Tavis Smiley and Cornel West

Los Angeles, CA (BlackNews.com) – Smiley & West is ready for takeoff. After a four-month pilot process in more than 60 markets across the country, listeners and stations said “We want more!”

That’s why broadcasting icon Tavis Smiley, Smiley Radio Properties and Public Radio International are pleased to announce that Smiley & West is now officially a weekly program.

Alisa Miller, President and CEO of Public Radio International says, “Tavis Smiley and Cornel West bring a rare dynamism and authenticity to conversation, and a heart-felt dedication to invite listeners to take part in the exchange of ideas and bring wisdom to thought-provoking topics. Smiley and West underscores PRI’s commitment to offer new places to discover our diverse, interconnected world, and to stimulate important conversations in American society, and we are excited to distribute it to audiences nationwide.”

What started as an experiment on October 1, 2010 has become an online and offline phenomenon. Co-hosted by Tavis’ longtime friend and collaborator, Princeton professor Cornel West, Smiley & West is not just a radio program. It’s a seven-day-a-week conversation on the Speak Out Network via the website www.smileyandwest.com, social media like Twitter and Facebook, and an “old-fashioned” Speak Out Network hotline.

Each week Smiley & West engage in deep dialogue in the “Hot Stuff” as they dissect the hottest news of the moment. Listeners get to turn the tables in the “Take ‘Em To Task” segment and challenge Smiley & West on something they said. The second half of the show features “icons and issues”, in-depth, 30-minute conversations with legendary leaders, artists and thinkers – and folks on the front lines of issues close to the hearts of Smiley & West.

In just the first four months, Smiley & West spoke with comedian Garry Shandling, bluesman Buddy Guy, Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, funkmaster George Clinton and playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. They also tackled issues like mass incarceration with law professor Michelle Alexander, education reform with Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp, the Great Recession with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, healthcare reform with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Haiti with author Edwidge Danticat and the mid-term elections with New York Times columnist Frank Rich.

In celebration of Tavis Smiley’s 20 years in broadcasting, Smiley & West is the latest innovation in a long, distinguished career in television, radio, publishing and new media.

A common theme to emerge during the pilot process was the need for a movement. A movement built on the ideas, morality, and spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., bending in the direction of social justice. Smiley & West is a virtual meeting place for that movement, putting the “public” back in public radio. The program’s listeners reflect the multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic audience of the 21st Century.

Smiley & West can already be heard in more than 80 communities across the country including major markets like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philly and San Francisco. An aggressive carriage strategy for 2011 will build on the energy created by the 20th anniversary celebrations for Tavis Smiley and public events with Smiley & West.

Smiley & West also have more than 200,000 Twitter followers and more than 150,000 Facebook fans which allows this program to bring together its radio and new media audiences in a unique and engaging way.

Join the ongoing conversation known as Smiley & West and help write America’s next chapter. Each Friday afternoon, a new program is available to stream at www.smileyandwest.com or download as a podcast at http://goo.gl/JIqvl. Or click http://goo.gl/4PAvz for a map and calendar of stations that carry the one-hour program.

 World-Premiere Goodman Commission awarded Prince Prize for original work

Chicago, IL – Prince Prize and Guggenheim Fellowship-winning playwright Thomas Bradshaw makes his Chicago debut with Mary, starting February 5, at Goodman Theatre.

Based on a true story, Mary uses social satire to examine the pervasive nature of racism and homophobia in contemporary American society. Hilton Als of the New Yorker has hailed Bradshaw’s plays as “rich and groundbreaking,” praising his ability to create a body of work which “defies categorization” among writers of his generation; the Village Voice named him “Best Provocative Playwright.” May Adrales—who also directed Bradshaw’s 2009 play, The Bereaved—stages this world-premiere Goodman commission, which was first seen in the Goodman’s 2009 New Stages Series. Performances are February 5 – March 6, 2011 in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre; tickets are $10 – $42. Mary contains mature subject matter. Albert Goodman/The Edith-Marie Appleton Foundation is the Major

Production Sponsor for Mary. Goodman Theatre and Thomas Bradshaw are the proud recipients of Prince Charitable Trusts’ Prince Prize for Commissioning Original Work for Mary. Prince Charitable Trusts is the leading contributor to the Goodman’s New Works Endowment Fund and Principal Support of Artistic Development and Diversity Initiatives is provided by The Joyce Foundation.

