Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Maafa 2012 July 7th 6:30AM

Inline image 1

Thursday, June 14, 2012

June at Ash� Cultural Arts Center

Grantwriting for Beginners

June 14, 2012 | 4:00-6:30 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Registration $35
Student and group discounts are available.

Are you involved with a non-profit? Does your job require you to raise funds for your department or position? Do you want to add a valuable skill to your resume? Consider grantwriting!

Grantwriting for Beginners is an engaging workshop that gives you the basic tools you need to start writing grants. Participants will learn how to find funding opportunities, tools and tips for writing proposals and ways to make a program competitive for repeat funding.

Who should attend: Nonprofit staff, board members and volunteers, students and people in academic fields, activists and community organizers, religious leaders, anyone who wants to learn about the exciting world of grantwriting! Attendees will receive a certificate of participation after completing the workshop.

Registration $35 per person. Discounts available for students and organizations registering two or more people. Visit thefundingseed.com to register online. Email info@thefundingseed.com to inquire about discount codes or to reserve your space and pay at the door.

Click here to register online.


Moroccan Caravan
Moroccan Carpet Weavers Workshop is SOLD OUT!
However, you are invited to join us at the
Presentation and Carpet Sale
June 28 at 7:00 p.m. at Ash�

June 28 | 7:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center | 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., NOLA

Presentation and Carpet Sale: Free and open to the public.

The Moroccan Carpet Caravan 2012 brings two Tamazight carpet weavers and their translator from the Valley of the Roses to Ash� Cultural Arts Center, June 25-29, 2012. Ash� is the first of four stops on a North American tour of carpet art events. The weavers will teach carpet weaving on traditional wooden looms built especially for the occasion, present a colorful carpet exhibition, and offer a cross-cultural presentation. The workshop will teach basic weaving skills in the indigenous traditions of North Africa not offered anywhere else in the United States.
Morrocan carpets are incredible works of art, created entirely by hand with eco-friendly materials. Students will weave their own rag rug with the visiting instructors.
A free public presentation about Amazigh culture and traditions takes place on Thursday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m. The opening of the carpet exhibition and sale happens at 8:00 p.m. Moroccan mint tea will be served.
Hamid Drake, in town for a National Performance Network (NPN) residency with Ash� Cultural Arts Center, will perform on the night of the presentation.

For more information call Tammy Terrell at (504) 569-9070.

Black folk don't
"Black Folk Don't"

June 26, 2012 | Screening: 6:30 p.m

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free and open to the public

The New Orleans Film Society and BlackPublicMedia present the premiere of the second season of the web series Black Folk Don't on Tuesday, June 26, at 6:30 p.m. at Ashe Cultural Arts Center. The screening is FREE and open to the public and will include a post-screening Q+A with series creator and director Angela Tucker.

Featured in Time Magazine's "10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life," Black Folk Don't is an irreverent documentary web series exploring the grey areas between stereotype and truth. Black Folk Don't questions the notion of normative behavior and comes to the conclusion that black folk don't agree on what blacks do and don't do.

This season, the team travelled to Louisiana to get New Orleanians' take on six new topics voted on by viewers. These topics include camping, eating disorders and more. Interviewees include Melissa Harris Perry and Toure. Click here to watch the trailer. Call (504) 569-9070.


Germaine Bazzle
"Healing Force" - Live Concert & Recording Session
June 29, 2012 | 7:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
$20
Every once in a while, something really special happens that makes you want to call some old friends. Get ready to pick up the phone, because you won't want them to miss this live concert and recording session. Ash� Cultural Arts Center is putting together a compilation CD featuring Germaine Bazzle, Carol Bebelle, Frederick "Hollywood" Delahoussaye, Hamid Drake, Michaela Harrison, Kidd Jordan, Kora Konnection, Darryl Lavigne, Monica McIntyre, William Parker, Kalamu ya Salaam and others. But this is New Orleans, so expect to see lots of musicians on the scene.
This live recording session brings together great artists who are steeped in New Orleans culture, and fuses them with the likes of Drake and Parker, both incredible artists of international acclaim. Master Drummer Luther Gray takes the lead toward making this a "must-see" concert that will produce a "must-have" work of art.
For more information, call Luther at (504) 569-9070.

