 "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. |
 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.
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 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. 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. |
 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 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" 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. |
 "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. |
 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. |
 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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