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tempestforged · 21 days ago

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THE PROSTHETIC HAND, RECENTLY UPGRADED AFTER EONS IN CRYO SLEEP, flexes in clear disapproval of the Gray Raven Commandant's desire to argue semantics with him. He does not need to be told that TETHYS has failed to realise the possibility of Inver Devices and the Omega Effect in this timeline, especially when he himself has locked that information within the AI's Pandora Box. The Lament has yet to reach the point in which that technology would see itself useful, and he would not risk those federation hounds sniffing out the keys to the Arsenal of the Gods that hung high above their heads like a descending sword waiting to pierce the Wuthering Phenomenon. Asimov does not need Rubelle Curves or analytics to know that the Punishing Tide has yet to re-emerge from the buried cocoons, has yet to realise that once more humanity strives ever closer to the symphony of energy that hums beneath the fabric of the world they thread upon. Perhaps Dominik's instructions had been more useful than Asimov would ever repeat, and yet as the first of the Pioneers to descend from that FABLED Eden it was him who was left to create gateways and anchors for the Humans who have yet to see their home after Millennia adrift amongst the stars. "Clearly commandant, you've forgotten your lessons at F.O.S already, consider yourself lucky that the WARMONGER isn't here to hear it." Crimson hues turn upwards from the datapad for the first time, a glare so resounding in his features it had once driven the Cerberus Commandant to actually attend regular Punishing Force briefings. "All Commandants are required to submit themselves to regular M.I.N.D assessment, regardless of duty status, exceptions will only be given when the chief technical officer is unavailable." A quote from a handbook he'd personally helped to write, one that remains all too familiar to anyone who has gone through EDEN II's F.O.S Academy. Even that fool, Langdon, dared not to argue with him when it came to the strict stress regulations that had been placed over M.I.N.D applicants at his order.

A technician decides now to cross his path, a new prototype in their hands designed to fit that irritating Vice-Captain of the Engineering Force's standards. Teddy remains asleep in the heavens above, and yet he doubted the woman would accept devices that could be so easily disrupted as a means of communications, leading to technicians working around the clock to create a device that would fit the standards for the scientific base of the world. A wave of his hand, shooing them back to work before that utterly tormentuous woman can be allowed to descend and ruin his fragile and careful work.

The doors of the medbay slide open silently to admit them before sealing shut behind them, a hand reaching to the holographic terminal that lacked most of the utility he'd grown accustomed to as the windows tint to let none see through their reinforced glass. "Hmph, all those instructions and still it'll fail to withstand Karenina." A gaze, a softer smile as he turns to the woman sitting patiently on the bed, a memory stick inserted as the schematics of the experimental inver device are brought to light.

"Gray Raven and Strike Hawk send their regards, unfortunately GESTALT'S data walls have restricted us to short bursts of the Longinus Arsenal, so I am all you'll get for the immediate future, Yinyue." Relaxed words as TETHYS silently begins to analyse and implement the data patches to the M.I.N.D and INVER devices hidden in the Gourd on her back. "Clearly the memory wipe has ensured that Zero Energy remains unreached, good." As close as they'll ever get to an I missed you from the man who inherited part of Dominik's Legacy, and yet that is how Asimov prefers it.

─「银月」─ watching him at work never ceased to fascinate her, whether it was with her present or past memory. his mind operated on a wavelength that was beyond even her own, beyond the touch of HUMANITY and almost to the realm of those ethereal beings people usually compared to gods. even the scientists and researchers of BLACK SHORES immediately knew they were in the presence of a genius. a kind of genius that would only appear once in a millennia.

just like the man called dominik who wanted to save humanity.

now that he had an access to the TETHYS SYSTEM, even locking the computing AI behind his own control, golden hues could see the researchers almost bowing their heads as if they had been blessed by a presence highly above them. his words, sharp and curt as usual, cut through the air in address to her surprise. and the rover heaved a defeated sigh.

" we have not reached the point of consciousness and M.I.N.D. connection. the lament had destroyed the advancement of technology. the tethys system was calculating possibilities. " and it was still doing that until he halted its process just a few moments ago. that was all she could get out before he promptly turned around and headed for tethys' deep. despite having just arrived, he already knew this place like the back of his hand, and she had no choice but to follow.

" that is to say, i do not require medical check ups. " yinyue was implying that without CONSTRUCTS and technology of eden, there were no stress to her M.I.N.D. that must be endured daily. " my memory and past records had been wiped by my past self 20 years ago. the reasons for it are still unknown to me. " for now, at least. she had to speed up to be able to keep up with his pace. aureate orbs peeked to see his expression, wondering what was going through his mind at all this information.

" shouldn't we run a check up on you first ? " it was not a challenge or a counter, no, it was genuine concern. after all, he did just travel through the warped physics or solaris-3 that was caused by several LAMENT. even though she said that, they already approached the medical facility and he apparently had no intention to let her go without a check up.

