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The Reader's Zone
1. Ntozake Shange & Ifa Bayeza's
Some Sing, Some Cry
2. Kadir Nelson’s Heart and Soul
3. Tayari Jones' Silver Sparrow
4. Bernice McFadden'sGathering of Waters
5. Kwei Quartey's Children of the Night
6. Anthony Grooms' Bombingham
7. Marlon James' The Book of Night Women
8. Calvin Ramsey’s Ruth and the Green Book
9. Akosua Busia's The Seasons of Beento Blackbird
10.Daniel Black'sTwelve Gates to the City
The Writer's Zone
Some Sing, Some Cryby Ntozake Shange & Ifa Bayeza- These two creatively talented sisters have writtne a saga that begins the story of the “Mayfield” women, right before the turn of the century and continues it into the twenty-first century. Home for Mah Bette, the daughter and ‘wife’ of slaveowner Julius Mayfield, was Sweet Tamarind Plantation on a sea island off the coast of South Carolina, near Charleston. The women’s spiritual ancestors remained; however, the women moved on, first to Charleston where some remained while others migrated up North, emigrated to Europe, and eventually traveled the world. From the beginning of Emancipation through Reconstruction, WWI, the Harlem Renaissance, the Great Depression, WWII, Viet Name and the Civil Rights Movement during the second half of the 1900s, the ending of Apartheid in South Africa, into the twenty-first century—this epic novel explores the lives of the female Mayfield descendants in a unique way—through the music that these women, their menfolk and their children hold so dear and share with the world! It was a challenging endeavor that proved successful for Shange and Bayeza for they truly kept their readers engaged enthralled with these women for we heard and felt the music: Memphis closed her eyes and felt her daughter’s voice seep through every vein of her body. “What more could a mother ask for than a child of conviction and a creator of beauty?” I can’t wait to see Bayeza’s musical based on Some Sing, Some Cry and titled Charleston Olio under the Broadway lights!
The Listener's Zone
The Voices of Distinction was founded in August 1997. Most of the members are active duty or retired military men who sing during the Gospel Services at Wood Memorial Chapel, Fort Bragg, NC and at functions and venues up and down the eastern states. In May 2007, The Voices of Distinction were awarded the Coin of Excellence, presented by the Chief Chaplain of the United States Army,at Fort Bragg during a concert in honor of his retirement; in December 2008, the Shirley Caesar Music Outreach Award, sponsored by 103.9 FM, Raleigh, North Carolina. At last, the debut CD, What You Gonna Do With Me? Is available at www.CDBaby.com The men, including Pop Fletcher Reid, acknowledge God as He directs their path.
A LOVER OF LYRICAL BEAUTY
I am a lover of lyrical beauty and a believer in a life full of love
I wonder why people don't appreciate the power of the pen
I hear poetry in the prose and music in the words of hundreds of authors
I see words and phrases that describe my world and other worlds
I am a lover of lyrical beauty and a believer in a life full of love
I pretend to replace the characters,
especially the heroines in the novels I read
I feel their joy, their sadness, their excitement, their pain
I touch the pages upon pages of wonderful poems and stories
I worry that I have so little time and so much to discover in my world of books
I cry with the heroines in the novels I read
I am a lover of lyrical beauty and a believer in
a life full of love
I understand that everyone does not share my passion for the printed word
I say to them that literature can help one dream a world that should exist
I dream of the day I can express my thoughts and feelings in print
I try desperately to weave tales and make worlds live through my words
I hope to one day leave my letter to the world, my message to posterity
I am a lover of lyrical beauty and a believer in a life full of love ayr
The Viewer's Zone
