The Brothers Network

March 23, 2012

Brother of the Month: Bill Ravenell

Filed under: Article,Events — Sandy Smith, Editor @ 7:18 am

By Sid Holmes

Ask Bill Ravenell to say something in Japanese and after a brief, thoughtful moment he responds with 日本の文化が好きで、日本にすむのが好きです。 In English, “I like Japanese culture and I enjoyed living in Japan.

Bill Ravenell“I had a very positive, life-changing experience in Japan and for having lived there I wanted to express my gratitude,” he offers as explanation for his carefully measured words. “It was always a dream of mine to visit Asia. And for having lived there I wanted to express my gratitude.”

Quite consistent from a man with an easy sense of self matched with a no-regrets outlook on the world that has enabled him to encounter a life rife with constant, new explorations that are molding his career goals and a burgeoning interest to serve humanity.

A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Ravenell’s interests weren’t always drawn to foreign cultures; he was a typical American boy who gravitated towards sports: basketball, baseball, tennis and soccer. “I was pretty athletic,” he says, admitting that although he made good grades, he didn’t push himself academically. “I thought school was pretty easy.”

His family, however, resides in the pantheon of educational achievement; between his parents and two sisters there are nine higher education degrees. (No slouch himself, Ravenell has two and will soon complete his juris doctor.) Add his grandparents on both sides and 10 additional sheepskins boost that number.

A legacy of accomplishment loomed in Ravenell’s pedigree: his parents were both Howard-trained lawyers. His mother, Mildred, taught tax lawyer at Florida A&M University while his father, William, a professor at Florida A&M’s acclaimed business school, later became an attorney of highway control during the Carter presidential administration.

Ravenell began to take his schooling more seriously in high school following his parent’s divorce and a move to Charlottesville, Virginia, where his mother again taught tax law, this time at the University of Virginia. He credits two factors for his awakening, the first being his stepfather, Armstead Robinson, a UVA professor who was also the director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute.

“He was a very cool guy and a very important figure in my life,” Ravenell says with an affectionate grim. “He had an air about him where I felt it was important to do well academically.” While his mother left her lawyer’s hat at the front door, simply becoming mom at home, Robinson “was always the professor, trying to teach me something. He encouraged me to write and to study hard. He was very specific about what it took to be academically successful. And I listened.”

His second influence was ‘The Karate Kid’ – yes, the 1984 film about a martial arts master-cum-handyman who teaches a bullied boy karate, in the process showing the lad there is more to the martial arts than mere fighting. “I saw ‘The Karate Kid’ and when he perched like a crane, I think the day after that I started taking lessons,” Ravenell laughs.

Soon thereafter, the kid who previously got into three to four fights a year rumbled no more, carrying himself with the newfound confidence that serious study in the martial arts can unearth. “I just liked it: the discipline of self-defense, the training, the challenge of moving up levels and the instructor,” he says, noting his teacher, who was a 5th degree black belt, Canadian Golden Gloves boxing champion and Olympic martial arts trainer – along with a PhD in religious studies.

Like his basketball teammates, Ravenell assumed college was in his future – although most of them did not have parents with college backgrounds. “College was a cultural current of my family,” he says matter-of-factly, adding that he had no idea of what to choose when selecting a major.

His older, best friend was already at UVA and Ravenell followed in his footsteps. “It was great,” he says. “For the first two I did everything but study. I had a 2.7 average.”

But he also joined a dojo (a gathering place for students of Japanese martial arts) where Ravenell studied his favored Northern Chinese Long Fist and Qigong techniques. He also met Ruben Gonzalez, who “piqued my interest in the idea of not only practicing but also having a quest for spiritual enlightenment,” opening Ravenell’s mind “to increasing one’s connection to God, and fasting in order to teach a higher level of enlightenment.”

Consequently, Ravenell grew stronger academically, earning a 3.4 average in his last years as a religious studies major, which focused on a comparison of and historical approach to religion, its evolution and political, cultural and social influence – the positive as well as the negative. A fascination with Zen Buddhist meditation techniques via a Japanese religious course fueled a quest to become a more sensitive and compassionate human being.

His parents approved of his studies, the idea being that Ravenell might become a lawyer, or even a priest like his grandfather, William, who had earned a BA, MA and divinity degree from Colgate University, plus a University of Chicago PhD in theology.

Ravenell dispelled that notion post-graduation, taking a break from schooling and moving to Atlanta, where he played guitar in a metal band and earning a living by doing internet web design and programming at an advertising agency – work he was not trained to do. “I read books and thought ‘I can do this,’ read three books and fooled around on a computer for five months,” he says without apology.