Hamid Drake
Celebration of the Drum

Celebration of the Drum features internationally acclaimed percussionist Hamid Drake, who appears as part of his National Performance Network (NPN) residency with Ash� Cultural Arts Center. This celebration is a healing event using the drum and worldwide rhythms to help transform our community through art. Percussionists and drummers from around the world will take turns expressing themselves by way of the rhythms of their countries.

HAMID DRAKE AT SISTAHS MAKING A CHANGE

June 28, 2012 | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free

Participants in Sistahs Making a Change will have the opportunity to interact with Hamid Drake, put movement to his rhythms and engage in a discussion or story circle. Make some time to hang out with the Sistahs and meet Hamid. It's free, and you'll be glad you did. Call (504) 569-9070.

CELEBRATION OF THE DRUM

June 30, 2012 | 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

$20

This event celebrates the drums of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, India, Ireland, Japan, and the Mardi Gras Indians. Hear and feel world beats along with the sensational featured artist, Hamid Drake. If you're wanting to do something a little different on a Saturday night, this is your best bet. Are you a drummer and want to join in the celebration? Call John Grimsley or Tammy Terrell at (504) 569-9070. Click here to purchase your ticket online. Tickets are also available at Ash� Cultural Arts Center.

DRUM CIRCLE

July 1, 2012 | 2:00-5:00 p.m.

Congo Square/Armstrong Park

Free and open to the public

Drummers, dancers and the community combine their voices, dance moves and drum beats at this weekly ceremony held on the sacred grounds of Congo Square. Congo Square is the place where slaves were allowed to assemble and hold their celebrations on Sundays. On this particular Sunday, however, we're holding a prelude to our Annual Maafa Commemoration which happens the following week. Guest artists will join us as the drums feed our souls and connect us to one another. Come out and experience the rhythms. For more information, call Luther Gray, Congo Square Preservation Society, at (504) 495-0463.

_____________________________________________________

Hamid Drake is in town for a National Performance Network (NPN) residency with Ash� Cultural Arts Center. Celebration of the Drum, the Healing Force Concert and Recording Session, and other Ash�-related appearances are a part of his residency.

NPN[Ash� Cultural Arts Center is an NPN Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of NPN include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.]


Red + Black = Maroon II

"Quilombolas de Maranhao, Brazil & Maroons of Louisiana, USA"

Exhibit opens June 19, 2012 | 5:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Free and open to the public.
RED + BLACK = MAROON II, a touring exhibition, includes:

Photographs by Cristina Miranda of the daily life of the Quilombolas of Maranhao, Brazil. Quilombos are the "runaway" or "Maroon" settlements in Brazil. Maranhao has over 200 of them. Within, we find resonances of cultural preservation and a rustic way of life that not only offers us a glimpse into the profound cultural practices and traditions of Africans, and Inidigenous Americans, but of the fused/Creole culture that they have forged. This process of Creolization is parallel to Louisiana. We find that their "country" music Forro is almost identical to our Zydeco. We also find that their Bumba Meu Boi is parallel to the Mardi Gras Indian traditions of New Orleans and other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. The African/Kongo-based culture of the Bamboula, so historically significant here in Louisiana, is parallel to their Tambor de Criolla.

This exhibit, therefore, represents the beginning of an academic, educational, performative, artistic and celebratory cultural exchange between Brazil and the United States, between the State of Louisiana and the State of Maranhao, and connecting the "Maroons" / Black Indians of the Americas across continents and oceans.

The exhibit will also include original artwork from Ivan B. Watkins and others, as well as data from the Hidden Heritage Tours of Leon Waters.

PROGRAMMING

Programming for the Exhibit will include screenings of a documentary series in progress, ethno-historical lectures, panels, as well as workshops and a multi-media Jazz performance.

The programming will also include a fundraiser to be held at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Dates, locations, times and additional partners will be publicized shortly.

Call (504) 569-9070.


