New Restaurant Opens in Washington DC in Honor of Writer Zora Neale Hurston

The Harlem Renaissance has been a central theme for me since the start of 2009 for some reason or another...but I love it! I have either been given books or come across books in random places that just happen to be about this almost magical time of rebirth in the Black artist realm and I'm diggin it major-ly...

Last month, I enjoyed Lil So So's production "When Harlem Came to Paris" and I am looking forward to this weekend's grand opening of the new restaurant eatonville in Washington DC. eatonville is another marvelous creation of restauranteur Andy Shallal who also owns the fantastic chain Busboys & Poets. Both eatonville and Busboys & Poets are linked to key figures in from the Harlem Renaissance. Eatonville is the hometown of Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes was a busboy before becoming the renowned poet we know and adore.

The debut of eatonville the restaurant is in the form of an event called Murals to Zora.
Featured performers in this event include www.LiberatedMuse.com members Noon:30. Check them out on Liberated Muse by clicking HERE.

Calling All Women Visual Artists, Dancers, Poets, Singers & Musicians!

The Saartjie Project is proud to present its first benefit showcase which will celebrate the homecoming of its muse Saartjie Baartman.

WHO WAS SAARTJIE BAARTMAN?

Born in 1789 into the Griqua tribe of South Africa's eastern Cape, the Khoisan woman was orphaned in an early raid and was later baptized Saartjie Baartman (her name means "little Sarah" in Afrikaans). She was working for a local farmer near Cape Town, South Africa when her physical appearance attracted the attention of a visiting ship's surgeon, William Dunlop.

Saartjie's enlarged buttocks and oversized labia intrigued Dunlop and he suggested that he take her to England to be studied. Arriving in England in 1810, Saartjie was examined by some of the leading anatomists of the time. Her unusual genital condition was formally termed the "Hottentot apron" (Hottentot being an archaic name for Khoisan). Seen by the public as nothing more than a sexual freak, she was placed on public display in Piccadilly and quickly dubbed the "Hottentot Venus". According to contemporary accounts, Saartjie was often "exhibited like a wild beast" (usually in a cage) and forced to parade almost naked before gawking audiences. Many spectators poked her with sticks to ensure that she was "all real" and she was often left in tears due to the pain and humiliation.

At some point, Dunlop and Cezar dropped out of the picture and Saartjie became the property of an animal handler named Reaux. Her showings in Paris were as popular as they had been in London and she was examined by many French anatomists, including Georges Cuvier. Numerous scientific papers were written about the "Hottentot Venus" that emphasized prevailing notions of racial superiority. Saartjie died on January 1, 1816 (probably of pneumonia) but the exploitation didn't end with her death. Her body was dissected by Georges Cuvier and a wax replica of her body was made. Saartjie's skeleton,brain and genitalia went on exhibit in Paris' Musee de l'Homme and remained there until 1974 when they were finally removed from public view.

Over the years, there were repeated pleas for the return to Saartjie's remains to South Africa but interest in the case intensified after Stephen Jay Gould wrote an article on her in 1985. Finally, following pressure from the South African government and debates in France's National Assembly, permission to return the remains was given in 2002. On May 6 of that year, Saartjie Baartman's remains were returned to South Africa and, in a moving ceremony, she was laid to rest on August 9 (National Women's Day in South Africa) in the Gamtoos River valley of the Eastern Cape.

THE SAARTJIE PROJECT CELEBRATES SAARTJIE'S HOMECOMING

The Saartjie Project, an artist collective based in the United States in Washington DC, debuted a stage performance in 2008 inspired by the life of Saartjie Baartman. Since the August 2008 premiere performance, The Saartjie Project has performed in sold out shows extending into 2009. This year, the collective is scheduled to perform in upcoming venues including the Capital Fringe Fest held in the nation's capital and The Theatre for the Oppressed Conference in Minneapolis.

To celebrate the anniversary of Saartjie's homecoming to South Africa and to support the growing programs and performances soon-to-be implemented, The Saartjie Project is pleased to put out a call for female artists-- visual & performing-- to participate in a benefit concert to be held on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) in Washington DC.

Email a link to your work and a bio to homecoming@thesaartjieproject.org for consideration. Deadline to submit your work for consideration is April 1, 2009.

Teach Your Art Skill to Washington DC Students and Get Paid To Do It!

For those who live in the Washington DC metro vicinity, the Child & Youth Investment Trust Corporation (CYITC) after-school component called Project MyTime (PMT) has an opportunity for you if you fit this criteria:

* You enjoy working with middle schoolers (11-14 years-old)

* You have a skill you can teach them (i.e. dance, double dutch, football, martial arts, painting, etc.)

*You can work in urban settings with youth who may be "at-risk"

*You have reliable transportation

*You can flesh out in writing what you would engage the young people in each session

Project My Time continues to ask Liberated Muse Productions to spread the word to our network because so many of our members have responded to this opportunity in the past. Current members who are now Project My Time contractors include (but are not limited to): Afi Soul, MYST Studios, Binahkaye Joy, 5 Rings Art, and the Adinkra Group.

Project MyTime is currently seeking bids from individuals to serve as independent contractors specializing in a variety of arts and recreation activities for after-school programming in DC Public Middle Schools: Sousa Middle School, Hart Middle School, Kelly Miller Middle School and 7 others.

A word to the wise: only consider this if you are really interested in working with young people. Because this initiative is fairly new, there are several kinks regarding management of the Project My Time program. Each school has a different site director who is the liaison between you the contractor and the school. This oversight impacts your ability to recruit and actually have children to work with. You may have a site director who will recruit children to come to after-school programming and you will then have your pick of children to recruit from to join your group. However, you may have a site director who will expect you to come during the day to recruit children by passing out flyers to students in their classroom or during their lunch period or doing visits to classrooms to talk about your what your after-school group will offer. So, keep this in mind when applying to be a contractor. Your range of payment will be based on the number of children you are expected to serve each week.

Visit http://www.cyitc.org/about/jobs.asp#Indie_Provider_with_Project_My_Timeand learn more about opportunities to become a Indie Provider with Project My Time.

Please note deadline of March 10, 2009. Follow instructions for application - a full application packet must be received to be considered for this bid request.

For more information, contact Shanita Burney at sburney@cyitc.org • http://www.cyitc.org/

Binahkaye Joy & Friends @ the Potter's House this Month

Dancer, writer, actress and humanitarian Binahkaye Joy is a spirit who you get a chance to meet every once in a while. Her persona is as endearing as her name and stage characters she presents whether she is dancing, acting, performing spoken word or facilitating workshops. A member of our Liberated Muse network, Binahkaye blogs about her work as an OSA dancer and her work with different populations as she uses dancing as a healing agent. According to Binahkaye, OSA "Open Space Activation" Dance is a transformative, organic-art experience that evolves as movement in public spaces. "Activation" is a dance process that transforms idle, static spaces into active, creative laboratories and initiates awakenings inside everyone in the space. Visit her wonderful blog HERE.

Binahkaye will be performing this month at the Potter's House in Washington DC doing a performance she titles "Joyism". The performance is hosted by Sounds of Music and will be a fusion of dance, words, sounds, and fun, inviting everyone to participate in the dance that, she says, "belongs to all of us". She will be accompanied by the cosmic melodies of Manatho "Moonhead" Masani on mbira, (the thumb piano). Sounds of Hope is a benefit concert series that happens EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT from 7pm to 10:30pm at The Potter’s House, 1658 Columbia Road NW in Washington DC.

Binahkaye is a member of the artist collective The Saartjie Project who she has invited to do excerpts from the show during her performance set. Doors open @ 7:30pm and the suggested donation is $15 All tickets sold at the door! The Facebook invite is HERE.

Host: Sounds of Hope @ The Potter's House
Date: Friday, March 20, 2009
Time: 8:00pm - 11:00pm
Location: The Potter's House
Street: 1658 Columbia Rd NW
City/Town: Washington, DC

The Potter's House is a restaurant, a bookstore, a gift shop, a concert venue, a theatre, and an art gallery. The Potter's House is maintained by the Potter's House church of Washington DC. For more information, call (202) 232-5483

Hip Hop Cinema's "The Freshest Kids: a history of the B-Boy"

Did you know that "B-Boy" is the term preferred over "Breakdancers" by those who are adept at popping and locking and getting down-right dirty on the floor as they twist and spin in ways that we sometimes can't believe is humanely possible?

Were you aware that B-boying actually pre-dated a lot of what we now refer to as "hip-hop"?

Hip-Hop Cinema, a solSource DC production, treated us this month with their monthly film installment that took a historical look at the history of the B-boy. After the in-depth documentary, attendees were treated to some dance moves by the Beat Ya Feet Kids who are based in DC, Grey Matter-- a b-boy and emcee and b-boy Giovanni Galleno(http://www.myspace.com/geosnap). A forum discussion was moderated by Kobie Nichols.

(All photos by Khadijah Ali-Coleman--please link back to this site if you use the photos)

When Harlem Came to Paris-- Simply Divine!

When Harlem Came to Paris is the brainchild of Risikat "Kat" Okedeyi, the founder of Lil So So Productions. Okedeyi had the creative thought to imagine the Harlem Renaissance alive and kicking with some of its key players living and breathing among us as we party and socialize like its 1934. Set at the elegant Alliance Francaise De Washington , the evening was a remarkable flashback setting where everything was authentically reenacted as possible-- from the french menu to Josephine Baker's accent. Planned to perfection, the atmosphere created was stellar-- classy, fun, cordial and festive. Some DC luminaries were at the event, including Post writer Rhome Anderson, legendary vocalist Valerie "Kehembe" Eichelberger, Sherry Ways of Sankofa Doll Artistry Studio, DJ Jahsonic, and others.

The actress in me loved this event as it was a prime event to dress up, Charleston and Lindy hop while imagining being a part of the rebirth of Black arts and literature. Some of the guests at the party included the divine Josephine Baker, writers Marita Bonner and Wallace Thurman, blues great Bessie Smith and Cab Calloway, among others.

Liberated Muse member Sharon Burton was the curator of the wonderful art auction that took place during the event.

The event featured:

Dorothy Tene Redmond as Mamie Mason

Shawnea Posey as Bessie Smith

William Smith as Count Bassie

Bassey Ikpi as Marita Bonner

Fred Joiner as Wallace Thurman

John Murph as R. Bruce Nugent

and Holly Bass as Josephine Baker

Me with Wallace Thurman (played by Fred Joiner)

My partner Maceo Thomas, co-founder of Liberated Muse Productions with Marita Bonner (played by Bassey Ikpi)

Bessie Smith (played by Ne'a Posey) belts out a nice one with Count Bassie on the keys

Visit our social network at www.LiberatedMuse.com to view more pictures from this event.