Saturday, March 31, 2012

Delaware State University Inspire Day of Service


Delaware State University Dover Campus participated in a Day of Service for the Peoples Settlement Association in Wilmington, Delaware. Students who volunteered their services have the distinct honor of earning an over 3.0 GPA to receive the Inspire Scholarship. Nikita Robins-Thompson, Admissions Counselor for DSU and Site Coordinator for the Inspire Day of Service Program, was on hand to lead a team of students for this volunteer opportunity at the Peoples Settlement. Among the students to volunteer were Malcolm Reed of Chester and Brandon Brown of Wilmington, highlighted in the video. 

Peoples Settlement is a nonprofit organization which mission is to provide a range of comprehensive social service programs and to improve the quality of life for Wilmington residents. Programs and services involve Housing, Senior Center, Youth Services, and Addictions. The Peoples Settlement has been around since 1901. It was in need of some fixing up. DSU students provided the necessary service today.

For more on Peoples Settlement Click Here

For more on the Inspire Day of Service Click Here

Chester Clippers Championship T-shirts are now on Sale

Front
Back

Last week the Clippers Boys Basketball team won back to back state championships. The T-shirts are available this week. 

You can purchase the official state championship t-shirts in Orange, Black, and White.
The cost is $10 (S-XL) and $15 (2X & over)
Contact: (610) 999-5658

Don’t miss out!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Producer, Director, Humanitarian Bill Duke to Speak at Widener University Commencement


Chester, Pa.—Bill Duke, the African American godfather of American cinema, will deliver the Widener University commencement address and receive an honorary doctorate of public service degree on May 14 in a ceremony beginning at 9:45 a.m. on the quad behind Old Main on Widener’s Main Campus in Chester. Nearly 800 students will graduate with associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees.

Duke recently received a Lifetime Achievement Tribute from the Directors Guild of America, joining the ranks of directors Stephen Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock and Clint Eastwood. He is also a humanitarian and activist who serves on the Board of Trustees of Educating Young Minds, an after school program that helps inner city youth to excel in school and life. He is also involved with the United Nations UNAIDS mission to eliminate AIDS globally.

“Bill Duke has not only been an outstanding leader in the motion picture industry, he has also chosen to give back to the community in the spirit of civic engagement,” said Widener University President James T. Harris III. “His leadership and community service are prime examples of the qualities that we hope to instill in Widener students, and we are very fortunate to have him as our commencement speaker.”

The founder and chief executive officer of Duke Media, formerly Yagya Productions, Duke has been producing film and television for more than 30 years. Duke Media is recognized as a world-wide leader in leveraging media via the new film industry paradigm of the internet. The Bill Duke Web Network has established an international following that has proven viewers crave to be both entertained and educated.

Duke formerly served on the Board of Trustees at the American Film Institute. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also appointed him to the California State Film Commission Board. Duke served as the Time Warner Endowed Chair in the Department of Radio Television and Film at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He was also appointed to the National Endowment of the Humanities by President Bill Clinton.

Duke's directing credits include The Killing Floor, A Rage in Harlem, SisterAct 2, Deep Cover, Hoodlum, The Cemetery Club, Cover and Not Easily Broken, Black Diamonds: The Evolution of Blacks in Baseball and Dark Girls.

Duke's acting credits include Predator, American Gigolo, Car Wash, Commando, Menace II Society, Bird on a Wire, The Limey, Get Rich or Die Trying, X-Men 3, Henry’s Crime, and The Big Bang.

Widener University is a private, metropolitan university that connects curricula to social issues through civic engagement. Dynamic teaching, active scholarship, personal attention, and experiential learning are key components of the Widener experience. A comprehensive doctorate-granting university, Widener comprises eight schools and colleges that offer liberal arts and sciences, professional and pre-professional curricula leading to associate’s, baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees. The university’s campuses in Chester, Exton, and Harrisburg, Pa., and Wilmington, Del., serve some 6,600 students. Visit the university website, www.widener.edu.

Topdog Underdog


 Click to Enlarge

GoKash Productions presents the Pulitzer Prize winning drama, "Topdog/Underdog" by Suzan-Lori Parks

Suzan-Lori Parks Pulitzer Prize winning drama has been called a physical, fun, emotionally draining masterpiece about two brothers in a power struggle for their lives.  "Topdog/Underdog" represents GoKash Productions' first presentation of a non-original theatre work.

Topdog/Underdog is the story of two brothers, abandoned by their parents as adolescents, Lincoln and Booth. Both feeling powerless, they find themselves competing for the topdog position. Lincoln, the older brother, is now divorced, and living with Booth in a seedy, dilapidated room in a boarding house. They have no running water, but they have plenty of liquor. The room is furnished without comforts and with minimal furniture, including milk crates and a sheet of cardboard that serves as the card table for Booth to practice his 3-card monte hustle.

Philadelphia actors, Kash Goins and Roderick Slocum will portray the brothers, Lincoln and Booth. Directing is a young and rising Philadelphia director, Ms. Malika Oyetimein, assisted by Donja R. Love.  Preview shows are Thursday, May 24th and Friday, May 25th.  The official opening is Saturday, May 26th.  All corresponding shows will run Wednesdays thru Saturdays at 7:30PM and Sundays at 3:00PM thru June 17th.  All Shows will be presented at The Walnut Street Theatre Studio 5, 825 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19107. 