Chakula Then and Now
On Stage - "Growing Up Black and Happy in New Orleans . . . The Life and Times of the Great Chakula"

June 15, 16, 22 and 23, 2012 | 8:00 p.m.
June 17 and 24, 2012 | 3:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Gen. Admission $10, Students and seniors $5
Growing Up Black (and Happy) in New Orleans ... The Life and Times of the Great Chakula is a one-man comedy, dramatic show featuring actor, playwright, director, storyteller and retired comedian Chakula cha Jua telling his life story, on stage, "live and in color." No names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Tired of viewing too many TV shows and movies that suggest all Black people come from criminal, drug infested, deplorable backgrounds, cha Jua decided it was time to set the record straight. He could think of no better way to do that than by telling the story of his own "happy" upbringing. In telling his story, cha Jua will take the audience on a tour of a segregated New Orleans of the fifties and early sixties. Through telling his own personal stories, cha Jua hopes to use this production to explore and examine a part of Black New Orleans History that has never before been viewed on local stages.
For more information, call (504) 569-9070, (504) 304-0429 or (504) 813-9008.



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Monday, June 11, 2012

Sudan: Stoning Sentence - What is Behind Religion?

Fahamu (Oxford)

Sudan: On Intisar's Zina Charges and Stoning Sentence - What is Behind Religion?

analysis

The recent sentencing to death by stoning of a young woman accused of adultery stands against all the values, traditions and heritage of the Sudanese and signifies the reactionary political agenda of a tyrannical regime.

On 22 April 2012, Sudanese judge Sami Ibrahim Shabo sentenced to death by stoning a young woman accused of Zina (adultery). Her name is Intisar Sharif Abdalla, married and a mother of three little children. The judgement itself is ruthless under any Islamic Sharia and Fiqh interpretation; stoning hasn't been applied to a woman for adultery in Sudan despite the country's fundamentalist religious legal system. The Islamic Fiqh Hudud (corporal punishment) in crimes such as cutting of limbs, the punishment for theft, and stoning to death, the punishment of Zina are silently suspended, yet not lifted from the criminal code and remain present in Sudan's legal system.

Intisar was accused of having a relationship and being impregnated by a man that wasn't her husband. After being reported by her brother, initially she and her co-accused both denied the charges. Later the case was reopened again by the brother and Intisar confessed to committing adultery. The most disturbing aspect of this case is that the admission of guilt and judicial sentencing comes following a period of sustained beatings by her brother who brought forward the case. The absence of legal representation and clarification of the procedures for the woman in question, whose first language is not Arabic, is equally troublesome. She was taken to court where Judge Sami Ibrahim Shabo of Ombada General Criminal Court in Omdurman city of greater Khartoum state, sentenced her to stoning to death after one court session. Lawyers only gained access to her after the judgement was made. The man co-accused with Intisar was released based on his mere denial of the charges of Zina!

Intisar's case highlights the fickle application of international human rights conventions and legislation that Sudan has voluntarily become party to, such as the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and the African Charter and its protocol on the rights of women. This case demonstrates the difficulty of reconciling Sudan's current legal jurisdiction and its regional and international obligations as a member of international and regional communities. This contradiction is as well reflected in the massive polarisation taking place in Sudan at the moment as well as challenges to peaceful coexistence between the different nations inside the country.

Furthermore, the stoning judgment stands against all the values, traditions and heritage of the Sudanese. Given the fact that the application of Zina has so far been dormant in Sudan, this case ought to be read within the broader political and cultural dynamics at work in Sudan currently, and in particular the religious discourses out of which justification for Zina is derived. These discourses, which I briefly outline below, point to the fact that there is more at play than the moral justifications given for this harsh judgement.