#red tides bow under silver moon && echoes of the past waking with the wane ;; Yinyue ;; Lunaetis #Do I look like I have time to sleep ;; [Asimov]#[ ASIMOV STRAIGHT TO WORK AS ALWAYS #NO WONDER TEDDY LOCKS HIM IN MEDICAL FOR HOURS ON END]

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transgamerthoughts · 4 years ago

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Guerrilla Radio

I look at Rodney Mullen and I see a kindred spirit. To hear Mullen speak is to go for a ride, the cadence of his voice rising and falling in unpredictable ways. Sometimes, he speaks at a hushed whisper. A low and pained utterance indicating a reverence and yearning that polite society eschews—if there’s one thing folks feel weird about it’s excess displays of passion. When he’s not quiet, Mullen is truly loud. His laugh is a barking chortle. Painful whisperings, awkward celebration. Mullen is a man of infectious extremes.

I play as Mullen whenever I boot up Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2, the recently released remaster of earlier games. There’s an option to create a customized, idealized version of myself and I could always play as the Birdman. I think they expect you to play as Tony for a long time; his toolkit is strong and stats are spread nicely. Those things matter less and less as you play. It’s easy to upgrade any character’s stats and customize their special tricks but Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 hardly explains itself outside of an optional tutorial. It is a game superbly confident in the fact that the player will play every portion of it including the menus. That’s a wise impulse; Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2 is terrifyingly intuitive and always has been. How else could many of us fully complete it in our childhoods? Still, even though I could play as myself, I play as Mullen because I’ve never felt so magnetically pulled to an individual in my life. To hear Rodney Mullen talk about skateboarding is to hear myself attempt to talk about games criticism. There is a core of a person that we might call “Rodney Mullen” and a layer of societal artifice built around it. There is a soul and a sort of clay surrounding it. It’s easy to understand that his soul is fragile. It requires a clear and powerful nourishment. For Mullen, that’s skating. Every quiver in his voice when he talks about a trick, every pause before he mentions his domineering father expresses the singular freedom he finds on a skateboard. I immediately recognize it as the freedom I feel on a page. I see footage of an impossible flip and synthetically equate it to a good metaphor. I see freestyle groundtricks flow into each other like tributaries into a large river, and I imagine a comma-laden ramble of a sentence. I feel something ineffable. When I watch footage of Mullen or other contemporaries like Daewon Song, something falls over me like a spectral blanket. What they find through ollies, grinds, and reverts, I chase every time I write.

Before I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1+2, I was already watching documentaries on my favorite skaters and looking at old tapes. I’m back with my family for a time in quarantine, and my father found my old skateboard. It’s an old Geoff Rowley Flip board. I was always a clumsy person; skating was liberating but I could never have found the expression that someone like Mullen or Rowley have. But I did find it in games, and in writing. That sounds indulgent and quixotic but it’s true. I can’t explain how completely necessary writing is to me. Perhaps it would be easier to say that I’ve reached a point professionally where I never really need to write criticism again if I don’t want to. I survived the daily news grind, produced some things I liked, put up with some bullshit that I didn’t, and emerged on the other side in a new field. War’s over. Except it’s never over. I need to write.

Playing Tony Hawk, I see the process. Every level is a crash course in finding intense purpose in our surroundings. While the action of Tony Hawk occurs at a scale detached from reality, one where tricks flow into intense sequences and it’s commonplace to leap large rooftop gaps, the process of achieving a high score points towards a truth that any skateboarder can attest to: the world is different when you perceive it from atop a skateboard. Your streets become so much more than pavement. You observe what is before you with a keen eye and find a meaning and intentionality that isn’t immediately obvious.

Until Mullen debuted the flatground ollie in 1982—itself inspired by Alan Gefland’s technique for freehand aerial vert tricks—the street was less explored than parks and vertical ramps. Flat ground competitions were “freestyle” competitions full of pogo tricks and manuals. The ability to leap into the air meant there were new tricks that could be developed. Mullen pioneered further tricks like the kickflip and the impossible entirely because of the new freedom the ollie offered. But the ollie wasn’t just a foundation for new tricks; it opened up the streets to exploration. Skating could move out of the parks. This proved an essential step to keeping the sport alive.

This widening freedom constitutes the core of Tony Hawk’s gameplay. Although there are plenty of vert tricks and Hawk himself is classified in game as a vert skater, the majority of each level’s gameplay is devoted to exploration. Finding hidden video tapes, jumping over parked cars, wall-riding to destroy schoolyard bells. These objectives are about navigating real spaces albeit ones that are somewhat exaggerated. It is contingent on the player to observe the world through the eyes of a skater. Tony Hawk doesn’t capture the realistic mechanics of skating but it does capture the creative sentiment. In order to complete objectives and also achieve high scores, they need to think like a skater.

