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March 24, 2008
of note
La Habana,Cuba, 2004 � julien de bock. juldeb@gmail.com
of note is
a weekly publication celebrating the arts, culture, and history of our
distinct, yet, intersecting diasporas. It is a space where art meets activism, empowerment, and social
responsibility.
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Celia
Through May 25
Celia takes the audience on a musical journey through the life and music of singer Celia Cruz from her humble beginnings in Cuba to international stardom. Featuring most of Celia's greatest hits and told through the eyes of Pedro Knight, Celia's husband, audiences will experience the Celia that few people knew but millions loved.
This musical version of the life and music of Celia Cruz will undoubtedly seal her status as the "Queen of Salsa" and "La Guarachera de Cuba." With a formidable sixty-year career that ended in New York, three time Grammy and four time Latin Grammy Award-winner Celia Cruz is indisputably one of Latin music's most important and unforgettable vocalists, and perhaps the most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture in the world.
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New World Stages
Stage 2
340 West 50th Street
btw 8th & 9th Avenues
New York, NY 10019
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Savoring the Salt:
Celebrating the Life of Toni Cade Bambara
Tuesday, March 25 @ 7:30 pm
 The extraordinary spirit of Toni Cade Bambara lives on in Savoring the Salt, a vibrant and appreciative recollection of the work and legacy of the multi-talented African American writer, teacher, filmmaker, cultural worker, and activist. Among the contributors who remember Bambara, reflect on her work, and examine its meaning today are Toni Morrison, Amiri Baraka, Pearl Cleage, Ruby Dee, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Nikki Giovanni, Avery Gordon, Audre Lorde, and Sonia Sanchez.
Join us for a book party discussion as contributors remember Bambara's legacy on what would have been her 69th birthday.
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The Brecht Forum
451 West Street
btw Bank & Bethune Streets
New York, NY 10014
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Prince Among Slaves
Tuesday, March 25 @ 7 pm
 A highly educated member of the ruling class, Abdul-Rahman, a Prince Among Slaves, was captured in a regional conflict, sold into slavery, survived the Middle Passage, and ended up in Natchez, Mississippi.
After 40 years of enslavement, his journey to freedom eventually included the support of Secretary of State Henry Clay and Thomas Gallaudet as well as meeting President John Quincy Adams in the White House. But his story continues as he struggles to free his nine children.
Discussion with Sylvia Dioup, Ph.D., a key advisor to the film and Curator of Digital Collections at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to follow screening.
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Columbia University
Earl Hall, Dodge Room
2960 Broadway
Harlem
New York, NY 10027
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Not About Iraq
Dance Performance by Choreographer Victoria Marks
New York premiere: Thursday, March 27 @ 8:30 pm
On stage March 27 - 29
A visceral, exhilarating dance to engage our hearts and minds, Not About Iraq takes a look at citizenship as it explores the way dances speak about our experience.
Through a set of poetics only accessible through dance, internationally acclaimed choreographer Victoria Marks questions the place of the body in matters of courageousness and valor, knowledge and responsibility. She asks whether dance can be a force for social change. Seeking to reconcile civic and artistic engagement, Marks and her dancers explore how dancing can conjure meaning through metaphors of vitality, impermanence, beginnings, and endings.
The performance on Thursday, March 27th will be followed by a Rap Up, a casual discussion with the artist and her collaborators, and moderated by Neil Greenberg
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Danspace Project
btw 2nd & 3rd Avenues
131 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003
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Representations of Male Images in Literature by Black Writers
@ The Ninth National Black Writers Conference
Friday, March 28 @ 8 pm
Thomas Glave, William Jelani Cobb, Nathan McCall, Kevin Powell, and moderator Patrik Henry will discuss the depictions of males in literature produced by black writers. The panelists will use their texts as a premise for identifying the defining characteristics and themes present in the literature of black writers and exploring the degree to which literature that centers black males is marginalized.
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African Diaspora Cine Club 2008 Presents: Focus on Haiti
Documentary Screenings: Mission to Sassier & Birthright Crisis
Friday, March 28 @ 6 pm
Mission to Sassier, US/Haiti, 2005
Mission to Sassier is a revealing documentary about a medical mission to a very remote village in Haiti. A medical team of Haitian and US nationals participates in a project to bring healthcare in the Sassier region of Haiti. A Q&A with director, Marlie Hall, will follow the screening.
Birthright Crisis: Thousands
of people of Haitian descent live in the Dominican Republic without
government acknowledged citizenship. As a result, they lack access to
basic services such as education and healthcare. This short documentary
features testimonies from deportees and victims of anti-Haitian policy,
calling for a unified response from people in the Haitian and Dominican
Diaspora. A discussion with director, Miriam Neptune, and Dr. Steeve Coupeau, author of book The
History of Haiti will follow the screening.