There are significant and complex differences among the Islamic Fiqh schools regarding the conditions required for a valid Zina confession and for testimonial evidence. These differences are based on the varying levels of different arguments within Fiqh schools. For example while some Islamic schools require the Zina confession to be uttered four separate times and require the presence of four witnesses during the act of Zina, the Maliki school (dominant in Sudan) considers either one's confession or the presence of four witnesses as sufficient. However, in cases of pregnancy as a result of Zina, the majority of opinion in the Maliki Fiqh School agrees that the duration of a woman's pregnancy can last up to seven years before she is subjected to court trial. [1]

A closer look at the classical Islamic schools, mainly the Sunah schools (Madahib) and the scholarship that emerged in the 8th century on the Islamic legal system shows that, they all tried to prevent the conviction of women for Zina and avoided stoning as a brutal form of punishment. It is unacceptable that now, 12 centuries later, a judge sitting in Sudan, or in any other part of the Muslim world for that matter, would rule out all accumulated knowledge, wisdom and various accumulated attempts of interpretations given the complexity of the issue, and choose to sentence a young woman to death.

The sentencing of Intisar comes in accordance with Article 146 of the Sudanese Criminal Code. However, ultimately what the Islamic Sharia of Sudan's criminal code reveals is the deeply rooted discriminatory nature of Sudan's legal system generated from the ruling regime's ideology which perceives women as purveyors of moral wrongs and seeks to banish illegal aliens.

The repression of women in Sudan is illustrated in the Sudanese legislative system's approach towards women. Both Sudan's criminal and family codes are engineered through a mix of criminal and moral prohibitions which blur the distinction between the creation of law in the service of promoting a particular public interest and the imposition of moral precepts based on specific ideological conviction. The de-anchoring of the law from a clear standard of general public interest leaves Sudan's legislation in relation to personal matters particularly open to exploitation as a tool to express the temporary interests of the authorities in control. A good example is the public order police of Sudan's Special Forces that are assigned to terrorise women and interrogate them by observing their personal behaviour, their dress code, their mobility and their exposure in the public sphere. Ultimately the ideology behind the articles and the application of the Sudanese criminal code is meant to enforce the tyranny of the ruling regime through alienating women by crippling their public participation, both of which have a paralysing effect on society as a whole.

Politically, Intisar's sentencing is significant. She is originally from South Kordofan, the most recent region where civil conflict erupted in Sudan. Following the independence of South Sudan, gender and racial profiling and discrimination is dominating the current political scene in the country. In addition, the fluidity of Sudan's current legal system poses a serious threat to thousands of women currently living in the country, enduring and suffering under the violence generated by Sudan's unjust legal system and its brutal enforcement.

This violence ranges from lashing to long term imprisonments of poor women street vendors, students, and others working in the fringes of society, all of whom are regularly subjected to accusations of prostitution, intention to commit Zina, and indecent dressing. The rationale behind Sudan's criminal code is based on vague definitions of guilt, yet it very assertively delegates the power of judgment to the enforcers to interpret it as they wish in line with the reactionary political agenda.

Intisar is currently shackled by metal chains and imprisoned in Omdurman women's prison in Sudan together with her four month old baby, where she is being re-victimised and burdened again by the complex layers of Sudan's heavy political baggage and unjust legal system.

Hala Alkarib is the Director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

ENDNOTES

1. The notion of 'dormant pregnancy' stipulates that a foetus can lie dormant in its mother's womb for up to seven years.

Friday, June 8, 2012

JUNE FILM SCREENINGS Check it out. Starting Tonight, June 7, 2012

Newsletter Heading Updated
Ash� Cultural Arts Center Newsletter

JUNE FILM SCREENINGS

Check it out. Starting Tonight, June 7, 2012
New Orleans Loving Festival - "The Loving Story"


Multiracial Identity
"Multiracial Identity"

June 7, 2012
Reception, 6:00 p.m. | Film screening, 6:30 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Free and open to the public.
This award-winning documentary, written by Brian Chimera, explores the social, political and religious impact of the multiracial movement. "Opens up a set of honest and timely conversations about race and mixed race in the United States...." (Andrew, Jolivette, Chair, American Indian Studies, San Francisco State). Call (504) 569-9070.


Loving Poster
New Orleans Loving Festival: "The Loving Story"

June 12, 2012

Reception 6:30 p.m. | Film screening, 7:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free and open to the public

Celebrate the New Orleans Loving Festival with a FREE screening of the acclaimed documentary The Loving Story June 12 at Ash� Cultural Arts Center. It is co-presented by the New Orleans Film Society, HBO, Press Street, and the Charitable Film Network.