Kash Goins is an actor and a playwright, and created and produces the Philly Urban Theater Festival (PUTF) through his company, GoKash Productions. His plays, "VI Degrees" (2009 Best Play) and the sequel, "VII Deadly Sins" (2010 Audience Award) took home honors at the NYC Downtown Urban Theatre Festival. He was a member of Freedom Theater Rep, and has since been mentored by legendary director, Walter Dallas. Some theatre credits include: "Sparkle, The Musical", "Lazarus, Unstoned", "The Bluest Eye", "The Life of John Henry", "The Emperor Jones", and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone".

Roderick Slocum has been seen in various productions within and beyond the tri-state area. He recently returned from a stint in the U.S. Virgin Islands where he and the cast of the multi-media production, "Real Men Talking" played to packed arenas on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. Some other stage credits include: "Desire Under The Elms", "A Few Good Men", "Survival Strategies", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Zooman and the Sign", and " The Exonerated". 

MALIKA OYETIMEIN (DIRECTOR)' s most recent Directing credits include:  "The Dressing Room" featured in The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, "Roost" Philly Urban Theatre Festival (2010 Best Play honoree), and "Passing Strange" with Bootless Artworks. As an Assistant Director: "Three Penny Opera", "The Blue Door" Arden Theatre Co. "Piano Lesson" Delaware Theatre Company, "A View from the Bridge" Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as well as "The Island", and "Exits and Entrances" Contemporary Stage Company. 

Donja R. Love (Assistant Director) is a writer, director, and the Associate Artistic Director at Ademide Theatre Ensemble. His writing/directing credits include: "The Nigga Files" and "How to Kill a Child and a Demon". His directing credits include: "Love, Queens Who Suffer From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder", "VI Degrees", and he served as Assistant Director on "Voices of Domestic Violence": Music and Monologues: Starring Sheryl Lee Ralph. An advocate of arts education, he's a teaching artist for Philadelphia Theatre Company, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, and The Centre Theatre. He attended Temple University majoring in Theatre.

Tickets ($18 in advance and $25 at the box office) will go on sale at www.gokashproductions.com on Thursday, March 29, 2012.  

For more information, email gokashproductions@gmail.com 

Black History and Culture Showcase

Click to Enlarge

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Chester Community Charter School competes at the Heritage Bowl



 

The Heritage Bowl is an exciting Black History Academic Tournament created to educate and stimulate college bound students from all across the tri-state Philadelphia area. The Heritage Bowl is a fact-based game show-style competition wherein teams of 4-5 students compete for exciting prizes by answering a series of questions pertaining to African-American history. The event is designed to increase the knowledge and awareness of the contributions of African-Americans to our society, with the added benefits of promoting leadership skills, teamwork, reading comprehension, strategy formulation, and family/community participation.

Congratulations to the East Campus team: The Influence and The Future Leaders, for placing 5th overall and the West Campus team: Invictus, The Truth, and The Movement for making it to the top ten! We are very proud of every participant for their hard work and dedication!

Widener University Promotes Awareness of Domestic Violence


(Thursday, March 29, 2012) Chester, Pa. – The Center for Social Work Education at Widener University and the Widener Center for Violence Prevention are proud to host, Take Back the Night, a day of events to promote awareness of sexual assault and domestic violence.

The events will begin at noon on Wednesday, April 4 in University Center (14th Street between Melrose Avenue and Walnut Street) with the Clothesline Project, a display of T-shirts created by survivors of abuse and those who have lost loved ones to violence. Guests will also have the opportunity to create their own T-shirts in dedication to victims.

Several workshops will also be held throughout the day in University Center, starting at noon with a self-defense workshop presented by the Chester Police Department. Following that there will be a presentation by the Kappa Sigma Fraternity on the role of men and how they can help.

At 6 p.m. in the Atrium of University Center there will be guest speakers from Domestic Abuse Project Women Against Rape and an “Open Mic Speak-Out,” the evening will conclude with a candlelight march through the campus to demonstrate a unified stance against all acts of violence and abuse.

Each session is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Trisha Kozlowski at 610-499-1247 or trisha.kozlowski@gmail.com.

Take Back the Night is an internationally recognized event intended as a protest and direct action against rape and other forms of violence towards women. In recent years, Widener University has expanded the scope of the event to demonstrate a zero-tolerance mentality towards all acts of violence against both men and women, on campus and in the community at large.

Widener SBDC Offers Three FREE Small Business Seminars in April


The Widener University Small Business Development Center will offer three free seminars during the month of April. All seminars take place at the Widener SBDC located at 1350 Edgmont Ave., Suite 1300, Chester, Pa. Interested participants should call 610-619-8490 to reserve a space or visit www.widenersbdc.org

How to Start a Business – April 16; 6-9 p.m.

Learn the first steps to owning and operating a business at a FREE seminar sponsored by the Widener SBDC on Monday, April 16 from 6-9 p.m. The First Step seminar will cover the building blocks of successful business ownership. The workshop will help budding entrepreneurs evaluate business ideas, develop a business plan, select a legal structure, register their business and explore financing options.

This workshop is FREE with funding from the U.S. Jobs Act of 2010.

Finding Government Procurement Opportunities – April 17; 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

The Widener SBDC is offering a FREE seminar to help you find and secure government contracts on Tuesday, April 17, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. This seminar is designed for individuals whose company has registered with the Central Contractor Register to qualify for government work yet want to develop or refine skills for finding new opportunities.

Funding for this FREE seminar is provided through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency.

Government Certifications for Minority, Women, and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business – April 19; 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

The Widener SBDC will host a FREE seminar on Thursday, April 19 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. to help businesses gain certification as minority, service-disabled veteran or woman-owned. The seminar will also explain the advantages of earning such a certification, which include access to exclusive support services and opportunities for both state and federal contracts. The seminar will examine the qualifications for obtaining government contracts.

This seminar is offered FREE with funding provided through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency.