Mark you calendar. One of our members (Ms. Alicia Hamilton) will be presenting on how communities can come together. CDS. CEO BEMA
Webinar: Methods of Communication in
Disasters— Preparing to Receive, Provide and Act on Critical Information in
Times of Crisis
FEMA’s DHS Center for Faith-based &
Neighborhood Partnerships and FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness
Division invites you to a webinar on Thursday, December 15, 2016. Representatives
from FEMAwill be joined by faith and community leaders to highlight
various methods that governments and communities can use to communicate with
one another and the broader community in disasters. This webinar will also
feature preparedness activities and resources to effectively receive, provide
and act upon critical information.
The
Last Poets: America in poetry from black power to Black Lives Matter
The
Last Poets, left to right: Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin
Hassan. Photograph: GAB Archive/Redferns
“The Last Poets are the
microcosm of black America,” said Umar
Bin Hassan, one of the founding members of the group, when I first
met him in Harlem, New York, a decade ago. And he’s right: the turbulent and
sometimes violent history of this legendary group of African American men who
became famous worldwide in the late 1960s and early 70s with self-critical,
militant poems (“Niggers are scared of revolution. Niggers love anything but
themselves”) not only influenced generations of hip-hop and soul artists – such
as Public
Enemy, Ice
Cube, Ice-T,
2Pac,
Common,
Mos
Def and Erykah
Badu – but also the likes of David
Bowie and Mick
Jagger. Their fluent and funky conga-rhythms transformed poetry into
rap (a novelty at the time, though perhaps not today).
Umar Bin Hassan, now 68, is in a position to
reflect on their remarkable collective strength, resilience and hope. The Poets
always bounced back, no matter how much they struggled – and boy, did they
struggle. Umar, in particular, lived on the streets as a crack addict for years
and found success very hard to handle. Growing up in a ghetto, where he was
told “You ain’t shit” from a very young age, Umar worked as a shoeshine boy in
a red-light district to escape his father’s abuse. Racism, poverty and social
exclusion left their destructive marks on him; as Bin Hassan put it in one of
his autobiographical poems: “Self-hatred wrapped up in a twisted, demented but
well-controlled smile.”
Umar
Bin Hassan Photograph: Hollis King
From
the first moment I discovered the Last Poets – through my 11-year-old,
hip-hop-obsessed son – and from the first time I met them, I was completely
absorbed by their life stories and poetry, which continues to reflect today’s
black America.
The
Last Poets started out during the black power movement, in the
years, months and days after Martin Luther King, Robert F Kennedy and Malcolm X
had been murdered. They were young men living in the black ghettos of Akron,
Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Jamaica Queens and The Bronx – all desperately seeking
a different life to that of their parents, who in their eyes were too subdued,
too damaged by racial oppression.
Inspired by the music of John Coltrane, the glamour
of the Temptations and the politics of black pride, they started performing on
street corners in Harlem where they immediately gained a following. But it
wasn’t until 1970, when Alan Douglas – the white record producer who made Jimi
Hendrix a star – convinced them to record their first album (Douglas drove into
the heart of Harlem in his silver Jaguar and appealed to them himself), that
they experienced fame. It became an instant classic. “White death will froth
the walls of museums and churches breaking the lies that enslaved our mothers
when the revolution comes,” is recited on When
the Revolution Comes. “The Statue of Liberty is a prostitute,” is
shouted out, on New York, New York.
Their
poetry seemed stronger then themselves, visionary even. But despite their
self-awareness, their scope for self-criticism didn’t prevent them from getting
into trouble; Umar and Félipe Luciano (former leader of the Puertorican Black
Panthers, now a politician) got mixed up in drugs; Jalal Mansur Nuriddin became a hustler; and
Abiodun Oyewole was in prison by the time the first Last Poets album came out,
and heard other inmates sing words he wrote from other cells.
When they were all together, they almost killed
each other fighting over rights and money. It was all too much for some: the
original founder of the Last Poets, David Nelson, retreated to his sisters’
house; fellow original member Gylan Kain moved to Europe. By the late 1970s,
their popularity had declined. Their disintegration coincided with the downfall
of the black consciousness movement in America; the FBI’s Cointelpro programme
had infiltrated all the major black political organisations, the Black Panther
party was in disarray and drugs were flooding into black neighbourhoods.
But the Last Poets were saved by their art. When
young hip-hop bands such as A Tribe Called Quest started sampling the Last
Poets’ words in their own raps in the early 1990s, Umar started writing poetry
again. After hearing his own voice on the radio, Umar went to Abiodun’s house
in Harlem and told him: “We still got something to say to the kids.” He started
reciting new work: “Arrogance is the demon that will kill us, before the white
men, before the drive-bys...”
It was the start of a new beginning. Umar and
Abiodun began working together again, recording new albums, and collaborating
with artists such as Common, Erykah Badu, and bands like Dead Prez. And they
found peace. Since then, despite all their internal fights, they have performed
together on stage at various points; wiser, a bit sadder perhaps, but no less
inspiring or militant.