To hear Mullen talk about developing tricks and the ways in which skating expanded in the 80s, you’d think little revolutionary was happening. For Mullen, tricks were about expression. These various flips and techniques weren’t about pushing the boundaries of skating. They were, first and foremost, the ways in which a shy kid from a strict Gainesville home expressed himself to the world. They were about asserting his value as an individual and expressing the ineffable parts of himself that he could not express any other way. That individual desire fed into a larger ecosystem where his tricks could be adapted and integrated into an ever-evolving language. The personal became conversational. The conversational became foundational.

I think about these processes and apply them to my own field, although I wonder if I can even call criticism my home anymore. I didn’t write about games because I thought there could be a career in it. I didn’t write about games because I saw starting my blog as a pathway to outlets or studios. I wrote and still write because it is the only way I have as a still-lonely kid from New Hampshire to express something fundamental about myself. I write because it is the only way I’ve ever felt like I’ve been heard. Let me be clear: this is the comparison I’ll make between myself and Mullen. I’m not implying that I’ve done anything so important as he has. When I see Mullen, I see someone who can’t stop. Because stopping means moving back into a silent space.

That space is painful. I do not make friends easily and struggle to keep them. I am awkward and have, in my life, only found a handful of people who I believe have ever seen the person I truly am. Writing, then, is a way to shed layers and layers of confusion and performance in favor of something authentic.

youtube

When I navigate a Tony Hawk level or watch a tape of my favorite skaters, I see the writing process spread before me. To engage in criticism is to find yourself in a new space every time you play a game. There are a variety of potential objectives and angles that you can seek out and achieve. In order to do those in a sensible fashion, you need to explore and familiarize yourself with the space and then perceive the spaces where you can move, combo-like, from one point to another. In-between, you add flourishes and tricks that express something not only about the space you are in but the person you are. Done well, you show that the metaphorical school-yard is far more than a school-yard. It is a playground, it is a battlefield, it is an unexplored land fit for mapping. A writer, like a skater, perceives certain spaces differently. A Metal Gear military installation becomes a metaphor for self-delusion. The world of Dark Souls, whether in the meanderings of the first entry or the broken spaces of the second, expresses something fundamental about the nature of memory. The violence of The Last of Us Part II (and who chiefly suffers in that world) speaks to the biases of the writers.

There’s a catch though. A difference between what Mullen is talking about and the current reality of games criticism. Where Mullen speaks of his individual expression flowing into a communal effort where skaters are engaged in a wider conversation, games criticism has rarely felt so cohesive. It is a balkanized space where writers are often separated from each other. Mainstream writers hardly read the important fringe spaces, academics ignore anyone without their pedigree. There is a lack of institutional or history knowledge because there’s no real tradition of mentorship or places where that history is documented satisfactorily. In journalistic spaces, writers burn out in the face of institutional failures that have led to shoddy reportage and a lack of protection against a reactionary games culture. There is also no pathway for fresh faces to slot into the leadership spaces that could actually address structural issues. Critically, while there’s hundreds of YouTubers and other content creators bringing criticism to the masses, there’s few times where critical terms or concepts carry over into the broader culture. We do not have the same degree of literacy amongst players as, say, films do among film-goers. This is not to say these things are completely absent. I’ve seen moments where the isolated spaces of games writing interact. When academic writers like Frank Lantz and Ian Bogost wrote about narrative in 2015, a cadre of alt-space writers directly engaged with their work in a debate that helped to solidify understandings of ludology and narratology even further that what had been expressed by writers like Gonzolo Frasca. Writers like Stephen Beirne and Durante Pierpaoli coined the terms ludo-fundamentalism and ludo-centrism to better codify schools of thought that dismissed holistic criticism in favor of games systems analysis. Yet, this is not something widely remembered either by academics or players. And while it’s tempting to self-critique and say that I’m overplaying the importance of that moment because of my proximity to it, I think it’s illustrative of the critical sphere’s major failures.

Conversations come and go in flashes, very little is integrated into the whole, and we largely forget everything that’s come before in favor of repetitious debates and torturous re-litigations. Beyond this, there’s very little discussion between writers. There’s less letter series and response pieces and very little sense that any real conversations are taking place. Writing might be the realm of individual expression that that expression hardly feeds into a larger pool where concepts can be iterated on. This is, more than anything else, the biggest failure of games writing. I have found deep personal expression in my writing and yes, there is a community. But what about our processes are communal? Perhaps nothing at all.

In addition to Tony Hawk, my current gameplay indulgence is Pathologic. The two could not be more different. One is accommodating and celebratory. It gives the player ample ability to navigate a level and express themselves. The other is oppressive and continually stymies all attempts at progress. Yet, as I play Pathologic I pause. My character, the surgeon Artemy Burakh is approached by the Kin, the tribesmen and women who occupy the steppe outside his home-town. Artemy is a “menkhu,” a group of surgeons and steppe-folk who perform vivisections. They are architects of the flesh. It is said that they are “Those Who Know The Lines.”

