i am

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harlem, usa
same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

2017 NFL Pro Bowl Roster

selections for the 2017 nfl pro bowl are listed below:

afc offense starters
quarterback                                 tom brady, new england patriots
running back                               leveon bell, pittsburgh steelers
fullback                                        kyle juszcyzyk, baltimore ravens
wide receiver                               antonio brown, pittsburgh steelers
                                                     amari cooper, oakland raiders
tight end                                       travis kelce, kansas city chiefs
center                                           rodney hudson, oakland raiders
guard                                           marshall yanda, baltimore ravens
                                                     kelechi osemele, oakland raiders                                               
tackle                                           joe thomas, cleveland browns
                                                    donald penn, oakland raiders

afc offense reserves
quarterback                                 derek carr, oakland raiders
                                                    ben roethlisberger, pittsburgh steelers
running back                               lesean mccoy, buffalo bills
                                                    demarco murray, tennessee titans
wide receiver                              a.j. green, cincinnati bengals
                                                    t.y. hilton, indianapolis colts
tight end                                      delanie walker, tennessee titans
center                                          maurice pouncey, pittsburgh steelers
guard                                           david decastro, pittsburgh steelers
tackle                                           taylor lewan, tennessee titans

afc defense reserves
defensive end                               khalil mack, oakland raiders
                                                     cameron wake, miami dolphins
interior lineman                           geno atkins, cincinnati bengals
                                                     ndamukong suh, miami dolphins
outside linebacker                       von miller, denver broncos
                                                     lorenzo alexander, buffalo bills
inside/middle linebacker             donta hightower, new england patriots
cornerback                                   marcus peters, kansas city chiefs
                                                     aqib talib, denver broncos
free safety                                    devin mccourty, new england patriots
strong safety                                eric berry, kansas city chiefs

afc special teams
punter                                          pat mcafee, indianapolis colts
kicker                                           justin tucker, baltimore ravens
return specialist                          tyreek hill, kansas city chiefs
special teamer                            matthew slater, new england patriots


nfc offense starters
quarterback                                matt ryan, atlanta falcons
running back                              ezekiel elliott, dallas cowboys
fullback                                      mike tolbert, carolina panthers
wide receiver                              odell beckham, jr., new york giants
                                                    julio jones, atlanta falcons
tight end                                     greg olsen, carolina panthers
center                                         travis frederick, dallas cowboys
guard                                          zack martin, dallas cowboys
                                                   brandon scherff, washington redskins
tackle                                          tyron smith, dallas cowboys
                                                    trent williams, washington redskins

nfc defense starters
defensive end                              cliff avril, seattle seahawks
                                                    everson griffen, minnesota vikings
interior lineman                          aaron donald, los angeles rams
                                                    gerald mccoy, tampa bay buccaneers
outside linebacker                       vic beasley, atlanta falcons
                                                    ryan kerrigan, washington redskins
inside/middle linebacker             bobby wagner, seattle seahawks
cornerback                                  janoris jenkins, new york giants
                                                    patrick petersen, arizona cardinals
free safety                                    harrison smith, minnesota vikings
strong safety                                landon collins, new york giants

nfc offense reserves
quarterback                                 dak prescott, dallas cowboys
                                                     aaron rogers, green bay packers
running back                                david johnson, arizona cardinals
                                                     devonta freeman, atlanta falcons
wide receiver                                mike evans, tampa bay buccaneers
                                                     larry fitzgerald, arizona cardinals
tight end                                       jordan reed, washington redskins
center                                           alex mack, atlanta falcons
guard                                            t.j. lang, green bay packers
tackle                                            jaosn peters, philadelphia eagles

nfc defense reserves
defensive end                               michael bennett, seattle seahawks
interior lineman                           fletcher cox, philadelphia eagles
outside linebacker                       thomas davis, carolina panthers
inside/middle linebacker             luke kuechly, carolina panthers
cornerback                                   xavier rhodes, minnesota vikings
                                                     richard sherman, seattle seahawks
free safety                                    ha ha clinton-dix, green bay packers

nfc special teams
punter                                          johnny hekker, los angeles rams
kicker                                           matt bryant, atlanta falcons
return specialist                           cordarrelle patterson, minnesota vikings
special teamer                             dwayne harris, new york giants                                                    

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017

the rock & roll hall of fame announced six artists from the ballot are included in the performer category and one individual is recognized with an award for musical excellence.

performance category:
joan baez
electric light orchestra
journey
pearl jam
tupac shakur
yes

musical excellence:
nile rodgers

artists are eligible for inclusion in the rock & roll hall of fame 25 years after the release of their first recording. the 2017 rock & roll hall of fame performer inductees were chosen by more than 900 voters, as well as the aggregate results of the rock & roll hall of fame's online fan vote.

the top five artists from the fan vote comprised the fans' ballot that was tallied alongside the other ballots to determine the 2017 inductees. four of the winners of the fans' ballot (electric light orchestra, journey, pearl jam and yes) will be inducted as performers in 2017.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

94 State Prisons are projected to close

the sentencing project has released a new report, written by nicole d. porter, director of advocacy, entitled repurposing: new beginnings for closed prisons. porter found 22 states have eliminated or are on pace to eliminate about 48,000 prison beds in state prisons and juvenile facilities.

the opportunity to downsize prison bed space has been spurred by declines in state prison populations, as well as increasing challenges for managing older facilities. reduced capacity has created the opportunity to repurpose closed prisons for various reasons. 

the report has tracked announced closures of prisons since 2011. porter learned states have reduced their corrections costs by an estimated $333 million and have developed a wide range of ways - some profitable and others community-centered - to repurpose prison buildings and facilities.

other prison conversions taking place, include:

a medium-security state prison in new york's staten island was sold to a company investing $20 million into the creation of a movie studio. this investment is projected to create about 1,500 jobs over a five-year period.

brushy mountain state penitentiary in tennessee is becoming a distillery, restaurant and tourist facility which offers camp grounds and horse trails. the maximum security prison once held james earl ray, who assassinated rev. dr. martin luther king, jr in 1968.

city commissioners in gainesville, florida converted a close prison into a nonprofit one-stop homeless center which offers job training.