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Welcome
to the OBSA's UHURU Quarterly Newsletter!
Hey everyone, welcome to a new academic year! We
hope you enjoyed your summer and have begun your year
in a positive way. This year, we really want to showcase
student talent here at the Claremonts, so we hope
you enjoy some of our featured artists. Also, we hope
you urge people to participate in the newsletter and
send in their aristic work so we can showcase them.
Enjoy!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us
at Kimg@cuc.claremont.edu.
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October
2006 Activities! |
Stress Free
Friday |
Fri. Oct. 13 at OBSA |
Stress Free Friday |
Fri. Oct. 27 at OBSA |
OBSA Film Series |
Wed., Thur., Fri, and Sun. (Oct. 18th,19th,20st, and
22nd) |
November Social Lunch |
Wed. Nov 1, 2006 at OBSA |
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"Act
Up!: Using Hip-Hop as Political Agency"
By
Jamilah King
On July 21, 2006 thousands of hip hop
activists, performers, writers, politicians, academicians
and everyday hip hop heads converged on Chicago’s
Southside for the second bi-annual National Hip Hop
Political Convention. Chairman T. J. Crawford, aka
Theoretic the MC, began the conference by evoking
dead prez’s oft used rallying cry “It’s
bigger than hip hop!” signifying that this gathering
of creative energy was about much more than dope beats.
Over the next two days conference attendees devised
community actions plans that included combating police
brutality, fighting the spread of gentrification and
organizing for the November elections.
Though at times it may seem that hip
hop has crip walked its way past political engagement
onto a stage of vapid overindulgence, hip hop activism
has emerged as this generation’s most viable
form of political dissent. Hip Hop is recognized globally
as a potent cultural force and around the nation youth-led
organizations are using it as a means of interrupting
hegemonic systems of oppression.
Hip hop activism can, and most certainly
does, include using the traditional four elements
of emceeing, break dancing, DJ’ing and graffiti
writing to enact social change. Oakland-based Youth
Movement Records is a non-profit, youth directed record
label and youth development program that has been
tremendously successful in offering youth ages 13-22
to not only record their own music, but also learn
about music production, entertainment law and advertising.
Similarly, Urban Word, a New York City-based literary
arts organization, promotes social justice through
writing workshops and national spoken word performances
where youth from all across the country showcase their
talent.
Younger Hip Hop activists are also directly
challenging corporate misrepresentation. In Northern
California, Oakland-based Youth Media Council, an
organization promoting accountability in the media,
recently conducted a study of local hip hop station
KMEL-FM. The station was once a pioneering hip hop
radio outlet until it was bought out by media conglomerate
Clear Channel in 2000 and company executives fired
well-known DJ’s and shrank its once diverse
playlists to an often abysmal listing of top 40 hits.
In the three week study, the Youth Media Council found
that non-music content was overrun with crime, drugs
and violence that blamed youths and offered no room
for youth voices or perspectives. Talks between the
station and the Community Coalition for Media Accountability,
a larger community focused organization that includes
the Youth Media Council, are ongoing.
Yet a central component of hip hop activism
is promoting hip hop as not merely a genre of music,
but as a culture. Far removed from media perpetuated
stereotypes of the hip hop generation as, at best,
apathetic corporate consumers and, at worst, gun toting
bandits, lay the reality that hip hop heads who grew
up on KRS-One and Public Enemy are everywhere –and
bringing the real lessons hip hop teaches with them.
Young, progressive politicians such as Ras Baraka
are running –and fighting tooth and nail –in
mayoral races in Newark, NJ. Attorney’s such
as Troy Nkrumah are helping organize hip hop political
conventions at Universities throughout the country.
Writers such as Adrienne Maree Brown are training
young organizers with the League of Young Voters and
the Ruckus Society to get out the vote for next months
elections. Hip hop activism is blossoming, becoming
more cohesive, and turning the tide of the American
political landscape.
Interested
in being a student contributor
on
the OBSA Newsletter? Email
Me! |
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Featured
Faculty Artist:
Halford Fairchild
"Make
Love Not War"
Give war a chance
is what Bush said
Something must be wrong
up inside his head
Dropping bombs
on defenseless people
The war against Iraq
isn't even legal
Innocent children's lives
are lost
Just so Bush can say
I'm the boss
Walking through Iraq
Our troops are sittin' ducks
Gettin' blown away
In transit trucks
Blood for oil
is the reason we're there
but with people like us
there is hope in the air
This war is for profits
let us not forget
Our demands for peace
Must get met
They're addicted to war
And making Big money
We should turn to peace
And Hug our honey.
Making war
for financial gain
But making love
Don't cause no pain
To heal our nation
as we move towards peace
healing our souls
Must never cease
Make love not war
is what I want to say
Make peace a reality
and make it stay. |
| Featured
Student Poet: Andrew McClure
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"Girl
with the Dark Eyes"
Her eyes
Shimmer like the liquid darkness
In which the stars are set
Yet, under their blackness I shudder
I’m left naked in the cool night
Her eyes
Burn as hot coals
That ignite the rivers of my blood
From her eyes I must avert my own
Lest I be reduced to ashes
Her eyes
Are obsidian shards
Bleeding my shoulders and thighs
Oh that I could have strength to muster
And not die under her brilliant eyes |
"Young
Lion"
I am a young lion
Thirsty for blood
And hungry for meat
In great madness
Pierced by my own claws
Bewailing the sight of my bloodstained paws
I roar at the air
And curse the sea
And gnaw unmercifully at the earth
What can you expect
From a lion as I?
