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april 24, 2008
slowly but surely, my new website is coming along. ahah. i have
decided to roll with
http://wordpress.com. here is
a sample of what you might expect:
http://divadelight.wordpress.com/. I need more time to work
it out and transfer everything over
but it will get done in time for my TEN YEAR
website anniversary! I am still tripping and might even
succumb to myspace. i already
surrendered to facebook and match but it only creates MORE
social work! i need a full body
massage.
dang! just came across this article the other day as well on
"Why Gay Men Love Female Divas." you
go, mr. keith! and just in time since many SUPER
DIVAS are releasing something this year (janet, madonna,
mariah)
http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/2007/06/06/why_gay_men_lov
i can't believe i am heading to this conference in the midst of
academic crunch time! I didn't make it
out to miami but i have to go to this academic
conference since it's right up
my alley with the paper and overall research.
i need to roll regardless in order to help facilitate in
writing a paper tentatively titled,
"Possibilities of a Digital African Diaspora:
Geographical Sites of Affinity though Technology, Music,
Identities and Fetishizing the City"
along with a paper presentation I'll be giving in New
York City on "Decoding Orgasm: Disco, Technologies of
Otherness, Racialized Gender and
Sexuality in Donna Summer¹s "Love to Love You Baby" "
i am overboard with the paper titles but here's the conference
joint:
Digital Humanities and African American/African Diaspora Studies
University of Maryland, College Park
April 30 - May 3, 2008
http://www.mith2.umd.edu/diaspora2008/
This conference will address the increasing centrality of
digitization to
the archiving of materials, as well as the growth of digital
technology in
the teaching, scholarship and artistic production in the field
of African
American/African Diaspora Studies. The conference is a
collaboration
involving the African American/African Diaspora Area Group of
the English
Department, the Maryland Institute for Technology in the
Humanities (MITH),
and the School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, as well
as other
faculty and students from the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU)
and the
College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS).
The conference, the first of its kind, will bring together
approximately 150
national and international scholars, high school and middle
school teachers,
artists, students, and funders to discuss a growing body of work
that has
not as yet benefited from an organized forum that would allow
practitioners
to meet one another not only to discuss on-going projects, but
also to
debate the theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical issues
raised by the
intersection of the fields of Digital Humanities and African
American/African Diaspora Studies. As the field of African
American/African
Diaspora Studies can benefit from a thoughtful consideration of
the
application of new media tools, so, too, can the field of
digital humanities
benefit from a focused discussion of scholarship informed by
critical race
studies.
The program will begin on May 1st and 2nd with hands-on
workshops, including
one sponsored by the TEI Consortium and funded by the NEH, which
will
provide a practical introduction to text encoding and another
that will
focus on navigating online resources in African American and
African
Diaspora Studies. The workshops will be followed by a panel
showcasing work
by scholars in the field of African American/African Diaspora
Studies that
address and/or make use of digital technologies and new media.
The keynote
address by Abdul Alkalimat (University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign) will
be followed by a reception and the presentation of a multi-media
art
installation by the artist, Pamela Z. The last day will be taken
up by
panels and seminars; an informational box lunch session with
leading
funders; a digital "poster" session, where presenters will use
laptops to
introduce projects by students, faculty and independent
scholars; a book
fair; and a closing multi-media performance and book/cd signing
by DJ
Spooky.
for more info click
http://www.mith2.umd.edu/diaspora2008/
chat soon!
tamtam
february 7, 2008
still contemplating if i should roll to the winter music
conference in miami... or another dope conference on technology
and the african diaspora. i need to submit a paper for that one!
here's a conference my girl, zeli is planning! i am
helping her out and the big day is march 8, 2008!
Empowering Women of Color Conference 2008
decolonizing creativity: FIERY WOMYN, FIERCE EXPRESSIONS
23rd Annual Empowering Women of Color Conference
Martin Luther King Student Union
Bancroft Way and Telegraph Ave
Berkeley, CA 94720
Saturday, Mar. 08, 2008
9:30 AM - 5:30 PM
This year's theme, "decolonizing creativity: FIERY WOMYN, FIERCE
EXPRESSIONS," explores the theme of creativity by focusing on
art as an expression of a woman's life and identity. We hope to
inspire and highlight the work of women of color who share their
personal, political and professional voices through the arts.
These women continuously put their effort towards building a
world in which their work is foregrounded and esteemed.
The main conference event will take place on Saturday March 8th,
beginning at 9:30 AM and running through 5:30 PM, and will
include a panel of acclaimed Bay Area activists and leaders in
community art and women's issues, vendors, cultural
performances, workshops on a variety of creativity and
art-related topics. The keynote speaker will be Climbing PoeTree,
the tag-team, two-spirited, boundary-breaking artistic duo,
Alixa and Naima. Delivering explosive lyrics that leave
listeners outraged and inspired, Climbing PoeTree tracks
footprints across the country and globe on a mission to overcome
destruction with creativity.
