New York, NY – With nothing but a mic and their powerful voices, over 500 of New York City’s hottest teen spoken word poets will rant, rap and recite their OWN ORIGINAL WORK over 10 nights in February/March for an opportunity to compete at the 10th Annual Urban Word NYC Teen Poetry Slam Finals on March 1^st at Washington Irving High School, in front of 1,500 fans and supporters. Hip-Hop Legend, Afrika Bambaataa, will be honored alongside MC K~Swift and Tahani Salah. Def Poets and other surprise guests are expected, along with beats by DJ Reborn.

10^th Annual Urban Word NYC Grand Slam Final:

Saturday March 1^st 7PM @ Washington Irving High School (40 Irving Place)

Honorees: Afrika Bambaataa, MC K~Swift & Tahani Salah, DJ Reborn

Tickets available at www.urbanwordnyc.org or 212-352-3495 and at door.

Hip Hop Congress will be holding its 6th annual conference in Athens, OH from July 4th to July 8th. Hip Hop Congress is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization and international grassroots network whose mission is to unite, educate, and empower individuals.

We utilize Hip Hop to inspire civic action and cultural creativity within the community. Hip Hop Congress has over 35 chapters throughout the country and works with artists, organizers, promoters and a host of other institutions and organizations. Hip Hop Congress is involved in education, culture, politics, social justice and industry.

This year’s national conference, co sponsored with our partners Unite Here, SPAN, and Hip-Hop Association (H2A), will continue to develop a national service infrastructure for HHC with a variety of other national organizations, student groups, artists and partners. This means working with more students, more artists and more communities. Workshops will include not only intensive sessions on the initial four elements of hip hop but also interactive discussions on Health Care, International Hip Hop, Hip Hop and Education, Women in Hip Hop, Event Planning, the Recording Industry, Youth Violence and much more. In addition, each night there will be showcase featuring independent acts. Performers that have participated in Hip Hop Congress events in previous years are Ghostface, Brother Ali, Zion I, Percee P, Living Legends, Jurassic 5, Tha Jacka, DJ Crucial, Common Market, and All Natural Inc.

We are extending an open invitation to our peers in Hip Hop activism, such as The Zulu Nation, The Temple of Hip Hop, Hip Hop Caucus, Mississippi Artists and Producers Coalition, Hip Hop Action Summit Network, to join us in Athens.  We also want to encourage and invite not only artists, organizers and friends of the organization from all over the country but also anyone with a desire to push hip hop, education, and society forward. With such an explosive year on the national and international front, this year’s conference plans to be a charged event with ripples that will be felt throughout the country.

Registration and officially schedule for this conference will be announced in the coming weeks. If you are interested in participating in workshops, performances, as a sponsor or supporter, please contact PR Chair Aaron Berkowitz at 314-809-2502 or email Berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com.

-Aaron Berkowitz - Hip Hop Congress - www.hiphopcongress.com - 314-809-2502

Call For Contributors ? The Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature



Contributors are sought for a reference work that will be published by

Greenwood Press in 2008.



The work, tentatively titled,  The Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature,

will consist of approximately 200 entries.  Each entry will vary in

length from 500-3000 words.  The entire volume will be approximately

180,000 words or 400 pages and will be illustrated.



If interested please send an email indicating your 1st, 2nd and 3rd

choice of preferred entries; institutional affiliation and status;

telephone numbers; preferred email address; and mailing address to

tstanley@spelman.edu. Contributors are encouraged to write multiple

entries.



Confirmation of assigned entries, a sample entry, guidelines and a

description of the work will be mailed to all contributors. Once

participation and entry choices are confirmed each contributor will

receive a contract from Greenwood Press.  All participants will receive a

copy of the reference work as an honorarium.



Entries are due May 30, 2007.



Post queries should be sent to:



Tarshia L. Stanley, Ph.D.

