Dr. Cornel West speaks about Art and Culture in a Social Movement
Dr. Cornel West speaks on the importance of Art and Culture in a Social Movement. For more info on getting involved please goto AltoArizona.com
Ocotber 2 2010 at Tonatierra Nahuacalli Embassy of Indigenous People in Phoenix, Arizona. Interviewed and filmed by Ernesto Yerena.
CONTESTS
The annual winner receives a $500 prize and publication in the winter issue of Harpur Palate.
Opens: September 1
Postmark Deadline: November 15
Contest GuidelinesHarpur Palate accepts previously unpublished poems in any style, form, or genre. The $15 entry fee includes a one-year subscription to Harpur Palate. No more than five poems per entry. Please send checks drawn on a U.S. bank or money orders made out to Harpur Palate.
All poems entered will be considered for publication, and all entrants will receive a copy of the issue in which the winning poem appears. Please include a cover letter with your name, address, phone number, e-mail address and poem titles. Entrant's name should only appear on the cover letter and should not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Manuscripts cannot be returned.
Send entries along with fee and SASE to:
The Sow's Ear has two annual contests - the chapbook competition and the poetry competition. Contests are judged by poets with national reputations.
Send all contest submissions to:
Robert G. Lesman, Managing Editor
P.O. Box 127
Millwood, VA 22646
Make checks payable to Sow's Ear Poetry Review.
March-April: CHAPBOOK COMPETITIONAward - Publication, $1000, 25 copies, and distribution to subscribers
Chapbook Competition Guidelines: Open to adults. Send 22-26 pages of poetry plus a title page and a table of contents, all without your name. On a separate sheet list chapbook title, your name, address, phone number, e-mail address if available, and publication credits for submitted poems, if any. No length limit on poems, but no more than one poem on a page. Send in March or April. Postmark deadline May 1st. Simultaneous submission is allowed, but if your chapbook is accepted elsewhere, you must withdraw promptly from our competition. Poems previously published are acceptable if you hold publication rights. Reading fee is $27. Send SASE or e-mail address for notification. Entries will not be returned. The reading fee includes a complimentary one-year subscription to the Review.
September-October: POETRY COMPETITIONAward - $1000, publication, and the option of publication for approximately twenty finalists
Judge in 2010 is X. J. Kennedy.
Poetry Competition Guidelines: Open to adults. Send unpublished poems to the address above. Please DO NOT put your name on poems. Include a separate sheet with poem titles, name, address, phone, and e-mail address if available. No length limit on poems. Simultaneous submission acceptable. (We will check with finalists before sending to final judge.) Send poems in September or October. Postmark deadline Nov. 1st. Include self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) for notification, which we will try to send in January. Entries will not be returned. Entry fee is $27 for up to five poems. The reading fee includes a complimentary one-year subscription to the Review.
† Nonfiction includes humor, memoir, creative nonfiction, travel, opinion, essay, interview, features, investigative reporting, etc.
for our Thirty-first Consecutive Awards for Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction.
Writing competition winners will be published in NMW and on this website.
$1,000 for best Poem
$1,000 for best Fiction
$1,000 for best Nonfiction †
$1,000 for best Short-short Fiction
To apply follow these guidelines
Cover sheet or letter is not required if entering online, as contact information is automatically forwarded to us when you pay. If including such a cover or letter, however, save it to the submission you'll be uploading and send as one file. -->
- No restrictions as to style, content or number of submissions. Enter as often as you like.
- Send between now and midnight of November 17, 2010 (postmark OK).
- Simultaneous & multiple submissions welcome. Previously published material welcome if under 5,000-circulation or if previously published online only.
- Each fiction or nonfiction piece is counted as a separate entry, and should total no more than 6,000 words except Short-Short Fiction (no more than 1,000 words).
- Each poetry entry may include up to three poems, not to exceed five pages total per entry. All poetry Honorable Mentions will be published.
- Save cover sheet or letter with the submission you'll be uploading and send as one file. Should you forget to include such covers, however, it's OK, as contact information is automatically forwarded to us when you pay online.
Payment is $17 per submission in order to cover our many expenses and reserve your book. Apply online:
How to apply offline
- Manuscripts are not returned. Send a business-size SASE (or an IRC if outside the U.S.) for a list of winners or await your book.
- Include $17 check payable to New Millennium Writings to cover our many expenses and reserve your book.
