Posted in PEOPLE
Sekou Sundiata (1948-2007), born Robert Franklin Feaster, was a well known poet and writer. When he developed a love of poetry as a teenager, he changed his name, drawing influence from Sekou Toure, Ghana’s most famous president, and Sundiata from Sundiata Keita, king of Mali-Baraka. Many of Sundiata’s works were influenced by his upbringing in […]
Posted in READER
" In June 2004 Sekou Sundiata addressed a national gathering in Pittsburgh, “Diversity Revisited/A Conversation on Diversity in the Arts.” Sundiata’s speech, “Thinking Out Loud: Democracy, Imagination, and Peeps of Color,” makes explicit the fact that he shared the meeting’s general impatience with the status quo on multiculturalism and that this impatience propelled his turn to the conjoined forces of democracy and imagination. "
Posted in PEOPLE
David Mannes (1866-1959) was an American violinist, educator, and activist. He was born in New York City, and studied the violin with composer and violinist John Thomas Douglass, the son of a freed slave. His musical upbringing led to the establishment of two music schools. In 1912, he helped found the Colored Music Settlement School, […]
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" "New York and the Colored People" was the general topic tor discussion yesterday at the March conference on the evils of pauperism held in the assembly hall of the United Charities Building, 106 East Twenty-second Street. Introduced only by his non-committal subject on the programme, "My Colored Violin Teacher," David Mannes told the story of his first legitimate musical instruction, of his first direction on the right path of musical study, and of how, years later, he tried to pay his debt by inaugurating the Musical School Settlement for Negroes, now advancing through its first season with 150 pupils. "
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" I have spent about forty years of my life at music, most of that time trying to find out what music can do for children; puzzling through the years; realizing what music has done for me; seeing how many people, equipped technically, having every opportunity , still come very far from reaching the true import of the whole matter! "
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" Urban Arts Corps (UAC) was founded in 1967 by Vinnette Carroll, who served as the company's premiere artistic director. It emerged as a pilot project of The Ghetto Arts Program. "
Posted in PEOPLE
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (February 23, 1868—August 27, 1963) was an American historian, sociologist, and civil rights activist, widely recognized for his historiography on Reconstruction, writings on black subjectivity, and involvement in the Pan-Africanist movement. He was known for his emphasis on the importance of economic, not solely political, justice in combating racial inequality, […]
Posted in REFLECTIONS & ANALYSIS
From its opening in 1919, The New School has prided itself on being a progressive institution, focused on creating an innovative space for learning and practice. The founders envisioned a college that allowed students and professors to engage intellectually and freely. They were in support of speaking openly about societal changes during the 20th Century […]
Posted in REFLECTIONS & ANALYSIS
Social Justice at The New School – a talk by Julia Foulkes, Mark Larrimore, and Maya Wiley at the 4th Annual Staff Development Day. Mark Larrimore and Julia Foulkes’ presentation emerges from their ongoing research into the history of The New School. Maya Wiley’s presentation, Social Justice Defined, focuses on her research into the history and intersections […]
Posted in READER
" At least as old as the alleged ʺinstinct of aggression,ʺ according to Robert Ardrey, is the “instinct of territory.” "