February 2008 |
VOL 3 ISSUE 5
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Freshman Profiles About Staying Connected |
Evenings of Poetry and Hip-Hop Kickoff Black History Month By: Niki Femmer, Assistant Director, MCISA The Multicultural Center and International Student Affairs kicked off Black History Month with a weekend of the arts. The 2008 Multicultural Studies Film Series included films and speakers about Hurricane Katrina and the history of Turntablism, while Love Jones highlighted student poetry and professional poet Gina Loring. On Saturday, February 9, 2008 a large crowd gathered in Winifred Moore Auditorium to view the film Desert Bayou. Desert Bayou followed the paths of nearly 600 African Americans who were removed from the aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina, and taken to the 99% Caucasian state of Utah. The film concluded with a discussion led by Jarvis DeBerry, an editorial columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Mr. DeBerry, a member of the Pulitzer Prize winning editorial team for work post-Katrina, lead the audience in a discussion about the levees, Katrina, and New Orleans today. Love Jones – An Evening of Poetry, was also held at Webster University on Saturday, February 9 with a crowd of over 60 students. This annual event, named after the 1997 film about poetry, provided an intimate setting for students to share their original works. Over a dozen students stepped up to the mic to share their original poetry, while the evening ended with nationally known poet Gina Loring. Ms. Loring wowed the audience with her poetry, which included a combination of song and spoken word. What made Ms. Loring even more spectacular was the fact that she was still jet-lagged from her trip to Kuwait where she not only performed, but held poetry workshops with Kuwaiti teenagers. The weekend ended with a demonstration like no other. On Sunday, February 10, the Multicultural Film Series came to a close with the film Scratch, a documentary about hip-hop DJing, also known as turntablism. The film followed the history of the art form, including key players, locations and terms and definitions. After the film, audience members were treated to a live demonstration from two of St. Louis’ best. Webster alum, DJ Smitty, and nationally known DJ Charlie Chan Soprano, explained how they got into DJing, and showed several techniques on the turntables. In addition to being one of St. Louis’ best DJ’s, Charlie Chan Soprano tours around the world with Darryl McDaniels of the legendary group, Run DMC. |
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