Marcus and the Amazons has made the cut!

The Kart Foundation has published the 2011 Kart Kids Book List, and from over a thousand entries, Marcus and the Amazons, has been chosen as one of the thirty-two recommended titles for 2011.


I am deeply grateful to be included on this list. I hope that Marcus's story, which the Kart judges described as an "adventure fable that combines Caribbean & North American history while honoring the values of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. & Marcus Garvey," will inspire young readers to follow the example of these two great leaders, my heroes, who devoted their lives to freedom and justice.

"Set the captives free!"

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Save the Date! April 20, 2012: Release of Marley Movie

I 'm really excited about the new film, Marley: The Life, Music and Legacy of Bob Marley, which will be released this week.Friday (4/20/2012).
 Here are two trailers. In the first, Neville Garrick speaks about Bob's exile in London (1977) and Cindy Breakspeare gives background information about Bob's decision. I also learned about Bob's work habits and his creative process. 





Jimmy Cliff and Bunny Wailer talk about the early days of the Wailers. Jimmy Cliff also reveals a nugget of information about Bob that I'd never known before.





Release Date: April 20, 2012 (limited/VOD) Studio: Magnolia Pictures Director: Kevin Macdonald Screenwriter: Not Available Starring: Bob Marley Genre: Documentary, Musical MPAA Rating: Not Available Official Website: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bobmarleymovie

Plot Summary: Bob Marley's universal appeal, impact on music history and role as a social and political prophet is both unique and unparalleled. "Marley" is the definitive life story of the musician, revolutionary, and legend, from his early days to his rise to international superstardom. Made with the support of the Marley family, the film features rare footage, incredible performances and revelatory interviews with the people that knew him best. 
From Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald (One Day in September, The Last King of Scotland) comes the story of a towering figure of musical history, whose music and message has transcended different cultures, languages and creeds to resonate around the world today as powerfully as when he was alive.

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The Florida Poets Project: Geoffrey Philp

The Florida Poets Project: Geoffrey Philp

My heartfelt thanks to Professor Maurice O'Sullivan of Rollins College for including me in this project; Bill Dudley for shooting, editing, and directing the video, and the sponsors of this grant:

The Florida Poets Project has been funded by a grant from the

Central Florida English Speaking Union

Drey Endowment

Executive Producer Maurice O'Sullivan

Production Assistant Susan M. Fowler

Shot and Directed by Bill Dudley

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New Book: Oh Gad! by Joanne C. Hillhouse

Oh Gad! by Joanne C. Hillhouse

Description


A stirring novel about a woman facing cross-cultural odds and redefining everything she understands about her family, herself, and the country she’s never really been able to call home.


Nikki Baltimore was born in Antigua but grew up with her dad in the United States. With each year, she’s grown further apart from her mother and maternal siblings, potters in rural Antigua.


Her mother’s funeral brings Nikki back to the island, and, at a professional and personal crossroads, she makes the impulsive decision to stay after being offered a job by the ruling government. Soon, Nikki is embroiled in a hurricane of an existence which includes a political hot potato, confusion in her romantic life, and deepening involvement in the lives of the family she left behind. Will Nikki eventually find her place in the chaos and begin to plant the roots that have escaped her all her life? 


Product Details
Strebor Books, April 2012
Trade Paperback, 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1593093918
ISBN-13: 9781593093914

Oh Gad! is also available through Amazon and other booksellers

I also invite you to visit her online pages: http://www.jhohadli.com and http://www.facebook.com/JoanneCHillhouse

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Why I Donated to Crayons Count

My mother would have been disappointed with this post. For years, she donated to many charities and it wasn't until after her death when letters of condolence began flooding my mailbox that I discovered the names and stories of the many children from all over the world whom she had supported financially and in-kind. She believed in giving the way the Bible admonishes: "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth."


For the most part, I've followed my mother's example of giving without drawing attention to myself. But Crayons Count is different kind of charity and my sole purpose for writing this post is to spread the word as best as I can about this noteworthy cause. And Crayons Count is important charity for many reasons:


Child-centered charity
Educational: Book Based
Support for literacy
Non-Governmental
Homegrown
Building Civil Society


In my post about Mona Heights, I described the kind of community that existed in Jamaica before the undeclared civil war of the 70s. Crayons Count is a step in the right direction of restoring that kind of civil society. But it won't happen by a miracle. It won't happen unless we put our hearts, minds, and money into projects like these.