I load up Tony Hawk and play a competition map at a skate-park in Chicago. In order to succeed and get the gold medal, I also search for the lines. I’ve always been searching. With every game, with every word I search for the lines. Mullen needs to skate. Artemy needs to heal the sick. I need to write.

#tony hawk #tony hawk's pro skater #pathologic

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nadiawrites14 · 5 years ago

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voice of gen z

word count: 2784

for english class. tw for school shooting and police brutality mention

AN INTRODUCTION.

“GEN Z is too afraid to ask a waiter for extra ketchup but will bodyslam a cop.”

Dated June 5th, on Twitter. Many of us sit holed up in our rooms, laptops resting in our crossed legs as we scroll through social media, or the blue light of a phone screen on our face as the world around us is sleeping. Many of us are also the ones organizing, the ones leading, the ones fighting. News spreads that in Dallas, Providence, and in many more cities, teenagers were the ones organizing, the ones fighting. Teenagers were the ones turning viral memes into protest signs, organizing protests and sharing methods of resistance through apps like TikTok and Instagram. It echoes the methods of the Hong Kong protestors, using technology to battle their government head-on.

Teenagers who dance along to songs such as Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage”, as well as teens who live in the world of ‘deep-fried’ memes, whose bizarre absurdity reach ungodly levels of abstractism, are the ones leading in this young revolution. Teenagers are the ones who chant ‘no justice, no peace’ in filled city streets; teenagers are the ones working to create graphics and share information, a new form of armchair activism. K-pop fans fill conservative hashtags with videos of their favorite performers, burying rhetoric and dismissal of the protests with dances and songs. In hours, #BlackLivesMatter trends. It’s hard to believe that these new pioneers and leaders in activism and technology are children who are scared to give class presentations, share Juuls in bathrooms, and find humor in the most strange and ironic of places. While the old term goes that ‘the revolution will not be televised’ in many ways, this growing movement will be televised, publicized, expanded, through its own means and methods.

We are the generation of school shootings.

December 14th, 2012. My mom tells me, as I hobble out from the red doors of my elementary school in Stamford, Connecticut, that something very bad has happened. I don’t understand. Nobody does. I see the faces of startled adults. I don’t remember the rest of that evening, or the day that followed it. Every time I think about Sandy Hook, the senseless school shooting that left 28 dead, I think about the multicolored walls of my school’s hallway, my sneakers on the white linoleum, the fear in my mother’s voice and in her eyes. That day was the first day I began to accept that I was a child in the United States of America in the 21st century. That day, and the brutal and confusing months that followed it, solidified something in my peers and I. Not just in Stamford, or even Connecticut, but within all young American students. The people in power didn’t care that a gunman marched into a wealthy and predominantly white Connecticut neighborhood and slaughtered kindergarteners. Because as I grew older, I saw the patterns, the televisation of suffering and permitted slaughter among my peers, our youngest, our posterity. This was normalized to us, just another school shooting, another period of brief outrage followed by inaction. The slaughter of children, the preventable slaughter of children shouldn’t be normalized. But it was.

February 14th, 2018. A gunman kills 17 students in Florida. As I’m waiting in a doctor’s waiting room with my mother, I lean over and tell her, “On Monday, all my teachers will talk about is school shootings.” I was wrong. School was another silent funeral march, my teachers quiet and solemn as they assigned us our work and progressed with their work. At dinner with my dad, I tell him, “It’ll never change.”

That isn’t entirely true. Leaders are found in teenagers who now walk through haunted hallways with clear backpacks. They are the face of a new movement, a march for our lives. Many are summoned to Washington and elsewhere a month later to organize, to fight. On March 27th, a day meant for students to walkout and protest the preventable slaughter of students, my school barricades the doors.

No legislation is passed. Nothing changes. The resistance lulls and fades, despite a number of school shootings following the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Gen Z is a symbolic Sisyphus, haplessly pushing a boulder of pleas up a mountain of indifference.

II.

Suzanne Collins published the Hunger Games on September 14th, 2008. It finds its way into the hands of teenagers of all shapes and sizes years later, and it has its cult following. Maybe the televised murder of children strikes a chord within the audience of young adults, as does the story of a growing revolution and a coup against a selfish government.

Gen Z gets its hands on theory at a young age, through Wikipedia and the uncensored vastness of the internet that we are handed. We are denoted as the generation born with the phones in our hands, but all I can remember is having a technology class from a young age, where we were measured on our abilities to type and memorize a keyboard. Our ability to cite and surf and stay safe in the face of danger. This wealth of information at our fingertips molds us.

