Hip-Hop Association Hosts WOMANHOOD LEARNING PROJECT featuring graffiti artists

WOMANHOOD PASSAGE FUNDRAISER & WOMANHOOD LEARNING PROJECT
Hip-Hop Association Hosts Inspirational Fundraiser, Honors Pioneers of Hip-Hop Culture

NEW YORK, NY (May 12, 2009) – The Hip-Hop Association, in collaboration with the Center for Multicultural Education and Programs at New York University, proudly presents the Womanhood Passage Fundraiser, a special evening acknowledging the strength, beauty, leadership, challenges, and successes of women in Hip-Hop. With an exquisite rooftop view of Washington Square Park and New York City, the event will take place at NYU’s Rosenthal Pavilion, located in the Kimmel Center, from 7pm-10pm on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

Special guests represent Hip-Hop artists, as well as executives, activists, media makers, and entrepreneurs. Confirmed speakers include: MONIE LOVE, ROCKAFELLA, BARAKA SELE, TOOFLY, MARCELLA RUNELL HALL, DJ BEVERLY BOND, KIM OSORIO, DJ JAZZY JOYCE, RACHEL RAIMIST, THEMBISA MSHAKA, DR. ROXANNE SHANTE, MARTHA COOPER, and CINDY CAMPBELL, the Mother of Hip-Hop. The Womanhood Passage Fundraiser is meant to serve as a safe space where we can address issues affecting women. The youngest guest speaker is 15 year-old P-STAR, who will talk about her documentary P-Star Rising, recently screened at the TriBeCa Film Festival. The event kicks off the Hip-Hop Association’s 2009 Womanhood Learning Project (WLP) initiatives.

Womanhood Passage Fundraiser
June 25, 2009
7pm -10pm
NYU Kimmel Center-Rosenthal Pavilion, 10th Floor

The Womanhood Learning Project magnifies women’s roles and leadership positions within Hip-Hop culture and the community.  The two main goals for the WLP in 2009 are a resource book entitled, Fresh, Bold, So Def: Women in Hip-Hop Changing the Game and the Ladies First Fund, the first grant for women in Hip-Hop. Fresh, Bold, So Def: profiles over 300 artists, activists, and entrepreneurs, while the Ladies First Fund is an initiative that offers a $5,000 grant to a candidate dedicated to social entrepreneurship in the Newark, New Jersey area.

The WLP is supported by the likes of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The Center for Urban Entrepreneurship & Economic Development at Rutgers Business School, New York Liberty, Ford Foundation, Union Square Awards, and the NYU Office of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Student Services (LGBTSS).

“This event is more than just honoring those that have paved the way, it is also promoting intergenerational healing amongst women,” says Martha Diaz, Founder of the Hip-Hop Association. “Too often the negative associations of women in Hip-Hop go unresolved; we hope to have the Womanhood Passage Fundraiser move us toward a resolution while promoting some of the most positive women in Hip-Hop.”

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BOMB IT ATLANTA SCREENING!

Bomb It will be screening at the Cinefest Theatre (part of the Georgia State University Student/University Center) in ATL on 6/26-7/2.

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GRAFFITI ARTIST ‘IZ THE WIZ’ DIES

BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, June 19th 2009, 4:00 AM

Graffiti artist Michael (Iz the Wiz) Martin, a legendary figure who painted scores of subway trains during a prolific career, has died of an apparent heart attack, friends and blogs said yesterday. He was 49.

Martin collapsed at his brother’s Florida home early Wednesday, and later died.

Known for his trademark “Iz” tag, Martin grew up in Queens and was a prominent figure among old-school graffiti artists and the hip-hop pioneers who hung out with them.
Just last week, he appeared at a Bronx art gallery where he painted lifesize replicas of subway cars for fans.

His career began in 1972 and spanned decades before the city virtually eliminated graffiti with new subway cars and stepped-up security.

Martin moved to Florida as his health declined in recent years and he had trouble paying rent and health care expenses, friends said.

Online message boards and graffiti appreciation sites were filled with condolence messages for Martin last night.

Martin once served as president of graffiti group The Master Blasters and the Queens division of Prisoners Of Graffiti.

Martin appeared in the documentary film “Style Wars” and portrayed a transit police detective in the film “Wild Style.”

His work has been displayed in museums and galleries throughout the world, including a 2001 exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art.

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Graffiti writers vs. police: a game of cat and mouse

Part 3 of Miami Herald’s Graffiti feature:

Gang unit detectives and graffiti writers are constantly trying to outsmart each other, so secrecy and paranoia are the norm when it comes to the ways of graffiti.

Writers ride a fine line between making their tags famous and maintaining anonymity. Detectives must link the vandal to the tag.

”It has nothing to do with poverty anymore. It doesn’t matter what gender, ethnicity, age or socioeconomic status,” said Miami Gang Unit Detective Andres Valdes. “We have arrested kids from Coral Gables, Key Biscayne and Coconut Grove.”

To navigate Miami’s world of graffiti, detectives and writers get in the habit of recognizing hundreds of short catchy names constantly appearing on property. Valdes sometimes rides the metro in civilian clothes to look for trends and patterns.

”You go around looking for tags that you can recognize,” said Hialeah Gang Unit Detective Israel Perez. “When they are not in your area, you share that information with other departments.”

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Tackling writing on the wall: Helen Harvey looks at graffiti and its place in society

Graffiti is a form of communication and as such it sends a message. But it’s probably not the message the tagger intended.

When most people look at graffiti, they see vandalism and they see a complete disregard for other people’s property. Then they see red.

An Auckland man who had never been in trouble with the law before is now in jail for manslaughter after he knifed a young man who had been tagging his property.

Exactly why taggers do what they do and how to stop them is the subject of much debate, so the Ministry of Justice has commissioned researchers from the Institute of Criminology at Victoria University to do some research into graffiti.

The research is expected to be finished by the end of June; some initial analysis should be available later in the year.

Like the tagging, the problem isn’t black and white.

There are a number of different types of graffiti: Graffiti as urban art, tagging, stylised writing. In countries where people don’t have a voice, graffiti can be a form of political expression – or it can just be an act of vandalism.

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