Department of English

Box 745

Spelman College

Atlanta GA  30314

404-270-5578

tstanley@spelman.edu



Entry List and Length:



1.     Addicted (500)

2.     Adolescent Literature and Primers  (1000)

3.     Afeni Shakur: Evolution of a Revolutionary  (500)

4.     African American/Black Pulp Fiction (2500)

5.     African American Literature    (2500)

6.     Angry Blonde  (see Eminem)

7.     Autobiography of Malcolm Ex, The  (1000)

8.     Banks, L. A. (500)

9.     Baisden, Michael (500)

10.     Barrino, Fantasia (500)

11.     Beck, Robert   (see Iceberg Slim)

12.     Best American Hip-Hop Journalism of the Last 25 Years, The

(500)

13.     Between God and Gangsta Ra: Bearing Witness to Black Culture

(500)

14.     Blaxploitation (Era, Film, Literature) (2500)

15.     Black Book Clubs  (1500)

16.     Black Girl Magazine (see Kenya J. James)

17.     Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America

(750)

18.     Black Popular Culture (750)

19.     Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New

Racism (750)

20.     Billingsley, ReShonda Tate (500)

21.     Brothers Gonna Work It Out: Sexual Politics in the Golden Age of

Rap Nationalism (500)

22.     Brown, Cupcake (500)

23.     Brown, Perry ?Ebonysatin?  (500)

24.     Bulletproof Diva: Tales of Race, Sex and Hair (500)  (see Lisa

Jones)

25.     Business of Publishing Hip Hop Literature, The  (2500)

26.     Bynoe, Yvonne (750)

27.     Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation (500)

28.     Chang, Jeff (750)

29.     Check It While I Wreck It Black: Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and

the Public Sphere (750)

30.     Chedeya,  Farai (750)

31.     Cheekes, Shonda (500)

32.     Cheetah Girls  (1000)

33.     Chuck D.  (750)

34.     Coldest Winter Ever, The  (2000)

35.     College Courses in Hip Hop Literature  (1500)

36.     Collins, Patricia Hill  (750)

37.     Confessions of a Video Vixen  (see Karrine Steffans)

38.     Cobb, William Jelani  (750)

39.     Davis, Anthony C. (500)

40.     Dickey, Eric Jerome  (750)

41.     Diggs, Anita Doreen (500)

42.     Dopefiend: The Story of a Black Junkie (750)

43.     Draper, Sharon (500)

44.     Dying Ground, The  (500)

45.     Dyson, Michael Eric (750)

46.     E.A.R.L. The Autobiography of DMX  (500)

47.     Eminem (750)

48.     Encyclopedia of Rap and Hip Hop Culture (750)

49.     Fabulosity  (500)

50.     Forman, Murray (500)

51.     From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens

(500)

52.     From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry

Across the Americas, 1900-2002  (500)

53.     Flake, Sharon D. (500)

54.     Flyy Girl (500)

55.     Gangsta? Lit ( see Urban Fiction)

56.     George, Nelson (750)

57.     Girls from Da Hood (500)

58.     Giovanni, Nikki (750)

59.     Goines, Donald (2500)

60.     G-Unit Publishing (750)

61.     Haunting of Hip Hop , The (500)

62.     Hardrick, Jackie (500)

63.     Harris, E. Lynn (750)

64.     Hip Hop America   (500)

65.     Hip Hop Autobiography (2000)

66.     Hip Hop Biography (1500)

67.     Hip Hop Blogs  (1000)

68.     Hip Hop Comics (1000)

69.     Hip Hop Culture  (3000)

70.     Hip Hop Detective/Mystery Fiction (500)

71.     Hip Hop Erotica  (1500)

72.     Hip Hop Film  (2500)

73.     8 mile  (500)

74.     Baby Boy  (500)

75.     Beat Street (750)

76.     Belly   (500)

77.     Breakin? (500)

78.     Brown Sugar   (500)

79.     Boyz N the Hood  (750)

80.     Hustle and Flow  (750)

81.     Just Another Girl on the IRT  (500)

82.     Menace II Society  (500)

83.     Krush Groove  (750)

84.     Hip Hop Gay/Lesbian Fiction (500)

85.     Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in

African-American Culture (500)

86.     Hip Hop Graphic Novels (500)

87.     Hip Hop Operas/Hip Hoperas  (500)

88.     Hip Hop Horror Fiction    (500)

89.     Hip-Hop, Inc.: Success Strategies of the Rap Moguls    (500)

90.     Hip Hop Literature (3000)

91.     Hip Hop Music      (2500)

92.     Hip Hop Vernacular  (1500)

93.     Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur (750)

