African Voices Magazine

08/22/2023

Happy to announce Reel Sisters 26th Anniversary season is here and our All Access Pass is on available for film lovers! INFO: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reel-sisters-2023-all-access-pass-tickets-576128003367

08/09/2023

08/09/2023

Art opening for This BE US: We Gon' Be Alright exhibition featuring fine photographer Marcia Wilson. Reception was held on Aug. 3, 2023 at African Voices Gallery, 325 Lafayette Ave. in Clinton Hill, BK.

08/09/2023

Thanks for attending our exhibition opening for Marcia Wilson's "This BE US: We Gon' Be Alright" photography series! The exhibition is on view until September 30, 2023 at African Voices Gallery, 325 Lafayette Ave. (corner of Grand Ave.). View by Appointment: 212-865-2982. Gallery hours will be announced shortly!

Art opening for This BE US: We Gon' Be Alright exhibition featuring fine photographer Marcia Wilson. Reception was held on Aug. 3, 2023 at African Voices Gallery, 325 Lafayette Ave. in Clinton Hill, BK.

07/27/2023

Join us next Thurs., Aug. 3 at 6:30 pm for an exhibition celebrating the work of Brooklyn photographer & trailblazer Marcia E. Wilson! We're hosting an evening of poetry, art & fun for Marcia's exhibition series This BY US: We Gon' Be Alright! Light refreshments will be served. The AV Gallery is at 325 Lafayette Ave on the corner of Lafayette & Grand Aves. in Clinton Hill.

RSVP:

This BE Us: We Gon' Be Alright: A photography exhibition by Marcia Wilson in honor of African Voices 30th Anniversary.

07/21/2023

TOMORROW, 7/22/23 @7:30 pm, join us under the stars for an exciting screening of Woman King and Wonders directed by Huriyyah Muhammad and produced by Okema T. Moore! Clairesa Clay & Ms. Moore will chat about Black Woman in Sci Fi Film before the screening! Bring your popcorn and favorite drink for an action packed celebration of woman-centered cinema! The event is on Frederick Douglass Blvd. at 119 & 120 Streets. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reel-sisters-screens-woman-king-imagenation-outdoors-series-722-tickets-673088504837

04/30/2023

Join us for a literary & film tribute to Mom on Wed., May 17, 6 pm Church Theater, 91 Claremont Ave. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reel-sisters-a-tribute-to-our-moms-tickets-620186072237

04/07/2023

Join our amazing team! We have an opening for Public Programs Manager!

Public Programs Manager (Part-time).

08/05/2022

If you are a new writer interested in learning the art of writing science fiction and fantasy fiction, join African Voices for four exciting virtual writing sessions beginning August 17 at 6:30 pm. Adanze Asante will lead a workshop designed to help you create your first short story or begin the first chapter of your novel! Sign up before 8/15/22 and get our early bird discount ($25 for 4 sessions)!

To register or for information visit: www.eventbrite.com/e/396766147227/?discount=AVScFiWriter2022

05/07/2022

Join us in celebrating moms everywhere. Sharing this powerful tribute by Kevin Powell in honor of our moms. Thank you for honoring mom, Kevin!

Our Mothers

(for my aunt, Birdie Lou Powell)

By Kevin Powell

What would we be without you?

Even God herself

Knows that our mothers

Are miracle angels

Swiping away the sun’s burns and tears

With their leatherlike hands

We mean

Mother mom ma mommy mama mami

Give birth to the earth daily

READ ENTIRE POEM: https://africanvoices.com/avblog/our-mothers/

05/07/2022

Enjoy & share this fierce sneak peak performance from Step Afrika! STONO. You can stream the entire performance online until May 22, 2022!

https://www.facebook.com/newvictorytheater/videos/388216249870217/

05/07/2022

Enjoy Step Afrika! STONO's for Mother's Day! is streaming this exciting performance based on the Stono Rebellion until May 22, 2022! STREAM NOW: https://tickets.newvictory.org/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=10146&utm_source=africanvoices&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=drumfolk&utm_content=keyart-feb19

04/07/2022

Join Reel Sisters this Saturday, April 9, 2022, from 11 am- 4 pm for our first in-person Screenwriting Intensive in Harlem at The Greenroom, 264 W. 124 St. (across from Magic Johnson Theater). REGISTER: https://bit.ly/3qRqF5e

03/26/2022

Hope to see you in Harlem on Tues., March 29, 6:30 pm for our Reel Sisters Tea & Cinema screening! We're celebrating filmmaker Stacey Holman and screening DRESSED LIKE KINGS & Clips from The Black Church! Clairesa Clay, founder of Blerd City Con, is hosting! RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reel-sisters-tea-cinema-screens-dressed-like-kings-wdir-stacey-holman-tickets-287911148997

03/24/2022

Bring your family to see Jabari Dreams of Freedom Victory from March 25-April 3, 2022! It's a musical on the delicate & difficult conversations we have with our sons and daughters about inequality and the fight for justice. Save 25% off tickets using discount code: JDFA22! INFO & TICKETS: https://www.newvictory.org/tickets-and-events/2122-live-performance-jabari-dreams-of-freedom/?utm_source=africanvoices&utm_medium=email&utm_content=&utm_campaign=jabaridreamsoffreedom

03/12/2022

Thankful for the National Endowment for the Arts spotlight on African Voices for our American Rescue Plan grant!

