January Events of Note!

January 21, 2009 12-2p.m. NJCU’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Celebration

Cornell William Brooks speaks at NJCU’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Celebration on January 21

Cornell William Brooks, a public interest attorney, civil rights litigator, writer, and fourth-generation ordained minister who is executive director of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice (NJISJ), a Newark-based urban research and advocacy organization dedicated to the advancement of New Jersey’s urban communities and residents, will speak at New Jersey City University’s 20th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Celebration on Wednesday, January 21.

The program, which will benefit NJCU scholarships, will be held 12:00 – 2:30 p.m., in the Multipurpose Room of the Michael Gilligan Student Union on the University campus at 2039 Kennedy Boulevard in Jersey City. Tickets are $30.00; $15.00 for full-time students and senior citizens over 65 years of age. The community is welcome.

Based on the theme, “The Politics of Hope in a Post-King Era,” the program is sponsored by NJCU’s Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center and Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

For further information call NJCU’s Lee Hagan Africana Studies Center at (201)200-3524.
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January 23, 2009 -THINKFriday @ Imagine Atrium- Fahrenheit 451 Program

Join us as we partner with the Jersey City Free Public Library and celebrate Jersey City's "Big Read" book, Fahrenheit 451, with a screening of the classic film by François Truffaut and an informal book discussion following the film.

When: THINKFriday, January 23 @ 7pm
Where: Imagine Atrium Bookstore, 528 Jersey Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302

FREE COPIES of Fahrenheit 451 are available at Imagine Atrium and at the Jersey City Main Library on Jersey Avenue if you have a library card. Get your copy now before they're all gone!

This is a BIG READ EVENT.

For more information, visit http://www.imagineatrium.com

For more about The Big Read, visit http://www.neabigread.org/



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January 29, 2009 4:30-6pm Author/Illustrator Eric Velasquez
The M. Jerry Weiss Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature at New Jersey City University proudly presents illustrator and author Eric Velasquez and a Professional Development Workshop.

Thursday, January 29, 2009
4:30-6:30 p.m.
Hepburn Hall, Room 202
New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Boulevard
Jersey City, New Jersey

Coretta Scott King Award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez’s photorealistic pastel illustrations created for young adult book author Carole Boston Weatherford have been described as both “tough-minded and poetic.” The suspense and triumph of Ms. Weatherford’s books, I, Matthew Henson and Jesse Owens, Fastest Man Alive, have been heightened by the rich and historical illustrations by Mr. Velasquez. Mr. Velasquez also illustrated Addie Boswell’s The Rain Stomper and his own book, Grandma’s Records.

This presentation is ideal for librarians, classroom and reading teachers), university students, and other supporters of literacy and literature.

$25 admission fee includes two N.J. Professional Development Hours; $20 for full-time undergraduate students (identification required).
Admission fee waived for NJCU undergraduates not seeking N.J. Professional development hours.

For more information contact Maureen McGuire, director of development, at
mmcguire1@njcu.edu
or call (201) 200-3196. Please provide an e-mail address where we may send your registration confirmation.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Parking available in NJCU’s West Side Avenue Lot for a $6.00 fee.
For directions to NJCU visit http://www.njcu.edu/i2e/visit/directions.asp.


---------------REGISTRATION FORM-------------------------------
Yes! I would like to attend the Eric Velasquez presentation!
Return payment/check with completed registration form to:
Maureen McGuire
Office of Development
Hepburn Hall, Room 326
New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Boulevard
Jersey City, NJ 07305-1597

Please check your payment method and provide the following information:

Name_____________________________ email ______________________ Address _____________ City_______ State_______ Zip ______________

__VISA __ MASTERCARD ___ Check enclosed
(Make check payable to the NJCU Foundation, Inc. and designate M. Jerry Weiss Center in the memo portion.) Account number ______________________ Expiration date _____________ Signature _____________________________



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January 30, 31, 2009 African Diaspora Film Festival at the Jersey City Museum
The African Diaspora Film Series
2 DAYS – FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Dates/Times: January 30, 2009 Noon – 5pm
January 31, 2009 Noon – 5pm



Price: Individual tickets per screening are $10, $8 students and seniors, $7 museum members.
Contact: African Diaspora Film Festival at 212-864-1760
Details:
Jersey City Museum is pleased to present the African Diaspora Film Series on Friday, January 30, and Saturday, January 31, 2009.

