Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Act One Presents: Is My Love in the Wrong Place?


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"Is My Love in the Wrong Place" is the latest production from Sam Houston's Act One. The play is written by executive board member Domenique Smith and co-directed by Julian Williams.

It covers a variety of relationship scenarios, from high school to college.

"We have the gold diggers, we have the dead-beat dads, we have open relationships," says Williams, who also plays Joe, a frustrated fiance whose woman likes to max out the credit cards on material things. They have a wedding to come up and collective bills to pay, but she's spending all the money.

The big scene is at the end of the show and ties all the story lines together. Williams says that the cast definitely wants to make viewers laugh, cry and enjoy themselves, but the main thing is to teach people what's acceptable in relationships.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Sigma Block Party @ Bowers, Fairgrounds later


Sam Houston's Theta Rho Sigmas are having their 13th annual Sigma Block Party in the Bowers Stadium parking lot today from 5:00-7pm. This an event to be highly considered, so read carefully.

There will be free barbecue, free drinks and 365 invites have been confirmed on Facebook. It's the pre-party to the "Collision of the Yard Kings" at the Fairgrounds later tonight.

DJ FED will be in the mix.

Special guests include Nu Alpha Kappas from Texas A&M, Rho Theta Ques from Prairie View, Delta Theta Alphas from TSU plus more.

The Sigmas want to remind people that this is their official Founder's Day celebration.

Contact Julian Williams at jaw043@shsu.edu for more information.

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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Keenan Jones Photography Presents: It's a Photoshoot


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Straight promotion for my boy Keenan Jones, representing Jack Yates High School Class of 2010 (young buck, cause I went there in 04-05). It's going down tonight. Don't be a square.


WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR A FREE TATTOO???

GUEST JUDGES: SAUL AND J-RO OF TATTOO SALOON

DJ WARFIELD IN THA MIXX
...
FREE GIVEAWAYS ALL NIGHT!
TATTOO
CASH
SNAPBACKS
PHOTOSHOOTS

$5 WITH OFFICIAL "I SUPPORT KEENAN JONES PHOTOGRAPHY" BRACELET!
$10 WITHOUT

I ONLY HAVE 300 BRACELETS AND THEY ARE GOING FAST!!!!

EVERYONE COME PHOTOSHOOT FRESH!!! SNAPSHOTS ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

1. Head west on S Sam Houston Ave toward Lake Rd 1.3 mi
2. Turn right at 11th St 0.6 mi
3. Continue onto US-190 E/Phelps Dr Continue to follow US-190 E 2.0 mi
4. Turn left Destination will be on the left 190 ft


WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR A FREE TATTOO???

GUEST JUDGES: SAUL AND J-RO OF TATTOO SALOON

DJ WARFIELD IN THA MIXX

FREE GIVEAWAYS ALL NIGHT!
TATTOO
CASH
SNAPBACKS
PHOTOSHOOTS

$5 WITH OFFICIAL "I SUPPORT KEENAN JONES PHOTOGRAPHY" BRACELET!
$10 WITHOUT

I ONLY HAVE 300 BRACELETS AND THEY ARE GOING FAST!!!!

EVERYONE COME PHOTOSHOOT FRESH!!! SNAPSHOTS ALL NIGHT LONG!!!

1. Head west on S Sam Houston Ave toward Lake Rd 1.3 mi
2. Turn right at 11th St 0.6 mi
3. Continue onto US-190 E/Phelps Dr Continue to follow US-190 E 2.0 mi
4. Turn left Destination will be on the left 190 ft

Soul Lifters come up big at Sammys

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Congratulations to the SHSU Soul Lifters Gospel Choir who was recognized as Overall Outstanding Organization and Outstanding Religious Organization at Wednesday night's Sammy Awards. The Soul Lifters have served churches and communities for 40 years and features some of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard.

Listen to them at a gospel retreat in 2008, singing "Holy, Holy, Holy."



I had older cousins who sang in the choir through the late 90s and early 00s. The Soul Lifters have always been popular in churches and most recently performing in the newly established Act One productions, such as "Tribute to Black Arts: Black Box Theater."

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

NAACP Fashion Show, Red Carpet Event

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NAACP Unit 6816 will be hosting their annual fashion show tonight in the LSC Ballroom at 8 p.m. The doors for this red carpet event open at 7:30 and will feature musical performances, designer clothes and food.

General admission is $3 and $2 for current NAACP members.

Tend to do it big closer it gets to summer. The LSC ballroom will definitely be the place tonight, at least for Black Sam Houston.

Check out this "pro" Fashion Show promo video from Sid Ashford.

SHSU NAACP Fashion Show Promo from Sid Ashford on Vimeo.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Huntsville Item column

I had my own thoughts on the City Council proposal to fly a Confederate flage in Huntsville's Oakwood Cemetery, located on Martin Luther King Blvd (where I live). There's more to discuss here.

By Brandon Scott
For The Huntsville Item


HUNTSVILLE — The idea advocated by Confederate descendants and supporters is, “heritage, not hate.” Many of them insist they aren’t racists, rather celebrating Southern culture and history for those who fought for a cause bigger than themselves.

Though, discussion gets testy when identifying the actual cause the Confederacy fought for. By all accounts, attributing the Civil War’s cause to economic turmoil, state rights, or political lobbying eventually leads us back to the slavery issue. The American economy in the 19th century was heavily tied into the work of enslaved African descendants, as well as owning, selling and trading slaves.