Dystopian fiction is popular among young teens and young adults. Titles like Divergent the Giver, Harry Potter, the Maze Runner, all influence the devouring young readers. We are raised to see atrocity, in a place where atrocity is accessible to us in every way, shape and form. We are exposed and we are no longer innocent as we rise to 6th, 7th, 8th grade. Girls wear makeup for the first time and scream at the sight of bloodstained underwear. Boys become privy to the joy of video games and self-exploration. In this time, the internet truly consumes. There is no more script taught in classrooms, whiteboards have been replaced with Prometheans, and chromebooks are becoming normalcy.

In 7th grade I receive my phone. The niches and underground media I discover shape me. I find acceptance, friends, in places where I had lacked them before. As my classmates begin to enter into weeklong flings that end in Instagrammed tragedy, I take a quiz online to find out if I’m gay. I begin to think for myself, and I find independence and a voice on internet circles.

By the time we are promoted to high school, something has shifted. Something is different. Something’s coming, something good. Gen Z keeps calm and carries on.

III.

Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20th, 2017, to much outrage, but also to much support. In my town, there is a protest around his building that overlooks much of our city center. It’s peaceful, energetic, and beautiful. A Planned Parenthood sticker is on my bedroom door, and I have accepted that maybe, just maybe, I’m into girls.

In 2018, we are in high school. Little fish in a big pond. I don’t have friends in my grade, but stick closer to my premade friends in the Class of 2021. My teachers are lovely, kind, and supportive, and I shine in this new environment. Politics is a force in my life as I begin to write, and as I begin to form opinions and do research.

It’s easy to say that all of Gen Z is progressive, but this isn’t true. It’s actually very incorrect. The internet is a miraculous tool, one that can provide and produce and create new forms of communication and spread new ideas. But it is still an ocean that is widely uncharted, and young teenagers will fall into holes constructed by right-wing superstars. The racism and homophobia circulated by 4chan is on the internet for anybody to see. New popular figures and icons pledge their vote to Trump. Right-wing rhetoric overtakes in the forms of Ben Shapiro, Pewdiepie, 4chan, Reddit. There’s a neutrality to all things, but the dogwhistles and the normalization of prejudice are dangerously overbearing. As the 2016 election divided our country, it divides the new generation. A divided house cannot stand, and that is for certain.

It is around this time, in my Freshman summer, where the politics makes a crescendo. I have broken 1K followers on my Instagram art account, where I draw fanart for a variety of musicals and plays. I discover Shakespeare, and lose myself in Hamlet. I am happy with my identity and with myself, and as the 2020 election nears, I stay informed on current events, common issues, the things that need changing.

Sophomore winter. My dad and I take two-hour drives spanning Connecticut, and we talk. He says, “You know, your generation’s fucked. You’re the ones who are going to have to cope with our mistakes.” I tell him I know. I tell him about my feelings towards racial injustice in America, the battle for a higher minimum wage against growing costs, issues in healthcare, housing, poverty, climate change, all thrown aside and discarded. Our generation, of course, when most of our white and male politicians are dead and buried, will have to deal with the repercussions of rising sea levels and global temperatures, volatile weather and crippling natural disasters, all overlooked due to blatant ignorance. “You guys are going to have to fix all of this.”

“I know.”

I’m sick of the battle being placed on the backs of teenagers. I’m sick of our faces being the fight for climate change, the faces of Greta Thunberg and Emma Gonzalez and young revolutionary congresswomen being mocked and heckled by throngs of keyboard warriors. I’m sick of the battle our leaders and representatives should be fighting being placed on our backs, when we are already our own Atlas. Ignorance is dangerous, biting, and overwhelming. We look back to the images and words we were raised upon, the story of the Hunger Games and the broadcasting of school shootings for us all to see.

It is 2020. Happy new year! I watch from my living room as the ball drops. A brief Twitter moment about a newly discovered disease pops up in my recommended, I brush over it. Photographs of Australian fires are surfaced, and we joke about what a fantastic start it is to the year.

Sisyphus reaches a fork in the road.

MMXX.

At around 11PM on Wednesday, March 11th, I send a strongly worded letter to the principal and local superintendent. The coronavirus has picked up worldwide, and has made its way into the states. Johns Hopkins has an interactive map that shows bubbles above cities where cases have been reported. Stamford, Connecticut Dead: 0

Recovered: 0 Active: 3.

New York’s cases are on the rise. On that same day, I began to realize the severity that would soon overtake us. I spent the afternoon first at what would be our last rehearsal for our school musical, James and the Giant Peach, and then I went to the library. I did my homework, read The Cripple of Inishmaan by Martin McDonagh, then bought a Subway cookie from the mall. I always keep a copy of King Lear in my backpack, and as my dad pulls up to the sidewalk I gloss over Edmund’s first monologue.