The New Orleans Loving Festival was started in 2011 in response to a Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to issue a marriage license in 2009 to an interracial couple in Hammond, Louisiana. The festival is modeled after "Loving Day" multicultural celebrations across the country that organize people to fight racial prejudice through education and build multicultural community.
Arrive early for a 6:30 p.m. reception. The screening will start at 7:00 p.m., and there will be a short discussion following the screening with a panel of speakers including Hamilton Simons-Jones, Annette Hollowell, and others.

About the film
A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who fell in love and married at a critical time in American history. Because of a confluence of social and political turmoil, our reluctant heroes bring about change where previously no one else could. They are paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who are driven to pave the way for Civil Rights and social justice through an historic Supreme Court ruling, changing the country's story forever. Click here to watch the trailer.

Black folk don't
"Black Folk Don't"

June 26, 2012 | Screening: 6:30 p.m

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free and open to the public

The New Orleans Film Society and BlackPublicMedia present the premiere of the second season of the web series Black Folk Don't on Tuesday, June 26, at 6:30 p.m. at Ashe Cultural Arts Center. The screening is FREE and open to the public and will include a post-screening Q+A with series creator and director Angela Tucker.

Featured in Time Magazine's "10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life," Black Folk Don't is an irreverent documentary web series exploring the grey areas between stereotype and truth. Black Folk Don't questions the notion of normative behavior and comes to the conclusion that black folk don't agree on what blacks do and don't do.

This season, the team travelled to Louisiana to get New Orleanians' take on six new topics voted on by viewers. These topics include camping, eating disorders and more. Interviewees include Melissa Harris Perry and Toure. Click here to watch the trailer. Call (504) 569-9070.



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Thursday, June 7, 2012

Celebration of the Drum

Hamid Drake
CELEBRATION OF THE DRUM
Where:
Ash� Cultural Arts Center
1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard
New Orleans, LA 70113


Driving Directions

When:
Saturday June 30, 2012 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM CDT
Dear Ty,

Ash� Cultural Arts Center is celebrating the powerful drums of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, India, Japan and the Mardi Gras Indians; and we want you there.
HAMID DRAKE (pictured above) heads the bill with his remarkable percussion prowess. Drake, an extraordinary jazz drummer and percussionist, was born in Monroe, Louisiana, but resides in Chicago. He spends much of his time traveling around the world for concerts and studio dates.

Joining him and electrifying the space will be drummers representing several countries known for their passionate rhythms.

This festive event will have you dancing, rocking and swaying into the night.

Tickets are only $20.

[Drake is an NPN Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of NPN include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.]

Click Here for Tickets!
I can't make it
For more information, call John Grimsley or Tammy C. Terrell at (504) 569-9070.
Thanks, and we'll see you at the celebration.
Sincerely,

Ash� Cultural Arts Center
504-569-9070

Ash� Cultural Arts Center Newsletter June 2012

Ash� Cultural Arts Center Newsletter

June 2012

In this issue
"Multiracial Identity"
New Orleans Loving Festival - "The Loving Story"
ASH� NIGHT AT THE THEATER - "Fishers of Men"
Moroccan Carpet Weavers Workshop
"Black Folk Don't"
"Healing Force" - Live Concert & Recording Session
Celebration of the Drum
Red + Black = Maroon II
On Stage - "Growing Up Black and Happy in New Orleans . . . The Life and Times of the Great Chakula"...

Dear Ty,

June is well underway, and we have some delightful places for you to go and exciting things for you to do.

Although our Spring film series is over, we're loaded up with documentaries this month. In addition, we have two stage plays that you just have to see, a live concert/recordng session, Moroccan Carpet Weavers, Celebration of the Drum and more.

If you are an Ash� Member, read on and make plans to join us at ASH� NIGHT AT THE THEATER. Playwright Harold Ellis Clark has graciously allowed us to preview his incredible stage play, "Fishers of Men." Please come.

