April 2012 - Volume XIX Issue IV - Circulation... Plenty!

HAPPY APRIL!!!

National Poetry & Sexual Abuse Awareness Month!

 

This Month Pledge to: Read a Poem a Day!  Tell if Someone is Harming You!  Buy a Book of Poetry!  Listen if Someone is Being Harmed! Attend Poetry or Spoken Word Events!  Help Those in Need!  Write / Share a Poem!   Be Aware!

This issue of The Crystal News is dedicated to Okoro Harold Johnson, who wrote and  directed one of ETA Theater's longest running and most successful shows, "The Regal Theater." The show had already been running a while when I took over the roles of Dinah Washington, and Tammi Terrell. Okoro had the calming, encouraging presence of an old-school showman and I am ever grateful for his lasting faith in me, for that show and all of the lessons and relationships it brought. It is also dedicated to Trayvon Martin and all other victims of racism and privilege, and their families...

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WHERE THE ACTION IS:

 I realized finally, that since I barely have time to post one newsletter, it didn't make sense for me to keep trying to post two.  Therefore I am henceforth including the items here in The Crystal News, that would formerly have gone in "T'Keyah Fights City Hall."  Since that blog was an offshoot of the "Do Something" column of this newsletter, it stands to reason that back here is what the action should be...

On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a self proclaimed neighborhood watch leader, saw Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year old, leaving a convenience store carry candy and soft drink, called 911 and, using what sounded like a racial slur, reported him as "suspicious," followed him despite being told not to do so by the 911 operator, and murdered him.  Police arrived briefly detained, then released the murderer.  They sent Martin's body to be tested for drugs (but did not test Zimmerman).  Martin was talking to her girlfriend on a cell phone when he was murdered and a 911 call recorded his cries for help.  Still, the police left his body unidentified for a day (when they could have easily tracked his last call to identify him), and would not release him to his parents for more than two days.   Since the murder, Zimmerman packed his truck and left the area - because he was free to do so.  Zimmerman, the aggressor, is claiming self-defense.  The District attorney, despite the warning, the aggression, and unarmed Trayvon’s recorded cries for help sees no reason to arrest the murderer.  To join me in petitioning to demand just action on behalf of Trayvon Martin, Click Here!

Since the murder Mayors Against Illegal Guns reminds us that Senate allies of the extremist gun lobby, led by Senators Begich, Manchin, Thune and Vitter, introduced bills (S.2188 and S.2213) that would gut state laws determining which citizens can and can’t carry concealed, loaded guns.  To join me urging your congressional representatives to take just action and vote down this dangerous new gun bill, Click Here and be taken to a page that will direct you to your reps.

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GWC GARDEN BOUND TO BLOOM

Greetings & Peace Friends of the Earth!

Garden Season @Trinity's GWC Garden is upon us 

Sat. April 7, 8am - 11:00am

Bless the space, Receive and Replace the straw bales

General clean up, Begin Transplant / Division of garlic chives
Sat. April 14, 8:00am - 11:00 am

Amend planting beds with soil, Compost, Transplant and divide herbs,

Clean and clear space of debris, Prepare paths (w/ cardboard & mulch)

We celebrate the Garden Jubilee this season.  Garden Jubilee will serve 50 gardens / sites this season.  Sharing perennial plants to existing spaces or new gardens @shelter, churches, food pantries, etc.  Feel free to suggest locations.  We also expect to share 80% of our harvest with neighboring sites.  Thank you for your heart for service and care of our Earth.  10 minutes in nature lowers blood pressure.  See you Saturday!  Bring a loved one!  Blessings and Joy, Paula Anglin - George Washington Carver Garden - 423 West 95th Street, Chicago, IL 60628 (across the street from Trinity Church)

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KEYMÁH JOINS IN LIVING COLOR CAST FOR TV LAND AWARDS

 T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh will reunite with other original In Living Color cast members  when TV Land honors the groundbreaking show during their 2012 Awards.   Other cast members schedule to appear include Keenen Ivory Wayans, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans, Kelly Coffield Parks, Shaun Wayans, David Alan Grier, Marlon Wayans and Jim Carey. 

The “TV Land Awards” 10^th Anniversary, hosted by Kelly Ripa,  will air on Sunday, April 29 at 9pm ET/PT. The Emmy® Award-winning series “In Living Color,” which aired from 1990 to 1994, was written by, created by and starred Keenen Ivory Wayans, and also featured Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Kelly Coffield Park, Kim Wayans, T’Keyah Crystal Keymah, David Alan Grier and Damon Wayans. Receiving the aptly-named Groundbreaking Award at this year’s “TV Land Awards” ceremony, the sketch comedy series was the first of its kind to break down barriers and feature a predominantly African-American cast. 

