The City of Troy's harassment of The Sanctuary for Independent Media has created an urgent need to raise funds for building improvements: if you can manage it, please make a secure online financial contribution!
If you prefer to send a check or money order, make it payable to "The Sanctuary for Independent Media" and send it to us at:
PO Box 35
Troy NY 12181
Thanks for your support!
The bulk of our support comes from volunteer labor plus hundreds of small (and some large) individual donations. Thank you! We also receive contributions from these organizations:
The New York State Music Fund
The Stewart's Foundation
Emailing info"at"TheSanctuaryForIndependentMedia.org is the best way to reach us. You can also phone (518) 272-2390 on the night of an event.
Our mailing address is:
The Sanctuary For Independent Media
PO Box 35
Troy, NY 12181
Instructor: Leonard Retel Helmrich
The "single-shot cinema" theory is a method to carefully compare film
history with the history of other forms of art, like painting, sculpture,
architecture, music and poetry, "to get this close to the skin of the
people."
[This is the full 23 minute video. check it out!]
Hudson Mohawk Indymedia has produced a definitive account of the whirlwind of events surrounding Wafaa Bilal's controversial art exhibit, "Virtual Jihadi."
"Art ≠ Terrorism" goes beyond the sound bites to find out what happened when an Iraqi artist came to Troy, NY only to be censored--not once, but twice.
First, Wafaa Bilal was chased off campus after his artwork was mis-characterized as terrorist propaganda by undergraduate bloggers.
When the exhibition was given refuge by The Sanctuary for Independent Media, the city government responded by shutting down the space.
Hudson Mohawk Indymedia has produced a definitive account of the whirlwind of events surrounding Wafaa Bilal's controversial art exhibit, "Virtual Jihadi."
"Art ≠ Terrorism" goes beyond the sound bites to find out what happened when an Iraqi artist came to Troy, NY only to be censored--not once, but twice.
First, Wafaa Bilal was chased off campus after his artwork was mis-characterized as terrorist propaganda by undergraduate bloggers.
When the exhibition was given refuge by The Sanctuary for Independent Media, the city government responded by shutting down the space.
This short documentary by the award-winning producers of "Independent Media in a Time of War" asks: what was so troubling about this artist's message that University and City officials decided that we would all be better off not hearing it?
Recently, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute indefinetely suspended the exhibit of Chicago-based artist Wafaa Bilal's artwork after the release of a libelous article by an undergraduate blogger on the college Republicans website accusing the RPI arts department of being a "safe-haven for terrorism."
Amidst calls for protest from local Republican operatives, The Sanctaury offered the
censored artist's show refuge. We hastily prepared an event around the opening of
the show intended to encourage dialogue in a climate of misunderstanding and fear.
The following is a short excerpt from this event which includes Wafaa's opening statement and introduction.
"Awake From Your Slumber" brings together two visionaries:
citizen-activist Ralph Nader and punk poet Patti Smith, in a powerful
dialogue of war and peace. Touring together as the Democracy Rising Peace
Tour, Ralph and Patti make the case against the Iraq war and the
corporate takeover of our democracy. Produced by the Hudson Mohawk
Independent Media Center, AWAKE mixes image, music and spoken word to
strip away the facade of political lies and reveal the annihilation of
civilization, war profiteering, the unseen dead, and the unheard cries of
motherhood. "Awake From Your Slumber" is history lesson, poetry reading
and rock concert. Above all, it is an inspiring, mesmerizing, and deeply
moving call to action, showing the power of the people to make change.
Special features include three additional songs by Patti Smith, an
interview with Ralph Nader by Amy Goodman, and additional information
about Ralph, Patti, Democracy Rising and the Hudson-Mohawk Indy Media Center. 2008.
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From studios in the basement of the Sanctuary, the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center introduces their new DVD, "Ralph Nader and Patti Smith: Awake From Your Slumber," continuing their commitment to grassroots media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice
In 2003-2004, the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center published the Indymedia War and Peace Trilogy DVD, which includes three documentaries, "Independent Media in a Time of War," "Voices Against War: F15 NYC," and "Women's Fast for Peace."
Part scathing critique, part call to action, "Independent Media In A Time Of War" makes a compelling argument that the news media has failed to represent "the true face of war." Narrator Amy Goodman criticizes the refusal to report civilian war casualties during the 2003 Iraq invasion and the new phenomenon of "embedded reporters," as examples of a pro-military bias in the corporate media.