Sadly unable to make a kill |
Fellowships
& Scholarships
Alpha Kappa Alpha Scholarships
Go to: www.akaeaf.org/
The above link is to the Chicago headquarters and
that gateway of scholarships. Note that there are
over 700 AKA Chapters, and you would be wise to contact
sorors at local locations. Scholarship opportunities
abound. The deadline at AKA headquarters is Feb. 15.
Applications (at the website) must be sent between
Dec. 1 and January 30 each year.
Minority Scholarship Program
Tel: (312) 321-3000
Eligible Inst.: US schools
Deadline: December 15
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National Action Council
for Minorities in
Engineering, Inc.
350 Fifth Ave. #2212
New York, NY 10001-2281
NACME Incentive Grants Program
Tel: (212) 279-2626
Eligible Inst.: US schools
Deadline: Varies
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Virtual Poetry Slam Scholarship Contest
Citizens for Global Solutions
Award Amount
Minimum: $100
Maximum: $500
October 15, 2006
The Virtual Poetry Slam Scholarship Contest is available
to students who are poets, artists and activists and
are interested in creating a performance poetry piece
focused on the environment. You must creatively explore
some connections between the environment and social
justice to show how environmental issues impact you
and your community. Poems must be submitted in digital
video format (Windows Media or Quicktime compatible)
and should be sized no larger than 550w X 400h. Poems
must run under two minutes and the video file size
must be below eight Megs.
http://virtualpoetryslam.net/noflash.html
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Dale E. Fridell Memorial Scholarship
Award Amount
$1000
October 14, 2006
The Dale E. Fridell Memorial Scholarship is available
to students aspiring to attend a two- or four-year
college, trade school, technical institute or other
post-secondary education program. You must submit
an essay answering the following question: Why is
the completion of a postsecondary program important
to you, and what do you hope to achieve once you get
a degree? Please visit the Web site provided for additional
information and to apply. Submissions must be made
using the online e-mail form.
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AACE International Competitive Scholarship
October 15, 2006
Award Amount
Minimum: $750
Maximum: $3000
The AACE International Competitive Scholarship is
open to full-time sophomores, juniors, seniors and
graduate students who will be enrolled in the next
academic year (fall term) in a degree program related
to cost management/cost engineering. Possible majors
include engineering, construction management, building
construction, computer science, business, information
technology and quantity surveying. You must be enrolled
in an accredited college or university in the United
States or Canada to be considered for this award.
This award is based on your academic performance,
extracurricular activities and an essay.
http://www.aacei.org/
Applications are only accepted between September 1
and October 15. Please visit the Web site provided
for additional information. You will find the application
link at the bottom of the page provided.
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Blacknews.com Scholarship
November 01, 2006
http://www.blacknews.com/scholarship.html
The Blacknews.com Scholarship is available to undergraduate
and graduate students who attend or plan to attend
a school in the United States. One or both of your
parents must be African-American and you must submit
a 500-word essay on why you think (or don't think)
that African-Americans are still living in oppression.
Award Amount
$500
Submissions must be e-mailed to scholarship@blacknews.com.
Essays submitted through postal mail will NOT be considered.
Please visit the sponsor's Web site for additional
information.
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| General Motors Minority Dealers Association Scholarship
Award Amount
$2500
November 17, 2006
http://www.gmmda.org/main.cfm?location=15
The General Motors Minority Dealers Association Scholarship
is open to minority students who will be enrolled
or are currently enrolled full time in an accredited
2- or 4-year college or university in the United States.
You must have a minimum 3.0 GPA and demonstrate academic
excellence and outstanding community service through
activities, volunteerism, and work experience to be
eligible for this award. U.S. citizenship or the eligibility
to work in the U.S. is also required.
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| BlackStudents.com Fall 2006 Scholarship
Essay Contest
Award Amount
$500
December 01, 2006
The BlackStudents.com Fall 2006 Scholarship Essay
Contest is available to students in the United States
who attend or plan to attend a school in the United
States. One or both of your parents must be African-American
and you must submit a 500-word essay on why you think
or don't think that Historically Black Colleges and
Universities are important to black students.
http://www.blackstudents.com/scholarship.html
Please visit the sponsor's Web site for additional
information. All entries must be e-mailed to the address
provided. |
TUTORING
is available in several subjects:
Damata Kaleem (Damata.Kaleem@pomona.edu)
Math, French, and Economics
(Mondays from 8-10pm), (Tuesdays & Thursdays 7-8pm)
Romell Gletten (rbg02005@pomona.edu)
Chemistry, Physics (Tue/Wed 7-10pm)
Kaycie Lopez-Jones
(klj02003@pomona.edu)
Spanish (Tue 7-10pm)
Each session is held
at the OBSA office.
Call (909) 607-7352 for more information!
Interested in a scholarship? If so, click here... |
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IDBS'
Sojourner Truth Lecture
The event this year will be on Monday,
November 13, 2006 at 8pm. The guest lecturer will
be Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman
in space, Founder and President of Two Medical Technology
Companies, and Medical doctor. She accepted our invitation
to speak about two weeks ago, so we do not even have
publicity yet. The talk will take place in Galileo
Hall on the HMC campus.
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139
East Seventh Street Claremont, California 91711-3916
OBSA-l@cuc.claremont.edu
(909) 607-3669 Fax (909) 621-8969
Addae
Designs! ©Copyright 2003
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