Growing older and losing interest in the band, as well as his job during the dotcom bust, a call from an overseas friend who raved about his sweet gig teaching English in Japan heralded another change in direction.

A few weeks visiting another friend in Shanghai, China, convinced Ravenell – with meager savings and no job prospects – to move to Japan. “My parents were like, ‘here we go again,’” he recalls, “But my dad was not terribly concerned.”

Soon he was teaching three 40-minute classes a week composed of architects, professors and housewives (four students maximum) at an English language school, correcting English conversation texts at a university as a side job, and taking private Japanese lessons from a small school in Hiroshima.

Japanese is a difficult language to master, Ravenell explains, because the words and manner of speaking differ according to whom one is addressing, such as a boss or a friend. Subject-object-verb agreement is different from English too, he notes, citing ‘I friend letter gave’ as an example of Japanese sentence structure. “It’s a big learning curve,” he acknowledges.

“It was phenomenal,” he says of his four years spent living in Hiroshima, Japan. A homogeneous society where staring at strangers (or anyone else) is impolite made the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ “a very easy culture for a foreigner to live in.

“The expectation that Japan would be something exotic wore off after my trip to China. Within two weeks I figured out that these mofos were just like us,” Ravenell laughs, adding that by virtue of the American military presence the Japanese were accustomed to black Americans.

What was different, Ravenell points out, was how Japanese women treated their boyfriends (in Hiroshima) – more akin to a son than a companion, showering them with attention and often making the first move to initiate intimate relationships. With attitudes and mannerisms the complete opposite of the native men, “foreign guys are popular in Japan,” he says, describing the dating scene as a “turkey shoot,” filled with westerners living out the elusive fantasies that failed to materialize back home.

Coupled with his five-foot-eleven-inch frame (“I felt very tall over there”) and the notoriety resulting from having his picture appearing regularly in the school’s newspaper advertisements, Ravenell says his dating life was “a perfect storm” of opportunity.

Seeking more than casual relationships, Ravenell’s dalliances halted after he met Maiko Yamamoto, a Hiroshima native who shared the same qualities of deep closeness with family and a respect for and interest in education. Despite Ravenell’s “awkward” Japanese language skills – “I wasn’t comfortable with my Japanese until the end of my stay” – after a year and a half of dating they were married. (They have a three-year-old daughter, Emmaline Sanae Ravenell.)

In 2007, the couple moved to Ithaca, New York, where Ravenell secured a scholarship, and was a fellow in the Foreign Language and Area Studies Program in Cornell University’s Master of Asian Studies program, graduating with a 3.8 grade point average. His thesis, “Fukuzawa Yukichi: Western Civilization As Our Goal,” attempted to pinpoint the catalyst of Japan’s rapid rise into an industrialized nation. Furthermore, it juxtaposed how African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois used Japan’s sudden and extraordinary progress and military success to criticize racial inequality in the U.S. against Japan’s importation of Western notions of race and colonization, which ultimately led to the destruction of Japan’s pre-World War II empire.

His plan was to pursue a PhD and become a professor, but the prospect of taking ten years or more to complete a PhD program was “not attractive.” Instead, a law school seminar sparked his interest, and Ravenell enrolled at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, where he will graduate in May.

Ravenell likes the versatility a law degree offers, with options to work in the area of legal translation, or perhaps immigration where he could help foreigners obtain American citizenship. “I feel very comfortable trying to help people from different countries get started and fulfill their dreams.”

When asked about reasons for the choices he’s made so far over the course of his 39 years, a journey that has taken him from East Asia and back to America, Ravenell relaxes, a sense of calm pervading his body. “It always felt natural,” he finally says without a trace of guile or regret.

A man satisfied with the life he is leading.

March 19, 2012

Little-Known Black History Fact: Joan Myers Brown

Filed under: Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 5:11 pm

By: Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show

Joan Myers Brown is founder of the Philadelphia Dance Company, also known as Philadanco, and her name and legacy is synonymous with that of dance masters Judith Jamison, Alvin Ailey and the Dance Theater of Harlem. At 80 years old, she continues to lead young dancers at Philadanco.

Myers Brown was refused by many dance companies in the 1950s because she was black. If blacks were accepted, they had to have a light complexion. When Brown was finally hired, she made history as one of the first black dancers in a white company. However, one critic wrote that the black dancer was “the fly in the buttermilk” of the performance.