The Independent Media Center is a global network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth. We are motivated by a love and inspiration for people who work for a better world despite corporate media's distortions and unwillingness to cover efforts to develop an egalitarian and sustainable society. We address issues the mainstream media neglects and we do not conceal our politics behind false objectivity. We empower people to "become the media" by providing democratic access to available technologies and information.
www.hmimc.org
The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Kahil El'Zabar
Corey Wilkes
Ernest "Khabeer" Dawkins
www.KahilElZabar.com
Recorded live on February 9, 2008 at
The Sanctuary for Independent Media
PO Box 35 | 3361 6th Avenue
Troy NY 12181
www.MediaSanctuary.org
(518) 272-2390
Local presentation of the Kahil El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is co-sponsored by the Arts Department at RPI, made possible by volunteer labor, small financial contributions from hundreds of patrons of The Sanctuary for Independent Media and support from the New York State Music Fund.
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Kahil El'Zabar's music-"intense, sublime and intelligent" according to AllAboutJazz.com- explodes with passion at The Sanctuary for Independent Media, as he brings a trio featuring the young trumpet titan Corey Wilkes and Chicago saxophone legend Ernest "Khabeer" Dawkins to celebrate 35 years of extraordinary creativity.
Kahil El'Zabar led the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble's first performance at Child City Arts Center in Chicago in 1973-a year after he returned from the University of Ghana. His goal then was combining concepts of African American music-making with the earlier roots of traditional African music to make something new... and this legendary band is still serving people worldwide with its special brand of 21st century Griot music.
Speaking from Chicago, Kahil El'Zabar said, "This music has enormous history and incredible love. We are all here to make a difference; we must be about the work of our hearts. Living out your dream is the greatest honor one can express. The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is the real deal and we have truly done it our way! Let us celebrate the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble's 35th anniversary nowand forever. Aluta continua!"
Even though he is fully grounded in the history and music of the African American community, he has taken his studies deeper, incorporating African music and instrumentation to produce a unique and wonderfully engaging sound. He credits his community with providing some direction towards African sensibility. "I grew up in a period when African Americans, as a large body, finally started addressing our roots. With African drums there was such an appeal in the way of playing with the hands and the sense of the entire body being involved in the playing of the instrument." El'Zabar is an accomplished musician with mastery of a variety of
instruments, from the elementary-congas, bongos, African drums, shekere, gongs, and trap drums-to the esoteric-balaphon, marimba, sanza, kalimba and berimbau.
Music holds no boundaries for El'Zabar, who has not only played alongside a myriad of jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderly, but was in the bands of Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone (for whom he also designed clothes) and Paul Simon, as well as recording with rock bands like Sonia Dada and Poi Dog Pondering and heading up the jazz/house outfit, JUBA Collective.
Kahil El'Zabar was born in Chicago, on November 11, 1953. One of three children growing up in a South Side neighborhood where he heard music in the streets everyday-doo-wop, r&b, gospel, blues and jazz. After attending Catholic schools in Chicago, El'Zabar went to Kennedy-King College and later to Malcolm X and Lake Forest colleges. In 1973 while attending Lake Forest college, El'Zabar was given the opportunity to study mime with Marcel Marceau in Paris, but instead opted to use the money to attend the University of Ghana and study African music firsthand.
At the age of eighteen, he joined Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and by 1975 he was chairman of the organization. During the early 1970s, El'Zabar formed his own musical group, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, and later another group, the Ritual Trio, with both of which he still performs. His talents have also extended to the cinematic arena, scoring and appearing in three feature films-"Love Jones" (New Line), "Mo' Money" (Columbia Pictures) and "How U Like Me Now" (Universal Pictures), costarring in the feature film "Savannah", and starring in two independent films-"So Low But Not Alone," and "The Last Set."
El'Zabar was chosen to do the arranging for the stage performances of "The Lion King," he has published a book of poetry, "Mis'taken Brilliance" and he tailors clothing both for his band and for others. From 1996 to 1999, El'Zabar organized "Traffic" at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, an inter-arts program featuring music and poetry. In 1991, El'Zabar was commissioned by Germany's Leverkusen Jazz Festival to present a 20 year retrospective of his work, which showcased Orchestra Infinity-a 25-piece big band formed several years ago.
El'Zabar has served as an associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has been on the boards of several organizations, including serving as the chairman of The Sun Drummer, an African American drum society, the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, the National Task Force of Arts Presenting in Education, Campaign for Freedom of Expression, Forum for the Evolution of Progressive Arts, Chicago Blues Museum and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. He has also served as a panelist for the NEA's Commissioning and Interdisciplinary Programs. His efforts as a musician, educator, and community leader led to his being named "Chicagoan of the year" in 2004 by the Chicago Tribune.
Kahil's show last year with Hamiet Bluett at The Sanctuary for Independent Media made the NY Capital District publication Metroland's "Top 10 of 2007" list... and it really was spectacular too!