption is to think that the protesters against Gaddafi are democrats who want to establish an American-style representative democracy. There is a monumental difference between a local popular uprising against a tyrannical ruler and a movement organized to create Western democratic institutions, especially when the country is a Muslim tribal society and none of these institutions exist.

In this regard, the geographical headquarters of the revolt — located in Eastern Libya in the major cities of Benghazi and Derna — provides a clue as to who these folks are.

On February 25, 2011, Gaddafi blamed al-Qaeda for the revolt, and because Gaddafi is so self-serving, mercurial, and erratic, the mainstream media seems to have automatically discounted any possibility of Islamist involvement.

On February 15, 2008, however, long before anyone ever considered the possibility of a popular uprising against Gaddafi, the U.S. embassy in Tripoli sent a secret cable to Washington titled “Extremism in Eastern Libya” which revealed that this area is rife with anti-American, pro-jihad sentiment.

The cable describes a conversation between embassy officers and a dual U.S./Libyan citizen who provided the embassy with first-hand information about Islamist extremism gleaned from his family and friends in Eastern Libya.

According to the cable, the most troubling aspect of the report:

… is the pride that many eastern Libyans, particularly those in and around Derna, appear to take in the role their native sons have played in the insurgency in Iraq … [and the] ability of radical imams to propagate messages urging support for and participation in jihad.

Answering why this area is so radicalized, the embassy reported:

[The source] partly attributed the fierce mindset in Benghazi and Derna to the message preached by imams in eastern Libyan mosques, which he said is markedly more radical than that heard in other parts of the country. Sermons in eastern mosques, particularly the Friday “khutba,” are laced with “coded phrases” urging worshippers to support jihad in Iraq and elsewhere through direct participation or financial contributions. The language is often … incendiary and unambiguously supportive of jihad. Direct and indirect references to “martyrdom operations” were not uncommon.

The embassy’s alarming report is corroborated by captured al-Qaeda personnel documents — called theSinjar Records — that came into American hands in 2007 and were analyzed by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The Sinjar Records revealed the country of origin of the foreign fighters who came to Iraq to kill American soldiers. While the majority of foreign fighters came from Saudi Arabia, the report also stated:

Libya was the next most common country of origin, with 18.8% (112) of the fighters listing their nationality stating they hailed from Libya. … Furthermore, Libya contributed far more fighters per capita than any other nationality in the Sinjar Records, including Saudi Arabia … the most common cities that the fighters called home were Darnah, Libya and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with 52 and 51 fighters respectively. Darnah, with a population just over 80,000 compared to Riyadh’s 4.3 million, has far and away the largest per capita number of fighters in the Sinjar records. The next most common hometowns — in real terms — listed in the Sinjar records were Mecca (43), Benghazi (21).”

While it is not correct to say that al-Qaeda created and controls the uprising, it is true that al-Qaeda supports the uprising and will do whatever it can to take advantage of the vacuum resulting from the fall of Gaddafi, especially among the Islamist pro-jihad population of Eastern Libya.

At a minimum, our attack of Libya will be grist for al-Qaeda’s information war and will result in increased recruitment and funding.

Demonstrating al-Qaeda’s support, on March 12 Libyan al-Qaeda Commander Abu Yahya al Libi — who is originally from Benghazi — appeared in an al-Qaeda video in which he praised the uprising:

O proud people and loyal tribes: move forth taking the help of your Lord, with determined goal, renewing your promise, seeking your aim without hesitation or fear, and throw al-Gaddafi into the dump of humiliation.

The documentary information cited above is not opinion or speculation; it is fact and evidence. With the apparent absence of any plan for post-Gaddafi governance, an ignorance of Libya’s tribal nature and our poor record of dealing with tribes, American government documents that conclusively establish that the epicenter of the revolt is rife with anti-American and pro-jihad sentiment, and with al-Qaeda’s explicit support for the revolt, it is appropriate to ask our policymakers how American military intervention in support of this revolt in any way serves vital U.S. strategic interests.