The daughter of a nuclear scientist and restaurateur, Myers Brown was no stranger to success. She took her act on the road with performers Pearl Bailey, Sammy Davis Jr. and Cab Calloway. While it was work, being known as “the girl who could dance on her toes” was not Myers Brown’s dream. She was still determined to eliminate the stereotype and make a way for black dancers of all colors. In 1960, she returned to Philly and started an African-American school of the arts. Then, in 1970, Myers Brown was awarded a $1,000 grant to start Philadanco, hoping to build the ideal black dance organization.

Myers Brown has been honored by the Kennedy Center for African-American Choreography, In 2009, she was given the prestigious Philadelphia Award. The award led to the Nov. 7, 2010 declaration of Joan Myers Brown Living Legacy Day. She serves as the honorary chairperson for the International Association of Blacks in Dance.

The life of Myers Brown is captured in the pages of a book by Brenda Dixon Gottschild called “Joan Myers Brown and the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina.” The duo are now on tour with Gottschild’s book, giving first hand accounts of the racism faced by dancers pre-civil rights and how taking ownership of one’s passion can lead to success.

March 18, 2012

“Garifuna Nation” at Scribe Video Center

Filed under: Article,Events,News,Video — Tags: , , , — Sandy Smith, Editor @ 4:34 pm

WHO: Director Carlos de Jesus, appearing in person

WHAT: A screening of de Jesus’ new video documentary, Garifuna Nation

WHEN: Tuesday, March 20, 2012, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Scribe Video Center, 4212 Chestnut Street, 3rd floor, Philadelphia, PA

Presented in partnership with Taller Puertorriqueño

Scribe Video Center’s Producers’ Forum Series presents Garifuna Nation: The feature-length video documentary, Garifuna Nation, directed by Carlos de Jesus, presents a cultural encounter between two distinct Afro-Caribbean experiences: Afro-Puerto Rican and Garinagu (also called Garifuna). Through these two parallel perspectives, the video looks into how the slave experience has historically played itself out in different ways and how circumstances determine who we are today. Having escaped the ravages of slavery in the Americas, a group of West Africans joined with Carib Indians to form the Garifuna culture that has survived for over 212 years — on self-reliance, sacred spirit-possession practices and dance moves. Now, the Garinagu people must face the challenge of interfacing western lifestyles and modern technology with the long-held values regarding their community. (USA/Belize/Honduras 2012, 82 min)

Carlos de Jesus is an award-winning producer-director of documentaries and drama in film and videowhose film and video work has been exhibited in New York City at the Whitney Museum, Museum of Modern Art, International Center of Photography, and the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and in California and Washington, D.C. De Jesus directed and co-produced The Performed Word, a National Endowment for the Humanities docudrama on the African-American preacher; New Voice (PBS), WGBH, Boston; Watch Your Mouth!, a PBS/NBC series for WNET/Thirteen, New York. He direted Sonrisas (PBS), KLRN, Austin and executive produced and directed Imágenes, for NJN, Trenton. He is a key participant in the First World Order Project, a long-term telecommunications project that will focus on traditional as well as contemporary expressions of African cultural practice throughout the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, India, and the Pacific Islands. De Jesus is currently an Associate Professor of Film and Television at New York University.

March 12, 2012

R.O.A.D. to College Workshop

Filed under: Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 4:56 pm

The R.O.A.D. to College: Removing Obstacles to Achieve Dreams

Saturday, April 14, 2012 | Community College of Philadelphia Northwest Regional Center | 9:00am – 12:30pm

The Community College of Philadelphia’s Center for Male Engagement in collaboration with the Black Male Development Symposium presents The R.O.A.D. to College. This one day series of workshops, geared toward graduating African American male high school seniors and their family members, will assist participants in learning and understanding the expectations of being a college student while gaining strategies and techniques to enroll in and successfully complete their college career. Workshops will include topics such as the college admission process, financing your education, transitioning from high school to college, and how to support your college student.

To register, visit the Center for Male Engagement on Facebook.

Please R.S.V.P. no later than Friday, March 30, 2012.

For more information, contact the Center for Male Engagement at 215.751.8817 or The Black Male Development Symposium at 215-572-8510.