“Thomas is one of the brightest lights of a new generation of young writers who focus on the ideas and beliefs that factionalize us,” said Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls, who first experienced Bradshaw’s work in 2007 with a double-bill of Strom Thurmond Is Not a Racist and Cleansed. “Mary is timely and theatrical. I hope that it will spark a lively discourse on the changing nature of bigotry and oppression in our contemporary world.”

Set in 1983 at the height of what Time magazine dubbed “AIDS hysteria,” Mary takes place at the Jennings’ Southern Maryland family home, where not much has changed since the 1800s—including the slave quarters. When college student David invites his boyfriend, Jonathan, home to meet his parents and their domestic servants, the events set in motion are alternately hilarious, disturbingly farcical and politically incendiary. “In a Bradshaw play, no one in the audience gets to sit back in safety and crow over the sins of others. In matters of vanity and perversity, our lust for psychic and social power—in addition to our secret angers: class, race and gender—are equal opportunity employers.” (Margo Jefferson, BOMB magazine).

 “You watch a play like Mary, and our modern, politically-correct sensibility leads us to think, ‘these must be backwards people, this is certainly reprehensible behavior, these people have to be evil.’ But they’re not. Nothing in my plays is pure black or white. All of my characters exist along the spectrum of gray, just as all people do—no one is absolutely good or absolutely evil,” said Playwright Thomas Bradshaw. “This play is based on a true story; there is a unity of what the characters are thinking, feeling and doing. I’m interested in presenting real human beings and all of their complexity.”

Adds Director May Adrales, “Mary is a challenging, explosive night in the theater that is about the world we live in now. Thomas explores the tragic and profane without apology, unafraid to go where people are uncomfortable in order to push to the other side of understanding.”

As previously announced, the cast of Mary includes Myra Lucretia Taylor in the title role as the Jennings family’s domestic servant; Barbara Garrick as Dolores Jennings, Mary’s employer; Scott Jaeck as Dolores’ husband, James Jennings; Alex Weisman as David, Dolores and James’ son; Eddie Bennet as David’s boyfriend, Jonathan; Cedric Young as Mary’s husband, Elroy; and Steve Pickering as a priest. Adrales has tapped an award-winning design team for the production—Kevin Depinet (Set), Ana Kuzmanic (Costumes), Keith Parham (Lighting) and Andrew Hansen (Sound).

Playwright Thomas Bradshaw’s play The Bereaved premiered in New York in September 2009 at The Wild Project, and was produced at The State Theater of Bielefeld in Germany earlier this year. The Bereaved was named one of the Best Plays of 2009 in Time Out New York. In 2008, two of Bradshaw’s plays premiered: Southern Promises, at Performance Space 122 in September, and Dawn, at The Flea Theatre in November, and both were listed among the Best Performances of Stage and Screen for 2008 in the New Yorker. His play Purity was produced at Performance Space 122 in January 2007, and Strom Thurmond Is Not A Racist and Cleansed were produced on a double-bill at Brick Theatre in February of that year. Strom Thurmond Is Not A Racist was also produced in Los Angeles in the spring of 2008. Bradshaw recently completed a residency at the Soho Theatre in London, where he wrote his newest play, The Ashes, which was presented as a workshop at the end of February 2010. He is the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. His plays Prophet, Strom Thurmond Is Not A Racist, Cleansed, Purity, Dawn and Southern Promises are all published by Samuel French, Inc. A German translation of Dawn was presented at Theater Bielefeld in Germany in October 2008 and published by Theater Der Zeit in that same month. Purity was published by Theaterheute in Germany in April 2008. Bradshaw received his MFA from Mac Wellman’s playwriting program at Brooklyn College and is an assistant professor at Medgar Evers College. He has been featured as one of Time Out New York’s 10 playwrights to watch, as one of Paper Magazine’s Beautiful People, and Best Provocative Playwright by the Village Voice. He has received fellowships fromThe Lark Play Development Center, Soho Repertory Theater and New York Theater Workshop. He recently completed an adaptation of the Book of Job, which was workshopped at the Playwright’s Foundation at Stanford University and Berkeley Repertory Theatre in spring 2009. Job was presented as a Staged Reading at The Wilma in January 2010.Tickets to Mary ($10 – $42) are currently on sale at GoodmanTheatre.org.