94.     Holmes, Shannon (500)

95.     Honey Magazine    (500)

96.     Hooks, bell    (1000)

97.     Hopkinson, Natalie  (500)

98.     How to Succeed in the Publishing Game   (500)

99.     Hunt, La Jill (500)

100.     Iceberg Slim (2500)

101.     I Make My Own Rules   (500)

102.     Iceberg Slim: The Life as Art   (500)

103.     In the Midst of It All   (500)

104.     Invisibility Blues     (500)

105.     James, Kenya Jordana (750)

106.     Jones, Lisa   (750)

107.     Jones, Sarah   (750)

108.     Jones, Shannon   (500)

109.     Kelly, Robin D. G.    (750)

110.     Kelly, Norman     (500)

111.     Kennedy, Erica   (500)

112.     Alicia Keys (500)

113.     Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Black Woman (See Queen

Latifah)

114.     Let That Be the Reason  (500)

115.     Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money, and God  (500)

116.     Love Don?t Live Here No More  (500)

117.     Low Road: The Life and Legacy of Donald Goines (500)

118.     Life is Not a Fairy Tale (see Fantasia Barrino)

119.     Literary Criticism  (2000)

120.     Literary Fiction  (2000)

121.     Manchild in the Promised Land (750)

122.     Medina, Tony (500)

123.     Makes Me Wanna Holler: A Young Black Man in America (500)

124.     Moments, the Minutes, the Hours: The Poetry of Jill Scott  (see

Jill Scott)

125.     Moore, Jessica Care     (750)

126.     Moore, Natalie (500)

127.     Moore, Stephanie Perry (750)

128.     Morgan, Joan  (1500)

129.     Myers, Walter Dean  (1000)

130.     Naked Soul of Iceberg Slim, The    (500)

131.     Neal, Mark Anthony (1000)

132.     No Disrespect   (500)

133.     Old School Books Publishing Company (500)

134.     Other Men?s Wives  (500)

135.     Pimp: The Story of My Life  (1000)

136.     Pen, Queen (500)

137.     Perry, Imani (500)

138.     Postmodernism (1500)

139.     Powell, Kevin  (750)

140.     Precocioustymes Entertainment  (500)

141.     Prisoner?s Wife, The  (500)

142.     Push (500)

143.     Queen of the Scene  (500)

144.     Reed, Ishmael (750)

145.     Representing: Hip Hop Culture and the Production of Black Cinema

(500)

146.     Richardson, Elaine (500)

147.     Right On Magazine  (500)

148.     Rivera, Raquel Z. (500)

149.     Rose that Grew from Concrete, The (see Tupac Shakur)

150.     Robinson, Cheryl (500)

151.     Roby, Kimberla Lawson (500)

152.     Rose, Tricia (750)

153.     Sapphire (see Push)

154.     Sanchez, Sonia (1500)

155.     Scott-Heron, Gil (1500)

156.     Scott, Jill  (500)

157.     Shakur, Tupac  (2000)

158.     Simmons, Russell (1500)

159.     Sister to Sister Magazine  (500)

160.     Slim, Iceberg  (2000)

161.     Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic

(500)

162.     Souljah, Sister (1500)

163.     Source Magazine  (500)

164.     Speculative Fiction (750)

165.     Spoken Word Movement (2000)

166.     Steffans, Karrine  (750)

167.     Strebor Books (500)

168.     Street Fiction  (see Urban Fiction)

169.     Street Sweeper (500)

170.     Stringer, Vickie  (500)

171.     Taylor, Carol  (500)

172.     Tears for Water   (see Alicia Keys)

173.     Teen Literature    (1500)

174.     That?s the Joint: The Hip Hop Studies Reader   (500)

175.     ?The Revolution Will Not be Televised?    (see Gil Scott-Heron)

176.     Theatrical Productions (Hip Hop Stage Plays)  (750)

177.     Thomas, Brenda L.  (500)

178.     Triple Crown Publications  (500)

179.     Turner, Nikki  (500)

180.     Tyree, Omar    (750)

181.     Urban Books Publishing Company  (500)

182.     Urban Fiction  (1500)

183.     Vampire Huntress Series (see L.A. Banks)

184.     Vibe Magazine  (500)

185.     Vixen Magazine   (500)

186.     Wallace, Michele   (750)

187.     Weber, Carl     (500)

188.     Web Presence (websites, e-books, etc.)   (1000)

189.     What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and  Black Public

Culture

190.     When Chicken Heads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop  Feminist

Breaks It Down (750)

191.     Whoreson: The Story of a Ghetto Pimp (750)

192.     White Chocolate (500)

193.     Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wangstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and

the New Reality of  Race in America  (500)

194.     Williams, Saul  (750)

195.     Word Up Magazine  (500)

196.     Who?s Gonna Take The Weight? Manhood, Race, and Power in America

(500)

