Saturday, December 26, 2009

“Kwanzaa, celebrating African culture, history, began Friday - Battle Creek Enquirer” plus 4 more

“Kwanzaa, celebrating African culture, history, began Friday - Battle Creek Enquirer” plus 4 more

Kwanzaa, celebrating African culture, history, began Friday - Battle Creek Enquirer

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 05:47 AM PST

A holiday tradition dating back not centuries but decades has begun with the start of the seven days of Kwanzaa.

Unlike Christmas and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa isn't a religious holiday. Based on the year-end harvest festivals held in Africa for thousands of years, it's observed worldwide starting Friday by people of African descent.

Local observances include "Kwanzaa and the Seven Principles: Willing the Well-Being of the World," organized by the Black Arts and Cultural Center in Kalamazoo. Events will be held at the Epic Center, Kalamazoo Mall and other locations.

"We are partnering with various organizations in the city to host Kwanzaa events at their locations throughout the week with special guest speakers and entertainment,"
center director Sid Ellis told the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Kwanzaa is a Swahili word that means "first fruits of harvest." The holiday was created in 1966 by Maulana Ron Karenga, a professor at California State University, Long Beach, who is also executive director of the African American Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

Participation in Kwanzaa has leveled off, according to Keith Mayes, an assistant professor of African American and African Studies at the University of Minnesota. Mayes estimates between 500,000 and 2 million people in the U.S. celebrate Kwanzaa, out of about 40 million Americans identified by the U.S. Census as black or multiracial.

Ellis said the numbers aren't as important as what people learn from Kwanzaa.

"Kwanzaa is an acknowledgment of the African culture and heritage, and something BACC wants to help share with the entire community," he said.

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Poet, anti-apartheid activist Dennis Brutus dies - PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 09:03 PM PST

NEW YORK -- South African poet and former political prisoner Dennis Brutus, who fought apartheid in words and deeds and remained an activist well after the fall of his country's racist system, has died. He was 85.

Brutus' publisher, Chicago-based Haymarket Books, said the writer passed away in his sleep in his Cape Town home on Saturday.

Brutus, who taught for a time at the University of Pittsburgh, was an anti-apartheid activist jailed at Robben Island with Nelson Mandela in the mid-1960s. His activism led Olympic officials to ban South Africa from competition from 1964 until apartheid ended nearly 30 years later.

Born in 1924 in what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Brutus was the son of South Africans who moved back to their native country when he was still a boy. He majored in English at Fort Hare University, which he attended on full scholarship. By his early 20s, he was politically involved and helped create the South African Sports Association, formed in protest against the official white sports association.

Brutus was banned from South Africa in 1961 and fled to Mozambique. He was deported back to South Africa and nearly killed when he was shot as he attempted to escape police custody and was forced to wait for an ambulance that would accept blacks. His poetry collections "Sirens, Knuckles and Boots" and "Letters to Martha and Other Poems from a South African Prison" were published while he was in jail.

Exiled from South Africa in 1966, Brutus moved to the United States and taught literature and African studies at Northwestern University and Pitt, a distinctive figure in old age with his flowing white hair and beard, engaged in protests against world financial organizations and in calls for stronger action against global warming.

Over the years, he completed more than a dozen collections of poetry, including "A Simple Lust," "Stubborn Hope" and "Salutes and Censures." In 2006, Haymarket published a compilation of his work, "Poetry and Protest."

He received numerous honorary prizes, including a lifetime achievement award from South Africa's Department of Arts and Culture. But in 2007 he rejected induction into the South Africa Sports Hall of Fame, stating, "It is incompatible to have those who championed racist sport alongside its genuine victims. It's time -- indeed long past time -- for sports truth, apologies and reconciliation."

He is survived by a wife, eight children and many other relatives.

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Western Pennsylvania artists who work at museums get their due at ... - PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 08:56 PM PST

Museums are much more than places where pretty pictures hang on the walls. In fact, a lot goes on behind the scenes to make everything look so perfectly displayed, impeccably researched and, well, flawless. And that takes a lot of people.

As you might imagine, those folks drawn to work in a museum are pretty creative in their own right. Hence, for the first time in Pittsburgh, the people whose job it is to present the artwork of others at area museums and galleries have their own works on display in the exhibit "Behind Our Scenes" at SPACE, a gallery operated by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust in Downtown's Cultural District

If anything, this exhibit proves that Pittsburgh's thriving art scene is a uniting, creative force. Its museums and galleries have been successful in bringing local, national and international artworks to the public. By looking deeper, one will find that many of the people working "behind the scenes" form their own artistic community -- working artists who spend much of their time and energy promoting the artwork of others.

The goal for "Behind Our Scenes," say the show's organizers, Laura Mustio and Nicole Rosato, is to give the artists working "backstage" the opportunity to showcase their work and to celebrate and further unite Pittsburgh's arts community.

"Behind Our Scenes" represents 34 artists who dedicate their days promoting the artwork of others, and their nights and weekends creating artwork of their own.