I also like that Crayons Count is book based. I hope it will expand to include local authors and build on the children's awareness of our regional literature. Our children need to know from an early age that there are storytellers in our midst. If this happens, I believe literacy rates would increase and we could broaden the children's appreciation of our regional literature.


A classic regional literature appeals to the moral imagination and accomplishes what George Lamming in his lecture "The Present Future of Caribbean Literary & Cultural Studies," describes as "the education of feeling": "Art is the most civilizing instrument or tool in the education of feeling…the nurturing of a consciousness to respond sympathetically to a world of people and customs that are different from your own… and to approach the Other with respect."


The last point is very important. Because of our history and geography, Jamaica and the other islands in the Caribbean are uniquely qualified to discuss Otherness and respect. For example, although the book is above the reading level of the target audience of Crayons Count, Dog-Heart by Diana McCaulay imaginatively recreates the distinct worldviews of two characters from both ends of the Jamaican social spectrum. I'm not saying the novel is a panacea, but it points toward a solution.


We can respond imaginatively to others who are seemingly different without fear or violence. By expanding the scope of the readings, Crayons Count may be one of the building blocks of extending our conversations about topics that are relevant to our culture. As Lamming explained further: "Books stay alive when they are talked about in a variety of situations by people who recognize that the books are talking about them and may have originated with them."


Crayons Count is a program that works toward unifying Jamaicans in the care of our island's treasure: our children. It may also become that necessary bridge between race and class, the past and the future, which keeps our cultural gifts in circulation. This is why I used the Amazon link to make my donation:

http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/16XZFCOMX3V8U

I hope my mother will forgive me.






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Easter Sunday 2012

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Easter Friday 2012

Call for Papers: ‘Children’s Literature from the Commonwealth of Nations’

We invite submissions for a Special Issue of Bookbird in conjunction with the Commonwealth Education Trust (CET). The CET has promoted education, literacy and literature throughout the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations for 125 years. Their work has much in common with IBBY. Papers are invited on the literatures of Commonwealth countries, as well as on literacy education, the development of the imagination and critical thinking through reading, and other practical uses of literature. Papers of 4000 words are invited on, but not limited to, the following topics: 

• National identity in literature for children and teens
• Literacy programmes which incorporate children’s literature
• Thematic developments in national literatures
• Indigenous and diasporic literatures for children
• Multilingual children’s literature
• The impact of colonization and/or Empire on national literatures for children
• The oral tradition and/or literary retellings
• Trends in illustration techniques
• Prizes for children’s literature
• Non-fiction publishing for children and teens

Titles and abstracts of 250 words should be sent to both editors by 15th May 2012. Roxanne Harde rharde@augustana.ca and Lydia Kokkola lydia.kokkola@utu.fi

The full papers will be expected by 30th June 2012. Please see Bookbird’s website at www.ibby.org/bookbird for full submission details.

In addition, short reviews of recently published children’s literature (c.a. 300 words) or of research on children’s literature (c.a. 750 words) are warmly welcomed.

Papers which are not accepted for this issue will be considered for later issues of Bookbird.


Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature (ISSN 0006 7377) is a refereed journal published quarterly by IBBY




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Keep the Channel Open

“There is a vitality, a life force, 

a quickening that is translated through you into action, 

and there is only one of you in all time, 

this expression is unique, 

and if you block it, 

it will never exist through any other medium; 

and be lost.  

The world will not have it. 

It is not your business to determine how good it is, 

not how it compares with other expression.

It is your business to keep it yours

clearly and directly, 

to keep the channel open. 

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.

You have to keep open and aware directly to the  urges that motivate you. 

Keep the channel open."

Text: Martha Graham

Image of Rex Nettleford by Alma Mock Yen

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Memories of Marcus Garvey

Remembering Marcus Garvey

Published by Allie Shay on March 23, 2012

On March 23rd, 1916—96 years ago today—a man who would soon become one of America’s most well-known  black nationalists—the self-proclaimed “Provisional President of Africa”—arrived in the United States.