We look forward to seeing you at some of this month's activities.

Feel free to call us at (504) 569-9070 if you have questions.

Multiracial Identity
"Multiracial Identity"

June 7, 2012
Reception, 6:00 p.m. | Film screening, 6:30 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Free and open to the public.
This award-winning documentary, written by Brian Chimera, explores the social, political and religious impact of the multiracial movement. "Opens up a set of honest and timely conversations about race and mixed race in the United States...." (Andrew, Jolivette, Chair, American Indian Studies, San Francisco State). Call (504) 569-9070.


Loving Poster
New Orleans Loving Festival: "The Loving Story"

June 12, 2012

Reception 6:30 p.m. | Film screening, 7:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free and open to the public

Celebrate the New Orleans Loving Festival with a FREE screening of the acclaimed documentary The Loving Story June 12 at Ash� Cultural Arts Center. It is co-presented by the New Orleans Film Society, HBO, Press Street, and the Charitable Film Network.

The New Orleans Loving Festival was started in 2011 in response to a Louisiana Justice of the Peace who refused to issue a marriage license in 2009 to an interracial couple in Hammond, Louisiana. The festival is modeled after "Loving Day" multicultural celebrations across the country that organize people to fight racial prejudice through education and build multicultural community.
Arrive early for a 6:30 p.m. reception. The screening will start at 7:00 p.m., and there will be a short discussion following the screening with a panel of speakers including Hamilton Simons-Jones, Annette Hollowell, and others.

About the film
A racially-charged criminal trial and a heart-rending love story converge in this documentary about Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who fell in love and married at a critical time in American history. Because of a confluence of social and political turmoil, our reluctant heroes bring about change where previously no one else could. They are paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who are driven to pave the way for Civil Rights and social justice through an historic Supreme Court ruling, changing the country's story forever. Click here to watch the trailer.

Fisher Cast
ASH� NIGHT AT THE THEATER
Preview Performance of
Harold Ellis Clark's "Fishers of Men"

June 13, 2012 | 7:00 p.m.
Dillard University Theatre, Samuel DuBois Cook Fine Arts Center
2601 Gentilly Blvd.
FREE for Ash� Cultural Arts Center Members, $10 for non-members
Written by Harold Ellis Clark, (aka Hal Clark, host of WYLD-FM98's "A Sunday Journal") Directed by John Grimsley.
New Orleans mega-church pastor Bishop James Perriloux, played by Oliver Thomas, sends men from his congregation into the city's streets late at night to rescue lost souls. Two potential converts--an ex-con recently released from prison and a mid-level street drug dealer-threaten the very foundation of Bishop Perriloux's ministry, and jeopardize each man's life.
Other performances, June 14 (Hal's birthday) through June 16 at 7:00 p.m. The matinee performance is June 17 at 3:00 p.m. at Dillard University Theatre. Tickets for the June 14-17 performances are $20 at www.haroldellisclark.com. Groups call (504) 433-5498 or email heclarkjr@aol.com. Click here to see more about this production.
Pictured above: Martin "Bats" Bradford (seated left), Harold Ellis Clark, Oliver Thomas, Al Aubry, John Grimsley, and Damien Moses (seated right). Photo by Jim Belfon
Tickets for Ash� Night at the Theater are FREE to members, $10 for non-members, and must be picked up at Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd. Call (504) 569-9070.

Funding Seed Logo
Grantwriting for Beginners

June 14, 2012 | 4:00-6:30 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Registration $35
Student and group discounts are available.

Are you involved with a non-profit? Does your job require you to raise funds for your department or position? Do you want to add a valuable skill to your resume? Consider grantwriting!

Grantwriting for Beginners is an engaging workshop that gives you the basic tools you need to start writing grants. Participants will learn how to find funding opportunities, tools and tips for writing proposals and ways to make a program competitive for repeat funding.

Who should attend: Nonprofit staff, board members and volunteers, students and people in academic fields, activists and community organizers, religious leaders, anyone who wants to learn about the exciting world of grantwriting! Attendees will receive a certificate of participation after completing the workshop.

