DRYLONGSO.COM: Spring 2003 Issue: Dirtywoods Arts, Focus on Atlanta's Arts Community
drylongso
http://www.drylongso.com/zine/2003/spring/
SPRING 2003
DIRTYWOODS ARTS: FOCUS ON ATLANTA'S ARTS COMMUNITY
People all over the country, especially African Americans, have been
moving back to the south for more than two decades. No other city can
boast the population growth of Atlanta, a mecca in the southeast. In
recent years, the arts in Atlanta have exploded and the city has
become a haven for writers, artists and musicians from every genre
imaginable. The "souls of black folk" are erupting all over town with
rhythm, blues, jazz, hip hop, spoken word, poetry, fiction and all
forms of visual arts.
The issue illustrates the flavor and style of arts and entertainment
in Atlanta, a trend-setting city in the south. The "CONVERSATIONS"
series offers interviews by Melissa Prunty Kemp, Atlanta resident and
a local English Professor. Three of the city's seasoned, mid-career
and emerging artists, Louis Delsarte, Kevin Cole and Kevin Sipp, are
featured in stimulating conversations about African American art, the
art world in Atlanta and their future endeavors.
These and much more can be found in the Spring 2003 issue of
Drylongso.com.
http://www.drylongso.com/zine/2003/spring/
EXCERPTS FROM THE TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Story
AND NOW FROM THE DIRTYWOODS . . .
When I came to Atlanta in 1999, I had no idea what to expect. Sure,
I had heard that "The ATL," black Mecca of the south, the "Promised
Land," was the place to which many African Americans were returning
after fleeing the racism and legacies of slavery which remain in some
southern locales to this day. It offered fabulous weather,
opportunities for African American entrepreneurship, as well as
corporate advancement, tree-lined streets, good food and southern
charm.
Feature
R E S P E C T
Georgia may have raised Black musical icons like Otis Redding, Little
Richard, James Brown and Gladys Knight, but its crown
city-Atlanta-was not known for music until L.A. Reid and Kenneth
"Babyface" Edmonds set-up shop with LaFace Records in 1989. Even
then, Atlanta became the epicenter for the smooth R&B-gone-pop sound
of Laface artists such as Toni Braxton and TLC. In other parts of the
South, the fun-loving, booty-shaking sounds of Florida, mainly Luke
and the 69 Boyz, dominated. Despite the Geto Boyz in Houston and a
few others, Southern Hip-Hop was largely defined by bass music.
BIOGRAPHY " BONE CRUSHER
It's an anthem for the little boy facing the school bully or the
grown man facing his deepest fears or any one of us facing the
everyday things of life. It's an affirmation of courage and
fortitude; a thunderous chant that speaks volumes. And for Atlanta
born rapper Bone Crusher it's the phrase that has made him an icon in
and around his hometown.
Interview
CONVERSATIONS " KEVIN COLE
And then they call it 'black art.' So those of us who are abstract,
then we are not black enough, and we're not white enough. We're not
gonna put you up there with the white boys because you're doing
abstract. Only white boys can do abstract. But then you are not black
enough. And that's what i don't like about Atlanta. You can be
quickly labeled, but then you're where you're all dressed up but no
place to go.
CONVERSATIONS " KEVIN SIPP
Well, I'm feeling the choice should be there. I'm not saying there
should be one or the other. I think that's one of the biggest
problems African Americans have with their creativity in America.
They get polarized. There are some days I wanna create art work that
has nothing to do with politics. But then there are some days when
something happens in my life and I need to respond politically to it
or I will get crushed by it. So I don't think it's an either or
concept.
CONVERSATIONS " LOUIS DELSARTE
"It's good to be recognized in your life, to feel that your life is
not in vain, that you went through all these years creating all this
work and that you're not just totally out of your mind. I'm an
image-maker, I'm creating images. Where do they come from; that's
another thing. Recognition is a really important thing; to reach some
point in your life or some type of goal in your life, most people
want that."
Review
RAISING FENCES, RAISING QUESTIONS
Datcher's biography recounts a noble journey of one black boy with
problems so poignant, yet so common to many black, male, American
children. He is fatherless and without proper male role models;
thus, he has to figure out what manhood means through his own
childhood and young adult logic.
Fiction
EVENING REFLECTIONS
"Don't let the way he looks bother you too much, there's no cause to
worry. It's just the stroke froze all the muscles on the left side of
his face that makes him looks so strange. But he's not suffering, not
in any pain." The nurse's hushed tones interrupted his train of
thought.
Poetry
WRITTEN FOR ALLEN GINSBERG & ANYONE ELSE WHO CARES
and somebody wanted to know
well just why write a poem?
why go to the trouble? …
Visit http://www.drylongso.com/zine/2003/spring/ to see the full
table of contents.
- - - - A D V E R T I S E M E N T - - - -
SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE BI-MONTHLY SOUL-PATROL NEWSLETTER!
-- Great Black Music/Culture From the Ancient To the Future
-- Featuring Reviews, Commentary, Images and Streaming Audio
-- Urban, Soul, Blues, Funk, Rock Neo Soul and Jazz bi-monthly
http://www.soul-patrol.com/newsletter/
- - - - A D V E R T I S E M E N T - - - -
UPCOMING CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS
http://www.drylongso.com/contribute/contribute.php
Summer, July 2003
PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER
Submission deadline is May 31, 2003.
PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER: GENDER ISSUES IN SEPIA SPACE explores sex,
sexuality, gender, and gender politics in "sepia space" --
Drylongso.com's term for black cyberspace. Despite the digital
divide, a significant number of black people are frequent internet
users and communities have sprung up containing individuals whose
voices agree as well as clash on many topics, including gender
relations. The editors are particularly interested on how black and
gender politics intersect and collide in sepia space. Academic and
popular essays, opinion, poetry, spoken word, fiction and cultural
commentary are welcomed. Send inquiries to sub...@drylongso.com.
View the full call at
http://www.drylongso.com/contribute/contribute.php.
Fall, October 2003
LAW AND POLITICS
Submission deadline is August 1, 2003.
Essays, opinion, poetry, spoken word, fiction and cultural commentary
are welcomed. Send inquiries to sub...@drylongso.com.
----------------------------------------------------
D R Y L O N G S O :
Extraordinary Thought For Ordinary People
----------------------------------------------------
news, political and cultural commentary, fiction, poetry, essays,
interviews, contests, links, and events for thinking people of color
----------------------------------------------------
issn: 1533-3892
home: http://www.drylongso.com/
submit: http://www.drylongso.com/contribute/contribute.php
usps: p.o. box 19795, washington, dc 20036-9795
inquiry: in...@drylongso.com
facsimile: 561.619.2286
aim: drylongsoweblog