LGBTQ Fundraising Group "Friends of Jadon" Present the "Wally B Trolley Tour"

Here is an event taking place this Saturday, August 6 featuring Liberated Muse member Wallace Boyd:

Dear Friend of Creativity

This is it: the show YOU have been waiting for. It promises to be unlike any dinner theater experience you've ever had!

All Aboard! Join Tour Director Wally B and guests for an evening of poetic storytelling, singing, and drumming about overcoming adversity through the power of creativity, compassion, and community.

A FORTY-DOLLAR ($40) DONATION IS SUGGESTED, WITH PROCEEDS BENEFITING THE WANDA ALSTON HOUSE, A HOUSING FACILITY FOR LGBTQ YOUTH ABANDONED BY THEIR FAMILIES.

"Young people particularly are vulnerable. Being different has forced them out of their homes," said Earline Budd, founder of Transgender Health Empowerment.

Wally B, a native of East Alabama and West Georgia, has experienced homophobia within his family and the larger society. He has intentionally practiced creativity, since 1997, to heal from the trauma. Having gone from hurting to healing to helping, he invites others to return to wholeness through creativity. His work has been featured in The Washington Blade, The Washington Post, and on National Public Radio.

He has taught writing, knitting, and spinning classes across the southeastern and mid-Atlantic states, including at The John Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, N.C.

When he is not performing, Wally B plays a trolley conductor in Washington, D.C.

The event is the first event of the LGBTQ Fundraising Group "Friends of Jadon" which specializes in raising funds to support under-served LGBTQ communities.

A light supper will be served from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. The performance begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.

If you cannot attend the performance and would like to make a contribution, please make checks payable to "Transgender Health Empowerment", write "Wanda Alston House" on the memo line and send to T.H.E. Inc.; 1414 North Capitol Street, NW; Washington, D.C. 20001

-Wally B

The Saartjie Project Teams with NY Filmmaker to Present 'More That Meets The Eye'

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

New York-based Filmmaker and Educator, Aiesha Turman, Teams With The Saartjie Project To Bring Feature Documentary, The Black Girl Project, To Washington, DC.

After a successful New York premier, Brooklyn-based  filmmaker and educator, Aiesha Turman, is taking her documentary film, The Black Girl Project (www.blackgirlproject.com) on the road. Next stop...Washington, DC. Teaming with DC-based artist collective, The Saartjie Project (www.thesaartjieproject.org), the screening will take place on Saturday, September 25th at Affinity Lab (920 U Street, NW) beginning at 6:30 PM. 

“It's my hope to be able to reach as many Black girls and their allies as possible with this film and subsequent work,” says Aiesha Turman. “It's vitally important that the lives of Black girls are valued just as much as the lives of their counterparts. It's time that we, as a community-at-large, embrace and uplift our young women so that they can become the self-actualized individuals they deserve to be.”

Produced by Turman’s Super Hussy Media (www.superhussy.com), The Black Girl Project (BGP) focuses on one core question: “who are you? “That one question spawned another, then another and yet another, but the one initial question is at the heart of the film.

Hosted by Saartjie Project, The Black Girl Project event will begin with a screening of the film followed by an open discussion with the audience and a director “talk-back” with Ms. Turman.  Prior to the event, the public is invited to participate in a Twitter-based discussion with Aiesha (@blackgirlproj) and Saartjie Project Founder, Jessica Solomon (@saartjieproject) on Wednesday, September 22^nd at 9PM. The social media based event gives participants a chance to ask the filmmaker questions around some of the themes touched on in the film as well as allow audience members from the New York screening and those interested in viewing the film to share their thoughts as well. The hash tag for the event will be #blackgirlprojDC.

 “As The Saartjie Project is currently developing a new performance piece that explores the liberation of black women we find Aiesha's documentary timely and necessary,” said Jessica.  “We are excited to bring The Black Girl Project to DC and are looking forward to an evening of beauty, dialogue and transformation.”

This film, also the impetus for a non-profit (www.blackgirlproject.org) of the same name, seeks to portray black girls as the complex beings they are. Not just the two sides of the coin we see perpetuated in the media: saint or sinner. It also seeks to spark inter and intra-generational dialogue between black girls and women.  The film screening will also serve as a fundraiser for the Black Girl Project organization. 

For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit http://theblackgirlproject.eventbrite.com/