It's Time To Get Back To Art...

It's Time To Get Back To Art

Buttafly Arts uses “creativity” as a platform for community “harmony” with its 2014 Summer Arts Series

Louisville, KY-- May 21, 2014-- On March 16, 2014, Me'Quale Offut was fatally stabbed on a public bus. He had joined a group of teens in savagely assaulting a lone straphanger. Me'Quale paid the price of kickin it with a raucous crew of young folk; when a quiet, soft spoken father, decided to stand up to an evil that was swathed in Aeropostle, blue jeans, and kicks. All Anthony R. Allen, 44, wanted to do was to take advantage of the affordable, safe transportation that was provided by what a visible city campaign has coined as “Possibility City.” However, the possibilities for some folk in this “promising river town” may prove trivial, as residents find it hard to enjoy a peaceful bus ride home.

It's time to get back to art... Buttafly Arts, a local agency that partners with other community agencies, schools, and arts related nonprofits to provide creative workshops for youth and adults , believes that Its time to get back to art and is kicking off this initiative with the 2014 Summer Arts Series, which will run from June 23^rd to August 8^th. The agency embraces the practice of art as a quality, that in some cases, has saved a community on the brink of chaos. This quality is summed up by quotes from a recent article titled Art and Expression as a Catalyst for Change and Development... the article goes on to state... This quality is key for any individual, especially for youth of color that have too often been the victims of a failing school system, an unfair judicial system, and a scapegoat for mainstream society. Yet, to transcend victimhood, one must develop a new positive identity, not rooted in deficits, but anchored in one’s strengths and abilities...Art and expression, when encouraged and praised by a supportive community, provides an ideal outlet for developing a toolbox of skills that can be useful throughout one’s life.

Art as activism... The agency prides itself with being involved with projects that pushes the individual to combine art with social and communal change. Buttafly just finished hosting the “Freedom Mic Series” which was a series of open mics sponsored by New Legacy Reentry Corp, a local nonprofit dedicated to providing reentry services for ex-offenders and returning veterans. Many of the featured artists and support staff for this series were ex-offenders who have created news paths of progress for their lives.

It's time to make it happen... The agency has appealed to churches, ministries, and other community agencies to make “community restoration” happen via a partnership with Buttafly. The agency hosts an extensive catalogue of workshops and classes which are posted on its website.

The classes can also be accessed via its Facebook page @ Facebook.com/ButtaflyArts. In addition, Buttafly also has a growing Artist Registry which can be viewed from a link on the page, as well. If you are interested in partnering with Buttafly Arts, or you would like to become a teaching artist via their registry; please forward an email to buttaflyarts@gmail.com or call 502-354-3496.

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The Audacious Community

The Audacious Community

By t. semakula

Where is audacity these days? Is it stuck underneath the pews like a freshly chewed piece of gum? Was it left inside an old sermon that a preacher didn’t have the courage to deliver? Was it left on the shores of the Red Sea after the last Israelite walked over the dry ocean floor? Did it chip off the stone that David used to lay down Goliath? Did it burn up in the flames that consumed the false prophets of Baal? Did it see the noozle of Sojourner’s gun, because it wanted to retreat back to the fields of the south? Did it lay waiting on the podium after King delivered his discourse on the state of black and white folk in America?

It is time for audacity to return to its rightful place. Audacity has left the church and only finds comfort outside the sanctuary. Have you ever been in the presence of an audacious child of God who possessed a righteous spirit and who was able to produce fruit that enacted change, lead folk to salvation, and impacted the world? When someone is overflowing with audacity, they are consumed with boldness, they are inspired by bravery, they are filled with courage, and they are embroiled with nerve. Within audacity lies the power to transform your community, your mind, and your faith.

A community

So, what does a community look like that is void of an

audacious population? It looks a lot like
a community that could care less about the education of its people. Louisville’s local school system is filled with many disparities. These disparities have created a poorly educated underclass who have a high school diploma, minus the marketable skills that will allow them to compete in the twenty-first century (Stark). Local change makers, movers, shakers, and leaders have acknowledged that …education is Louisville’s greatest liability (Greater Louisville Project). Please note that the word liability is associated with the word glitch, snag, obstacle, hindrance, puzzle, problematic, difficulty, predicament, quandary, trouble, crisis, conundrum, drawback, and challenge.

Proverbs 3: 13-14 goes on to state… Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding (14) For the merchandise of it is better than silver, and the gain thereof. Local ministers, laypersons, evangelists, and prophets, have found it difficult to be engaged in effective ministry due to a lack of education and skills. I have noticed that our inner city’s most effective ministry is lead by a minister who is educated and whose ministry team is staffed with learned folk. This minister has also taken over the helm of an urban bible college that was once, ready to close. He has the audacity to believe that educating the next generation of ministers is a worthy endeavor. The word of God states that we …Should study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).