- Include cover letter or title page with name, address, phone and email address.
- Send to "NMW," Room M2, PO Box 2463, Knoxville, TN 37901. Entries should be postmarked on or before November 17, 2010.
Winners of NMW Awards are showcased along with interviews, profiles and tributes to writers such as Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Khaled Hosseini, J. D. Salinger, Julia Glass, Shel Silverstein, George Garrett, Ken Kesey, John Updike, Lee Smith, Cormac McCarthy, Lucille Clifton, Shelby Foote, Paul West, Norman Mailer, Sharyn McCrumb, William Kennedy and tributes to writers for the ages, including Faulkner, Hemingway, Dickinson, Keats, Percy, Warren and others; also prize-winning stories, poems and articles, plus humor, graphic arts and writing advice. Color cover/ 208 pages. See our FAQ page for additional information.
Thanks for your interest and, to those of you who have already applied, thanks for your patience. Feel free to apply more than once.
Lucille Clifton with Quincy Troupe, Conversation, 21 May 1996<p>Lucille Clifton with Quincy Troupe, Conversation, 21 May 1996 from Lannan Foundation on Vimeo.</p>8 months ago: Sun, Feb 21, 2010 7:05pm EST (Eastern Standard Time)Lucille Clifton has published ten books of poetry, including Blessing the Boats, winner of the National Book Award in 2000, The Book of Light, The Terrible Stories, Quilting, Next, and Good Times. Ms. Clifton, who has also written numerous children’s books, received a 1996 Lannan Literary Award for Poetry. She read from The Book of Light and The Terrible Stories on May 21, 1996. Ms. Clifton was interviewed by Quincy Troupe, whose five books of poetry include Avalanche, Weather Reports, and Snake-Back Solos. Ms Clifton died on February 13th, 2010.
This event was recorded in Los Angeles, CA. You may learn more about this and other events on the Lannan website, lannan.org.
Soundtrack for a Revolution Examines the Role of Music in the Civil Rights Movement
When I chose to watch Soundtrack for a Revolution, I was interested in the music. With archival footage and interviews, this newly released DVD traces the civil rights movement from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s first involvement up to his death. Among those interviewed are Coretta Scott King (who shares memories of being in her home with her daughter when it was bombed), Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Harry Belafonte, and a host of civil rights activists.Recently, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an essay that told the story of the grass-roots Woolworth’s lunch counter sit-in; in this uneasy documentary, veterans of that protest share their experiences and old news films give graphic evidence to the brutality southern lawmen felt was necessary to control non-violent protesters . Photographs of the bombing of a freedom riders’ bus startle modern viewers who are too young or too old to remember. Some of the most striking images are found in the mugshots of people--both black and white--who were arrested for participating in movement activities--they were smiling.
Music that served as the Soundtrack for a Revolution ranged from old spirituals (often with new lyrics) to songs that formed as the words were spoken in protest. Guy Carawan is credited with bringing “We Shall Overcome” to the movement, and the stirring renditions shown in this documentary bring tears to one’s eyes.
Particularly interesting--in a weird and scary way--are clips of white people talking about African-Americans like they were wild animals or invaders from another planet (“I’m not used to sitting next to them...”). “Keep Alabama White” posters carried by middle class white men and women seem like artifacts from an evil culture.
Performances by current artists (John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Joss Stone, Blind Boys of Alabama, and more) are woven throughout the story (DVD extras include 41 minutes of performance videos), but the touching moments occur when interviewees remembering their involvement in the movement spontaneously start singing.
“They were asking for it...” was the amazing response of white Mississippians when three voters’ right workers disappeared (they were later found murdered). Soundtrack for a Revolution is a powerful record of a people’s commitment and perseverance in the face of inhuman ignorance, prejudice, and hatred.
It’s nearly impossible to believe that in America people were beaten and murdered because of the color of their skin or their belief in justice and equality. Sadly, the testimony of those who were in places like Selma and Birmingham back in the day are convincing; archival footage and photographs underscore their memories. Scenes of police barbarism (at the will of politicians and the public) sadly negate our self-image of America as the land of the free.
The music featured in Soundtrack for a Revolution is inspirational and moving, but the drama is in the memories of those who were there and the images that support what they remember. This is a film that should be required viewing; share it with your family.