Tickets and subscriptions can also be purchased at the box office (170 North Dearborn) or by phone at 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance; Mezztix are not available by telephone. 10Tix are $10 rear mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online on the day of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone; a valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets; limit four per student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted GroupTickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820. Purchase Goodman Gift Certificates in any amount at GoodmanTheatre.org. The flexibility of Goodman Gift Certificates allows recipients to choose the production, date and time of their performance. Artists, dates and ticket prices are subject to change.

Public events include a cultural festival, play, lectures, art exhibition and more

Evanston, IL – A lecture by Henry Louis Gates Jr. - the renowned Harvard professor who has traced the ancestry of Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington and other celebrities — is but one of many Northwestern University events marking Black History Month. A controversial play exploring race and identity, an address by former Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Venty and a festival of African culture also are planned.

The following are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted:

Evanston Campus

“Tech Noir: The Art of Stephen Flemister and Krista Franklin” exhibition, Feb. 10 through March 16, Dittmar Memorial Gallery, first floor, Norris University Center. Drawing inspiration from the book “Black Looks: Race and Representation” by bell hooks, “Tech Noir” explores the portrait as social portrayal. In 20 mixed medium collages, paintings and sketches, Chicago-based artists Krista Franklin and Stephen Flemister examine “Black Looks” from a broad range of perspectives. For more information on Flemister, visit http://stephenflemister.com. For more on Franklin, visit http://www.kristafranklin.com. An opening reception at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, is free and open to the public.

Leon Forrest Lecture by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Exploring Our Roots: Genealogy, Genetics and African American History,” 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, in Room LR2 of the Technological Institute, 2145 Sheridan Road. An ardent champion of African American Studies, Henry Gates Jr. will discuss the importance of understanding how your sense of self and your self-esteem are shaped through family history. In “Faces of America,” which aired on PBS last year, Gates explored the ancestry of Yo-Yo Ma, Stephen Colbert, Meryl Streep, Dr. Mehmet Oz and others. While the event is free and open to the public, seating is limited. Call (847) 491-5122 or visit http://planitpurple.northwestern.edu/event/403343 for more information.

African American Theatre Ensemble and Out Da Box presents “ODB: The Mixtape,” 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17; 8 and 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18; and 8 and 11 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, Shanley Hall, 2031 Sheridan Road. The annual comedy show features sketches and improvisations that challenge cultural stereotypes, societal norms and current events. Tickets are $5 and will be available at the Norris Center Box Office and at the door prior to each performance.

National Association of Black Journalists, Medill Crain Lecture Series, 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, McCormick Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive. Angela Burt-Murray, former editor of Essence, will speak and take questions. The premiere lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women has a monthly readership of 8.5 million.

For information on other Evanston campus Black History Month events visit the African American Student Affairs (AASA) website at
http://www.northwestern.edu/msa/about/our-departments/aasa/calendar.html.