"We believe this show is a unique idea, for it is the first time that this community of Pittsburgh museum and gallery workers has come together to exhibit their talents as a group." says Rosato, who is a senior customer-service representative at Carnegie Museum of Art. "Working in art museums for a number of years, I've realized that many people working behind the scenes of these artistic institutions are talented artists themselves. It was our goal with this show to give these working artists their own chance in the spotlight, as well as unite this community of individuals."

The Carnegie Museum of Art previously held an employee show once a year, but hadn't had one for the past several years because of the planning and installation of the 2009 Carnegie International.

"Nikki and I decided to find another venue to hold the show and then ended up extending the invitation to working artists in all of Pittsburgh's art establishments, not just the Carnegie," says Mustio, visitor services assistant and volunteer coordinator at the Mattress Factory Museum.

The 34 artists represented come from six local institutions: the Carnegie Museum of Art, Oakland; the Mattress Factory and the Andy Warhol Museum, North Side; Fe Gallery, Lawrenceville; and Future Tenant and Wood Street Galleries, Downtown.

The works on display range from the traditional, such as Wood Street Galleries' Curt Riegelnegg's child-like drawings that combine traditional family figures in fantastical landscapes, to the high-tech, such as a digital, interactive map by Lindsay O'Leary and Tom Stepleton of the Mattress Factory.

And as to be expected, some are quite unusual, given that these folks have a lot around them from day to day to be inspired by.

For example, Chris Craychee, an art handler at the Carnegie Museum of Art, shows a particularly unusual way to create a portrait -- by burning it into carpet samples. John Riegert, who works at the Andy Warhol Museum, displays what is believed to be Warhol's workout bench methodically laid out in the middle of the gallery floor.

Turning the show on its end, Ian Brill, who works as an installer at Wood Street Galleries and SPACE, created the ultimate inside joke with his piece "After Gericault." Basically a video projection of a group of people going up and down a short scaffolding changing a light bulb, it actually features several of the artists in this show who were filmed by Brill over the course of two hours doing just that, screwing in a light bulb to answer the artist's tongue-in-cheek question, "How many museum installers does it take to 'install' a light bulb?"

Even Mustio and Rosato contributed pieces, with Mustio showing an abstract oil painting on burlap and Rosato a dozen portraits of people in silhouette meticulously cut from road maps.

Mustio and Rosato plan to continue organizing a yearly exhibit like this.

"In its first year, we feel that 'Behind Our Scenes' will be successful in giving this group of artists the spotlight, and we will continually work to give them the recognition they deserve as both artists and crucial members of Pittsburgh's museum and gallery community," Mustio says.

"When it comes to our 9 to 5's, I think artists are naturally drawn to the museum and gallery environment," Mustio says. "We're surrounded by people who appreciate the same things we do, and since so few working artists are making a living solely by selling their work, it's nice to feel like we're putting the creative part of our brains to good use. I think we figure if we can't be painting or sculpting or making music or writing or designing all day, at least we can be in an environment where those skills are supported, understood and appreciated."


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Asia's decade reoriented the world: analysts - YAHOO!

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 07:59 PM PST

HONG KONG (AFP) – Explosive growth in economic and political power ensured that the past 10 years set the foundations for what many analysts predict will be the Asian Century as the world tilts firmly eastwards.

Many dangers lie ahead, but observers say the world's two most populous countries -- China and India -- appear on course to define the decades to come after the American Century and the British Century before that.

"Yes, absolutely, I think this decade demonstrates the real promise of Asia," said Alan Dupont, director of the Centre for International Security Studies at the University of Sydney.

"The last two years in particular have seen a sea shift in real power and I think that's been highlighted by the travails the Americans and the Europeans have had after the global economic and financial crisis.

"It has really focused everybody on the fact that China has now arrived and India is not that far behind, and power really has shifted to the East and away from Europe and North America."

China had been "a rock of stability", Dupont told AFP. Time magazine chose "The Chinese Worker" as a runner-up for its annual Person of the Year award in 2009.

Robert Broadfoot, managing director of the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, agreed that the past decade belonged to Asia.

"There is a shift of the assets and, with that, political power towards China in particular and Asia in general," he said.

But if the tilt from West to East was sustained in the decades ahead, it would be more appropriate to call it the Chinese Century, not the Asian Century, Broadfoot said.

The statistics speak for themselves -- blistering economic growth rates of more than 8.0 percent in China -- while Western countries slumped into recession. The United States now counts China as its biggest creditor nation.

But the economic figures -- India also achieved growth rates of more than 7.0 percent -- are only part of Asia's rise.

The political power that goes hand-in-hand with economic power means that no global agreements can be viable without the approval of China and India, as this month's climate talks in Copenhagen showed.

And beyond that lies "soft power" -- the sort of cultural influence wielded last century by the United States in particular, from Hollywood through pop culture to fast food.

As an example, Dupont pointed to China's Confucius Institutes set up around the world to compete with other organisations that project national cultural influence, such as the British Council or France's Alliance Francaise.