It’s the last normal day for a while.

March 12th comes in like a lion. In my first period class, civics, a classmate yells out, “Trump 2020!” A period later, my friend pulls me aside in the hallways, and asks if I heard that school was closing.

“It can’t be true,” I said.

“Schadlich just showed us.”

I take my route to my next class, and find the hallway a chaotic mess of energy and camaraderie. What was meant to be kept under wraps has been instantly transferred across the student body over Snapchat stories and texts. People dance, sing, hug. It’s branded as a “Coronacation.” Broadway announces its closure, and I walk out of the front doors for the final time in my sophomore year.

Once again, ignorance overtakes. Within months, the death toll skyrockets, spikes, as we stay holed up in our online classes. My focus wavers, but I press on. Many other students resort to simply neglecting their work, choosing to take this time to focus on their own health or fill up their new time with their own hobbies. Teenagers find solace in each other, through social media and through the connections we’ve built online. As ignorance mounts among our leaders, teenagers jokingly refer to Covid-19 as the famous “Boomer Remover”. It trends on Twitter. Graduation, prom, is cancelled. The generation whose childhood began with 9/11 is once again cut short by a tragedy of preventable errors. Gen Z is subject to adapting once again to an unfamiliar environment, and we undertake.

Protests take over the streets, screaming against government tyranny. The deaths crescendo to nearly 100,000. A video surfaces of a young black man, Ahmaud Aubery, being publicly killed on a road while jogging. Ignorance continues as cases spike, and the political climate is ripe for change. On May 25th, a black man from Minneapolis named George Floyd is killed in a brutal act of suffocation by a policeman. More names resurface -- Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Joao Pedro. Names neglected to injustice are once again in the limelight -- Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Terence Crutcher, Atatiana Jefferson, and more.

Sisyphus has had enough of pushing the boulder, and Sisyphus takes to the streets. It is the perfect storm. A storm fueled by ignorance and the preventable death of thousands, by decades of injustice, by the mere political climate in the United States of America. Gen Z, our generation, my generation, has lived the darkest hour. We were born at the cusp of a millenia, in an awkward position where society has begun to find its footing in an unfamiliar time. A time of domestic and overseas terrorism, shaped by 9/11 and a countless number of school shootings and slaughtered people of color. Where the new generation has accessibility to the injustice and wrongs committed by those before and those above, right at our fingertips. We have new ways to organize, new ways to televise, new ways to fight. In our armchairs and in our streets, wearing masks as we hold up our hands in surrender.

Generation Z marches. They lead. They throw tear gas back at officers with no hesitation. They create chants, organize through grassroots, and find a chorus of support online.

Generation Z leads. As politicians and leaders sit in ivory towers, like President Snow in Panem, our generation cries for change. We witness and feel the repercussions of their ignorance in our daily lives, from cuts to education to the publication of school shootings to the absence of American atrocity in our history textbooks to a pipeline that directs BIPOC and low-income students to prison or the military as they step off the graduation stage. Each year, our winters get warmer as our summers turn boiling. The preventable pile of corpses rises in front of us, and we have been taught to sit by and let it occur while the world burns.

No longer.

Sisyphus steps aside and allows the boulder to descend down the mountain. They are bruised, bloodied, their palms calloused and scuffed and their feet lacerated and sore. Up ahead, shrouded by clouds, is the mountaintop. Sisyphus wipes their mouth, finds their footing, and begins the march.

A CONCLUSION.

We have a future.

It’s awfully dim right now. Barely a light at the end of the tunnel. We began a dead march towards it from the moment we were born into this decaying way of life, held together with glue and string by leaders with fumbling hands and staunch indifference. Our backs are tired, and we are barely adults. Generation Z is tired of fighting a fight that shouldn’t be theirs. How desperately we still crave childhood joy and humor and innocence.

Change is necessary. It is something that is especially necessary in our time. We can no longer let people die because they can’t afford food or medicine or housing. Students cannot go into school wondering if it will be their last day. Black people should not fear for their lives while wearing a hoodie, driving, jogging in their neighborhood, shopping, or sleeping in their own homes. Elderly white men which encompass most of our political elite can no longer sit on their hands as their population suffers.

The voice of Generation Z screams louder than anything else. It screams in its silence, its activism, its useless martyrdom and battle. Change belies itself within our voice, and it has gone unheard for too long.

Change is the voice of Generation Z.