Brian Fairchild served as a career Operations Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Clandestine Service with twenty years of experience operating under official and non-official cover. In 1998, he testified before Congress on counterterrorism issues, and he is currently the Director of Intelligence Operations for the Intrepid Group. Since 9/11, he has taught over ten thousand law enforcement officers, intelligence officials, and military personnel about the Muslim Brotherhood and the global Jihad movement. The Intrepid Group provides video tutorials on these subjects on its websiteand YouTube channel.

>via: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/eastern-libyas-tribes-jihadism-did-u-s-consider-...

 

__________________________

 

Picture of the Day: The Beginning of U.S. Intervention in Libya, 1801

MAR 22 2011, 11:44 AM ET1

The history of U.S./Libya intervention began in the late 1700s, when North African states, including Tripoli, demanded tribute to allow safe Mediterranean passage of U.S. vessels. Above, U.S. Navy Capt. William Bainbridge pays tribute to the Dey of Algiers in 1800. He was treated quite rudely.

Tired of paying tribute to the Barbary states, President Thomas Jefferson sent a squadron of U.S. frigates to the Mediterranean. The first battle between the U.S. and present-day Libya occurred on August 1, 1801, when the USS Enterprise defeated the Tripolitan corsair Tripoli, shown below.

Both images via Wikimedia Commons.

>via: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/03/picture-of-the-day-the-be...

__________________________

Stumbling into the Libyan War

We again find ourselves at war with a Middle Eastern dictator. And you may ask yourself, how did we get here? (More from Richard Perle: "Losing Libya VI.")

March 21, 2011 - by N.M. Guariglia

 

 

We again find ourselves at war with a Middle Eastern dictator. How did it get here? Last month, the Libyan people rebelled against their 42-year oppressor, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. The rebels liberated most of their country and were on the verge of overthrowing their tyrant; all that was needed was a bit of air support for the final push into the capital Tripoli. But we waited more than a month for France, Britain, the UN, and the Arab League to lead. In that time, Gaddafi used his air force to crush the uprising, reclaim the liberated territory, and encircle the rebels in the city of Benghazi.

So in the eleventh hour we have decided to bomb Libya.

What is the mission? What are our objectives? The public is in the dark. Barely anyone has mentioned how Congress hasn’t debated or authorized any of this. Secretary of State Clinton is reportedly furious with the administration’s dithering. Vice President Biden, the purported foreign policy expert, is missing in action. And President Obama is away touring South America.  The whole scene is very strange and a bit surreal. We have stumbled into war and it feels as though the intervention is both belated and haphazardly rushed at the same time. I can’t recall anything quite like this.

There is no doubt Muammar Gaddafi should go. He has for decades killed Americans and brutalized millions. His regime has 1) repeatedly been aggressive against neighbors; 2) sheltered internationally wanted terrorists; 3) violated non-proliferation treaties and pursued illicit unconventional weapons; 4) committed gross human rights violations on a massive scale — the four reasons, according to international law, that a state forfeits its sovereignty. Gaddafi’s downfall would be a deliverance.

Furthermore, the issue is not so much about justifying our present actions by citing Gaddafi’s past actions, but rather acknowledging the fact that, should Gaddafi survive this confrontation with the West, he will emerge an international outlaw as emboldened as ever. Libya will become chief global pariah — the North Korea of North Africa.

But overthrowing Gaddafi does not seem to be the objective. It’s unclear. At the beginning of the month, weeks before our intervention, President Obama declared Gaddafi must step down. Now that we have intervened, Obama has said, “We are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal — specifically, the protection of civilians in Libya.” Well, protection from whom? Gaddafi, of course. The war strategy seems an inherent contradiction.

