Ráday Salon

Video: "Left of Black" (seas. 2, ep. 26) featuring Michael and Aishah

 

The first segment (approx. 25 mins) of this week's episode of Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal's weekly webcast Left of Black features Michael and his daughter Aishah Shahidah Simmons discussing their work to end violence against women around the world. They also discuss the role that Michael played in Aishah's coming out process, and the importance of parental support at such a pivotal moment. 

The second part of the episode features an interview with Prof. Meta DuEwa Jones discussing the legacy of jazz poetry. 

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If you've come to our blog by following a link from Left of Black, welcome! We encourage you to browse the blog to learn more about the events and activities of Ráday Salon and its founders, Michael Simmons and Linda Carranza.

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Aishah Shahidah Simmons can also be found on Twitter (@AfroLez) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AfroLezCulturalWorker).

Michael and Aishah discuss violence against women on "Left of Black"

During our recent visit to North Carolina for Aishah Shahidah Simmons' Founder's Lecture at the Duke University Women's Center, Michael and Aishah were also interviewed by Prof. Mark Anthony Neal for his weekly webcast, Left of Black, airing Monday, April 2nd. 

We'll post the link to the video when it's available. Until then, here's a still photo from the moments right before the taping began:

Michael, Aishah, and Prof. Mark Anthony Neal preparing to tape an episode of Left of Black.

 

Snow Hill Institute -- Snow Hill, Alabama

As our lengthy sojourn in the United States extends into 2012, we continue to want to share our experiences here with our Salon friends around the world.  Our latest adventure has been a week-long road trip through the American South, including visits with family and friends as well as a day at Duke University, where we attended two events featuring Aishah Shahidah Simmons, who had been invited by the Duke University Women's Center to give a lunch-time talk as well as this year's Founder's Lecture.  Aishah's powerful, moving lecture forcefully challenged the many intersections of race, gender, and sexuality with politics and power in the US, and we very much hope that we will be able to share audio of the talk with you soon.

The most recent highlight of our trip was a visit to the Snow Hill Institute in Snow Hill, Alabama.  The Snow Hill Institute was established by William J. Edwards in 1893 to educate young African Americans in the rural Snow Hill area, most of whom came from poor tenant-farming families and, without the Snow Hill Institute, would have little opportunity for schooling.  Donald P. Stone, grandson of the Institute's founder, is a life-long friend of Michael's and was a fellow activist in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement.  During our visit, Stone shared much about the history of the Institute, the mission and vision of those who established and supported it, as well as the history and work of his family members and the community that grew up around the Institute.

 

Donald P. Stone (left) discussing the history of the Snow Hill Institute with Michael Simmons.  The Institute's main building can be seen in the background.

There is a great deal of restoration and documentary work to be done to preserve the history of the Institute, which closed in 1973.  Some of the history is captured in two books published by Donald Stone. The first is his own, Fallen Prince: William James Edwards, Black Education, and the Guest for Afro-American Nationality, and the second is a replica edition of a volume authored by founder William J. Edwards, Twenty-five years in the Black Belt. We expect to write more about Snow Hill and post more of the many photos we took during our visit in the coming days.