Early Africans, brought as slaves to the Americas, used to tell their children the legend of the King Buzzard, an African chief who deceived his people and sold thousands of them into slavery. The story was a cautionary tale, meant to discourage greed and promote valuing one’s community. In an update of this account, emerging […]
olufunke moses
Posted inNews
In poetic license
Five local poets join forces to “support our troops” and “defy our leader” when Poets Against the Shrub liberates some pent-up politics at Temple Ball, Thursday, Oct. 16. Among the performers are Wake Forest University English professor Evie Shockley (pictured right), Fayetteville, N.C. Quaker House Director Chuck Fager, local poet and musician shirlette ammons, poet, […]
Posted inNews
In skin
“The skin I’m in:/frequently/Brown sugar/often/Cinnamon Girl/maybe/Hot chocolate/repeatedly/Coffee with cream/sometimes/Black Bitch/Watch your mouth!” reads several lines from a poem by Charlotte-based artist, Ce Scott . Born in Detroit, Michigan, Scott, whose work focuses on personal, cultural and social themes–including sexism connected to language and media, beauty misconceptions concerning African American women, and the Santeria religion–will unveil […]
Posted inNews
In talking
Barbershops can be likened to the headquarters of human life: Every type of individual–from the street hustler to the CEO, from the student to the child–meets the revolving “seat of the soul,” in the course of a day. In the late Ola Rotimi’s Holding Talks (pictured above), this usually active gathering place becomes the center […]
Posted inGuides
Andre Leon Gray
Road construction on D.C.’s I-95 used to fascinate him. Using drapery rods and string and things found where little boys find things, he would return to Raleigh and construct make-believe roads for himself. Make-believed himself right into the artist he is now, in fact. One who today creates real and bigger and more complex roads […]
Posted inNews
Upfront
In every man is a cry for self expression. He either expresses this by contributing to society’s good, or if gagged, by pulling at the very fabrics that hold society together. Ugochukwu Urim Frank Zappa once called the U.S. government, “the Entertainment Division of the military-industrial complex.” In light of recent White House events–Laura Bush’s […]
Posted inNews
Blessings, Benz style
“So this is what you do: Get laid off and buy yourself a house.” So says Steve Goldsmith on our way to the DMV. We’re talking about his new, 1920s house, green roof, barnlike, on 5 acres of land, with a stream, overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. And, oh yeah, Dave Matthews is a neighbor. But […]