. . . so-LAZE around or choose a To-Do!
|
Greetings!
 I'll be starting this Valentine's Day really early on "Focus Talk Radio" with Dennis Snipe of WKKC Radio (FM 89.3), where I will join two other studio guests on the topic: "What it means to be a Woman - Relationships, Life, Love, Society. A discussion with a cross-section of women in different professions and different life experiences with a candid discussion on how they feel and respond about topics important to society. "What makes women tick" is a question many men want to know. This discussion can shed some light on it."
Uh-oh!! They're gonna get me started! If you'd like to try to stump Steph or gain the benefit of my sage advice, call (773) 488-WKKC (9552) with your questions live on Saturday, February 14th, from 9-10am!
Speaking of women, Umoja is in urgent need of African-American women to participate in a 1/2 day program at Manley High School on Friday, February 20th. While this is a very short-term commitment on your part, the impact your participation could have on a young spirit could be huge. I urge you to participate in this event and respond immediately (or at least by Friday, February 13) as indicated in the article below. Looking for more To-Do? I've got a few suggestions in this newsletter, but there's a whole lot more goin' on at www.so-LAZE.com, so come on by! Search by category or keyword, set up automatic reminders by e-mail or text, forward To-Dos to friends, or simply start planning your summer or vaction early. Whatever you decide To-Do . . .
Happy Valentine's Day!
|
| OUGHT TO-DO IT! 50 African-American Women Needed to Step Up! |
|
|
Umoja Student Development Corporation Call For Volunteers
 We need you! Community Connections is fast approaching, and we need at least 50 African-American women to volunteer and participate in this important event. With this year's theme, The Power of Change, we will critically examine and debate issues of race, power, politics, and responsibility. Volunteers will work with teachers, to talk with our young women about how each of us can create positive change at the individual, school, and community levels. We truly need your support and hope that you will join us at Community Connections on Friday, February 20th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm at Manley High School. More information about the event can be found through the link below.
8th Annual Community Connections
Please let us know by Friday, February 13th if you will be attending. RSVP to Marlee Benton at mbenton@umojacorporation.org or (773) 534-8877. Feel free to contact Marlee with questions or if you would like to invite other African-American friends or colleagues. Thank you in advance for your commitment of time and energy. Your participation in Community Connections will truly make a difference for our students.
--
Marlee Benton
Volunteer Coordinator
Umoja Student Development Corporation |
| HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY: Sweet Saturdays! |
|
Learn Which Sweet Treats Grow on Trees at Garfield Park Conservatory
Here's a cool way to share Valentine's Day with that new, potential Valentine in your life! Meander through the beautiful and lush Conservatory and have some fun with the activities offered. Let the foliage fill the void of any gaps in conversation as you quietly ponder "could he be the one" or "how do I end this date in the first course?" If things go well, you'll also find some options at www.so-LAZE.com for courses two and three . . .
A new event is budding at the Garfield Park Conservatory, which is sure to please all candy enthusiasts. The 1st Annual Sweet Saturdays will take place during three consecutive Saturdays in February. "The Chicago Park District is excited to work closely with the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance to produce a brnad new event that celebrates a variety of plants living here at the Conservatory," said Mary Eysenbach, Director of Conservatories. "The 1st Annual Sweet Saturdays evolved from Chocolate Fest as a way to celebrate not only our chocalate trees, but the many plants that help create the different varieties of candy we all love."
The new event focuses on plants that provide the key ingredients to our favorite sweet treats. The Garfield Park Conservatory, a veritable plantbased candy show, is home to many living sweets such as bananas, vanilla beans, cinnamon bark, and chocolate trees. Visitors of all ages can sample the facts, the flavors and the fun of some of the most tantalizing tropical treats. Experience any or all of the following sweet activities at each Sweet Saturday: Tropical Treat Stations, HandsOn Activity Stations, Sample Sweets and Tropical Café©. [more]
|
| BLACK HISTORY MONTH TO-DO: The Unadapted |
|
|
Warner Bros. Reads Zora Neal Hurston
A lecture by Elizabeth Binggeli, Postdoctoral Instructor, English and Cinema & Media Studies.
This talk explores previously unexamined studio archival records from the 1930s and 1940s related to Hollywood's reception of the works of African American novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, demonstrating that Hurston's literary work was shaped by a desire to both see her works adapted to film and to rearticulate Hollywood's entrenched codes of racial representation. In particular, Binggeli makes the case that Hurston's 1948 novel "Seraph on the Suwanee" was a deliberate attempt to cite the 1946 MGM adaptation of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's novel "The Yearling," and that this citation encouraged the readers of the Warner Bros. story department to consider her novel for studio purchase. Introduction by Associate Professor James Lastra, Committee on Cinema & Media Studies.
|
| THEATER REVIEW: Living Green |
|
 Living Green, by Gloria Bond Clunie
What are the costs and benefits of moving up and moving out of the 'hood? This is the central quandary of an upper middle class family that climbed its way out of the 'hood into the 'burbs in this drama that flips the script on Lorraine Hansberry's classic "A Raisin in the Sun." In "Living Green," dreams are not deferred, rather that they have twisted and morphed into something unexpected.