Schedule of Events

9:00am – 9:30am Continental Breakfast

9:30am – 10:00am Welcome

10:00am – 12:00am Workshops

12:00pm – 12:30pm Closing/Wrap Up

Northwest Regional Center

1300 West Godfrey Avenue,

Philadelphia, PA 19141

215-751-8773

March 6, 2012

Tavis Smiley Presents: Too Important To Fail Parent Education Summit

Filed under: Events — codey-young @ 11:43 am

Tavis Smiley Foundation Presents: Too Important to Fail Parent Education Summit

Learn to Be a Champion for Your Child’s Education
PARENT EDUCATION SUMMIT
Join the TAVIS SMILEY FOUNDATION and the BLACK MALE DEVELOPMENT SYMPOSIUM for The Too Important to Fail Parent Education Summit in Philadelphia. This program is designed especially for parents to help them learn strategies to ensure their child’s academic success. Attendees can participate in workshops and will receive resource information. Admission is free. Attendees will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis until capacity is reached. Advanced registration is requested. On-site registration will be accepted as space allows.
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Date Saturday, March 31, 2012
Time 9:00 am EST to 3:00 pm EST
Sign-in Time: 8:00 am EST to 9:00 am EST
Contact Tavis Smiley Foundation
4434 Crenshaw Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90043
United States
(323) 290-1888
E-mail Tavis Smiley Foundation
Where Arcadia University View Map
University Commons Great Room
450 South Easton Road
Glenside, PA 19038
United States
Downloadable Files
Click to View Checkout History ArcadiaUniversityDirections.pdf
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Glenside, PA 19038

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Celebrating Where San Francisco’s Black Roots Run Deepest

Filed under: Article,Events,News — codey-young @ 11:42 am

When Michelle Long saw workers throwing out documents at her San Francisco church, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal, at a conference 12 years ago, she decided something had to be done — so she became the church archivist.

The choir at Bethel A.M.E. Church at an anniversary service last week.

“You can’t throw those out!” Ms. Long remembered exclaiming.

These days, plastic tubs, big and small, filled with old records and photographs are spread throughout Ms. Long’s house. They are a testament to the herculean task she has undertaken: cataloguing Bethel A.M.E.’s 160-year history, which the congregation is celebrating this week.

Bethel A.M.E. is one of five San Francisco black organizations founded before the Civil War — three churches (Third Baptist Church, First A.M.E. Zion Church and Bethel) and two fraternal orders (Hannibal Lodge No. 1 and Victoria Lodge No. 3) date to 1852.

“We’re just beginning to understand their historic importance,” said John William Templeton, a local historian, entrepreneur and author of “Come to the Water: Sharing the Rich Black Experience in San Francisco.”

In his research for the book, Mr. Templeton concluded that unlike in much of the country at that time, San Francisco’s black community was “on a relatively equal level with white abolitionists.”

Philip Montesano, a history professor at City College of San Francisco, painted a less rosy picture. Although California did not permit slavery, he said, the state’s charter was by no means progressive toward black people as it denied them the right to public education, to testify in court, to homestead public lands and to vote.

Nevertheless, San Francisco’s black community at the time — just 464 people in 1852, growing to 1,176 by 1860, about 30 percent of the entire state’s black population — was very politically active, according to Mr. Montesano.

The three San Francisco churches, along with others across the state, held conventions through 1865 to change California’s racist laws. The laws did eventually come off the books; the education statute was repealed, for instance, by 1880.

“The big things in terms of the San Francisco area were the churches, the conventions and the newspapers,” Mr. Montesano said. “The lodges were more like gathering places.”

More recently, though, huge demographic shifts in the city have led the Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, head of Bethel A.M.E., to wonder about the next 160 years of his church. According to the 2010 census, the black population has shrunk to 49,000 — down by about half from its peak of 96,000 in 1970.

“The gentrification that has taken place here is without parallel,” said Mr. Boyd. “It’s affected us like every other African-American church in town. There’s a downward trend in attendance.”

History remains a source of hope to members of Bethel. Ms. Long, who works on a volunteer basis, called it her “birth church.”

On Sunday, there will be festivities to celebrate its past.

“We have a presentation that talks about the challenge and excitement about the dream created when the church was first organized,” Mr. Boyd said. “And we challenge the congregation to keep that dream alive.”

March 5, 2012

2012 Black Male Development Symposium

Filed under: Bronet Sponsored,Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 2:28 pm

The BMDS 2012 Planning Committee invites you to join us on Saturday, May 12, 2012 at Arcadia University, 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for a life-changing experience – The 2012 Black Male Development Symposium (BMDS). The BMDS will present workshops in distinct Pathways presented by individuals or groups selected through a competitive national call for papers process.

The Mission of the Black Male Development Symposium (BMDS) is to provide a forum that will present practical strategies, techniques and solutions through the presentation of interactive workshops, presenters, best practices and resources that will assist attendees in developing realistic models and concrete recommendations they can put into practice in their respective communities. The BMDS serves as a place for finding practical models of solution and not just a forum for pontification or “drive-by conversation.” The symposium becomes a place for transformative action and communication where men and women alike can share intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and cultural opportunities for growth and development that will improve the quality of life for African American males, their families and their communities.

