by C. Leigh McInnis
Hey Y’all,
This is the first newsletter sent to the entire listserv in over a
year. Many of you have emailed, asking what has been happening or if
you’ve been removed from the list. No one has been removed, but, with
so much occurring, it has been difficult maintaining the listserv. In
fact, this may be one of the final emails you all receive as part of the
Psychedelic Literature Listserv. Before I get to the upcoming events,
allow me to provide brief history and current status.
This listserv originally grew from the Mississippi Vibes Open Mic
Poetry events. Of course, as a way to build a following and keep people
informed of what was happening, the listserv became an ideal format for
many organizations, which is now being replaced by social media
formats. While poetry was the primary emphasis of Mississippi Vibes,
which grew from Southern Vibes, we were always a multidimensional
network of writers, musicians, painters, singers, actors, and community
activists. In fact, the entire purpose of the artistic collective was
to use the arts to affect socio-political change. And from 1997 – 2002
there was a whirlwind of activity throughout the Jackson-Metro area, and
we were proud to be in the eye of that storm. After 2002, Mississippi
Vibes officially ended, though we held special readings and events until
the death of one of the co-founders David Brian Williams in 2006.
After that, I continued the listserv mostly because whenever I went a
couple of weeks without posting anything I received emails from folks
wanting to know what was happening. So, I continued regularly posting
events through the listserv until 2010 or so. Around 2010 I realized
that my own writing duties, teaching, and the growth of Black Magnolias Literary Journal
made it impossible for me to continue the listserv in its original
format. There was just too much happening, which is a good thing for
the city, but it was simply too much for me to cover. So, in a
difficult but necessary decision, I decided to post only literary events
to save myself time and energy, and that decision also coincided with
my ten-year transition/return to my original love of publishing. Many
of you first met me through my work with Mississippi Vibes, but prior to
that, seven years prior to that, I was exclusively interested in and
pursing print publication, especially in literary journals, and was
dragged lovingly to the stage by Jolivette Anderson and David Brian
Williams. So, my return of emphasis to all things literary,
particularly publishing, means that I have little time to coordinate the
listserv, which is why there have been so few emails over the past
year.
However,
I want to thank each of your for continuing to support the local arts,
especially those of you who have been members of this listserv since
1997. Wow, y’all are old, especially those of y’all who were old when
we first started! I don’t know how many more posts will appear though I
am sure I will continue to post very special events like the ones
below. I have started a smaller listserv that concentrates mostly,
almost exclusively, on literature and publishing with a few additional
items, but not many. This allows me to concentrate on my primary love
and engagement without having to struggle to find time to post about
every artistic event in the city. Believe me, I would love to promote
each artistic and socio-political event in the Jackson-Metro area, but I
am no longer able to do so. With that, I thank each of you, again, for
the love and support that you have given to me, Mississippi Vibes,
Psychedelic Literature, Black Magnolias, and all of the local
artists. As I have been saying since 1997, support your local artists
because all national artists were once local artists. Take care.
C. Liegh McInnis
==============================
The Nameless Open Mic
still meets the first and third Saturdays at Suite 106 (106 Wilmington
Street), and they also have a writing workshop. For more information,
contact Herb Brown at bootheuglypoet@gmail.com or Nathan Harper at nathanr.harper@gmail.com.
==============================
On April 13 – 14 the Jackson State University Margaret Walker Alexander Center will hold its annual Creative Arts Festival.
The festival will feature presentations from students and faculty with a
keynote address by Jackson native and award winning actress Dr. Tonea Stewart. Presentations will also be made by noted storyteller Diane Williams, poet/playwright/essayist Charlie Braxton, and poet/short story writer C. Liegh McInnis. Below is a brief sketch of the schedule of events.
April 13: 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Arts and Activism at the JSU College of Science, Engineering, and Technology Auditorium
April 13: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Reception and Poetry Reading at the Margaret Walker Center in JSU Ayer Hall
April
14: Panels (Panels will run concurrently. So at each time slot there
will be at least three panels. I have noted the literary panels for
each time frame.)
