Monday, October 31, 2005
Will the Big Apple Honor America's Most Significant & Beautiful Political Activist of Our Time?
On Caribbean news website Hardbeatnews.com it was reported that Jamaican-American Councilmember Yvette Clarke, (D-Brooklyn), wants an official Rosa Parks Commemoration Day for the Big Apple.
The article said "... Councilmember Clarke, along with Councilmember Charles arron (D-Brooklyn), will jointly introduce the resolution calling for the day to be commemorated on Dec. 1, the day some 50 years ago when Parks simple, non-violent act of refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Alabama, helped put an end to legalized segregation in the United States.
Should the resolution be passed, the Council will declare that December 1st shall annually be observed as Rosa Parks Commemoration Day in New York City.
Councilmember Barron initially introduced the resolution for the Rosa Parks Commemoration Day several weeks ago. Upon Mrs. Parks’ death, Councilmember Clarke introduced a resolution calling upon the City Council to honor Parks’ life and legacy. The two resolutions were joined and also supported by other councilmembers - Bill Perkins (D-Harlem), Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn) and Letitia James (D-Brooklyn).
[Clarke's] request, which will be officially introduced as a resolution to the New York City Council soon, comes as a nation bids final farewell to the civil rights icon, whose body lies under the soaring dome of the Capitol Rotunda for public viewing. She will be laid to rest in Detroit on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, President Bush yesterday ordered that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff on Wednesday, the day Parks is buried, throughout the United States and its territories and at all foreign consuls and missions until sunset. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, members of Congress and scores of Americans filed past Parks’ casket as it lay in the Rotunda yesterday.
She is the first woman to lie in honor in the Rotunda, sharing an honor bestowed upon Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and other national leaders.
Public viewings resume today from 7 a.m. through 10 a.m. Parks, 92, passed away on Oct. 24. 2005...."
Thursday, October 13, 2005
2005: H2O [Hip-Hop Odyssey] International Film Festival and H2Ed [Hip-Hop Education] Summit
Running from November 6–12, The H2O International Film Festival is a seven-day event with the Opening Gala at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and 6 days of screenings at the ImaginAsian Theater in NYC. This year’s theme, “PEACE, LOVE, UNITY & HAVING FUN!” highlights the Hip-Hop community of the late 80’s and early 90’s: a time when the community took action against injustice. The festival will show over seventy-five films including Bling: Consequences & Repercussions (Narrated by Chuck D, USA/Sierra Leone), BEEF 3 (USA), Hip-Hop Colony (Ghana), Testimonio II (Columbia),etc. etc.
Highlights from past years have included Kanye West coming straight off of a plane to perform “Jesus Walks” for a rapt audience way back in 2003. He shared that he’d been mulling over a song that he was trying to write lyrics for - - this fall’s smash hit “Gold Digger.” Appearances at previous years’ film festivals have included Melvin Van Peebles, Jessy Terrero (director of music videos for Sean Paul and Angie Martinez) and Loira Limbal (director of Estillo Hip-Hop, a documentary about Caribbean and South American hip-hop culture).