Chicago Campus

All of the following Chicago campus events are sponsored by the Black Law Students Association:

“African Immigration,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Monday, Jan. 31, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150, 375 E. Chicago Ave. Guest speaker Alie Kabba will discuss pressing social and legal issues within Chicago’s African immigrant community. A native of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Kabba is executive director of the United African Organization, a Chicago-based coalition of African national associations dedicated to social justice, civic participation and the empowerment of African immigrants and refugees in Illinois. He also is board president of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR). Lunch will be provided.

“Haiti: One Year After the Earthquake,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150, Arthur Rubloff Building. Panelists who have recently conducted research in Haiti will describe the social landscape of two poor neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince — Bel Air and Cite Soleil — a year after the earthquake. They will talk about Haiti’s political system, housing and property law. Lunch will be provided.

Soul Food Lunch, noon, Wednesday, Feb. 2, Northwestern School of Law Atrium, 375 E. Chicago Ave. The $5 per plate soul food menu will feature yams, greens, chicken, macaroni and cheese, peach cobbler and cornbread muffins. Proceeds will go to Urban Prep Academies.

“Charter Schools, Small Schools,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150. As Mayor Richard M. Daley’s tenure ends, panelists reflect on his major contribution to public education in Chicago: charter schools and small schools. Founders of two charter schools and a former small school principal will describe their institutions and their benefits. A former charter schoolteacher and current PhD student at the University of Illinois at Chicago will critique the charter school movement. Lunch will be provided.

“Coffee with Kwame,” 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room, 150. Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul of the 13th Legislative District will talk about current Illinois legislation, particularly the abolition of the death penalty and amendments to the Illinois Voting Rights Act. Cookies and coffee will be provided.

“Sexuality and Race,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Monday, Feb. 7, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150. Panelists will address black LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) political visibility and legal representation, as well as the overlap between black and queer social issues, including the effects of HIV/AIDS in both communities. Representatives from Lamda Legal, the AIDS Foundation, Howard Brown Health Center, and Affinity Community Services will offer perspectives from their work. Lunch will be provided.

“Black Voters and Black Politics in Today’s Chicago,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150. Black elected officials representing Chicagoans in state and local government will discuss the role of race relations in elections and the importance of the black vote. Lunch will be provided.

“Green Rehabilitation,” noon to 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150. Panelists will explore how sustainable work — including gardening and ecological restoration — helps rehabilitate incarcerated men and women as well as ex-offenders in the Chicago area. Participants and program managers from Greenscorps-Chicago, Greencorps-Calumet, and the garden at Cook County Jail will share their experiences. Lunch will be provided.

Keynote Address by Adrian Fenty, former Mayor of Washington, D.C., 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, Lincoln Hall, Levy Meyer Hall, 357 East Chicago Ave. Former Mayor of Washington, D.C. Adrian Fenty will describe his involvement in municipal educational reform and analyze the crisis of education in the United States.

Prior events held during Northwestern University’s Black History Month celebration were: Harambee Celebration 2011, 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, in the Louis Room of Norris University Center, 1999 Campus Drive. “Harambee” — which means “come together” in Swahili — is an annual event that launches the University’s Black History Month celebration. It will feature traditional soul, Cajun/Creole, Caribbean and Ethiopian food and performances. Entertainment will be provided by student choral and dance groups including the Northwestern Community Ensemble, singing anthems, spirituals, hymn arrangements and gospel, praise and worship songs; Soul4Real, an a cappella group that sings gospel, Motown and contemporary songs; and Movement, a student group that showcases African, Caribbean, Afro-Caribbean and African-American dancing and stepping styles. Special guests will be the Najwa Dance Corps, which will perform traditional West African celebration dances. Sponsored by African American Student Affairs and For Members Only, the event is funded by the Student Activities Funding Committee.