“The 2020 lockdowns showed the world our artists were essential to keeping our spirits nourished and communities connected during a time when fear and anxieties were high,” said Butts. “We brought families together virtually through artistic performances, film screenings, literary readings, creative workshops and community chats. Our arts community is America’s heartbeat and conscience.”

— Carolyn A. Butts, founder/publisher of African Voices

https://www.arts.gov/stories/blog/2022/nea-american-rescue-plan-grant-spotlight-african-voices

Here's our conversation with African Voices Founder and Executive Director Carolyn Butts about what receiving a National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan has meant to the organization and its community.

03/09/2022

Congratulations to Sheree Renée Thomas for winning the Hall of Fame Award!

The 2022 Darrell Awards Jury is pleased to announce that the 2022 inductee into the Dal Coger Memorial Hall of Fame is Sheree Renée Thomas for her truly extraordinary contributions to literacy in b…

02/14/2022

Sharing two love poems by Kevin Powell in honor of Valentine's Day! Please share & comment! Join us in celebrating love. Here's a short excerpt from "For You."
For You
by Kevin Powell
I could stare at you all day
Even in pitch blackness
You are a beautiful genius—
I draw you with the soft fingers
Around my heart
We make funny faces
With our bare feet
Laughter is the lotion
We put on our bones
After the shower
Our eyes make love
Like two birds
Twirling in a field of passion
I have never met anyone
Like you in my life
I am both excited and terrified
Excited because we have been here before
Perhaps in post-war Paris
Or the Harlem Renaissance

https://africanvoices.com/avblog/two-love-poems-by-kevin-powell/

10/27/2021

Join us this Saturday, Oct. 30, from 3 pm-5 pm Gallery, 325 Lafayette Ave for a book signing for award-winning writer Lorisa Bates, author of the Benita Renee Jenkins 2: Boxing Rings and Cages series! RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/av-presents-a-book-signing-event-for-author-lorisa-bates-tickets-189920295717

10/15/2021

Join us on Oct. 30, 2021, 3 pm- 5 pm for another exciting Pop Up Gallery book event @325 Lafayette Ave in BK. African Voices is hosting a book signing and author talk for award-winning writer Lorisa Bates, author of Benita Renee Jenkins 2: Boxing Rings and Cages! RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/av-presents-a-book-signing-event-for-author-lorisa-bates-tickets-189920295717

06/29/2021

Reel Sisters Tea & Cinema Series kicks off with a special online screening of Sisterhood, an inspirational film about women's pick up basketball players featuring Harlem's Ladies Who Hoop! VIEW SISTERHOOD NOW: https://reelsisters.org/tea-and-cinema-series/

06/27/2021

African Voices is proud to open up our gallery with a book and art celebration for Keisha-Gaye Anderson on July 16, 6;30 pm! Please RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/african-voices-presents-a-book-art-celebration-for-a-spell-for-living-tickets-160163680881

05/10/2021

Young Women Writers of Color Ages 8-18 submit your fiction and flash fiction to Her Stories Writing Contest! African Voices and Girls Read to Write is seeking stories from young girls — all genres are welcomed! Contest ends June 30, 2021!

For submissions info visit: https://africanvoices.submittable.com/submit/194251/african-voices-girls-read-to-write-present-her-stories-writing-contest-for-yout

04/22/2021

On Friday, April 23 at 6:30 pm, join African Voices & Lewis Latimer House Museum for a virtual artist talk with three artists from Brooklyn and Queens! Artists and poets Keisha-Gaye Anderson, Sherese Francis and Jacqueline Herranz-Brooks will perform and discuss their art in celebration of National Poetry Month. "My Soul Will Be A Star: the Resilience & Creativity of Immigrant Communities" will focus on using the power of words and images to promote healing. AV Poetry Editor Lora Tucker and AV Art Director Derick Cross will lead the artist talk! The virtual exhibition will run through June 30, 2021.

RSVP via Eventbrite:

https://africanvoices.com/avblog/calendar/my-soul-will-be-a-star-exhibition/

03/13/2021

African Voices is proud to publish our first post-COVID Spring 2021 edition! Guest editor Michel Marriott celebrates the art of memoir writing with the celebration of ten rising storytellers featured in our print & online editions! Please subscribe & reserve your edition now: https://africanvoices.com/avblog/subscribe-via-paypal/

02/16/2021

Register for African Voices Memoir Writing Workshop led by Michel Marriott! Our Spring 2021 workshop begins March 24, 2021, 6:30 pm ET/3:30 pm PT! Enjoy 8 virtual sessions and begin your writing journey in a nurturing environment! REGISTER:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/memoir-writing-telling-the-world-your-story-spring-2021-tickets-136846189637

A nurturing online memoir writing workshop for writers interested in developing stories about their life experiences. 8 sessions.