Hours after bombing Gaddafi’s compound the Pentagon released a statement saying we didn’t really mean it. “At this particular point, I can guarantee that he’s not on a targeting list,” Vice Admiral Bill Gortney said of Gaddafi. So we’re not going to kill Gaddafi? Gortney’s response: “If he happens to be in a place — if he’s inspecting a surface-to-air missile site, [and] we don’t have any idea that he’s there or not — then, yeah.” Secretary of Defense Gates has called the idea of targeting Gaddafi “unwise.”  Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the war is “not about seeing [Gaddafi go]” but “about supporting the United Nations resolution which talked about eliminating his ability to kill his own people.” This comes weeks after the national intelligence director predicted Gaddafi’s victory over the rebels.

So we are going after Gaddafi’s residences but not Gaddafi himself. This whole thing is bizarre.

Note to the administration: less spokesmen, more clarity. President Obama needs to come back from South America and address the nation. He needs to explain to the country why it is we are attacking Libya, what our objectives are, and all the rest of it. The administration seems understandably concerned about the possibility of a prolonged, protracted war. But one does not avoid such an outcome by ignoring it. Such a possibility is all the more reason to be articulate and clear about what the mission is.  Therefore, once the servicemen of the U.S. military accomplish it — which they will — we can be assured that we achieved what we set out to do.

President Obama has said there will be no U.S. ground troops in the operation, the cost of whichtopped $100 million after the first day. Should Obama seek to assuage the worries of a cash-stripped, war-weary American public, he merely needs to say that there will be no U.S. occupation of Libya; no decade-long nation-building effort. But such an announcement would not preclude the aim of overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi. Now that we’re in it, we ought to stay in it until Gaddafi is removed from power.  We should watch the chips fall where they may and do business with whoever assumes control of the government. We ought to avoid mission-creep.

George W. Bush spent more than a year trying to justify the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. Congress authorized the Iraq mission and listed 23 justifications for doing so. With Libya, everything’s much murkier. We have seen President Obama, cool and detached, “vote present” before. There was the BP oil spill (“I can’t suck it up with a straw”). There were the democratic uprisings in Iran (he wascooking with Bobby Flay). Will objective minds soon contrast Obama’s handling of the recent Japanese tsunami with Bush’s handling of the 2004 South Asian tsunami?

We’ve seen President Obama prioritize NCAA brackets over the budget, high-speed Internet over the debt, beer summits over entitlement reform, health insurance over unemployment, and golf over nearly everything. Even on issues where Obama adopts the position of his critics — Afghanistan, for instance — one never gets the feeling his heart is in it. He rarely addresses the nation about Afghanistan; he doesn’t seem to have a passionate opinion on the matter.

And so this seems the case with Libya, as well. Our ambivalent leadership has gotten the nation into another war. Should Gaddafi cling to power, Libya will rejoin the ranks of Iran, Syria, and North Korea — the most hostile states in the world.

N. M. Guariglia writes on foreign policy. He can be contacted at nmguar@gmail.com.

>via: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/stumbling-into-the-libyan-war/?singlepage=true

 

 

 

“Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser”

By Tambay, on March 21st, 2011

For those who may not have seen the Clint Eastwood produced 1988 documentary on the late, great Thelonious Monk, the entire thing is on YouTube, broken up into 10 parts, if you’re at all interested in checking it out and don’t mind the picture. Below are the first 3 parts. CLICK HERE to head over to YouTube to see the remaining 7.

Part 1:

 

Part 2:

Part 3:

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EVENT 2011 Non-Fiction Contest

$1,500

Three winners will each receive $500 plus payment for publication in EVENT 40/3. Other manuscripts may be published. Preliminary judging by the editors of EVENT.

Final Judge:  Kevin Chong

Kevin Chong is the author of a novel, Baroque-a-Nova, a music memoir called Neil Young Nation, and two forthcomig books: a non-fiction book on horse-racing and a novel entitled Beauty Plus Pity. His writing has recently appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Walrus, the Toronto Star, Maclean's, Chatelaine, FASHION, Vancouver Magazine, and the CBC Arts website. He's an editor at Joyland.ca and teaches Creative Writing at UBC.
 
Past judges include: Myrna Kostash, Andreas Schroeder, Sharon Butala, Tom Wayman, Di Brandt, Terry Glavin, Karen Connelly, Charles Montgomery, Lynn Coady and Timothy Taylor.