197.     Williams, KaShamba (500)

198.     Williams, Wendy  (750)

199.     Woods, Teri  (500)

200.     XXL Magazine (500)

201.     Zane (200

1st Annual It’s All About M.E.E. Festival – A Celebration of Media, Expression and Education
Sponsored by SoonR, African Ancestry, St. Martin Press, The Ave Magazine, and The Institute for Urban Education at New School University

The It’s All About M.E.E. (Media, Expression, and Education) Festival is a 3-day multi-media celebration taking place from February 23–25, 2007. It’s All About M.E.E combines the best of our Freshest Youth Program, the Urban Word NYC Poetry Slam Final, and the Hip-Hop Education Summit [H2Ed].

Over 15 community arts and media organizations will participate in the celebration, representing cities like San Jose, Oakland, L.A., Chicago and DC, as well as countries like Mongolia, Brazil & Canada. Workshop Facilitators include Full Circle, The Grassroots Artists MovEment (G.A.ME), Beatbox Entertainment, What’s the 411 Initiative, Words Beats and Life, and Hip-Hop Congress. Special celebrity guests include Roxanne Shante, Doug E. Fresh, and Pharoahe Monch, as well as notable Educators and community leaders such as Jeff Duncan-Andrade, Tamara Dawit, Professor Dave Stoval, Mark Gonzales, Ora Wise, Lavie Raven, and Professor Andrew Ryan will engage in dialogue and workshops. In addition to three days of programming, the Hip-Hop Association will celebrate the official release of the Hip-Hop Education Guidebook: Volume 1, a comprehensive tool for those interested in Hip-Hop Education.
“Finally, a book that deftly (and def-ly) chronicles the history, development and practice of Hip-Hop-In-Education, and more importantly- Hip-Hop AS education. If education is not one of the first ten elements of Hip-Hop, then nobody in Hip-Hop is keepin’ it real except teachers.”

–Danny HochWriter, Actor, Founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival

“Teachers have no other choice but to learn how to use Hip Hop in the classroom. It’s the language of the children. They have to respect the culture of Hip-Hop.”

–Talib Kweli, Hip-Hop artist
“The H2Ed Guidebook places Hip Hop as not only today’s most important media-artistic influence, but also in its rightful place as the most relevant social, political and cultural phenomena of our time. It is critical and analytical, instructional and intellectual, and thus provides our school community a variety of ways to think about and act upon our lives. It has become a foundational resource in our classrooms.”

–James O’Brien, Ph.D & Principal | Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School (BCAM)

Sponsors of the 1st Annual It’s All About M.E.E. Festival include SoonR, African Ancestry, St. Martin Press, The Ave Magazine, and The Institute for Urban Education at New School University. For more information and registration visit www.h2ed.net/itsallaboutmee.

Contact:

212.500.5970
press@hiphopassociation.org

About the Hip-Hop Association:

The Hip-Hop Association (H2A) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) community building organization with national headquarters in Harlem. Our mission is to utilize Hip-Hop culture as a tool to facilitate critical technology, education, and leadership development; while preserving Hip-Hop culture for future generations. For more information visit www.hiphopassociation.org.

About Urban Word NYC:

Urban Word NYC ignited the youth spoken word and poetry scene in New York City when it was established in partnership with Teachers & Writers Collaborative in 1999. Since then, Urban Word NYC has provided thousands of New York City teenagers with free, safe, ongoing, and uncensored writing and performance opportunities. Urban Word believes teenagers can and must speak for themselves and the key to building self-confidence, honing critical thinking skills, and developing imaginative and honest writing is to honor what they say and feel. For more information, please visit www.urbanwordnyc.org.

About BCAM:

Brooklyn Community Arts & Media High School provides students a small, personalized learning environment with school, family, and the surrounding Brooklyn and citywide community in a collaborative educational partnership. We offer an exciting and challenging college preparatory academic curriculum and a professional focus in leading communications, arts, and media fields, in a culture wherein students are encouraged to develop individual responsibility, social awareness, self-expression, collective action, and discipline. Through this three-dimensional notion of high school, BCAM students gain the academic, professional, and social skills to enter a range of college and professional opportunities, and most importantly, succeed in this high stakes 21st Century.