#writing #writeblr #essay #english #how else do i tag this #my writes #gen z #ashbfkbskdk #i just wanted to put this out into the world for eyes other than my english teacher #xoxo at the 2 ppl who follow my account

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clarissaartap · 5 years ago

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Jeepneys by Manansala 1951 Enamel on fiberboard 51 cm x 59 cm

Born on January 22, 1910 in Macabebe, Pampanga, Vincente Silva Manansala is an acclaimed Filipino painter and artist. In his youth, he considered his hobbies, kite-making and creating charcoal sketches on paper, as fun, temporary escapes from his labor-intensive jobs of being a newsboy and shoe shiner in Intramuros. At the age of 15, he found that his inclination to the arts brought him under the mentorship of Ramon Peralta to learn the fundamentals of painting at a sign and poster shop. A year after, he enrolled at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts. When he graduated in 1930, not only was he able to master the basics of oil-painting, but he was also able to merit a great deal of financial aid, scholarships, and grants from art establishments around the world due to the artistic prowess and prodigious creativity he displayed during his stay in the institution. Later in his career, he received multiple awards and held positions in esteemed local and international art establishments.

The education and training he took up in countries like France, Canada, the United States of America, and Germany, was reflected in his approach to his artworks, which were obviously products of international influence. It was refreshing in the local art scene at that time, which drew in a massive audience for his exhibits. Rapidly gaining popularity, Vicente’s eccentric aesthetic made him a pioneer of modernism of the arts in the Philippines. His style could be referred to as “transparent cubism,” which involves scattered facets of varying hues across the painting. His paintings created lasting impact to their audience, as his technique seamlessly blended geometry with expressionism, calculation with spontaneity. His genius as an artist transcends beyond his technical innovation, as the subject matter in his paintings, centered on the post-war urban experience, spoke to a new Filipino audience. The end of World War II sparked a type of social awareness that Vicente tastefully incorporated into his artistry. As he took inspiration from his immediate surroundings, Vicente’s paintings revolved around the life of the commoner. He took everyday scenes, objects, and places, like family gatherings, cockfights, native delicacies, the slums in the urbanized areas of the country, religious figures, and painted them in his slightly more westernized fashion that somehow made them iconically Filipino (Paras-Perez, 1980).

Jeepneys is the title given by Vincente to his work. Based on the title, and the painting itself, the image he intended to create was the daily traffic congestion in the metropolis. Given that the jeepney is one of the most affordable means of transportation readily available to the masses, Vicente probably wanted to cement the theme of daily Filipino encounters as the core of his collection. This work was made in 1951, just six years after the war ended. It is known that jeepneys quickly surfaced as a makeshift, creative way in an effort to re-establish inexpensive public transportation, much of which had been destroyed during World War II. This was done by repurposing and decorating the surplus jeeps from American troops in order for it to be suitable to accommodate several passengers and look visually appealing, colorful, and eye-catching as it traveled on the road (Platino, 2014). The popularity and the history of the jeepney during that time may have also prompted Manansala to create this artwork. The painting is currently displayed in the Ateneo Art Gallery as a gift from Fernando Zobel.

Jeepneys is a painting done on a fiberboard using enamel. A wash of white and bright yellow was laid down first, before hasty, daubs of other colors in varying saturations, like orange, red, and brown were applied. The use of enamel on fiberboard allowed for the different-colored strokes to be semi-translucent and glassy without the need for tedious modification of the paint, permitting the yellow hue to penetrate through the secondary layer of pigments. This mimicked a filter of warmth throughout the piece and brought about a more cohesive color palette. The presence of the different colors also distinguish one entity in the painting from another, allowing for clarity of scenery despite the expressive style employed by Manansala. This clarity is also achieved through the use of actual, irregular, black lines that serve as outlines of the subjects in the painting. The inconsistency and coarseness of these lines give a sense of spontaneity to the piece. On top of these outlines, smudges of warm blues were added as accent colors to impart variety against the otherwise unified, chromatic value scale of only varying shades of red and yellow; this makes the painting more interesting and more captivating of the attention of its viewers. Slivers of white highlights also creep through the painting.

With the guidance of the chromatic value and the black outlines in the painting, I can identify many jeepneys and people as subjects, which makes me infer that the setting is an urbanized area, like Metro Manila. In the upper portion of the painting, I can see even more people, lined up, probably waiting for a ride to get where they want to be. I deduce that these are common Filipinos, patiently queuing for transportation to get home from work. The reds and yellows make me believe that it is sunset, or time for people to return to their homes after a day at their jobs. The primary colors of the painting may also signify the colors of the Philippine flag, in order to place emphasis on the Filipino origins of the jeepney, and on just how routine the scenario depicted in the painting is in the country.

Unlike the vast majority of Manansala’s works, this particular painting of his makes use of more organic shapes than geometric ones, a hallmark of his signature “transparent cubism” style. Similar to his other paintings, this painting is composed of superfluous shapes of different colors that contribute to an overall puzzle-like look. The distribution of these shapes and visual weight is more or less uniform across the entire work, which makes the painting balanced. The irregularity of the shapes, formed by both colors and lines, also evoke a touch of movement and life to the whole piece to be perceived by the viewer. There is also very minimal negative space in the painting; the fiberboard is saturated with different objects and characters. This gives the piece an disorganized rhythm which almost makes the conveyed scene feel chaotic to the viewer. The seemingly rough texture of the painting, probably achieved through the use of a fiberboard with grooves and indentations as its canvas, gives the painting a rustic, undone edge. There is also an absence of a defined vanishing point in the painting, which makes the elements appear very packed and arranged in a collage-like manner.