Writers are invited to submit manuscripts exploring the creative non-fiction form. Check your library for back issues of EVENT with previous winning entries and judges' comments. Contest back issues are available for $9 (CAN$13 for overseas residents). Postage and GST included. To purchase a print copy now, visit our Online Sales.

Note: Previously published material, or material accepted elsewhere for publication, cannot be considered. Maximum entry length is 5000 words, typed, double-spaced. The writer should not be identified on the entry. Include a separate cover sheet with the writer's name, address, phone number / email, and the title(s) of the story (stories) enclosed. Include a SASE (Canadian postage / IRCs / US$1). Douglas College employees are not eligible to enter.

Entry fee: Multiple entries are allowed, however, each entry must be accompanied by a $29.95 entry fee (includes GST and a one-year subscription; make cheque or international money order payable to EVENT). Those already subscribing will receive a one-year extension. American and overseas entrants please pay in US dollars.

Deadline for entries: Postmarked by April 15, 2011.

Send entries to:

EVENT
Non-Fiction Contest
PO Box 2503, New Westminster, BC
V3L 5B2   Canada 
Phone: 604-527-5293 Fax: 604-527-5095
Email: event@douglas.bc.ca

 

SUBMISSIONS

 

Contest Guidelines (Deadline extended to April 1st)

Submit up to 8 pages of poetry and/or a short story of up to 25 pages. Submit a separate cover sheet listing name, contact information, title, and genre of submitted work. No names or addresses should appear on the manuscript. Postmark deadline is April 1st, 2011. $20 reading fee per entry (includes one-year subscription). Make checks payable to New Ohio Review.

We are not accepting online submissions for this contest. Please mail all entries and checks to:
New Ohio Review Prize
English Dept. / 360 Ellis Hall
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701

 

General Guidelines

We now also accept online submissions. Click here.

New Ohio Review's contributors receive honoraria of $20/page for prose and $30/page for poetry, $50 minimum, in addition to two copies of the issue and a one-year subscription.

We accept literary submissions in any genre, however we do not accept unsolicited translations. Please do not send more than six poems in a single submission. We do not reprint previously published work.

Our reading period is September 1 to May 1, but we will consider work year-round from subscribers. Please do not submit more than once every six months. Mail submissions to:

New Ohio Review
English Dept.
360 Ellis Hall
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701

Format: Please include a brief cover letter with your submission. Poems should be individually typed, either single- or double-spaced, on one side of the page. Prose should be typed double-spaced on one side and be no longer than thirty pages. Cross-genre work or any work that is unusually formatted is welcome, but please be aware that our page width and font size are restricted. We have no preferences regarding placement of author name, staples, or paper clips. Please do not include submissions in more than one genre in the same envelope.

Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions to other journals are fine as long as you indicate so in your cover letter and inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.

Submissions by mail: All manuscripts and correspondence regarding submissions should be accompanied by a S.A.S.E. For international submissions, please include a stamped International Reply Coupon (I.R.C.) with your S.A.S.E. or provide a valid e-mail address. Manuscripts can only be returned if sufficient postage is included.

Submission withdrawals: For submission withdrawals, both electronic and postal, please contact us at noreditors@ohio.edu.

 

Creative Nonfiction Competition

Submit entries between January 1st - April 1st annually.    Prizes: First Place: $250 + publication in The Baltimore Review Second Place: $100 Third Place: $50 Judges: The Editors of The Baltimore Review Rules: Submit one essay per entry fee. Essays must be original and unpublished elsewhere. All styles and forms are accepted. Maximum word count: 6,000 words. All essays submitted to the contest will also be considered for publication in The Baltimore Review. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but alert us if your essay has been accepted elsewhere; entry fees are not refundable. Send SASE for a list of winners. Submissions should be postmarked by deadline. Format: Essays must be double-spaced, with name, address, phone number and email appearing on the first page. Please staple pages together.   ENTRIES TO THIS ANY ANY CONTEST SHOULD BE SENT VIA POSTAL MAIL AND NOT  VIA OUR ONLINE SYSTEM.   Entry Fee: $10 entry fee for each essay– OR -- pay $15 for contest entry fee as well as a one-year subscription to The Baltimore Review. Make checks payable to The Baltimore Review. Mail to: The Baltimore Review/Creative Nonfiction Competition PO Box 529, Fork MD 21051

Jill Nelson

 

Re-Mixed and Re-Mastered:

Defining and Distributing the Black Image

in the Era of Globalization (Day 1)

April 8, 2011 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.