Christine
Otten, with Umar Bin Hassan, percussionist Baba Donn Babatunde and Abiodun
Oyewole. Photograph: PR
Writing
a book about the Last Poets changed my life, not only as a person but as an
author. After spending months in America with these audacious artists who were
so far ahead of their time, I felt I could do anything as a writer, even making
music with words, just like the Last Poets themselves. Artistically, they
taught me to be completely free. And more broadly, they remain so relevant:
race remains one of the most urgent matters of our time. Not only in America,
where a new generation is fighting racism and police violence, but also in
Europe, where xenophobia and racism have become more open, more common.
Ultimately, the story of the Last Poets is about human resilience and beauty’s
sustaining power. I remember Umar telling me: “You have to turn yourself inside
out, until something raw and honest comes to the surface. Something unique, not
like anything else.” I definitely had to turn myself inside out. And I am glad
I did.
The Last Poets by Christine Otten, translated from
the Dutch by Jonathan Reeder, is published by World Editions (£12.99).
In the U.S. our history may not be taught in schools, but we must ensure our written and oral history are passed on to our future leaders. BEMA
Dr. Julius Garvey, the son of the legendary Pan-African
leader Marcus A. Garvey, was in Washington last evening for a “Students4Garvey”
campaign event. The campaign is centered around educating young
African-Americans about the life and work of Marcus Garvey, and to encourage
their letter writing to President Barack Obama to exonerate the record of
Garvey.
Black Emergency Managers
Association
1231 Good Hope Road S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20020
Office: 202-618-9097
bEMA
Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight
but, while their companions slept,
they were toiling upward in the night.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Cooperation,
Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and Partnering (C5&P) A 501 (c) 3
organization.
Messages on the impact of
looting and the scope of international humanitarian assistance were
broadcast on 26 November through local radios in affected regions.
Amidst tension on the
reopening of schools and eviction of displaced population in
Jeremie, the humanitarian actors will provide direct emergency
assistance to displaced populations hosted in public schools to
enable their safe return to their place of origin.
Some 121 schools are
being rehabilitated in Grand’Anse, Nippes, South, and North-West
departments. These efforts will benefit approximately 40,000
children of the 150,000 who have been out of school since the
hurricane.
From 4 October to 22
November, WHO/PAHO registered 7,959 suspected cholera cases.
Although domestic abuse has seen a decline in recent years,
there are still millions — millions — of Americans who endure it each year. Not
only is it a terrible way way to live — domestic violence victims never deserve
to be abused, period — it’s behavior that should never be tolerated.
To show our support for those in abusive relationships, we wanted to share
some helpful articles that we hope will provide some hope:
If you are a victim of domestic violence, please know that you deserve
better, and there are many ways to get the help you need. If you’re not comfortable
contacting your local law enforcement agency, consider reaching out to an
anonymous hotline: The National Domestic Violence
Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) Crisis Text Line: Text START to 741741
Personal Service Contractor (PSC), Malaria Advisor
Issuance
Date: November 1, 2016
Closing Date: December 9, 2016,
4:30 p.m. Local Time
To All Interested Applicants:
The United States Government, represented by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID), is seeking applications from qualified United States
(U.S.) citizens or U.S. Permanent Residents (non-U.S. citizen lawfully admitted
for permanent residency) and Third Country Nationals (TCN) to provide services
as a Malaria Advisor under a Personal Services Contract, as described in the
attached solicitation. The place of performance for this position is Monrovia,
Liberia.
Submissions to this solicitation must be in accordance with the attached
information, at the place and time specified. Email submissions must be sent
to sbrowne@usaid.gov and amangou@usaid.gov.
Incomplete, unsigned, or late applications will not be
considered. USAID/Liberia will not consider an extension to the submission
deadline for this procurement.
Any questions or comments regarding this solicitation should be in writing and
directed to amangou@usaid.gov andsbrowne@usaid.gov.
Applicants should retain, for their records, copies of all enclosures which
accompany their applications.
Phone calls or emails to any address other than the one specified in this
solicitation will not be accepted.
Any
questions concerning this notice may be directed to:
Emmitsburg, MD — You
are subscribed to EMI News for FEMA. The following information has recently
been updated, and is now available on http://training.fema.gov/EMI/
The Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) recognizes the need to tie training programs to an
established set of emergency management competencies and to a career
development program through a progressive training and education system that
includes the Basic Academy. The Emergency Management Institute (EMI) is
offering the opportunity to students who are experienced in emergency
management and adult training to take a step toward becoming qualified as an
instructor for the Basic Academy courses.
The first day of the
Train-the-Trainer is devoted to course delivery strategy, logistics,
demonstrations, and adult learning methods. The last four days will consist
of student teach-backs that summarize a portion of the Basic Academy course
subject matter, and describe activities and exercises plus time for critique
and questions. These assignments are made in advance of the first day of
class.
All topics covered in the
course are covered from an instructor’s perspective in the Train-the-Trainer
including at a minimum: history, legal issues, intergovernmental and
interagency context, influencing, organizing, social vulnerability issues,
managing stress, collaboration, planning, exercises, public information and
warning, preparedness, team building, protection and prevention, mitigation,
response, ethical decision-making, recovery, technology, administration, and
the future of emergency management.
To support the Department of
Homeland Security and FEMA’s goals by improving the competencies of the U.S.
officials in Emergency Management at all levels of government to prepare for,
protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the potential effects
of all types of disasters and emergencies on the American people. Read more...
Emergency
Management Institute
16825 S. Seton Ave., Emmitsburg, MD 21727