For more on this post, please follow this link: https://lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/03/23/remembering-marcus-garvey/









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Exonerate Marcus Garvey

To be delivered to President Barack Obama

http://signon.org/sign/exonerate-marcus-garvey?source=c.url&r_by=4631897

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Crayons Count: A Building Block in Jamaica's Civil Society

There have been so many times when I have been invited to meetings with Jamaicans in the diaspora when the conversation has devolved into fevered rants about "all the things that are wrong with Jamaica."


Yes, the crime rate and garrison communities are atrocious. Yes, the decline in public morality is a cause for concern. But there are bright spots that shine beyond Jamaica's geographical boundaries.


One of these lights is Crayons Count.


As the founder of Do Good Jamaica, "an online information portal for and about civil society organizations in Jamaica," Deika Morrison is the driving force behind Crayons Count, "a project designed to support the early-childhood education programme and is endorsed by the Early Childhood Commission (ECC) and has two primary objectives:


1. To put a learning kit of materials in all early-childhood institutions (i.e. basic and infant schools as recognised by the ECC) across Jamaica at back to school in September 2012. Each basic kit contains: 240 crayons, 10 books, two balls, two sets of blocks, four children's scissors, four puppets, four tubs of play dough and four packs of paper.


2. The complete kit: made up of four puzzles, four manipulatives, four sets of children's paint, eight children's paint brushes, eight glue sticks.


According to The Daily Gleaner: "These kits represent the basic starter material required by the basic and pre-schoolers, to set them on their way to a life of learning, that will eventually result in a more educated society and a change in the existing culture of the embracing of ignorance and the dependency syndrome that the culture breeds."


So many memes within our culture encourage "ignorance" and a "dependency syndrome." Jamaica's first national hero, Marcus Garvey, livicated his life to our emancipation from this type of "mental slavery." Crayons Count is one more step toward our liberation.


Marcus Garvey would have been proud.

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There is a well-known Chinese proverb, "It is better to light a candle that to curse the darkness." Here's one way to "light a candle."


Crayons Count has a link to Amazon so that those in the diaspora may also help with this remarkable project: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/16XZFCOMX3V8U

Related Link: http://www.jamaicans.com/articles/primeinterviews/deikamorrisondogoodjamaica.shtml




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New Book: The Chaos by Nalo Hopkinson

THE CHAOS (reviewed on March 1, 2012) by Kirkus Reviews.


Noted for her fantasy and science fiction for adults, Hopkinson jumps triumphantly to teen literature.


Scotch’s womanly build and mixed heritage (white Jamaican dad, black American mom) made her the target of small-town school bullies. Since moving to Toronto, she’s found friends and status. Now both are threatened by the mysterious sticky black spots on her skin (she hides them under her clothes but they’re growing). When a giant bubble appears at an open-mic event, Scotch dares her brother, Rich, to touch it. He disappears, a volcano rises from Lake Ontario and chaos ripples across city and world, transforming reality in ways bizarre and hilarious, benign and malignant. A lesbian folksinger with Tamil roots becomes a purple triangle with an elephant’s trunk; jelly beans grow teeth; buried streams resurface. Scotch searches for Rich across a surreal, sensual cityscape informed by Caribbean and Russian folklore. Although what they represent and where they come are open to interpretation, the manifestations are real to everyone and must be dealt with. Hopkinson opens her YA debut conventionally but soon finds her own path, creating a unique vocabulary with which to explore and express personal identity in its myriad forms and fluidity. Anything but essentialist, she captures her characters in the act of becoming.


Rich in voice, humor and dazzling imagery, studded with edgy ideas and wildly original, this multicultural mashup—like its heroine—defies category. (Fantasy. 12 & up)





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Petition: Exonerate Marcus Garvey 2011

In commemoration of Caribbean-American Heritage Month, a group of artists, writers, and concerned citizens has created an online petition to request a full pardon for Marcus Garvey, founder of the UNIA, and a national hero of Jamaica. The goal is to get 5,000 signatures and to deliver the petition to President Barack Obama.

http://signon.org/sign/exonerate-marcus-garvey?source=c.url&r_by=4631897

 “This is a cause that President Barack Obama can fully embrace,” said Geoffrey Philp, a spokesperson for the group. “In Dreams From my Father, President Obama has acknowledged Garvey’s influence by quoting one of Garvey’s more famous lines: “Rise up, ye mighty race.”

For more information, contact Geoffrey Philp (geoffreyphilp101 [at} gmail [dot] com

http://geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com/search/label/Marcus%20Garvey

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