Peace
Hip-Hop Theater Festival Insiders:

The new year brings much for us to look forward to at The Hip-Hop
Theater Festival. This spring launches our 2007 Hip-Hop Theater Festival
season, with relevant and vital work presented in Chicago, the San
Francisco Bay Area, New York City and Washington, D.C. This year,
you’ll see many familiar names and faces bringing their work to full
fruition. We’re excited and proud of the growth and development of
these pieces, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of
the Hip-Hop Theater Festival community. Thank you! Below are the 2007
Festival dates, so mark your calendars now!

In the meantime, HHTF continues to work in New York City public schools,
and HHTF On-Tour brings contemporary Hip-Hop theater to cities all
over the country. Please read below for Jerry Quickley’s Live from
the Front tour dates, and how you can submit you work for HHTF 2007.

It’s unmistakable. The Hip-Hop Theater Festival is about to explode.
Hold on and stay tuned, and as always, visit us at www.hiphoptheaterfest.org.

 

Hip-Hop Theater Festival Call for Submissions

The
Hip-Hop Theater Festival is now accepting submissions for its upcoming
festival season. We are seeking ensemble plays, solo works,
dance-theater and inter-disciplinary theater works. We are accepting
works for consideration for our festivals in: New York, The Bay Area,
Chicago, and Washington D.C.

For an application and complete guidelines, please email submissions@hiphoptheaterfest.org. A $25 fee is required per submission. Applications will be accepted from December 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007.

 

Dates Announced for Hip-Hop Theater Festival 2007

Chicago

May 1 - May 5, 2007

Museum of Contemporary Arts and Columbia College

After a tremendously successful inaugural launch in May 2006, HHTF
returns to Chicago in 2007 with Jerry Quickley’s Live from the Front,
directed by Reg E. Gaines. The Chicago festival will also present
a new works reading series featuring local theater companies and solo
artists.

San Francisco Bay Area

May 10 - May 20, 2007

La Pena Cultural Center and YBCA Theater

HHTF will build on its partnerships with two local Bay Area organizations:
Youth Speaks and La Pena Cultural Center. The anchor work in the Festival
is Representa! The New World of Hip-Hop by playwright/performance
artist Paul Flores. Additional works presented in the Bay Area include
Jerry Quickley’s Live from the Front, and a new work by the Suicide
Kings, directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

New York City

June 5 - June 10, 2007

Dance Theater Workshop

The New York Festival will present the premiere of oLive Dance Theater’s
Brotherly Love, which is being developed as part of HHTF’s Critical
Breaks Workshop Series. The Festival will also include a week-long
staged reading series featuring local as well as national artists.
Finally, HHTF is collaborating with 651 Arts and Dance Theater Workshop
to support their Premiere Presentation of Marc Bamuthi’s Joseph’s
Scourge, directed by HHTF’s Artistic Director Kamilah Forbes.

Washington, D.C.

July 9 - July 14, 2007

The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts and The Studio Theatre

The Washington, D.C. Festival will open with the D.C. premiere of
Jerry Quickley’s Live from the Front. The D.C. Festival will include
an extensive staged reading series featuring Washington, D.C.-based
artists, and several solo and ensemble pieces. Outreach efforts will
target the Southeast and Northeast D.C., two historically underserved
areas of the city, to engage local youth with workshops and arrange
for them to attend the Festival at both the Kennedy Center and Studio
Theatre. HHTF’s collaboration with the D.C. Commission on the Arts
and Humanities allows free admission for all events to the Washington,
D.C. Hip-Hop Theater Festival.

 

On the Outs on Showtime

ON THE OUTS is a provocative, hard-hitting look at three young girls
from the same neighborhood who make all the wrong choices for reasons
even they don’t understand. A fictional hip-hop film based on real
stories of girls from the streets and juvenile jail who lent their
voices and unique stories to the filmmakers, ON THE OUTS represents
girls everywhere who struggle with all of the highs and lows of teenage
life in an inner-city world that makes its own rules. Screened at
Hip-Hop Theater Festivals and film festivals across the nation, this
award-winning film is not to be missed.