Registration $35 per person. Discounts available for students and organizations registering two or more people. Visit thefundingseed.com to register online. Email info@thefundingseed.com to inquire about discount codes or to reserve your space and pay at the door.

Click here to register online.


Moroccan Caravan
Moroccan Carpet Weavers Workshop

June 25-29 | 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard

Workshops: $100 (ONLY 1 SLOT LEFT. Register online today.)

June 28 | 7:00 p.m.

Public Presentation and Carpet Sale: Free

The Moroccan Carpet Caravan 2012 brings two Tamazight carpet weavers and their translator from the Valley of the Roses to Ash� Cultural Arts Center. Ash� is the first of four stops on a North American tour of carpet art events. The weavers will teach carpet weaving on traditional wooden looms built especially for the occasion, present a colorful carpet exhibition, and offer a cross-cultural presentation. The workshop will teach basic weaving skills in the indigenous traditions of North Africa not offered anywhere else in the United States. Morrocan carpets are incredible works of art, created entirely by hand with eco-friendly materials. Students will weave their own rag rug with the visiting instructors.

There is very limited enrollment for this workshop, and
only one slot left. $100 per person.

A free public presentation about Amazigh culture and traditions takes place on Thursday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m. The opening of the carpet exhibition and sale happens at 8:00 p.m. Moroccan mint tea will be served.

Click here to register and pay online. If paying by check or money order, call first to find out if the workshop is still open. Make check or money order payable to Efforts of Grace, Inc., and mail it to Ash� Cultural Arts Center, c/o Moroccan Carpet Weavers Workshop, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70113. For more information call Tammy Terrell at (504) 569-9070.

Black folk don't
"Black Folk Don't"

June 26, 2012 | Screening: 6:30 p.m

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free and open to the public

The New Orleans Film Society and BlackPublicMedia present the premiere of the second season of the web series Black Folk Don't on Tuesday, June 26, at 6:30 p.m. at Ashe Cultural Arts Center. The screening is FREE and open to the public and will include a post-screening Q+A with series creator and director Angela Tucker.

Featured in Time Magazine's "10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life," Black Folk Don't is an irreverent documentary web series exploring the grey areas between stereotype and truth. Black Folk Don't questions the notion of normative behavior and comes to the conclusion that black folk don't agree on what blacks do and don't do.

This season, the team travelled to Louisiana to get New Orleanians' take on six new topics voted on by viewers. These topics include camping, eating disorders and more. Interviewees include Melissa Harris Perry and Toure. Click here to watch the trailer. Call (504) 569-9070.


Germaine Bazzle
"Healing Force" - Live Concert & Recording Session
June 29, 2012 | 7:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
$20
Every once in a while, something really special happens that makes you want to call some old friends. Get ready to pick up the phone, because you won't want them to miss this live concert and recording session. Ash� Cultural Arts Center is putting together a compilation CD featuring Germaine Bazzle, Carol Bebelle, Frederick "Hollywood" Delahoussaye, Hamid Drake, Michaela Harrison, Kidd Jordan, Kora Konnection, Darryl Lavigne, Monica McIntyre, William Parker, Kalamu ya Salaam and others. But this is New Orleans, so expect to see lots of musicians on the scene.
This live recording session brings together great artists who are steeped in New Orleans culture, and fuses them with the likes of Drake and Parker, both incredible artists of international acclaim. Master Drummer Luther Gray takes the lead toward making this a "must-see" concert that will produce a "must-have" work of art.
For more information, call Luther at (504) 569-9070.

Hamid Drake
Celebration of the Drum

Celebration of the Drum features internationally acclaimed percussionist Hamid Drake. This celebration is a healing event using the drum and worldwide rhythms to help transform our community through art. Percussionists and drummers from around the world will take turns expressing themselves by way of the rhythms of their countries.

HAMID DRAKE AT SISTAHS MAKING A CHANGE

June 28, 2012 | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

Free

Participants in Sistahs Making a Change will have the opportunity to interact with Hamid Drake, put movement to his rhythms and engage in a discussion or story circle. Make some time to hang out with the Sistahs and meet Hamid. It's free, and you'll be glad you did. Call (504) 569-9070.