A Middle School Institute (MSI) is offered with workshops that more closely meet the needs of 6th through 8th grade students. These workshops are designed to offer best practices, programming and strategies that are psychologically and cognitively appropriate for middle school students. Experienced facilitators provide workshops that are informative and engaging for students, parents, teachers and practitioners. The 2012 Symposium will also be offering a Parent Institute designed to assist parents and caregivers in learning new ways to help engage their children in homework completion, staying safe on the internet, positive ways to improve behavior, and preparing for the next level of school.

This year’s symposium theme “Reclaiming Our S.W.A.G. (Soulful Wisdom and Genius) – A Life Guide Symposium for African- American Males” will address how Black males present themselves to the world and how they can best handle situations with intelligence, style, calm and grace. Young Black males in society are regularly portrayed in a negative way. In an effort to dispel negative stereotypes, BMDS seeks to provide techniques and strategies that will help our Black men and boys acquire the skills and knowledge to help them get ahead and claim their “swag.”

Concert: The Black Mozart, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra

Filed under: Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 1:30 pm
Philadelphia Cathedral
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Saturday, 10 March 2012 – 8:00 PM
Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint George was one of the most important figures in Paris’ 18th century musical scene and was one of the earliest known musicians of the European classical type to have African ancestry. Boulonge had many diverse skills – but it was his musical talent as a composer, conductor and violin virtuoso that earned him the moniker, the “Black Mozart.” The BPCO will feature violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins and violist Robin Fay Massie as soloists in W.A. Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra as well as other works by Haydn.
Presenter: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
Saint-Georges: Symphonies (2), Op. 11: no 2 in D major “L’amant anonyme Overture”
Ensemble: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Jeri Lynne Johnson
Haydn: Symphony no 44 in E minor, H 1 no 44 “Trauer”
Ensemble: Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
Conductor: Jeri Lynne Johnson
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major, K 364 (320d)

Artists: Kelly Hall-Tompkins (Violin); Robin Fay Massie (Viola)

Screening: Robert Townsend’s “In the Hive”

Filed under: Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 1:26 pm

What: What It Takes (WIT) in partnership with Black Male Development Symposium will do a private screening of the highly anticipated Robert Townsend film “In The Hive” for 200 black male students enrolled in What It Takes one of a kind E-mentoring program.

In the Hive is a feature film based on an actual school, called the Hive. The film is set in a disadvantaged community and follows a group of at risk teenagers who have been expelled from their public school system. The school, which becomes a life changing environment, is run by a strong matriarch figure whose compassion and no-nonsense manner helps these young men from troubled, often violent backgrounds, greatly improve their educational outcomes, self-esteem and future. In the Hive is scheduled for a national theatrical release March 2012.

Who: What It Takes, Urban Youth Racing School, Black Male Development Symposium, The Villa and Arcadia University along with a education and business community gather to mentor young black males.

When: Saturday, March 10, 2012 – Movie Screening, 2:00 PM

Conversation with “In The Hive” star Jonathan McDaniel Moderated by What It Takes Founder Anthony Martin, 4:00 PM

Where: Arcadia University, Stiteler Auditorium (Murphy Hall), 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, PA 19038 (Campus map – http://www.arcadia.edu/admissions/default.aspx?id=1565)

VIEW TRAILER.

In order to attend you must register.

Seating is on a first come, first serve registration basis.

February 22, 2012

An Evening of African-American Slave Narratives, Spirituals, Poetry and Dance.

Filed under: Events — V. Shayne Frederick, Editor @ 4:16 pm

An Evening of African-American Slave Narratives, Spirituals, Poetry and Dance.

On Thursday, February 23, at 7:00 p.m.,

an African-American History Month observance concert will be given at the Episcopal Cathedral of Philadelphia. Lourin Plant (Baritone), Paule Turner (Dance) and Alexander Timofeev (Piano) will collaborate to create “They Slice The Air: A Reflection on African-American Slave Narratives, Spirituals, Poetry and Dance.” The evening’s meditation will include African-American spirituals (arranged by Hall Johnson, Henry Burleigh, and Margaret Bonds), reflective dance, and the recitation of historic slave narratives and poetry. Guest Artists include James Osby and David Bollar (Readers). This event is free admission.

They Slice The Air: A Reflection on African-American Slave Narratives, Spirituals, Poetry and Dance
Thursday, February 23, 2012
7:00 PM
Episcopal Cathedral
38th & Chestnut Street
Philadelphia

Contact: Dr. Lourin Plant 856.256.4500, ext. 3712

plant@rowan.edu

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