“Spinning Into Butter,” by Rebecca Gilman, directed by Derrick Sanders, 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 28; 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29; 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30; 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3; 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4; 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 5; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. “Spinning Into Butter” explores race, racism and political correctness. Directed by Derrick Sanders, artistic director, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), this thought-provoking play by award-winning School of Communication faculty member Rebecca Gilman asks if values are absolute or subject to circumstance. Single-tickets are $20 for the general public; $18 for seniors 65 and older, Northwestern faculty and staff and area educators and administrators; and $10 for full-time students with IDs and Northwestern alumni who graduated within the past two years. Single-tickets may be purchased through the TIC Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or online at www.tic.northwestern.edu.

For more information on Chicago campus Black History Month Events, visit the Northwestern University School of Law’s master calendar at: http://essex.law.northwestern.edu/MasterCalendar/MasterCalendar.aspx.

Northwestern News: www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/

Storied Poet, Author, Educator & Activist Debuts Show February 2011 on Public Radio

(Distributed through RCW Media Productions Inc.)

Chicago, IL — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has filed a lawsuit against an Illinois marketing firm alleging it sold to businesses “lead lists” of potential customers that it fraudulently claimed were verified and screened.

Madigan’s lawsuit, filed in St. Clair County Circuit Court, charges that Ronnie Henderson, of Granite City, and Paula Caveny, of Edwardsville, and their business, Select Marketing Solution Management, sold lead lists to financial advisors, insurance companies and sales people without verifying that listed consumers wanted to be contacted and without checking their names against the national Do Not Call registry.

“At a time when small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, this company charged business owners hundreds of dollars for information that could have caused them to violate the Do Not Call List and leave them potentially libel,” Attorney General Madigan said.

Businesses in Cook, Madison, St. Clair, DuPage, Saline, Adams, Jackson, Douglas, Edgar, Will, Lake and Piatt counties and out-of-state businesses reported to Madigan’s office losses totaling more than $11,000 from purchasing the lists they believed were accurate. Companies that contacted consumers on the lists found numbers were disconnected or consumers reached had never been contacted by Select Marketing for their approval.

Madigan’s lawsuit alleges defendants violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. It seeks to bar the defendants from the business of selling leads, void all pending contracts between the defendants and its customers and require Select Marketing to pay refunds to affected customers. The lawsuit also seeks to impose a $50,000 civil penalty per violation of the act, an additional $50,000 penalty for violations found to be committed with the intent to defraud and to require the defendants to pay for prosecution costs.

Assistant Attorney General Deborah Sterling-Scott is handling this case for Madigan’s Consumer Fraud Bureau.

FAA says pilot complaints about lasers pointed at their aircraft nearly doubled in 2010 compared to year before
 

Washington, DC – As the Senate takes up the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) authorization bill this week, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) joined Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in introducing an amendment to crack down on individuals who shine laser pointers at aircraft–an action that can temporarily blind pilots and put passengers at risk.
 
The bipartisan amendment would make it a crime to knowingly aim a laser pointer at an aircraft, and subject violators to fines or imprisonment for up to 5 years.  The bill exempts those using lasers for legitimate aviation purposes, such as research and development, training, or emergency signaling.  
 
The amendment passed 96-to-1.  The FAA bill will continue to be debated by the Senate. 
 
“This bipartisan effort is a simple solution to a life-threatening game of targeting airplanes with lasers, which continues to be on the rise,” Senator Kirk said.  “I hope this amendment serves as a wake-up call to violators and curbs this dangerous practice.”
 
According to the FAA, the number of reports of lasers being pointed at airplanes nearly doubled in 2010, to more than 2,800.  In 2010, Los Angeles International Airport had the highest number of laser events of any individual airport with 102 incidents.  O’Hare International Airport had 98 incidents—second highest in the nation—and the Theodore Francis Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., had 12 incidents.
 
Officials said the increase in incidents appears to be caused by the increasing availability of new, high-powered laser devices.
 
The Air Line Pilots Association, the National Association of Police Organizations, and the Rhode Island Pilots Association supported the Kirk/Whitehouse amendment.  Companion bipartisan legislation, sponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), was favorably reported by the House Judiciary Committee last month.