When to see On the Outs

Showtime: Saturday, Jan 20 10 PM

Showtime Showcase: Sunday, Jan 21 11 PM

Showtime Too: Monday, Jan 22 10 PM

Showtime Showcase: Wednesday, Jan 24 11 PM

Showtime: Thursday, Jan 25 9:30 PM

For more information on On the Outs, visit www.ontheouts.com

 

Live from the Front by Jerry Quickley

Don’t miss your chance to witness award-winning poet, storyteller
and political activist Jerry Quickley in his compelling if not enraging
work of Hip-Hop theater, Live from the Front. This one-man show brings
us to Iraq in the days before and during “shock and awe”
to cover the then-pending war for KPFK and the Pacifica Radio Network.
He brings that unique insight to Live from the Front, combining music,
poetry, video and powerful performance style to tell the story of
his travels to, and ultimate expulsion from, Iraq at the beginning
of this conflict.

Live from the Front

Written and Performed by Jerry Quickley

DATES:

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7 PM & 9:20 PM

Hopkins Center Loew Auditorium

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

http://hop.dartmouth.edu/2006-07/070117-quickley.html

The 7 PM event is SOLD OUT to the public.

Tickets are still available to Dartmouth Students only..



Wednesday, February 7, 2007 8 PM

Dinkelspiel Auditorium

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

http://livelyarts.stanford.edu/event.php?code=JERR



Saturday, April 14, 2007

The Warhol Museum

Pittsburgh, PA

http://www.warhol.org

Friday, May 11 & Saturday, May 12, 2007 8 PM

Yerba Buena Center for Arts, San Francisco, CA

http://www.ybca.org/b_ybca.html

 

---

Hip-Hop Theater Festival

57 Thames Street. #4B

Brooklyn, New York 11237

clyde@hiphoptheaterfest.org

http://www.hiphoptheaterfest.org





Founded in 2000, The Hip-Hop Theater Festival continues to invigorate
the fields of theater and Hip-Hop by: nurturing the creation of innovative
work within the Hip-Hop aesthetic; presenting and touring American
and international artists whose work addresses the issues relevant
to the Hip-Hop generation; and serving young, urban communities through
outreach and education that celebrates contemporary language and culture.

13 DAYS of Self-Love 2/1-2/13!!

In Honor of the 1 Year Anniversary of The Self-love Holiday!

Celebrate the 13 days of Self-Love for our first
year
anniversary of the Sisters’ Sanctuary
Worldwide Self-Love
Day. February
13, 2006 was the official launch of The Sisters’
Sanctuary Self-Love
Movement. Feb. 1, 2007 will began the awesome 13
Day celebration. Share this great celebration
throughout
the community to encourage self-love, unconditional
love
and healing energy.

The 13th Day of every month was declared the day
for women all over the world to
celebrate themselves.

Why?

Various sources
suggest
the number 13 was purposely vilified or feared
(triskaidekaphobia) by the founders of patriarchal
religions in the early days of western civilization
because it represented femininity. Under patriarchal
rule, women are controlled, suppressed, exploited
and dehumanized. E.g. using the woman’s body as a
sex object to sell everything from cars, to alcohol, to
shaving cream.

Thirteen had been revered in matrifocial cultures,
allegedly, because it corresponded to the number of
lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year (13 x 28 = 364
days). The Lunar calendar is believed to be the first
measurement of time. This 13- month calendar was
later replaced by the solar calendar (12 months).

The 13th day of every
month should be a reminder of our sacredness, our
divinity and our power to positively affect the future
of humanity by nurturing, honoring, and valuing
ourselves to better mold and shape our youth.

We encourage you to begin your 13 days of
Self-Love Celebration on Feb. 1 with:

• Day 1: Tell yourself you are beautiful 13
times.

• Day 2: Spend at least $13 on yourself if you can,
investing in something that makes you smile.

• Day 3: Find 13 things you love about you and
celebrate them wholeheartedly.

• Day 4: Make a card and give it to your mother,
daughter, niece, and or mentee telling 13 things
that you love about her.

• Day 5: Find 13 Areas of improvement in your life
and take one step closer to betterment.

• Day 6: For 13 minutes do something that you
enjoy and love every minute of it.

• Day 7: Encourage 13 people to get an HIV
test for BLACK AIDS DAY.

• Day 8: The number 13 doesn’t divide. Think,
Pray, and or meditate, about your vision, of unity
among women young, and old for at least 13
minutes.

• Day 9: List 13 things you want to do
or accomplish before leaving this earth.

• Day 10: What are the 13 greatest moments
in your life, share them with someone you
love.

• Day 11: Compile your greatest hit list and
listen to them. (List 13)

• Day 12: Find 13 things that you love to
wear and wear them, i.e. clothes, accessories, and
body products.