Individual tickets may be purchased at the museum on the day of the events or purchased in advance on the African Diaspora Film Festival website at www.nyadff.org or by calling them at (212) 864-1760. Tickets are $10, $8 for students and seniors, $7 for members of the museum. ADFF/JCM Series Pass is $30. This special pass gives access to all the screenings in the series.

Please contact the African Diaspora Film Festival to enquire about group rates for schools for the Friday afternoon screening of The Great Bazaar, which is recommended for grade 10 and up.

DVDs and VHS of films from Africa and the African Diaspora Film Festival will be on sale in the museum's atrium. $20 per DVD/VHS; $35 for 2 DVD/VHS; $45 for three DVD/VHS and $15 for each additional DVD/VHS.

The schedule of film screenings for Friday and Saturday is as follows:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2009

12:00pm | The Great Bazaar
(2005, Licinio Azevedo) In the suburb of an African city, 12 years-old Paito sells fritters outside his house. One day, a band of young robbers takes his money. He decides he's not going to go home until he recovers what he lost. With this in mind, he heads out for the big city on the same train as the thieves. Looking for work, he begins to live in a market square that at night becomes a dormitory for homeless vendors. There he meets Xano, a boy his age, whose insolent behavior and fearlessness attract him. Unlike Paito, Xano despises work and he steals. Despite their differences, they become friends. Together, they reinvent the world. Language: Portuguese with English subtitles. Run time: 58 minutes.

2:30PM | Made in Jamaica
New Jersey Premiere!
(2006, Jerome Laperrousaz) This musical documentary presents an overview of the reggae music movement past and present. From the crime and violence of the ghetto to political responsibility; from the history of slavery and colonization to the legacy of Bob Marley and the idea of salvation through music; from religion and the Rasta movement to sex, women, and their role in reggae, Made in Jamaica explores the multifaceted reality of reggae music through interviews and musical performances with artists like Capleton, Elephant Man, Bunny Wailer, Toots & the Maytals, Bounty Killer, Gregory Isaacs, Tanya Stephens, Beres Hammond, and others. Running time: 110 minutes.



SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2009

12:00PM | Slaying Goliath
New Jersey Premiere!
(2008, Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster) Slaying Goliath is a candid account of a fifth grade basketball team on a quest to win a national title, all the while struggling with where they came from and how far they will go. Through their journey from Harlem, NY to Florida, many of them leaving their neighborhoods for the first time, parents, coaches and team members learn valuable lessons about teamwork, unity, and who they are in relation to the world around them. Running time: 80 minutes.

A question and answer session with the filmmakers will be held after the screening of Slaying Goliath.

DOUBLE FEATURE PROGRAM: Afro-Cuba: Yesterday and Today
TWO FILMS FOR ONE ADMISSION!
La Ultima Rumba de Papa Montero and Sara Gomez: An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker

2:10PM | La Ultima Rumba de Papa Montero
(1992, Octavio Cortazar) A fascinating film on the rhythmic dance genre known as Rumba, La Ultima Rumba de Papa Montero dances around the life of Papa Montero, one of the famous rumberos of Cuba, assassinated during carnival. A discovery of Cuban traditions and every day life told through beautiful images, sensual music and dance. The use of Afro-Cuban mythology is the force behind the characters as orishas guide the characters' fate. Language: Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 52 minutes.

3:10PM | Sara Gomez: an Afro-Cuban Filmmaker
(2005, Alessandra Muller) Sara Gomez: An Afro-Cuban Filmmaker is a rich, multilayered documentary about Afro-Cuban director Sarah Gomez. Born in 1943, she studied literature, piano, and Afro-Cuban ethnography before becoming the first female Cuban filmmaker. A woman of great intelligence, independence and generosity, she was a revolutionary filmmaker with intersecting concerns about the Afro-Cuban community and the value of its cultural traditions, women's issues, and the treatment of the marginalized sectors of society. Through archival footage of her works and interviews with her children and husband Germinal Hernandez, cast members of her best-know film De cierta manera,as well as colleagues and friends, we get closer to a filmmaker who invented new landscapes and brought together opposite worlds. Language: Spanish with English subtitles. Running time: 76 minutes.

A discussion between Reinaldo Barroso-Spech, Co-Director of the African Diaspora Film Festival, and artist Ben Jones ("Deliverance" THE ART OF BEN JONES 1970-2008, on view at Jersey City Museum through February 21, 2009) will follow the double feature screenings.