So, what does a community look like that is void of an

audacious population? It looks like a
community that locks up its kings. Kentucky leads the nation, as it relates to the number of folk who have been disenfranchised, due to a previous conviction or felony. A report titled Low-Income Fathers Need To Get Connected goes on to state… Policies designed to get tough on crime have devastated low-income fathers and families over the last three decades. A disenfranchised population roams the community with no power to vote, no power to obtain housing, and no power to seek reliable employment. The local community has been quick to shackle down our men, shutting them off from society, progress, power, and their families.

What Kentucky fails to realize is that they have retarded the

growth of their own communities
because they have shackled men based on their poverty and their skin color. They have shackled leaders, thinkers, and strategists. They have shackled scientists, engineers, and ministers. They have shackled writers, journalists, and essayists. They have shackled artists, creators, and healers.

Pharaoh had to call on Joseph who was locked up in a jail,

in order to interpret a dream that
would save the country from famine. Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon: and he shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came unto Pharaoh (Genesis 41:14).

So, what does a community look like that is void of an audacious population? It looks like a
community that praises cowards. It is interesting to know that when God lists the seven things that he abhors, the word coward comes before the word murderer. I am firm believer that God is a God of order and in this case, it may have meant from the greatest to the least. A murderer may have only taken one life, whereas a coward, due to his or her silence or compliance , caused the death of a whole city,town or nation.

It is important to note that in the community of West Louisville, there is a lack of small business
success, a lack of effective ministry, high unemployment, and slow to nil economic development. Russel Simmons, hip hop pioneer, a self proclaimed Buddhist, the founder of Rush Communications and co-founder Def Jam Records, was courageous enough to wait on the success of his subsidiary company, Phat Farm. In his autobiography titled Life and Def , we see that it took Russell almost a decade before he gained a profit from Phat Farm. It is a shame to note that so-called people of God lack the tenacity, patience, and courage that Simmons held onto as he waited for his company to make a profit. If only more ministers, more community activists, or more business owners had the audacity to see West Louisville come to fruition. If only they had waited, to see the benefit of audacity.

I remember a conversation that I had with my mother, who grew up in West Louisville. I was
telling her about how local leaders had blamed the former mayor for the issues that existed in the neighborhood. My mother said that we have no one to blame but ourselves because West Louisville is our neighborhood.

The Word of God states that...I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13). With the strength of Christ, we will feel awkward living amongst a community of cowards who sit by and watch the things of God diminish.

Co-Bishop Sharon Polk was audacious enough to publish her book titled He's My Personal Friend (Jesus Still Heals). Find out how you can purchase it online.

Open publication - Free publishing - More christianity

The City Curriculum

The City Curriculum
By
Tarsha Semakula

Instead of pouring knowledge into people’s heads, you need to help them grind a new set of eyeglasses, so they can see the world in a new way
-John Seely Brown

So, what is your curriculum? This is the question that is usually asked when I tell folk that I homeschool C. Breezy. …I create my own. I am more of an eclectic unschooler. I find ways to reach my daughter via inspiration, her interests, and the jewels that we find along the way as we canvass, the city.

The essence of intelligence is skill in extracting meaning from everyday experience
–Unknown

Sure, I checked out the state standards in regards to assisting me with the subject matter. I used the standards as a back drop to what C. Breezy and I needed to accomplish for the school year, then I moved on.

It’s off to the city. There’s our usual jaunt to Brooklyn’s Central Library. Last week, we went there to research info about creating pie charts to compare the economy of each of New York City’s five boroughs. There’s the geography lesson that compliments our jaunt. We map out our route from central Harlem to Brooklyn, survey the subway maps, and plan out our strategy. We take the one train from 137th and Broadway and transfer to the two train at 96th street. We know once we get to Brooklyn, we’re gonna cop us some beef patties and coco bread.

The library was built to resemble a huge open book. The inside is filled with three floors of texts. On the second floor there’s a room stuffed with wifi users. We usually park ourselves in there. Before we make it to the wifi room, we check out the exhibits that the library has ongoing. Currently, in the library’s grand lobby is an exhibit by artist Lucille Nurske titled “ Beautiful Brooklyn- Collages that celebrate the city.” I’m inspired and make a note to start a new art project with C. Breezy…hmm…collages about everyday life in Harlem?

