DuEwaWorld News! by DuEwa Frazier

Mos Def's Big Band & Gil Scott Heron at Carnegie Hall by DuEwa Frazier On Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 8pm, presented by Festival Network in partnership with Carnegie Hall and co-produced by Jill Newman Productions , the JVC Jazz Festival brought Brooklyn’s own renaissance man, Dante Smith, a.k.a. Mos Def , to town with his big band Amino Alkaline Orchestra, featuring special guest Gil Scott Heron. Mos Def: Amino Alkaline – The Watermelon Syndicate rocked the dome of Carnegie Hall for a multi-general audience of what seemed like thousands. The show opened with Mos’ twenty-three piece band walking onto the stage and the image of the late, legendary radio man, talk show host, and activist, Petey Greene , shown overhead on a large screen above the stage, eating watermelon . Petey Greene urged the audience to eat and enjoy; perhaps a metaphor for the evening to come. Once his band was in place, Mos Def seemed to glide smoothly onto the stage, to the roar of shouts and applause. ...

Ms. Ursula Rucker , a.k.a. Supa Sista, a.k.a. Ma'at Mama, Philly native, known internationally for her righteous rhymes and music recording work with such artists as The Roots, Sonia Sanchez and King Britt, has a new column. Rucker's hometown news outlet Philadelphia Weekly will publish a regular art column written by Rucker. In addition to being a frequent performer and international traveler, Rucker is also a mother of four and deeply committed to her Philadelphia community. Check out Ursula Rucker's first installment to the new "Ruckus Series" column .

I haven't posted to this blog in quite awhile, and you want to know why? Well I have been enjoying my summer! Just last night I had a scrumptious dish of raspberry sorbet at a restaurant last night (see photo above inspired by my treat)! In the past two months I have begun a few new projects, saw a kick butt Broadway show - Passing Strange (which was nominated for several Tony Awards!!! Go Stew!), visited Central Park several times to soak in some green and some sun and wrapped up some business from my last book Check the Rhyme . So, things are great and I hope you're enjoying your summer too!

A documentary about author, folklorist, anthropologist, playwright and "Genius of the South" Zora Neale Hurston will air tonight on PBS. Check the website for local listings.

Rhymes, Views & News Talk Radio Featuring -- Qaadira Allen, today, March 30th at 5pm EST! Qaadira Allen is a mixed media artist, creative life coach and transformative art facilitator and student of spiritual law. She creates and facilitates workshops that feature art-making, affirmations, reflective journaling, energy work, meditation, visualization, music, and sacred ceremony. In 2006 Qaadira received the Art & Change Grant from The Leeway Foundation . She is the author of the forthcoming book “Soulful Change”. DuEwa will interview Qaadira Allen about her work as an artist and life coach and the practices she utilizes in her transformative healing workshops for women. Be sure to listen in today at 5pm EST on this empowering discussion!

Rhymes, Views & News Talk Radio Featuring -- Dr. Brenda M. Greene this Saturday, March 22, 2008! Dr. Greene is the Director of The Ninth National Black Writers Conference , which will take place March 28 - 30, 2008. DuEwa will interview Dr. Greene about this year's Conference and the many esteemed Black writers, authors and publishing professionals who will participate in the event. Be sure to tune in at 5pm EST tomorrow to listen in on the discussion and find out how you can register for the Conference!

Last Saturday, I took my first “real” writing workshop in a year. When I say this was a “real” workshop, meaning it wasn’t a talkfest where people just exchanged abstract ideas on writing or talked about their publishing credentials for the full class time, like some workshops I’ve taken in the past. For four hours, myself and ten other writers workshopped samples of projects we’re working on with a Senior Editor at a major publishing house. The experience was both exciting and scary, as I let go of “my baby”, a project I’ve been working on for some months now, and shared an excerpt of it with complete strangers. This workshop was filled with women writers of all ages, mostly professional women, from New York, Georgia, Texas and other areas. We all read our work, gave copies of our work to the other participants and braced ourselves for the critique. Our instructor gave us some insider tips to the publishing industry and what it takes for an editor to acquire your work. I found t...