As the theme song suggested, the show where “you could do what you want to do” was full of unbridled creative energy, resulting in edgy and hilarious characters. The show coined as the first diverse hip-hop comedy, dance-sketch series on television by Entertainment Weekly also featured some of the greatest R&B and Hip-Hop musical artists of the 90s who frequently performed on the “In Living Color” stage. Keymáh, Carey, Grier and Davidson are the only cast members who performed on all five seasons of the award winning show. 

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WHERE THE ACTION IS:

On November 19, 2011, at ~ 5 a.m., 68-year-old Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr., was killed in his home at his home in White Plains, New York. The Killers were White Plains police officers.  A 20-year veteran of the Westchester County Department of Corrections, and a former US Marine, Chamberlain suffered from a heart condition.  That morning, his medical alert device sent an alert to his service provider, which placed a call to the City of White Plains Department of Public Safety. Police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians responded. When the police knocked on his door, Chamberlain told them he did not call them, he did not need assistance and that there was no medical emergency. His medical alert service provider advised the White Plains Police Department that they wanted to withdraw their request for medical assistance because there was no emergency. The police continued to insist that they gain an entry to his apartment, and banged on Mr. Chamberlain’s door for so long that, afraid for his life, he contacted his medical alert service provider and asked them for help. He told them that the White Plains Police employees were outside his door and were going to kill him. The medical alert service provider recorded what transpired next... the recording included the police taunting Mr. Chamberlain, cursing at him, and referring to him with racial slurs.  They ultimately broke through his apartment door, forced their way in, used a Taser weapon on him and finally fired two 40-caliber rounds in him, causing his death.   His son, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., is asking the Westchester County D.A. to bring a criminal indictment, and the United States Department of Justice or the New York State Attorney General to prosecute this as a hate crime.  Recently, a result of civil action I'm sure, the DA has decided to present the case to a Grand Jury, but the family still wants the recordings of Mr. Chamberlains murder to be made public.  To join me in signing the petition asking that just action to be taken on behalf of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., Click Here

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AWM 55th Annual Genii Awards Gala!

Tuesday, April 24, 2012 - Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles - Cocktails: 5:30 p.m., Dinner / Program: 6:30 p.m.

AWM SoCal's Genii Awards, named after the Southern California Chapter Founder, Jeanne Gray McDonald, celebrates the outstanding accomplishments of women in our industry who have shown tremendous leadership, a commitment to promote progress and create change and dedication to the community. This year's event, hosted by Sean Kanan, honors: Rita Moreno, Lifetime Achievement Award, Eva La Rue, Inspiration Award, Amy Powell, Excellence in New Media, Kathy Begley, Excellence in Advertising, Sandra Mitchell, Excellence in Television,  Charese Fruge, Excellence in Radio Management, and Talaya Trigueros, Excellence in Radio.  The gala benefits AWM SoCal's scholarship program, which provides financial assistance to promising college students who are aiming for careers in the media and entertainment industries.

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NATURAL HAIR SPOTLIGHT

Viola Davis is the always brilliant actress who perhaps should have an Academy Award nomination for your typically profound work in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  As stated in the March issue of The Crystal News, Ms. Davis made big waves recently by sporting her noteworthy natural beauty. News this good merits repeating, and for that, she is Natural Woman / Natural Hair author T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh's natural hair spotlight again this month!

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Late last year, a 15-year old Moroccan girl, Amina Filali was raped by an older man.  According to Moroccan law, rapists can avoid prosecution by allowed to marrying their victims.  Amina was forced to marry her rapist. Two months into the 'marriage,' Amina complained to her mother that her husband was beating her, and was told to bear it.  When she could no longer do so, then 16 year-old Amina Filali swallowed rat poison, taking her own life. According to World Moms Blog, a 2011 national study on the prevalence of violence against women found that 62.8% of women in Morocco of ages 18-64 – more than 10 million women – had been victims of some form of violence during the year preceding the study. That   number does not include minors like Amina. Several groups, along with Amina's sister and many Morrocan supporters and urging the Moroccan government to follow through on its promise to enact legislation that reforms the law and stops violence against women. To join me in signing the petition asking the Moroccan government to take just action in support of Amina and all of the women in Morroco, Click Here!

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Eva Coley, President of the Vallejo Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., for being chosen as an honoree for her community service in Solano County.  Coley will be honored at the Black and White Gala, "Survivors and Stars 2012" on Saturday, April 14, 2012.  6 pm - meet and greet, music and dancing- 7 pm - dinner followed by more dancing - formal/semi formal attire - McCormick Hall, Solano County Fairgrounds.