We like to take fieldtrips to the Social Science library in Manhattan. C. Breezy reminds me that this library was famous for the part it played in the movie The Day After Tomorrow. Jake Gyllenhaal and his classmates were trapped inside it after New York City is taken over by global warming.

The route to this library opens itself up for a study in Art, Greek Mythology and Architecture. On our way to the library, we pass through Grand Central Station and look up to admire the beautiful blue and gold painted backward mural of the zodiac which looms over the commuters’ heads. In the library, there is a photography exhibit by Stephen Duponts titled “Afghanistan, or the Perils of Freedom.” C. Breezy is impressed because she is a photographer as well, her collection is on view at Photobucket and her My Space photo gallery. Duponts’ pictures give us a glimpse into the lives of the Iraqi people, as they live through a war that is still ongoing. I am amazed at how the photographer was able to get so many Iraqi people to sit for portraits with their guns, and farming tools.

While there, we also check out the Map Room. I requested that we look at maps of our neighborhood. We are supplied with maps that were created in 1911 (fire insurance maps) and we compare these old maps with current maps of our neighborhood. C. Breezy discovers that the public school that sits behind our apartment building was once an orphanage. However, the neighborhood is laid out with the same stone apartment buildings and even in 1911 the one train ran alongside Broadway.

On our way back home from our jaunts, we usually are witness to impromptu performances of young men dancing or getting light in the subway isles. I notice that sometimes, their laceless Adidas are spray painted gold.

No week of feildtripping is complete without a trip to the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. We step into the huge center and set our eyes on Williams and Sonoma, famous for its seasonal culinary tools, gadgets, etc that are being sold in the store’s pimped out kitchen. The second floor of Williams and Sonoma is dedicated to interior design. This floor is a study in color, art, and creativity. The second floor of the Time Warner Center houses an open art exhibit, the Cartoon Network Store (filled with cartoonists’ original drafts and sketches), and a busy bookstore. In the bookstore, C. Breezy discovered a new series of fiction geared toward urban teens called Tru. She just finished Jaded by Monica McKayhan and is now reading Hustlin by L. Devine.

The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet. -Lord Chesterfield

When there’s no fieldtrip, C. Breezy and I usually hit it over to La Pregunta, an arts café that sits around the corner from my house. It’s the closest thing that she gets to a classroom. C. Breezy sits in there with her laptop, revising her essays, researching via the net for an upcoming project or listening intently to a You Tube math tutorial.

I admit, sometimes in the café, we people watch. Let’s face it, Manhattan is famous for the cast of characters that roam about in the city. Since the café sits across the street from City College, we get to listen to impromptu student meetings, college professors gabbing about their courses, or watch patrons munch on the café’s famous revolutionary sandwiches.

I am often questioned about how C. Breezy is learning to be social. I think about the many people we encounter and converse with as we trump through the city and I let out a sigh. C.Breezy is a member of a church peer group that meets on a regular basis. Her peer group assists her with learning to socialize, network, and develop appropriate social skills. I am happy to say, via her city unschooling, that my daughter is not only confined to socializing with teens, she also networks with adults, the elderly, and folk who live in different parts of the globe. Recently, we attended an event for entrepreneurs held at Columbia University’s Low Library. The speaker for the evening was Susan Taylor, editor emerita of Essence Magazine. C. Breezy and I had a chance to meet her in person, and I am proud to say that my daughter did a wonderful job socializing with Mrs. Taylor and the other entrepreneurs who attended the event.

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.
-Eartha Kitt

As a trained middle school language arts teacher, homeschooling, via city unschooling, has proven to be a journey dedicated to ingenuity, unlimited resources and a new perspective on what is considered educational. This new perspective has not only me but my daughter looking at and experiencing the world in a totally different way. The curriculum is not only seen as a set of books or texts with themes interspersed for comprehension, but now curriculum is seen as living breathing moving parts of a city on the move. It’s a collection of portraits in a library, a series of workshops at a museum. It’s a conversation with a tourist visiting from Canada or an ad hoc performance of break dancers kicking it on the corner of 42nd and Seventh Avenue.

Buttafly offers a wonderful workshop for those young city dwellers who love to write about their neighborhoods.

The Urban Planners Writer’s Workshop- What’s going on in your students’ neighborhoods? Have they ever written a letter their city councilman? What are some things, if any, that they would like to change about their neighborhoods? Have they ever considered composing their own neighborhood proposals? They’ll take a look at the dynamics of a neighborhood, while at the same time developing creative and critical compositions that explores the question, how can we make our neighborhoods a better place to live?

To inquire about or book this workshop please click here