02/06/2021

Mystery writer Valerie Wesley Wilson is in the top 5 L.A. Times winter reading list!

A roundup of 2021 so far features old favorites (Mosley, Kellerman, Winspear), a couple newer voices and and settings ranging from Ghana to our own back yard.

01/30/2021

Hip Hop Museum set to Open in the Bronx in 2023!

The museum showcases the history in the borough.

01/20/2021

Congratulations to National Youth Poet Laureate Amana Gorman!

Amanda Gorman, 22, will be the youngest poet in recent history to read at an inauguration.

01/07/2021

Joy Reid breaking it down on MSNBC. Stay safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgQ1vKCeEo

Joy Reid compares the strikingly different police response when it comes to Black protesters versus today's rioters. Aired on 01/06/2021.» Subscribe to MSNBC...

12/12/2020

Support independent Black bookstores for the holiday season!

https://lithub.com/you-can-order-today-from-these-black-owned-independent-bookstores/?fbclid=IwAR2ph82A9b9izZJadsMK-zMLhe0RDl-z4XB6xJDSmAlOeWTvHeFP4qGEAYk

Across the country, black-owned bookstores have served as community gathering spaces, support for emerging authors, and educational resources. Those listed below are open and ready for online order…

11/17/2020

Please join Reel Sisters as we host our 1st Virtual Filmmakers Awards Ceremony & After Party tomorrow, Nov. 17, 7 pm. We will pay a posthumous tribute to our Reel Sister & friend Cecelia Antoinette. Charles Reese, our Master of Ceremonies, will join Cathleen Campbell and our Reel Sisters family in celebrating CeCe's contributions as friend, mentor and supporter of our arts community. To RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reel-sisters-filmmakers-awards-after-party-2020-tickets-128409447113

11/05/2020

Congratulations to Graphic novelist Afua Richardson whose work appears in Lovecraft Country!

During the season finale of Lovecraft Country, when Diana...

10/17/2020

Reel Sisters is thrilled to have Shh...directed by Okema T Moore in our festival season as an invited film!

“Shh…,” by Okema T. Moore, is one of the invited films at the Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series. (Alan Greenstein of Support Our has helpe…

10/01/2020

Congratulations to poet Kevin Young on succeeding Lonnie Bunch as the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“The museum has really cemented the case that we’re telling an American story that is particular but also for all Americans,” he said. “It’s a leader in how a museum can be a creative place of engagement, a place that speaks to us on lots of different levels. How can we chronicle this particular moment? How can we provide a look at the pandemics of covid and racism? I’m looking forward to continuing to do that in an innovative way.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/smithsonian-taps-ny-cultural-director-to-lead-african-american-museum/2020/09/30/35f90d34-0291-11eb-a2db-417cddf4816a_story.html?fbclid=IwAR0kD7bhDvEHihcKSwXXLIpaYJn08eszcv6VDsnZ-F-jKBWwd-OB3lKSiQ4

Kevin Young is a poet, teacher and curator.

09/30/2020

Support Three Birds, an official selection, of Reel Sisters!

Today’s the last day to watch my film “THREE birds” on Reel Women's Network as for $1.99 - THREE-day rental! 👉🏾 https://watch.reelwomensnetwork.com/products/three-birds

As of tomorrow (Thurs 10/1), flies to the Subscription Pool where you’ll need a monthly subscription to watch it along with other great RWN content.

🗣 Also, SAVE THE DATEs for Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series 👉🏾 10/24 - 11/17/ 2020 👈🏾 where is an . Visit reelsisters.org and stay tuned for details.
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09/28/2020

Three Birds is one of 85+ films in Reel Sisters official 2020 line up! Congratulations to director Shannon Harris! ❤️

🗣 THIS JUST IN! is an official selection of Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series! DETAILS TO COME!
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+Activism

09/20/2020

Support for small businesses!

Join us on Facebook Live as the Brooklyn Business Center at Restoration presents:

Brooklyn Business Center (BBC): Intent and Impact for Small Businesses 

We discuss with the owners of
Island Pops - Khalid Hamid and Shelly Marshall.
And
IV Purpose - Darnell Joseph

What Small Businesses need during this time and how BBC has been able to assist from providing information to assistance with Covid-19 loans and grants.

BBC assists SMALL BUSINESSES and is SUPPORTING LOCAL BEDSTUY BUSINESSES.

GRANTS AND RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AT THE BROOKLYN BUSINESS CENTER AT RESTORATION

08/29/2020

Nice tribute to Chad Boseman.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/chadwick-boseman-became-a-superhero-while-battling-cancer

The star of “Black Panther” and “Get On Up” passed away at the age of 43 after a four-year battle with colon cancer. What he accomplished is extraordinary.

08/18/2020

African Voices is honored to have award-winning writer/editor Sheree R. Thomas join us for a fun 2-day writing retreat on Aug. 25 & 27, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. Use code WriteSpice before 8/23 for a discount!

REGISTER: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vibration-cookin-a-moving-grooving-writing-workshop-2-day-registration-116062376693

Join award-winning Speculative Fiction author Sheree Renée Thomas for a delicious 2-day writing workshop combining recipes and storytelling!