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African Diaspora Cine Club 2008
Teachers College
Columbia University
525 West 120th Street
Room 179
Harlem, NY
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Rebirth! 2008 Homage to Black Cinema
Saturday, March 29 @ 7 pm
Rebirth! 2008 Homage to Black Cinema is an evening of independent film, art, music, and culture inspired by the young influential African Americans that gave birth to the Harlem Renaissance, as well as a celebration of this cultural revival that continues to appear in the New York City community today.
This elegant evening will appeal to the five senses by offering an independent short film showcase featuring several emerging filmmakers, music provided by DJ Herbert H. Holler, an array of exquisite hors d'oeuvres and complimentary cocktails, and an amazing setting that will encourage networking and mingling.
Sponsored by the The New York Urban League Young Professionals (NYULYP).
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Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
Premiering Saturday, March 29 @ 2 pm on Thirteen/WNET New York
The power of money constitutes the central theme of this four-part PBS documentary, UNNATURAL CAUSES. The series looks at the racial and socio-economic inequities in the health-care system and tries to uncover the root causes of low life expectancy among the poor and disadvantaged.
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The Other Silk Road
Monday, March 31 @ 7:30 pm
Central Asia and Northeast India are both regions that have been important in the fertilization of civilization, culture and technology. And yet, it is their remoteness that has defined the manner in which people living in these regions negotiate power.
Join us for a two-part event: the screening of The Other Silk Road, a film produced by PANOS South Asia on migration and the flow of markets and people in Central Asia post the break-up of the Soviet Union, and a discussion with Sanjay Barbora and Dolly Kikon revealing the dangerous silence on what transpires in Northeast India today.
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The Brecht Forum
451 West Street
btw Bank & Bethune Streets
New York, NY 10014
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Angelique Kidjo
@ The Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Saturday, April 5 @ 8 pm
Four-time Grammy nominee Ang�lique Kidjo is one of the most electrifying performers of today's world music scene. Her exquisitely expressive style explores the relationships of diverse musical cultures with its blend of funk, salsa, Afro-pop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, and gospel music.
Whether partnering with the likes of Dave Matthews, Alicia Keyes, and Branford Marsalis, or commanding the stage as a solo artist, this West African-born, Brooklyn-based singer crosses musical boundaries and, in doing so, unites different world cultures through her music.
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Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Walt Whitman Theatre @ Brooklyn College
2900 Campus Road
Brooklyn, NY
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Digital Diasporas Conference:
Digital Humanities & African American/African Diaspora Studies
May 1 - 3
University of Maryland, College Park
Bryan Carter, VIRTUAL HARLEM, Second Life
Digital Diasporas, the first of its kind, will bring together approximately 150 national and international scholars, high school and middle school teachers, artists, students, and funders to discuss the fields of Digital Humanities and African American/African Diaspora Studies. As the field of African American/African Diaspora Studies can benefit from a thoughtful consideration of the application of new media tools, so, too, can the field of digital humanities benefit from a focused discussion of scholarship informed by critical race studies. |
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El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue
@ 104th Street
New York, NY 10029
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Magic in Ancient Egypt: Image, Word, and Reality
On view through September 28
 How the Egyptians, known throughout the ancient world for their expertise in magic, addressed the unknown forces of the universe is explored in this exhibition of twenty objects from the Brooklyn Museum's world-famous collection.
Ancient Egyptians did not distinguish between religion and magic. They believed that the manipulation of written words, images, and ritual could influence the world through a divinely created force known as Heqa, personified as the eldest son of the solar creator Atum.
Image: Relief of Ptah holding Ankh and Djed, Egypt, fourth-third century B.C.
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Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York
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Special thanks to Janet Crawford, E.Ethelbert Miller, Dr. Zita Nunes, and Althea Kitchens of the New York Urban League Young Professionals for their contributions to this week's issue.
For inquiries or submissions to of note contact GraceAAli@hotmail.com.
For many of us, the arts are central and inspirational to our life, work, and activism. As people of color, we are making great strides in terms of our representation on the stage, yet we are not equally represented in the audience. Even when it is work celebrating our histories, experiences, and cultures - we are often scantily present in the theaters, auditoriums, galleries, etc. Out of that absence, of note was created. It is a publication whose mission is to inform the community about noteworthy events, with the larger goal of increasing our access to and participation in the arts celebrating people of color.
Grace
Aneiza
Ali, Founder Sandrine Colard, Executive Editor
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