mandrake society radio

Single of the day: Bembe Segue “Sense of Humor”

JW Richard — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:43:49 +0000

Okay, this song has all the right elements of the songs I love: syncopated jazz piano and a fun vocal. I’m familiar with Bembe Segue vocal from several electronic projects with 4Hero, Mark de Clive-Lowe, and Sleepwalker. It’s my first introduction to the music of David Sancious, so it’s time to hunt the clearance vinyl shops for his stuff as most of it is out of print according to his website. And the fact that this jam is a freebie for right now, means you’d grab it now. Enjoy!

Sense of Humor by Bembe Segue

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Monday Jazzsession Mixtape #39

JW Richard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:14:51 +0000

“Big Shake Up” – Dave O’Higgins
“Sense of Humor” – Bembe Seque
“Estrella Del Mar” – Adonis Rose
“Dona Maria” – Rufus Reid
“InA Place” – Ramudah
“Syntheology” – Lewis McCallum
“Modest Confession” – Megan Livingston
“Beauty On a Grey Day” – Mike Lindup
“Fortuna” – Roni Ben-Hur
“Somehow” – Geoffrey Williams
“Orbital Echoes” – John Nau

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Exclusive interview with Me’Shell Ndegeocello at popolio.com

JW Richard — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:44:10 +0000

Boy, boy boy! Freddie has done it now! Catch a exclusive blog interview with the one and only Me’Shell Ndegeocello at popolio.com today and tomorrow. Here’s part one.

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Billboards against abortion attacking black women?

JW Richard — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 02:25:36 +0000

Thanks to a tip from AlterNet and reading more from SPARK Reproductive Justice Now out of Atlanta, I’ve learned about some billboards that are going up around the city and especially in the predominately black areas that read, “Black Children are an Endangered Species”, with the website, www.toomanyaborted.com as the lone bottom tag. The billboards are the handywork of The Radiance Foundation in concert with Operation Outrage, led by Catherine Davis.

Going to the website listed on the billboards brings several multi-media presentations that speak of abortion statistics and documents by and about Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. Clicking around, you find out more about Ryan Scott and Bethany Marie Bomberger, the couple behind the Radiance Foundation. Ryan shares his story as a child born of out of a situation of rape. He lauds his mother for allowing him to be born and thanks his adoptive family, who happens to be white, for giving him love and purpose. Furthermore, there are statistics from the Georgia Department of Human Resources that mention 15,000 children in fostercare of which 2200 are available for adoption.

My concern is if the Radiance Foundation is interested in adoption, not abortion, then why don’t the billboards target the beauty of adopting black babies. According to a USA Today poll from 2006, black kids make up one-sixth of the overall population but one-third of available foster kids. Seems as if pointing out the abortion of black babies does nothing but taunt women, possibly continuing the insult hurled against them by other societal voices especially if they are poor and without health insurance. The billboards aren’t really targeting men, whose privilege it still is to have sex whenever and where ever they please without the same physical consequence as women. It may bring outrage with some men, however in some cases that could result in continuing the cycle of mental or physical against women.

Diane Riggs with the North American Council of Adoptable Children says adds this from adoption.com:

Black families who want to adopt often are at a disadvantage because of the expenses involved in a public adoption, including a minimum of $1,500 court costs, Riggs says. Another barrier is that “in the African American culture, there is a belief that it should be a family-to-family thing, a community effort, that a child is not something you should pay for,” she says.

But critics of race matching say there is a darker side involving whites with lingering racist beliefs against mixing races. They argue that children are hurt most by the practice.
“One of the problems with race-matching policies,” says Donna Matias, a lawyer with the Institute of justice, “is that it leaves the children in the system to wait. They are thrown into a vicious cycle where the chances plummet that they will ever get adopted.”

I’m also confused because the Radiance Foundation’s website is, on one hand, to heal racial tensions with statement like “life is better in color” (from one of their videos), yet the emphasis is on and billboard campaign only about unwanted black children? And honestly, while the information about Margaret Sanger is troubling, it’s certainly no more troubling the what we as black people know and have experienced in threat of our lives long before Planned Parenthood.

So, keeping continuing the thread started at www.toomanyaborted.com to offer “no hype, just truth”, SPARK Reproduction Justice Now, along with SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective have released some information of their own about abortion in the black community that also worth reading to obtain more insight on this situation.

Ultimately, believe this is a racial wedge in the issue of reproductive choice and it’s one that we who are involved in LGBT liberation need to pay attention to because it affects our families as well.

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Monday Jazzsession Mixtape #38 – Interview with Sandra Kaye

JW Richard — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:02:33 +0000

Today’s show features an interview with Generativity Records artist, Sandra Kaye. Since 1986, Sandra has thrilled audiences around the world and she shares with me how her music career got off the ground via a now defunct cabaret show in Dallas’ West End. The interview was recorded in her Dallas home. Songs featured from her in the interview are, “Blow Top Blues” and “Skylark”.

See Sandra Kaye live at the Mesquite Arts Center on this Friday, March 5, 2010.

Mesquite Arts Center Presents Curtis Bradshaw with the Mesquite Jazz Ensemble Featuring Sandra Kaye and Arlington Jones – 7:30 PM
1527 N. Galloway
Mesquite TX 75149
USA
972 216-8122
Price: No Cover Charge

Other music in today’s show:

“Bailin’ on Lou” – The Cory Weeds Quintet
The Sandra Kaye Interview
“Fortnight” – Will Collier Septet
“It’s You” – Shanya Zaid and the Catch
“J Street” – Jackiem Joyner
“Soul Purpose” – Tom Braxton
“‘Round Midnight” – Vox One
“Memoires” featuring Gegorie Mamet – Oliver Manchon

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