CELEBRATION OF THE DRUM

June 30, 2012 | 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.

$20

This event celebrates the drums of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, India, Japan, and the Mardi Gras Indians. Hear and feel world beats along with the sensational featured artist, Hamid Drake. If you're wanting to do something a little different on a Saturday night, this is your best bet. Are you a drummer and want to join in the celebration? Call John Grimsley or Tammy Terrell at (504) 569-9070. Click here to purchase your ticket online. Tickets are also available at Ash� Cultural Arts Center.

[Hamid Drake is an NPN Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of NPN include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.]

DRUM CIRCLE

July 1, 2012 | 2:00-5:00 p.m.

Congo Square/Armstrong Park

Free and open to the public

Drummers, dancers and the community combine their voices, dance moves and drum beats at this weekly ceremony held on the sacred grounds of Congo Square. Congo Square is the place where slaves were allowed to assemble and hold their celebrations on Sundays. On this particular Sunday, however, we're holding a prelude to our Annual Maafa Commemoration which happens the following week. Guest artists will join us as the drums feed our souls and connect us to one another. Come out and experience the rhythms. For more information, call Luther Gray, Congo Square Preservation Society, at (504) 495-0463.


Red + Black = Maroon II

"Quilombolas de Maranhao, Brazil & Maroons of Louisiana, USA"

Exhibit opens June 19, 2012 | 5:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Free and open to the public.
RED + BLACK = MAROON II, a touring exhibition, includes:

Photographs by Cristina Miranda of the daily life of the Quilombolas of Maranhao, Brazil. Quilombos are the "runaway" or "Maroon" settlements in Brazil. Maranhao has over 200 of them. Within, we find resonances of cultural preservation and a rustic way of life that not only offers us a glimpse into the profound cultural practices and traditions of Africans, and Inidigenous Americans, but of the fused/Creole culture that they have forged. This process of Creolization is parallel to Louisiana. We find that their "country" music Forro is almost identical to our Zydeco. We also find that their Bumba Meu Boi is parallel to the Mardi Gras Indian traditions of New Orleans and other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America. The African/Kongo-based culture of the Bamboula, so historically significant here in Louisiana, is parallel to their Tambor de Criolla.

This exhibit, therefore, represents the beginning of an academic, educational, performative, artistic and celebratory cultural exchange between Brazil and the United States, between the State of Louisiana and the State of Maranhao, and connecting the "Maroons" / Black Indians of the Americas across continents and oceans.

The exhibit will also include original artwork from Ivan B. Watkins and others, as well as data from the Hidden Heritage Tours of Leon Waters.

PROGRAMMING

Programming for the Exhibit will include screenings of a documentary series in progress, ethno-historical lectures, panels, as well as workshops and a multi-media Jazz performance.

The programming will also include a fundraiser to be held at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

Dates, locations, times and additional partners will be publicized shortly.

Call (504) 569-9070.


Chakula Then and Now
On Stage - "Growing Up Black and Happy in New Orleans . . . The Life and Times of the Great Chakula"

June 15, 16, 22 and 23, 2012 | 8:00 p.m.
June 17 and 24, 2012 | 3:00 p.m.
Ash� Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Gen. Admission $10, Students and seniors $5
Growing Up Black (and Happy) in New Orleans ... The Life and Times of the Great Chakula is a one-man comedy, dramatic show featuring actor, playwright, director, storyteller and retired comedian Chakula cha Jua telling his life story, on stage, "live and in color." No names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Tired of viewing too many TV shows and movies that suggest all Black people come from criminal, drug infested, deplorable backgrounds, cha Jua decided it was time to set the record straight. He could think of no better way to do that than by telling the story of his own "happy" upbringing. In telling his story, cha Jua will take the audience on a tour of a segregated New Orleans of the fifties and early sixties. Through telling his own personal stories, cha Jua hopes to use this production to explore and examine a part of Black New Orleans History that has never before been viewed on local stages.
For more information, call (504) 569-9070, (504) 304-0429 or (504) 813-9008.



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