"Living Green" takes us to 1995 and the electric afterglow of the Million Man March. The drama centers on Frank and Angela Freeman, their college bound, aspiring doctor daughter, Carol, and son, Dempsey, who struggles in his early adolescence. The play accurately portrays the pride and possibility Black America felt after the Million Man March. These feelings of energy, excitement and racial pride are juxtaposed against the blandness, starkness and whiteness of the suburbs.
 Frank views his children as non-black identified. He questions whether this cultural loss is worth the good schools and safety of the suburbs. Frank decides that the answer is to move back to the old neighborhood. But can we go home again?
The issues of Black upward mobility raised in the 1959 "A Raisin in the Sun" continue to resonate almost 40 years later in "Living Green." It is interesting to watch a play that occurs in 1995 - an extremely proud moment but not one when we seriously considered we would elect a Black man president in our lifetime. Strikingly, in 2009, in the aftermath of America's historic election of a Black man to the presidency, the Black community continues to wrestle with the tensions Black upward mobility presents - good schools, amenities and safety vs. community connectedness and cultural affiliation; the debt, if any, upper income Blacks owe the "community;" and definitions of race, identity and community. Despite the ascension of a Black president, many Blacks conclude that we cannot have it both ways - good schools and security for our children and live with our people in our own communities. The play explores the costs this dilemma poses for those who leave the community and those without choice who stay. [more] -Lauren
Comments? E-mail me at: Lauren@so-LAZE.com
© 2009 - Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Living Green continues through March 8, 2009.
|
| GETAWAY TO-DO IT: Java Jazz Fest! |
|
| Can You Say "Hot & Humid"?
If you can say it with a smile and a longing look, maybe the time is right for a Jakarta, Indonesia getaway! It seems that this Fest comes at the end of the rainy season. However, in the event of rain, the indoor venue will ensure that your festival spirit isn't dampened! The incredible line-up includes Ivan Lins, Oleta Adams, Dianne Reeves, Peabo Bryson, Ledisi, Roy Ayers, Brian McKnight and many more . . .
 The Jazz Music of Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival! There is no end to the diversity of jazz music at Java Jazz Festival. Even after four years after it was first established in 2005, Java Jazz Festival still has yet to feature the various forms of jazz's developments in Indonesia and the world. From year to year, the name Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival (known widely as Java Jazz Festival) continues to gain popularity, even amongst foreign musicians.
On 6, 7 and 8 March 2009, Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival will be held for the fifth time. For Java Festival Production and the line-up of workers behind it the festival's success, the fifth edition of the festival is a special occasion indeed as it was not an easy feat to organize a festival as sizeable as Java Jazz Festival. This year, Java Festival Production plans to feature, among few, Swing Out Sister, Brian McKnight, Roy Ayers, Ledisi, Simon Philips, New York Voices, Matt Bianco, Isao Suzuki, Dianne Reeves, Mike Stern, Oleta Adams, Peabo Bryson, and Regina Carter at Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2009.
|
| THIS WEEK'S TWEAKS - B&W? |
|
|
This week I've stripped the To-Do listing page of all color. Sort of. Now you'll find only two colors - one for "new" To-Dos and one for Ongoing To-Dos. All those colors made the calendar categories a little too busy. And, now, it'll be easier to unselect Ongoing To-Dos if you only want to see the "new" To-Dos.
I've also started on the Ought To-Do It page. It's in pretty raw shape, so now would be a perfect time for you to provide content suggestions and/or information relating to community organizations, volunteer opportunities, community events and resources.
If you have any suggestions regarding changes to the website, I'd welcome your input at Soleil@so-LAZE.com! |
|
THIS NEWSLETTER COULD BE SPONSORED BY YOUR BUSINESS! |
|
|
Advertise with Soleil's To-Dos!
Whether you seek cultural diversity or target the urban, African-American, Chicago market, by advertising with Soleil's To-Dos, your organization will reach Sophisticates who are active socially and professionally. Whether your organization sponsors events, engages in sales or services, we have a marketing option that will suit your needs. Visit our Advertising Page for information on website and e-mail marketing options! Contact Advertising@so-LAZE.com to discuss a package catered to your needs.
| |
|
|
|
|
