Kuma2.net Blog

Community Engagement Coordinator
Urban Bush Women
(Brooklyn NY)
Creative community organizer sought by Urban Bush Women to fill new position as Community Engagement Coordinator for 22-year old contemporary dance company active in community.
 

Must be a self-starter and strategic thinker with proven track record and willingness to become well-versed in Urban Bush Women’s community engagement methodologies and core values (Validating the Voice of the Individual; Using Dance as a Catalyst for Social Change; Building Trust through Process; Entering Community and Co-Creating Stories; Celebrating the Movement and Culture of the African Diaspora; Recognizing that Place Matters).

The Community Engagement Coordinator is expected to build upon existing partnerships with the YWCA of Brooklyn, New York City Housing Authority and the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, among others.

The Community Engagement Coordinator will also be expected to identify additional partners, steward these budding relationships, and cultivate new funding sources for programs.

The Community Engagement Coordinator will take the lead in handling logistics for Urban Bush Women’s annual Summer Institute.

He or she will work closely with the Artistic Director to develop and articulate program ideas and work closely with the Managing Director towards implementation including ongoing trainings of company members and supervision of company apprentices carrying on work in Brooklyn. 
 

Required Qualifications

• Commitment to and understanding of the use of arts and culture as uniquely effective community building and political action tools;
  
• Deep passion and commitment to advancing social justice in communities of color and working class communities;
  
• Demonstrated interest in social justice issues;
  
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
  
• Entrepreneurial spirit;
  
• Commitment to nurturing healthy working relationships and communication;
  
• High comfort level in making public presentations;
  
• Willingness to grow in the position and willingness to travel in order to facilitate community engagement projects outside of Brooklyn.
  

Minimum of three years working experience in the following areas:  dance, community organizing, arts education, and/or political campaigns. Must be proficient in MS Word, Excel and Power Point.  Photography and graphic design skills considered a bonus.

Some database management skills required.
 

Salary with benefits: negotiable and commensurate with experience.
 

Please submit cover letter stating purpose, resume and writing sample of no more than 4 pages in length to Urban Bush Women, 138 South Oxford Street, #4B, Brooklyn, NY 11217, or in-@urbanbushwomen.org. No phone calls please. Applications will be accepted until position is filled.

Applications for Scholars-in-Residence ProgramDeadline: December 1, 2006

The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture ( http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html ) is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving, and providing access to resources documenting the history and experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The Schomburg Center residency program assists scholars and professionals whose research on the black experience can benefit from extended access to the center’s resources.The fellowship program is open to scholars studying the history, literature, and culture of peoples of African descent from a humanistic perspective and to professionals in fields related to the Schomburg Center’s collections and program activities.

Creative writing (works of poetry and fiction) and projects that result in a performance are not eligible.

Persons seeking support for research leading to degrees are not eligible under this program. Foreign nationals are not eligible unless they will have resided in the United States three years immediately preceding the application deadline.

Fellowships are awarded for continuous periods of six or twelve months at the Schomburg Center with maximum stipends of $25,000 for six months and $50,000 for twelve months. Fellows are expected to be in continuous residence at the Schomburg Center and to participate in the intellectual life of the program.

Visit the center’s Web site for complete program information.

RFP Link:
http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/10004015/nypl

York Lesbian Arts Festival
26th-29th October 2006
York Racecourse, York, UK
http://www.ylaf.org.uk

The York Lesbian Arts Festival (YLAF) will be a national event over four days for around 3,000 people, mainly lesbian and bisexual women, at York Racecourse and venues in the York city centre.

We’ll have Horse… at the Racecourse! She’s part of the Unison Celebration Concert hosted by Sue Perkins. And Rosie Lugosi, Claire Mooney and friends will perform at our Cabaret Night.

The Libertas-sponsored book festival is lined up to feature such authors as Ali Smith, Sandi Toksvig, Stella Duffy, Jackie Kay, Val McDermid and Radclyffe – to name only a few of the ones you know and love. There will be a big Libertas stall selling books and DVDs, as well as many more market stalls.

The workshops are back this year, helping you to write love scenes, get in touch with your inner wild woman and we’ve got guided walks round Secret York.