On Friday, April 8 and Saturday, April 9, this two-day conference examines the largely overlooked impact that different modes of distribution have on content creation and format of works by and for the African American community. The failures of top-down distribution models and the advent of multi-directional communication continue to alter the evolving landscape of available content and its mediums. Central to the conference is the question of how to continue to create and distribute content that challenges the dominant narrative but that maintains its cultural relevancy. The Re-Mixed and Re-Mastered (R2) conference brings media makers, industry professionals, students and scholars of media, and film enthusiasts into a dialogue on increasing and diversifying the global distribution opportunities for media makers of color. This conference is intended to foster and strengthen a networked community committed to enhancing the visibility of high quality, independently produced media from around the world. The weekend will include screenings, panels, and workshops with media makers, cultural critics, and scholars from across the globe, as well as major industry decision makers and artists whose work speaks to issues both inside and outside the mainstream. We will present screenings of recently completed works and works-in-progress across formats, case studies, and DIY distribution techniques, including both firsthand information and alternative representations. Confirmed guest panelists include: key note speaker Jill Nelson (U.S.), renowned author and former Washington Post journalist; Frances Anne Solomon (Trinidad/Canada) of Caribbean Tales Worldwide Distribution; Ava DuVernay (U.S.), director/filmmaker, I Will Follow; Tambay Obenson (Nigeria/U.S.) of Shadow and Act: On Cinema of the African Diaspora; and Thomas Allen Harris (Tanzania/U.S.), award-winning filmmaker/director/producer/writer.  Featured New School faculty members include Sean Jacobs, Michelle Materre, Fabio Parasecoli, Rafael Parra, Martin Roberts, and Tracyann Williams.  The R2 conference’s sponsors include the Office of the Executive Dean, New School for General Studies and Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy; the New School Bachelor’s Program; the New School Department of Media Studies and Film; the New School Graduate Program in International Affairs; the Department of Humanities; and the Office of the Provost, The New School. The event is co-sponsored by Creatively Speaking and Borderline Media.

Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor Admission: Admission: Early registration: $50 before April 1; after April 1, $35 per day; $60 for two days. Free admission for all students with ID; free admission for New School faculty, staff and alumni with ID; $25 flat rate for other university faculty with ID    Box Office Information: In person purchases can be made at The New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, main floor, Monday-Thursday 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., and Friday 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The box office opens the first day of classes and closes after the last paid event of each semester. Reservations and inquiries can be made by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu or calling 212.229.5488 For events scheduled during the summer term, the box office will open one hour before each event. During this period only, reservations can be made using the above contact information.

Chris Abani

On the Stories We Tell About Africa

‘… The problem isn’t really the stories that are being told or which stories are being told. The problem really is the terms of humanity that we’re willing to bring to complicate every story.’

A recent comment from reader Justin Kraus reminds me that I’ve been meaning to post this brilliant talk from Chris Abani. Justin’s comment probably deserves a longer post (which would first dispense with the positive/negative binary), but Abani’s talk gets at just about everything I think about as I encounter “Africa” every day, and then attempt to write about those encounters.

 It’s a couple of years old so you may already have run across it but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again. It’s worth your 19:34.

On another note, Chimamada Ngozi Adichie, another personal favorite (Herman posted her equally important talk on the danger of a single story last year), has been chosen as one of The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” list of fiction writers worth watching, the first such list in more than a decade. I like this (even though we don’t much care for lists around here).