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Award winning singer, songwriter, actor, and 1985 Star Search Finalist, Marshall Titus releases his updated interpretation of the George Michael classic "FATHER FIGURE". Produced by Titus and Keith Stewart, with two hot remixes by DJ Naughty Boyy.  Titus has had the great pleasure of being a working musician for 3 decades and he couldn’t do it without your support.  Check out the stunning "FATHER FIGURE" video http://www.youtube.com/

HE AIN'T HEAVY - World Premiere at Nashville Film Festival

Written & Directed by jeff obafemi carr, Produced by jeff obafemi carr and Mark D. Jackson 

April 19, 2012 at 8:15PM Regal Green Hills 16 3815 Green Hills Village Dr, Nashville, TN 37215-2610

"Somebody's trying to sneak in the Frat/ and there ain't gonna be no Sh*t like that..." -  It happens. Still. Underground after all these years...until now. He Ain’t Heavy is an explosive, fly-on-the-wall look into the ultra-secretive world of hazing in a prestigious African-American fraternity, based on TRUE EVENTS. Five young college students are thrust together and introduced to the underground world of physical, intellectual, emotional and psychological trial-by-fire that is the pledging process. A graduate film student, Thomas "Doc" Hayes, using digital video, cell phones, and campus security cameras, compiles a behind-the-scenes look at the pledge process for the inner-circle of the chapter to reflect on for fun. What began as project to support black fraternity life suddenly becomes the tool that may very well dismantle the system forever. http://www.nashvillefilmfestival.org/.

WAKE ME UP: A One Woman Show is an original play written, performed, and produced by Kendyl Joi under the direction of Iona Morris. Audiences are invited to take a journey with Kendyl through the medium of ...a popular radio show as she provocatively introduces people who rock society spiritually, emotionally, and physically and answer the given topic on Sleepwalkers. Through the dichotomous relationship between humor and gut wrenching pain, Kendyl Joi wakes her audience up to possibility of truth. Incorporating music, song, poetry, dance, multi-media and original text, twelve different characters share stories about spiritual enlightenment, Biblical truths, dark temptations, addictive church emotions, Hollywood stereotypes, natural hair and many more! Friday, April 20, 2012 at 5:30pm through Sunday, April 29, 2012 at 7:00pm  Stage 52 Productions, 5299 W Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016-1340

KEMP'S WATER REMEMBERS 

Insert All Languages Here...water passes through every person and everything Water Remembers ....us. Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series inspires soul's voice, breath and movement. Water Remembers, a performance piece written by Margaret Laurena Kemp featuring choreography by Kim Gadlin (ASHE' DANCE COLLECTIVE) and music by The Gospel Choir.

The Allen Theatre / Pomona College, 300 E. Bonita , Claremont, CA View Map · Get Directions Friday, April 27, 2012, 3:00pm until 3:30pm

"Tangled"

by Nicole Anderson-Cobb

Directed by Kamesha Khan

through – May 19, 2012

A “dramedy” that examines the impact of gun violence in Chicago from the unique perspectives of a family of female African-American funeral directors and the burden that these women bear trying to serve their community while battling their own demons and mounting fears of violence in their community. ETA, 7558 S South Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60619-2644, (773) 752-3955  http://etacreativearts.org/mainstage_shows.html

Congo Square Theater Company

 

 Zen-Yi Tsai

Cusack

Walker

Dupont-Walker

Congratulations to: Karen L. Walker, Chicago Transit Authority Chief Financial Officer, on her Chicago Chapter, National Forum for Black Public Administrators' Marks of Excellence Award;  Jaqcuelyn DuPont-Walker, founding president of Ward Economic Development Corporation and Chair of the Century City Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc's Social Action Committee, on being selected for her tremendous service to the community by Holly Mitchell as the 47th Assembly District, 2012 "Woman of the Year;" Stage Aurora Theatrical Company on their Actors' Equity Association 2012 Rosetta LeNoire Award Nomination for diversity; Charley Reese, for using his final column in the Orlando Sentinel to give an eye-opening reminder of the flagrant flaws in the US tax code and  resounding and unbiased call for political action; LaFern Cusack on her new position as Program Manager of Industry Development for PromaxBDA; Grand Valley student Keyah Walker on her summer study abroad trip to South Africa and California State University Long Beach student Arianne Ousley on her summer study abroad trip to France; Crossroads Theater Company for honoring their late, great supporter Rep. Donald Payne; and Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai on her new show, Formosa - go on girl woman!

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The Crystal News acknowledges the transition of the following souls:   Army Archer, Eduardo Luis Duhalde, Jamaa Fanaka,  Rushworth Kidder, Trayvon Martin, Jerry McCain, Rev. Maurice Moyer, Bingu wa Mutharika, Gil Noble, Congressman Donald Payne, John A. Payton, Adrienne Rich, Ravi Shankar Sharma and Addie L. Wyatt. 

We are blessed to have known their warm hearts, bright smiles and good works. We are inspired to follow their brave and noble examples.  

 

Have you hugged someone you love today? 

 

The Crystal News - http://thecrystalnews.blogspot.com/  

T'Keyah Fights City Hall - http://tkeyahfightscityhall.blogspot.com/ 

Keymah Presents - http://keymahpresents.blogspot.com/ 

www.tkeyah.com - Where Crystal visions come to life!