Our vision of creativity and art means movement toward: an
understanding of art that redefines the connection for women of
color among mind, body, and spirit; artistic expressions as
cultural resistance to oppression; a unity among women of color
that allows for identity difference; exposing and exploring the
ways in which institutions shape our access to art; listening to
and advocating for the artistic needs of queer, intersex and
transgender people; research and scholarship on artistic issues
that are particularly significant for women of color; individual
and community models of using artistic forms to heal from
systemic violence and trauma; understanding the intersections
among issues of art, poverty, sexism, ableism, homophobia,
transphobia, militarism and imperialism; advocating for balance
within personal and professional artistic boundaries; exploring
the ways in which artistically minded amateur artists can
transition into the professional world of art; and embracing
women of color's familial roles and supporting the mother, wife,
girlfriend, partner, daughter, niece, grandmother, and friend
that is found in all of us.
For questions concerning EWOCC registration or for more
information, please email
ewocc-registration@ga.berkeley.edu or visit
http://ewocc.berkeley.edu/.
hugs, tamtam
Mel
Cheren: Another is resting in peace.
Influential Godfather of Disco and author of Keep On Dancin'
(My Life and The Paradise Garage)
Mel
Cheren, 74, Disco Pioneer, AIDS Funder
BY STEPHEN MILLER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
December 11, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/67809
Mel Cheren, who died Friday at 74, was a founder of West End
Records, a spearhead of disco from the mid-1970s.
As a producer for another label, Scepter Records, Cheren was
credited by Billboard magazine with inventing the 12-inch single
and the purely instrumental b-side, which allowed a DJ to extend
a dance song infinitely.
At West End Records, which he co-founded in 1976, Cheren
released some of the formative singles of the disco era,
including "Hot Shot" by Karen Young and Raw Silk's "Do It To the
Music." He also backed a memorable nightclub, the Paradise
Garage, where disco dreams played out in the fabulous late 1970s
and early 1980s. A 2006 documentary about Cheren's role in the
music's early days was titled, "The Godfather of Disco."
All too notoriously, the predominantly gay social scene of early
disco burned out in the face of the AIDS epidemic. Cheren became
a leader in that cause as well, holding the first fund-raisers
and donating the first office space to the Gay Men's Health
Crisis in his Chelsea brownstone, a renovated SRO. After GMHC
outgrew those quarters, Cheren converted the brownstone into a
gay-oriented bed-and-breakfast, the Colonial House Inn.
Born January 21, 1933, in Everett, Mass., and raised in nearby
Revere, Cheren got his first job in the record industry at
ABC-Paramount Records, where he rose to head of production. Hot
acts on the label included Paul Anka and B.B. King, but Cheren
left when ABC-Paramount moved to Los Angeles, in 1970. At
Scepter, he pioneered long-playing "danceable R&B" formats, and
shepherded early disco hits including "Do It 'Til You're
Satisfied" by B.T. Express. Scepter folded in 1976, and Cheren
and another Scepter executive, Ed Kushins, founded West End
Records. The label's first release was a long-playing disco
version of an Italian film score title track, "Sessamato,"
famously used as the first record scratched by GrandMaster
Flash. There were other connections to the later hip hop styles,
including Taana Gardner's "Heartbeat," a West End hit that has
become one of the most sampled tracks.
In 1977, Cheren and his companion, Michael Brody, opened the
Paradise Garage, a seminal nightclub on King Street in the West
Village in a former parking garage — a ramp led up to the dance
floor. Smoke machines and music videos lurked in the corners and
one of the most sophisticated sound systems in the city pumped
out DJ Larry Levan's selections. As it was a private club and
sold no alcohol, the dancing could continue far into the night,
sometimes even until noon the next day. The endless throbbing at
Paradise Garage is often cited as a precursor to house music and
similar modern styles. Despite the onset of AIDS and the "death
to disco" or "disco sucks" movement of the early 1980s, the
Paradise Garage managed to stay open until 1987. Today it is
again a garage.
Cheren first opened his home for GMHC's offices from the
organization's founding in 1982, and sponsored its first
fund-raiser, at the Paradise Garage. He remained involved, and
last January celebrated his 74th birthday as a GMHC benefit. He
was also an important benefactor to music industry AIDS
charities, including 24 Hours for Life and Lifebeat.
An accomplished painter, Cheren's art was featured on the covers
of ten albums, including John Lee Hooker's "Urban Blues" and
Sonny Rollins's "East Broadway Run Down." Other paintings, many
lit by black lights to bring out the fluorescent paint, lined
the halls of his B&B, which remains open.
In 2000, Cheren published a memoir, "My Life and the Paradise
Garage:Keep on Dancin': " In the book's prologue, he wrote,
"This is a story of my gay generation, the world we built, and
the world we lost."
He died of complications of AIDS.
December 11, 2007 Edition > Section: Obituaries >
A Celebration of Dr. VèVè Clark's Life
The African Diaspora Studies Program and African American
Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley
VèVè Amasasa Clark
December 14, 1944 to December 1, 2007
Join us as we celebrate VèVè's life and legacy
Friday, December 14, 2007
11:30 to 2:00
Barrows Hall, Lipman Room
We invite Dr. Clark's friends, colleagues, and students to share
their memories in celebration of her life and work. Please send
reflections about the significance of her scholarship, teaching,
mentorship and friendship to Lisa Ze Winters at
lisaze@wayne.edu.