Add that to the UK’s biggest lesbian disco, Club Diva, featuring Sadie Lee, Beat Roots and Jane Czyzselska in the DJ booth as well as Latin and ballroom dancing from Studio LaDanza and you can see we’ve got a jam-packed weekend planned for you.
Visit http://www.ylaf.org.uk or email admin@ylaf.org.uk

I’m experimenting with a new, simple script for “add to” stories.  If it proves easy to manage, then I don’t see why Kuma can’t have Xtasy Tales again. 

 So, here is a link to the script I’m playing around with: http://www.kuma2.net/steam/story/index.php

Please feel fee to go there and add to the two sample stories already there.  You can write anything, I’m just testing to see that it won’t have any problems. Tell your friends about it, etc–the more people who experiment with it, the better.

Vanessa Brown, MA
LGBT Program Coordinator
Jersey City Connections/Hudson Pride
Phone: 201-963-4779
Fax: 201-963-7983
www.hudsonPride.org

RedBone Press seeks well-written personal stories by
black lesbians on the subject of coming out while
married to a man. Looking for journal entries,
personal essays, creative autobiographical fiction,
poetry or whatever way the words come together to
describe your coming out. This book is intended to be
a resource for black women coming out of marriage, and
for the women who love them.

Some questions to address are: How did you tell him?
(The “honey, can we talk” speech?) What language did
you use to communicate your secret? Did you know your
orientation before you got married or after? Why
didn’t you keep it to yourself? Were there any fears
of violence? Did it delay your coming out? What is the
present state of your relationship with him? Do you
have any regrets? Do your kids know? How do you manage
co-parenting with your ex-husband? If you left your
husband and are not out, how do you co-parent? Was
there any collateral damage? How did you find new
support systems while finding yourself?

We are also looking for stories from women who are
partnered with formerly married women, addressing
their point of view surrounding these issues.

Please send submission, double-spaced and typed (no
more than 35 pages) along with a SASE to the address
below. E-mail submissions welcome; send files attached
as a Word or an rtf document, along with complete
contact information (snail and e-mail addresses).

RedBone Press
P.O. Box 15571
Washington, DC 20003
redbonepress@yahoo.com

Submissions will not be returned, so do not send your
only copy. Deadline for submission is Nov. 3, 2006.

What’s new this month:

• 15 New Poems / 3 New Stories
• Survey-Getting To Know You
• PayPal Donation button
• Updated Photo Album (thanks to JAlbum)

Peace Out East (POE) is an annual gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer hip hop artists, activists, fans and supporters in New York City, celebrating LGBTQ presence in hip hop, organized by Shante Paradigm. POE features live music, DJs, spoken word, dance and art. Now in its third year, POE features independent LGBTQ hip hop artists and scholars from the Northeast and beyond. POE’s mission is to expand the burgeoning LGBTQ hip hop tradition on the East Coast, showcasing the pioneering work of queer hip hop artists in the birthplace of hip hop. This year’s evenst are hosted at New York University, community organizations and local music venues.

In POE’s two-year history, over 1,100 people have attended, more than 40 artists performed and four films had their NYC debut. POE is a curated regional showcase featuring the best in LGBTQ hip hop from New York city and beyond. POE presents a diverse program of artists with a broad range of talents including emceeing, DJing, spoken word, filmmaking, art and dance. This year the festival is expanding its work to include panel discussions and workshops with artists, writers and thinkers, to open dialogue about the performances in hip hop cultural spaces.

IMPORTANT: The organizers of Peace Out East understand the that working artists need funds, however, the festival is not at the point where we can pay travel, lodging or performance fees. In the past two years, we have been able to pay performers a small fee after covering our production expensive. We encourage proposals from all over, but ask you to keep in mind your own budget.

To Artists and Panelists:
Please submit your name, contact information (email and phone number), any supportive material (website, abstract, music. etc) to:
Peaceouteastfestival@gmail.com

Snail Mail to:
Peace Out East Festival
c/o Shante Paradigm
PO Box 050320
Brooklyn, NY 11205

POE is a volunteer-run, grassroots, community-based arts project. We depend on volunteers who live in the New York area to help plan, produce and promote the festival. Click here to volunteer or intern. Click here to donate. In the section asking for Artist Name, type Shante Smalls, for Artist Company: Peace Out East. Peace Out East is a sponsored project of The Field, a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization serving the New York City performing arts community; all donations are tax-deductible.