Every logical conversation about the Civil War associates the war with slavery, which the Confederate States of America clearly supported against abolition. Secessionists believed the South was under attack by anti-slavery ideologies – that it threatened Southern independence and prosperity. Some extremists even threatened disunion at President Abraham Lincoln’s election.

Leaders of the secession movement often cited slavery as the most compelling reason for Southern independence, most notably Vice President Alexander Stephens who gave the infamous Cornerstone Speech in Savannah, Ga., claiming “subordination to the superior race was the Negro’s natural and normal condition.”

Once this part of the history is understood, an intelligent conversation can be had on the issue of whether it would be appropriate to fly a Confederate flag in Huntsville’s Oakwood Cemetery in honor of Confederate History Month and the dead soldiers buried there.

I covered this story for The Houstonian at Sam Houston State University — despite implications of a conflict of interest: I’m one of two African-Americans on the editorial staff. I was all over it anyway and promised my bosses I’d cover the story with objectivity.

However, that didn’t stop me from having a heated debate with friends on Facebook. A few of my friends are convinced that I’m obsessed with race, to the point where I’ve started to let it define me. This idea ignores my status as a student journalist, not to mention that all of my life I’ve had to peep through racial lenses to make sense of the world I live in.

Nonetheless, my friends and I disagreed on more than how much I let race define me. We disagreed on all points, including the meaning of the Confederate flag and who was to blame for American slavery. They believe the African tribes who sold other Africans to European slave traders were partly at fault.

But the inability to distinguish the Africans who sold slaves and the subsequent slave culture that became part of American society is a failure to understand the issue entirely. The popular idea that celebrating Southern culture with the symbols of the Old South does not equate to a display of racism is disingenuous and misguided at best.

While having coffee with Jerry McGinty Sr., a member of Huntsville’s Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 226, I found the most telling part of our conversation was his acceptance of the concept of “living within society.” He told me there was nothing he could do about living in a segregated Huntsville in the 1950s, so he learned to live with it. McGinty’s view on segregation is very similar to his view on slavery.

“I didn’t live in that time,” he said carefully.

This proved to me that individual racism is the micro-level perspective of U.S. racism. In attempts to clarify themselves as nonracist, McGinty and my Facebook friends overlooked the bigger picture – that prejudices held by individuals were firmly rooted in an extensive system of racism.

What Confederate supporters fail to realize or don’t care to acknowledge, is they are products of their environment. The understanding that racial injustice defined their culture and lifestyle must be buried in a vault from centuries ago.

“It makes me mad when people start talking about slavery and the Civil War,” McGinty said.

His thoughts resembled those of my Facebook friends and those of members of this community who objected to my stance on birther conspiracy issues in a previous column.

Ever wonder why being called a racist offends people more than actual racism?

Why are my Facebook friends more bothered by race commentary than the actual evidence of racism described in that commentary? And why is Jerry McGinty more agitated by associating slavery with the Civil War than the real racism that is associated with it?

It only makes sense if one understands the social landscape of this country. We live in a “white is right” society to this day. That’s where the “learn to live with it” attitude comes from. Don’t challenge the establishment. When we start deviating from virtuous America, we’re crossing the line.

Just as my friends said, “Get over it already and stop letting it define you.”

Confederate supporters have an interesting motto — embracing heritage over hate. It’s an idea that aligns perfectly with the racial undertones in society. It misses the point – as if slaveholders cared enough to actually hate their inferior servants.

Twentieth century sociologist Oliver Cox put it best when he said, “Race prejudice is not an individual idiosyncrasy; it is a social attribute. Ordinarily the individual is born into it and accepts it unconsciously, like his language, without question.”

Free food and fun on intramural field

The Black Student Alliance invites students to the intramural fields today at 4:00 p.m. Black organizations and fraternities are joining together for a reunion, which will resume tomorrow at the NAACP's fashion show.

More information on this event coming soon.

Mall Area vs. Yard

A friend of mine from our Student Government Association once told me of an experience on campus that puzzled her. She tried to get through what's widely known as the mall area, but it was blocked due to performances from Greek chapters who view this same mall area as "the yard."

I explained to her that Greeks were strutting, party-hopping and chanting. But before I could get to her, she asked someone close-by what the commotion was. Why was it so intriguing that she couldn't even get through to see what it was?

The stranger told her it was militant Black men - they may have been equally clueless at the moment.

Just a few days earlier, my friend from SGA texted me saying The Houstonian should do an investigate report on the blatant segregation in the mall area. Even though students seem to enjoy themselves on campus, mingling diversely and respectively, it's not hard to identify the segregated groupings.

White fraternities hang out next to their letters, on the side closest to the library. Black students are trademarked right in front of the Pawprint area (where the stepping normally takes place).

The wall that surrounds the Smith-Hudson business building is evenly shared, but most areas are still flooded with Black students.

My theory on this has nothing to do with real segregation or racism. I don't even think it's important to question whether or not students from different cultures are blatantly segregating themselves.

What's essential here is to consider how differently the "mall area" is viewed in the Black student community. It's "the yard" - much more intimate in than a mall or courtyard. It's like the backyard, or front yard.

Everyone is out there socializing, somewhat posing for the crowd, but Black Greeks dare to block off the walkway and say, "Walk around the yard today, it's about to go down. Come see what's happening if you're interested."

"The yard" has some level of privacy tied to it - the "mall area" is a public stop.