• Day 13: Come out and celebrate with us, on our
1st year Anniversary of The Self- Love Day Holiday
in
Philadelphia at Temple University Anderson Hall
Atrium 6-9pm 1114 Berks. $13 Celebrate HER Now!
Books, Free Self-Love Gifts, Rose Petal Blessings and
Much More.

Remember, before we can truly love anyone else we
must be willing to embrace, celebrate and our
love ourselves.

Sincerely,

http://www.celebratehernow.com

Sisters’ Sanctuary

CITYarts, the Award Winning Youth Public Arts Organization, Announces Its Newest Project

“Safe Spaces” Mural at Claremont Park in the Bronx, as part of the
ENGAGING GRAFFITI KIDS in CREATION, NOT DESTRUCTION MURAL PROGRAM

CITYarts is transforming the walls surrounding Claremont Pool in Claremont Park in the Bronx into an urban oasis. The program began mid-July with workshops designed to engage local youth in conversations about the effects of graffiti and the issues concerning them and their community. Under the guidance of professional artists, the youth are creating a mural inspired by those conversations. Painting of the mural, entitled “Safe Spaces,” will continue through September.

“This mural project is the first under CITYarts’ ‘Engaging Graffiti Kids in Creation, not Destruction’ program. We will create murals in each of the five boroughs, giving youth a chance to contribute positively to their community,” said Tsipi Ben-Haim, Executive and Artistic Director.

Artists Kathleena Howie-Garcia and Ellis Gallagher were selected for the project. Gallagher (©Ellis G.) is a former graffiti artist “who is now keeping his art on the right side of the law,” (NY Times, 12/10/05). Howie-Garcia (Lady K-Fever) currently teaches art at the Bronx Museum. The artists’ combined experience and mentorship is directing impressionable youth into productively channeling their creativity.

Founded in 1968, CITYarts’ mission is to empower youth by bringing them together with professional artists to create public art that addresses civic and social issues, impacts their lives, and transforms their communities. CITYarts has sponsored and facilitated more than 260 projects to date working with over 500 artists and 10,000 young people to date.

Each project aims to create public art where participation in the arts is limited; to develop social, artistic and educational skills for children in underserved communities; to reduce youth violence by creating positive alternatives to the street; to engage youth in discussion on issues that affect them, their communities, and the world; to promote understanding of ethnic and racial diversity; to encourage community pride; to kick off economic development and neighborhood revitalization; and to provide employment for professional artists.  Every project brings pride to its creators and vigor to its surroundings, kicking off economic development, new playgrounds, and youth programs.

CITYarts, Inc.
www.cityarts.org

Words. Images. Art & Design
www.ladykfever.com

The Hip Hop Congress announces its support for Snoop Dogg in his
recent efforts to use music to stem gang violence in his home region
of Southern California. With 5 chapters and an artist coalition in the
Southern California region, the Hip Hop Congress hopes to help Snoop’s
efforts by continuing to promote positive hip hop events that help to
educate all people in the Southern California region about the
positive aspects of Hip Hop.

In the video Snoop plays a black gang leader opposite of B Real’s
Mexican gang. During the course of the video, Snoop plays peacemaker
and attempts to stop the violence.

Snoop has been quoted as saying, “There’s a lot of negativity in
southern California with the blacks and the Mexicans, so what I wanted
to do was put a video together to show some love and bring us
together. Music brings everybody together, so that’s what I’m doing -
using my music as a peaceful tool right now.”

Hip Hop Congress, the largest national Hip Hop organization, is
calling for artists across the country to use their music in similar
methods to influence the world hip hop community. Shamako Noble,
president of Hip Hop Congress, recently stated, “Black and Brown unity
has been central to the moral, political and economic progress of the
country since its inception. People in Hip Hop criticize Snoop Dogg
for his lyrics, but we commend him for taking such a bold step in
bringing peace to the streets.”

Amer Ahmed, the Chair of International Development, was also quoted
“Hip Hop is in huge need of the social issues of our generation to be
addressed by those with the most prominent and visible positions in
our community.  We appreciate the efforts made in this video to
address the socio-cultural challenges we face including damage created
from violence and hatred across Black and Brown communities.”

The Hip Hop Congress is a 501 (c) 3 Non Profit Corporation that uses
hip hop culture to inspire social and civic action and cultural
creativity amongst young people.

For more information about Hip Hop Congress, please contact Aaron
Berkowitz at Berkowitz@hiphopcongress.com

–
www.hiphopcongress.com