Chinese-born actors such as Gong Li, Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi now have Hollywood star power. Writers Ha Jin and Yu Hua are acclaimed internationally.

The Chinese government has reportedly set up a 6.5-billion-dollar fund to expand the global footprint of state-controlled media companies like Xinhua, China Central Television and China Radio International.

Hosting the Olympics last year was an emphatic declaration of China's global arrival and some of its sportsmen -- such as basketballer Yao Ming and former world-record hurdler Liu Xiang -- have celebrity status.

Chinese scientists are becoming more prominent, with the nation's space programme leading the way. China was the world's third nation to put a man in space and has ambitions to send a man to the moon.

India has also enjoyed success in space with the announcement in September that its first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, had found evidence of large quantities of water on the moon's surface.

The path to Asian dominance is strewn with obstacles, however, with weaknesses in democratic and social institutions and widening wealth gaps seen as potentially dangerous roadblocks.

Minxin Pei of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says Asian leaders lack the "visionary ideas" that were a hallmark of US dominance, and that China-style autocracies are inherently unstable.

"Although Asia today may have the world's most dynamic economies, it does not seem to play an equally inspiring role as a thought leader," he wrote in Foreign Policy magazine.

Dupont at the University of Sydney also questioned whether Asia's racing start to the century will be sustainable over the next 50 to 100 years, given the environmental havoc caused by rapid development.

But if Hollywood is a guide, Asia is set to triumph.

In early 20th century movies, the Chinese were represented by mustachioed evil genius Fu Manchu. In this year's big-budget disaster flick "2012", China helps to save mankind from apocalypse.

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Once a St. Louis Ram, Kurt Warner now bleeds Cardinals' red - AZCentral.com

Posted: 26 Dec 2009 08:06 PM PST

St. Louis overcame the loss of the Cardinals. In time, its citizenry even thanked Bill Bidwill for leaving.

But now we have claimed their beloved quarterback. Kurt Warner is about to become property of Arizona forevermore.

It's like stealing the Gateway Arch and slapping it down in Glendale.

The shift began this season, when Warner said he was "over" the whole emotional saga that came with playing against the Rams. After all, he has played more regular-season games with Arizona (60) than he did with St. Louis (53). He also has beaten the Rams in five consecutive games.

The accumulation of time, revenge and two consecutive NFC West titles have altered his perspective.

"I'm not about taking sides," Warner said. "I couldn't care less. I had success in both places, so I'll remember both places fondly. That's how it should be. I don't have to choose. I don't have to say whether I'm a Cardinal or a Ram. I was both."

Sure, Warner did great things in St. Louis. He won a championship, developed a cult-like following and changed a losing culture. His homespun sincerity, Midwestern roots and experience as a grocery-store employee greatly enhanced his appeal.

But he has resuscitated a career and a dead franchise walking in Arizona, turning the focus from the Sugar Bowl (the owner's favorite ice cream parlor) to the Super Bowl. Another postseason appearance is guaranteed, and with every milestone and playoff game that passes, Warner reflects a deeper shade of red.

Besides, chances are great that he will retire here, thereby linked to the team geographically and emotionally. He will be just like Reggie White, a great Eagle in the first half of his career, but in the end, a Packer.

Granted, it's a meaningless exercise. Football players don't wear caps into the Hall of Fame. And yet it says everything that the second half of Warner's career is threatening to eclipse the first half, when he was merely the best story in the history of sports.

"I think the significance is, I've accomplished enough here," Warner said. "I don't look back and say, 'Well, this is the end of my career and I'll always be a Ram.' I don't feel that way."

Save for the parade, his contributions to both cities are almost identical. With two more touchdown passes, Warner would reach 100 for his career in Arizona. He had 102 in St. Louis. He would become only the second quarterback to reach 100 touchdown passes with two teams, joining a club formed by Fran Tarkenton.

This season, Warner became the only NFL quarterback to amass 14,000 passing yards with two franchises.

Though Warner has been spotty the past two weeks, he insists it has nothing to do with apprehension or lingering effects of a concussion. Insiders say Warner's problems against San Francisco are more related to schemes and matchups and will be a point of emphasis in the upcoming off-season. As for the near debacle in Detroit?

"It was a struggle for us emotionally to get up for that game, even more so during the game than before," Warner said. "There was no emotion in the building. There was nothing to feed off of. It was real hard to get going, and we played the same way."

The Cardinals have come a long way, from perennial doormat to a team guilty of overlooking road opponents in December. They clearly have the talent for another run at glory and might not play outdoors again until the Super Bowl. A strong showing would only cement Warner's image as a Cardinal, first and foremost.

"When I first got here, the expectations were just to make the playoffs, and that was weird to me," Warner said. "Playoffs? The playoffs are expected. You play to win a championship. And that's changed around here. Now everyone understands the only goal is to win the last game. Now we have the expectations of when we get to the playoffs, it's a disappointment when you lose."

May it never be the other way again.

Reach Bickley at dan.bickley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8253. Check out his online column at bickley.azcentral.com.

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