View more artwork in the Art & Design gallery.

A program from THE RE:CONSTRUCTION PERIOD™, a community-based organization that develops and cultivates innovative curriculum and programming to support youth organizations, institutions and communities, The Stoop is a weekly conversation connecting successful Brooklyn creative professionals with Brooklyn high school and middle school students.

The theme for this week’s session was Dream Management. I was invited to assist the young people in developing short term goals and fine-tuning their entries for AcaciaULTD’s Grow Grant.

To learn more about The Stoop watch the video below and become their fan on Facebook.

The Stoop Promo from PlanIt Brooklyn on Vimeo.

Organized along the theme “A Good Head & A Good Heart”, taken from Nelson Mandela’s 1995 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, TEDxYouthInspire will exhibit how radical thought and integrity of spirit combine to create unlimited possibilities for a brighter future.

“The outpouring of support for TEDxYouthInspire exemplifies the need for more events like this for young people,” says Raquel Wilson, event curator, “As our speaker line-up suggests, youth everywhere are ready to solidify their contributions towards making the world a better place.”

TEDxYouthInspire welcomes the following speakers to give the talks of their lives:

• Iyinoluwa E. Aboyeji, 18, a Nigerian teenager with a passion for philosophy, global politics and economics, is President of the Board for University of Waterloo publication Imprint. Using his weekly column “E is for Error” to discuss development and post secondary education, he aspires to be a tenured professor by age 25.
• The Asanti Dance Theatre is a dynamic ensemble that combines traditional, contemporary and freestyle dancing along with drumming. Founded in 2003, the group raises awareness of prominent issues facing West Africa and is dedicated to developing and preserving the cultural heritage of Ghana.
• Yawa Hansen-Quao, 26, is a women’s empowerment activist and firmly advocates that “one cannot love an Africa one does not know.” Believing that women must play a central role in spurring economic and social advancement in Africa, Yawa supports travel as a tool to “transform people without permission”.
• Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah is the host of radio station Joy FM ’s Super Morning Show.
• Mac-Jordan Holdbrookes-Degadjor, 25, a social media activist, is passionate about Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), youth empowerment and ending poverty through education. With three blogs to his credit, he often writes about global events, social entrepreneurship, traveling and how it feels to be a geek in Ghana.
• Shirley Osei-Mensah, 18, is an Internet entrepreneur and student at Keystone National High School. Unable to attend a regular classroom, she takes all coursework online and uses her web exposure to inspire others, provide tips about entrepreneurship and advise on earning an income online.
• Esi Yankah, 25, is founder and president of The Africa Mentor Network and creative director for Yankah and Associates. Cautious to always live a life that is cheerful and purposeful, she does not believe that entrepreneurs are an extraordinary breed of people; rather, as she explains, “We just back our faith with action.”
• Ghana Google Country Manager Estelle Akofio-Sowah will host TEDxYouthInspire.

TEDxYouthInspire is sold out, however, a live web steam of the event will be available online at www.tedxyouthinspire.org. Individual and corporate sponsorship packages are still available. Additional information about TEDxYouthInspire can be found by visiting www.tedxyouthinspire.org/attend. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tedxyouthinspir.

Download press release (.pdf)

An online video campaign initiated by Sallomé Hralima, iPromise encourages people to commit to fulfilling one action in the calendar year that will affect our society. Specific areas of interest include health, education, digital divide, economy, affordable housing, rural areas, criminal justice, community policing, energy, democracy.

I have contributed my promise video along with my 10 year old niece Mya. Watch it below.

Find out more about the iPromise campaign at sallomazing.blogspot.com.

Tasked with inspiring young people to make sustainable transformation, the conference will utilize the theme “A Good Head & A Good Heart”, from former South African President Nelson Mandela’s 1995 autobiography Long Walk to Freedom, to exhibit how radical thought and integrity of spirit combine to create unlimited possibilities for a brighter future.

“It is important that young people are aware of their power as local and global community leaders,” says Raquel Wilson, event curator, “TEDxYouthInspire will encourage participants to collaborate and embrace their shared passions for change.”

Space for TEDxYouthInspire is limited. Young people interested in attending should apply online at www.tedxyouthinspire.org/attend. Eligible applications must be received by Sunday, January 31, 2010 to be considered for admission.

Individual and corporate sponsorship packages are available. Additional information about TEDxYouthInspire can be found by visiting www.tedxyouthinspire.org. You can also follow along on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tedxyouthinspir or on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/tedxyouthinspire.

Shot on the stairs of the iconic Brooklyn Museum and Brooklyn Bridge Park in June 2008, participants of the landmark events included included the owner of New York City’s first eco-eatery Sean Meenan, Michael K. Williams from HBO’s “The Wire”, hip-hop emcee Mos Def, actor Malik Yoba, Black Girls Rock! founder DJ Beverly Bond and Tony Award-winning, Def Poet Suheir Hammad.

The opening reception will commemorate the one year anniversary of these unprecedented gatherings and serve as a fundraiser for the Brooklyn-based youth program The Stoop, a weekly arts conversation between successful Brooklyn residents and area high school students.

“I am so grateful that DOPE SWAN invited me to shoot ‘A Great Day in Brooklyn’. These brothers and sisters represent the best of Brooklyn and I believe we’ve thoroughly captured them in these images,” said Jamel Shabazz.