Video: Jay Electronica interview with Out Da Box TV
I don't often post interviews, but Jay Electronica is one of very few artists I actually find myself interested enough in to wonder about. So few artists seem this earnest or honest, I really hope it's real, because that kind of bravery is inspirational. I'm more than happy to wait for an album or more material if it continues to be the same quality and soul-baring music we've heard so far.
Op-Ed Columnist
‘So Utterly Inhumane’
By BOB HERBERT
Published: October 12, 2010
You have to believe that somebody really had it in for the Scott sisters, Jamie and Gladys. They have always insisted that they had nothing to do with a robbery that occurred near the small town of Forest, Miss., on Christmas Eve in 1993. It was not the kind of crime to cause a stir. No one was hurt and perhaps $11 was taken.
Damon Winter/The New York Times
Bob Herbert
_________________________________________
Readers' Comments
Readers shared their thoughts on this article._________________________________________
Jamie was 21 at the time and Gladys just 19. But what has happened to them takes your breath away.
They were convicted by a jury and handed the most draconian sentences imaginable — short of the death penalty. Each was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in state prison, and they have been imprisoned ever since. Jamie is now 38 and seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. Gladys is 36.
This is Mississippi we’re talking about, a place that in many ways has not advanced much beyond the Middle Ages.
The authorities did not even argue that the Scott sisters had committed the robbery. They were accused of luring two men into a trap, in which the men had their wallets taken by acquaintances of the sisters, one of whom had a shotgun.
It was a serious crime. But the case against the sisters was extremely shaky. In any event, even if they were guilty, the punishment is so wildly out of proportion to the offense that it should not be allowed to stand.
Three teenagers pleaded guilty to robbing the men. They ranged in age from 14 to 18. And in their initial statements to investigators, they did not implicate the Scott sisters.
But a plea deal was arranged in which the teens were required to swear that the women were involved, and two of the teens were obliged, as part of the deal, to testify against the sisters in court.
Howard Patrick, who was 14 at the time of the robbery, said that the pressure from the authorities to implicate the sisters began almost immediately. He testified, “They said if I didn’t participate with them, they would send me to Parchman and make me out a female.”
He was referring to Mississippi State Prison, which was once the notoriously violent Parchman prison farm. The lawyer questioning the boy said, “In other words, they would send you to Parchman and you would get raped, right?”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said.
The teens were sentenced to eight years in prison each, and they were released after serving just two years.
This is a case that should be repugnant to anyone with the slightest interest in justice. The right thing to do at this point is to get the sisters out of prison as quickly as possible and ensure that Jamie gets proper medical treatment.
A number of people have taken up the sisters’ cause, including Ben Jealous, the president of the N.A.A.C.P., who is trying to help secure a pardon from Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi. “It makes you sick to think that this sort of thing can happen,” he said. “That these women should be kept in prison until they die — well, that’s just so utterly inhumane.”
I have no idea why the authorities were so dead set on implicating the Scott sisters in the crime and sending them away for life, while letting the teens who unquestionably committed the robbery get off with much lighter sentences.
Life sentences for robbery can only be imposed by juries in Mississippi, but it is extremely rare for that sentencing option to even be included in the instructions given to jurors. It’s fair to think, in other words, that there would have to be some extraordinary reason for prosecutors and the court to offer such a draconian possibility to a jury.
Chokwe Lumumba, a lawyer representing the sisters, captured the prevailing legal sentiment when he said: “I don’t think Mississippi law anticipates that you’re going to be giving this instruction in a case where nobody gets hurt and $11 is allegedly stolen. In the majority of robbery cases, even the ones that are somewhat nasty, they don’t read that instruction.”
The reason for giving the jury the option of imposing life sentences in this case escapes me. Even the original prosecutor, Ken Turner, who is now retired and who believes the sisters were guilty, has said that he thinks it would be “appropriate” to offer them relief from their extreme sentences. He told The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., “It was not a particularly egregious case.”
The appeals process for the women has long since been exhausted. It is up to Governor Barbour, who is considering petitions on the sisters’ behalf, to do the humane thing.
A pardon or commutation of sentence — some form of relief that would release Jamie and Gladys Scott from the hideous shackles of a lifetime in prison — is not just desirable, it’s absolutely essential.
What You Won't Do For Love
Old Friend
In A Sentimental Mood
Take The 'A' Train
Living All Alone
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