We will publicly share these recollections in tribute to her
spirit on December 14, 2007.
october 20, 2007
okay, so i have been a very bad diva! trying to keep up with
school and clearing out some old stuff at the same time. it can
be a bit taxing but the crisp fall air and change of the leaves
bring about a transformation in me as well.
usually, i would be hopping to another city, country or place to
live all in a year's time but california has to grow on me. at
least until i get the nitty gritty of the preliminary papers and
subsequent oral exams out of the way for this phd thang. hopefully by next year
and then i can start writing the dissertation. then i must teach
before i do any of that! that's next year too. i'm a little
nervous and i wish i would have taught when i was at ucla .
somehow i thought i lucked out by being a graduate research
assistant. ahah. i got to do more research but no teaching
whatsoever.
japan doesn't count. that was all about english as business
(imperialism through language and edu-tainment too...) neither
the tutoring and readership stuff i did before. regardless, i think i am up for
the university classroom
challenge. good and ample fodder for the future cultural
insurgents and infiltration in the academy! obviously, the jena 6 stuff and resurgence of blatant racist terrorism in
america has me amped up. some folks just like to play around and
go with the flow. life must mean something more, what you do has
to have meaning and relevance even if to dream of changing those
in your backyard.
i
realized this week that 2008 will be the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF
DIVA DELIGHT! can you fathom that? funny, because my
program at berkeley is actually having it's 10 year anniversary
as well! that definitely provides for some interesting
reflective points of articulation. but really, i do need to get
a new format and server for the site. i keep saying this over
that over again but i really need to see this decade of my diva
project in that light: transformation and change. forgive
any bugs with the little diva dairies archives link above. it's
something new but not for long because that is exactly what
blogs are for.
i
have been checking out some cool sites. some faves since my
travels back to the uk has been music lover and creator jez
proctor's
innersounds.co.uk. likewise, i am almost
fainted when i came across another diasporic sista by the name
of adrienne george and her award winning
blackwomenineurope.com! more to come on that
later and the recent Black Women in Europe Conference in
October! Can we say, FIERCE!?!?. here are some pics too
from my conference at the university of newcastle on feminism
and popular culture from the summer. no particular order or
method as there are pics of typical english food in there as
well. cute, eh? i have a ton more but might wait
until i get the new site up and running to treat you all. miss
you!
hugs, tamtam carmen
conference dinner with feminist academics
the
view from my hotel
feminist academic
from the usa and past club paradise garage enthusiast!
mmmm.... flapjacks. granola bars will never EVER be the same to
me.
conference
mixer
merry ol' fish and chips
war
memorial that makes on remember: no war in iraq!
june 27, 2007
dude, i am headed back to the uk for the feminist and popular
culture conference at newcastle university for previous research
on house music in london.
xoxo, tamtam
Feminism and Popular Culture
20th annual Feminist & Women’s Studies Association (UK &
Ireland) Conference
Newcastle University: June 29th - July 1st 2007
The popular straddles disciplines, drawing together research
that might otherwise remain discretely sited. This conference
will interrogate how the popular and feminism has been
understood, articulated and represented both in contemporary
cultures and throughout history. Interdisciplinary in its
approach, the conference will bring together scholars working in
the arts, humanities and social sciences. Accepted papers
investigate the representation of feminism in popular culture as
well as theorize the historical relationship between feminism
and the popular.
princess tamtam
and
other academic presenters at the International
Association for Women in Music Annual Conference in London
remember
that? *smile*
june 12, 2007
just a quick
note...as usual. ahaha. about to roll to nyc for the
mellon conference very soon. i realize that this is close to my
one year anniversary of returning from japan! again, here are
some
japan pics to
enjoy from those days...
xoxo, tamtam
april 28, 2007
wow, it sure has been
a while with the updates! been super busy with work, school and
all that good stuff. i am testing out a new format with the site
and have some pics from japan and back to the states from last
year.
here they are: click!
xoxo, tamtam
february 12, 2007
about to roll out to get my stuff outta storage in brooklyn!
finally... my books, papers, clothes, records...sigh... that's a
valentine's day gift for me. i cannot wait! in the
meantime and as promised,
here is some audio for your audile pleasure...click!
xoxo, tamtam
december 3, 2006
i am almost done with my first semester here
at beZerkeley! can you believe it? i celebrated my
birthday in a chilled out cali style way complete an acoustic
folk guitar as a cheap gift to myself, vegan pumpkin pie from a
very crowded whole foods as my birthday cake, a betty saar art
book, rupaul and jody watley remixes, coloring books and
crayons, a purse and necklace, panamanian embroidery cloth and
uh... belgian chocolates. thanks everyone!
i
uploaded a ton of audio files for some projects my pals and i
are working on. i have yet to link them but will do so over the
break when i have more time on my hands. got some pals rolling
up from japan coming to visit in january. should be sagoy,
dude! word up, check out these dope links from some smart
peeps:
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