Signed limited edition posters of the historic “A Great Day in Brooklyn” will be available for pre-sale at the opening. Corridor Gallery is located at 334 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11238.

For additional information and visuals, please contact Raquel Wilson at agd@dopeswan.org or (347) 410-7277. Read more about “A Great Day in Brooklyn” atwww.agreatdayinbrooklyn.org.

Officially designated by the United Nations on 17 December 1999, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is a day where organizations and governments around the globe rally together to raise public awareness on the scale and true nature of rape, domestic and other forms of violence against women.

Selected in remembrance of the Mirabal sisters, Patria Mercedes, María Argentina Minerva and Antonia María Teresa, who were assassinated in 1960, 25 November has been marked as a day against violence by women’s rights activists since 1981.

This day also marks the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute (WGLI) sponsored by Rutger University’s Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.WGLI participants chose the dates, November 25 and December 10 (the close of the 16 days), which is International Human Rights Day, to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a violation of human rights.

For more info about how you can help stop violence against women, visit Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women Campaign.

“Brooklyn Influence” commemorates the one year anniversary of “A Great Day in Brooklyn” and “Another Great Day in Brooklyn”, organized in June 2008 by Brooklyn-based community arts organization DOPE SWAN. Featuring the work of renowned documentarian Jamel Shabazz and visual storyteller Lafotographeuse, the exhibition doubles as a visual blueprint and photographic memoir of Brooklyn residents who eloquently merge the worlds of art, activism and entrepreneurship.

On view September 27 – November 7, 2009

Opening Reception: Sunday, September 27, 2009 4:00-6:00PM

Corridor Gallery
334 Grand Avenue
Brooklyn New York 112238
Tel: 718 230 5002
www.corridorgallerybrooklyn.org

Order prints online at www.agreatdayinbrooklyn.org
Proceeds benefit Brooklyn youth organization The Stoop.

“Spike Lee has left an indelible mark on popular culture and has irrefutably placed Brooklyn solidly on the artistic map, cinematically depicting Brooklyn’s eclectic vibrancy, which surely encouraged a flood of artist and has contributed to “Brooklyn’s Renaissance,” says Marty Markowtiz, Brooklyn’s Borough President.

In addition to Marty Markowitz’s proclamation of June 30, 2009 as “Spike Lee Day,” several noteworthy Brooklynites have agreed to lend their talents to the host of events including: Nelson George, Kevin Powell, Michaela angela Davis, Roger Guenveur Smith, Danny Simmons and Fab 5 Freddy.

A summary of events follows:

• We’ve Gotta Have It!: Art Inspired by Spike Lee – Salena Gallery, Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University, Thursday, June 25, 2009, 6PM
• The Man & the Brand: Spike Lee Panel – Spike Lee Screening Room, Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University, Thursday, June 25, 2009, 7PM
• No Jheri Curls & No Drugs: A David Lee Photo Exhibit – Brooklyn Historical Society, Friday, June, 26, 2009, 6PM
• Buggin’ Out: Poetry Inspired by Spike Lee – Brooklyn Historical Society, Friday, June, 26, 2009, 7PM
• He Got Game: Father & Son Basketball Tournament – McLaughlin “Tillary” Park, Saturday, June 27, 2009, 5PM

Although Lee’s films have served as turning points for Brooklyn’s neighborhoods and can be directly linked to the emerging cultural regeneration known as “The Brooklyn Renaissance”, Brooklyn Honors Spike Lee will be the first borough-wide celebration honoring the living legend.

Brooklyn Honors Spike Lee is not produced by Spike Lee, 40 Acres & and A Mule Filmworks or Spike DDB. For more information about Brooklyn Honors Spike Lee, please visit www.wheresmars.com.

No Jheri Curls & No Drugs features forty-two photographs taken on and around the set of She’s Gotta Have It, Spike Lee’s first feature-length film. Spike Lee wrote and directed the film in 1986, which stars Tracy Camilla Johns as the unforgettable Nola Darling; as well as Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell and Spike himself as her suitors. The film was shot in twelve days during the summer of 1985 on a budget of $175,000.

She’s Gotta Have It tells the story of “a young, beautiful, sexually frank woman” struggling for independence and identity in a male-dominated society. The New York Times wrote that the film “ushered in the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema…” The highly stylized, black-and-white film features a score by Lee’s father, Bill Lee, who went on to score many of Spike Lee’s other films.

About the Photographer
David Lee has been photographing behind the scenes of his brother Spike Lee’s films since Spike’s first film, 1982′s Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. Highlights from their collaboration include working on Spike’s racially charged Do The Right Thing; meeting former South African President Nelson Mandela during the filming of Malcolm X; and working with tap-dancer and actor Savion Glover on the set of Bamboozled and Michael Jordan during the “Mike & Mars” campaign for Nike’s Air Jordans.

Other notable photographic work on the sets of films in David Lee’s resume include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, American Gangster and the first season of HBO’s “The Wire.”

Work from David’s fine art portfolio has been shown at the Museum of the City of New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and Boston’s Photography Resource Center. David was also included in “Songs of My People,” a group show of works from 100 African American photographers that has traveled internationally.

David Lee is a proud, life-long Brooklyn resident and a graduate of Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights.

Raquel Wilson, Curator

Images in the exhibit are courtesy of and from the collections of David Lee and the 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks Archive.

Download curatorial statement (.pdf)