10:15 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Poetry Panel in the JSU Student Center Room 3213
1:45 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Black Literature/Racial Identity Panel in the JSU Student Center Room 3210
3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. General Literature Panel in the JSU Student Center Room 3210
4:45 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Closing Address: Dr. Tonea Stewart in the JSU Student Center Theater
For more information, contact the Margaret Walker Center at mwa@jsums.edu.
==============================
On April 19 – 20 the Jackson State University will hold its 42nd Annual Gibbs Green Memorial Conference which will feature national and local scholars and artistic presentations to study and remember the 1970 shooting at JSU
when the Mississippi State Highway Patrol, the Jackson Police
Department, and the Mississippi National Guard surrounded the campus and
fired over 200 rounds at JSC students, killing two, Phillip Gibbs and
James Green. For more information about panels and speakers, contact Jean Frazier at jean.c.frazier@jsums.edu.
==============================
International Jazz Icon and Grammy Award-winning artist Cassandra Wilson has opened an elegant and state of the art listening room, Yellow Scarf
(741 Harris Street, Suite E). Essentially, Yellow Scarf is the finest
in jazz/soul/blue live music experience in the Jackson-Metro area and
will feature Wilson and her renowned band, the wonderful vocals and
songs and Rhonda Richmond, the soulful experience of Twanna Shante, the legendary Andy Hardwick,
and much more! And true to her roots in the Jackson, Mississippi, arts
world, Yellow Scarf has already coupled the listening pleasure with
visual arts. In short, Yellow Scarf is the classiest, hippest, and most
dynamic live music experience that Mississippi has to offer. For more
information, contact Thabi Moyo at t.moyo@ojahmediagroup.com or info@ojahmediagroup.com.
==============================
On Saturday, April 14, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, DeAnna Tisdale
will give her vocal recital at part of her requirement to complete her
Masters in vocal performance at the University of Southern Mississippi.
The recital will be held at Westminster
Presbyterian Church, 115 N. 25th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS, which is near
the USM camp. DeAnna is the child of noted newspaper publishers Charles and Alice Tisdale,
but she has worked as a journalist and singer in her own right,
publishing articles and performing globally. For more information
contact Alice Tisdale at alicethomastisdale@gmail.com.
==============================
Black Magnolias Literary Journal
has just published its spring (6.1) issue, and it features local, US,
and international writers, such as co-coordinator of the Nameless Open
Mic Herb Brown, Nigerian poet Kufre Udeme, Dr. Agnieszka Lobodziec—English Professor at the University of Zielona Gora (Poland), Alabama fiction writer Tom Lawrence, poet Neli Moody who is also an English Professor at San Jose State University, and JSU graduate and literary theorist Paula Wingard who is teaching and pursing her PhD at the University of Arkansas.
I believe that Jesus wanted social justice for the world. I have discovered a new book that shows how His message was covered up by His Gentile followers. The church has blinkered its past. It's no secret that Jesus strove to bring in the kingdom of justice here on earth and his followers implemented it in the communal society we read about in Acts 2:44-47. The church’s dirty secret is that the Jewish followers of Jesus continued to hold his vision dear, later influencing such sects as the Bogomils and even, according to their own oral traditions, the Doukhobors. After exterminating the Jewish followers of Jesus, the church’s historians buried this history of justice-seeking but an author by the name of Lawrence Goudge has exhumed their story and presented it in 'Cover-Up: How the Church Silenced Jesus's True Heirs.' This book does the world a great service by illuminating for the first time this vital part of the history of social justice. I found it at http://tinyurl.com/69cazll .
ReplyDeleteJesus WAS the first social justice activist!
ReplyDeleteHe focused on the poor and unfortunate during a time where politics and religion had become entirely too intertwined. (sounds a little too familiar, doesn't it?)
It reminds me of this video I recently came across-- it's a cute little song about how Jesus and his followers actually Occupy Jerusalem.
Anyways, here it is: http://youtu.be/a6akkb_afqs
Which, it has a point. Clever 'modern' way to think of how Jesus was an activist first, religious icon second.