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.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Derrick Rose out for the season

chicago bulls point guard derrick rose will miss the rest of the 2013-14 nba season after undergoing knee surgery monday. the 2010-11 most valuable player had the medial meniscus repaired in his right knee at rush university medical center in chicago. the surgery was successfully performed by dr. brian cole, who performed the acl surgery on rose's left knee in may 2012.

the disappointment in the bulls' locker room has been evident since rose injured his right knee in the third quarter of a game (they ultimately lost) with the portland trailblazers last friday. but bulls coach tom thibodeau, who won coach of the year in 2011, has tried to help his players focus on the present challenges and not their past circumstances.

thibodeau said, "'i texted him. the surgery was a success. so he obviously has to focus in on the rehab. and our team, we have to lock into our improvement and getting wins. the big thing for him, is he just has to focus in on his rehab. the fact that he's already done it once, he has great mental toughness, he'll be fine. this will be another bump in the road, he'll get past it. we expect him to make a full recovery." 

rose's teammates and former coaches were understandably sad. forward mike dunleavy, acquired this year from the indiana pacers said, "my reaction was gosh, i hope it's not anything related to the surgically repaired knee. he's going to miss the whole season so ultimately you just feel for him. he's such a great guy, great teammate and you're disappointed for him."

robert smith, who was rose's coach at simeon career academy in the windy city, said the high school held a moment of silence on monday to pray for rose's recovery. smith said, "watching him the last couple games, seeing him start to turn the corner and have another freak injury like that, that's hard. but derrick is strong. he'll get back in there and get his body right to be able to get back there and play."

kentucky's john calipari, who coached rose his freshman year (rose entered the draft after one season) at memphis tweeted on monday: "if there's anyone who can bounce back from this, it's drose. my message to derrick would be to stay strong and stay focused. love you, kid."   

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Djokovic beats Nadal to win ATP Finals

world #2 novak djokovic of serbia defeated world #1 rafael nadal of spain 6-3, 6-4 on monday to win the barclays atp world tour finals in london. djokovic successfully defended his title by capping off the year with his 22nd consecutive victory. his run started after nadal beat him in the us open final and replaced him atop the rankings.

afterwards, djokovic said, "the most positive thing that i can take from those two and a half months is the fact that i managed to regroup after few big losses against nadal, especially in roland garros, us open final and wimbledon final." djokovic became the seventh player to win the season-ending tournament of the world's elite eight three times.

djokovic has beaten nadal 10 out of 19 finals and is 13-7 against him on hard courts. djokovic said, "year-end number one is deservedly in nadal's hands because he had two grand slam wins, the best season out of all players, the most titles. i think that's no doubt, cannot question that. i tried to put aside the calculations and the rankings after the us open and just tried to focus on one tournament at a time, one day at a time. that kind of attitude has helped me to get to where i am this moment."

the affable serb is poised to reclaim his #1 ranking at the first major in 2014. djokovic is the three-tine defending champion at the australian open. he served well, returned well and volleyed well to a resounding win in straight sets - the only tournament missing from nadal's resume. the two have played each other 39 times: more than any male players in the open era, with nadal leading 22-17.  

nadal had an opportunity to join andre agassi as the only players to have won all four majors, olympic gold, the davis cup and the year-end tournament. nadal said, "it's not going to change my career, winning or losing today. i am not very disappointed. i know that i was not the favorite for the match, even if i tried with the right attitude, in my opinion, fighting for every moment, trying to be positive in every moment, even if the match was not going the way that i would like."

the popular spaniard's return to the #1 ranking came on the heels of a stunning comeback from a career-threatening knee injury - sidelining him for seven months. nadal played his first match in february and finished 2013 with a 75-7 record. the charismatic lefty won ten titles, including the french open, the us open and five masters 1000 titles. 

Thursday, November 07, 2013

ENDA Passes Senate 64-32

the u.s. senate voted today, 64 to 32, to pass the employment non-discrimination act (enda) for the first time in the legislation's two-decade history. all senate democrats joined ten senate republicans to approve the landmark bill aimed towards empowering the lgbt community.

human rights president chad griffin said, "today, a strong bipartisan majority of the united states senate made history by standing up for a fundamental american truth. each and every american worker should be judged based on the work they do, and never based on who they are. this broad senate coalition has sent a vital message that civil rights legislation should never be tied up partisan political games."  

griffin further stated, "we firmly believe if the house of representatives were freed by speaker john boehner to vote its conscience, this bill could pass immediately. it's unconscionable that any one person would stand in the way of this crucial piece of the civil rights puzzle." 

house speaker john boehner, a republican, suggested earlier this week he won't bring enda to the floor for an up-or-down vote. but his views have drawn public criticism - within the gop. charlie dent (r-pa) said, "i believe the speaker should allow a vote on this bill...i believe the american public wants to make sure people are not discriminated against."

dent also stated, "with today's vote in the senate, majority leader reid, chairman harkin, lead sponsors (senators) merkley and kirk, and senators collins and baldwin have shown us all what leadership looks like. now, speaker boehner should take up the mantle of leadership and allow the house to join them."

president obama has indicated his willing to sign a long-pending executive order protecting the employees of federal contractors from discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. the human rights campaign says obama, by signing the order, can extend labor security to over 16 million American workers.

said griffin, "we urge the house of representatives to pass enda immediately, and we call on president obama to send a clear message in support of workplace fairness by signing this order."