In my opinion, all of these elements reinforce the mayhem and frenzy of the traffic scene in the painting. Manila is known for its notorious traffic; streets are rarely peaceful in the midst of the relentless honking of vehicles, the reckless attempts of drivers to beat a red light, and the rowdy crowds of people on the street desperately trying to find a good deal or any sort of transportation to get where they need to be. The dynamism and movement in this painting, that I was able to immerse myself in, was successful in transporting me into the legendary Manila traffic. Given that this painting was made just a few years after the end of World War II, the Philippines was eager to rebuild its economy that had suffered tremendously during the war. This could have led to more Filipinos joining the workforce, and the subsequent increase in the number of people that had to be on the road to earn a living. The work of Manansala, Jeepneys, through its elements and composition, has successfully communicated the essence of a bustling city, brimming with vitality just as it is with madness.

I have utmost respect for Filipino artists like Vincente Manansala, who use their acquired techniques from other parts of the world to help in the progress and development of their own country. Jeepneys, along with Manansala’s other paintings and illustrations, is a carving etched on the history of art in the Philippines, as he spearheaded the rise of modernism in the local field of art. Other artists like Mauro Malang Santos, Antonio Austria, Angelito Antonio, and Mario Parial have been inspired to experiment with their own distinct, unconventional styles in painting because of the contributions of Manansala. His artistry birthed a new generation of artists that embraced their personal aesthetics. Beyond his mastery of art, I commend him for the common thread of daily, purportedly hackneyed conventions in the lives of everyday Filipinos that is firmly woven throughout his series of paintings. He shows that the average Filipino is worth creating art for. An image of the traffic-bombarded roads of the city are just as enthralling as extravagant portraits of doñas and dons, paintings of picturesque views that only the upper class can afford to see in a lifetime, and illustrations of glamorous novelties. I believe that in a way, Manansala’s work was able to open the once inclusive, intimidating realm of art to other people who resonate with his work that captures the unfeigned, honest heart of the Filipino.

To me, this painting does not necessarily pass the classic standards of rhythm, harmony, balance, and proportion, as it does in fact look disarrayed at first glance, especially when I consider that Manansala did in fact intend for this painting to represent a scene of jeepneys. It might even be difficult for some to make sense of the painting at first. In spite of this, I cannot help but be in awe when I look at this painting, maybe because a sight that I am so familiar with, has been transformed into a expressive impasto of color, with details that take my gaze from one impressive fragment to another. The more I look at the painting, the more things I am able to find that make the work even more fascinating. I do find significant cultural value in this painting as well. The use of primary colors keeps the painting grounded in its Filipino roots, and it also allows for a more graphic projection that the jeepney is a mode of transportation unique to the Philippines. Its history of it being a product of Filipinos’ resourcefulness and resilience after the war makes it a cultural staple in the country. There is a deep heritage and origin to something deceivingly simple like a humble jeepney, like there is a hidden complexity and masked grandeur and to the everyday, seemingly mundane, themes of Manansala’s works.

References:

Paras-Perez, R. (1980). Manansala. PLC Publications.

Platino, M. (2014). Philippine jeepney: World War II surplus vehicle that became a cultural icon. Retrieved from https://globalvoices.org/2014/04/20/philippine-jeepney-world-war-ii-surplus-vehicle-that-became-a-cultural-icon/

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portlandguide · 4 years ago

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Portland, Oregon City Guide

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theblogging10112389posts · 4 years ago

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Shriram Park 63 – Phase II, Apartments that give you composure.

https://homecapital.in/property/821/shriram-park-63---phase-ii-3-bhk

When we have to choose a location for buying a house, it’s apparent to visualize cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and other similar places, as these cities are expected to provide all the necessities and desires of life.

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While these cities are intended to offer the best of life, they lack sustainability when it comes to price, and while they provide a fascinating city life, they struggle to provide greenery and tranquillity.

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Though Chennai being one the most preferred location to buy a house, we should not forget the fact that no matter how good a product is we still need to break a good deal for it.

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Shriram Park 63-Phase II is a Shriram Properties residential estate. It is an integrated township situated opposite Perungalathur Railway Station, Chennai. The scheme occupies a total area of 11,78 acres of land. Shriram Park 63-Phase II has a total of 18 buildings, each with a total of 13 floors. The project consists of 385 units. Park 63 has 1 BHK, 2.5 BHK, and 3 BHK flats overlooking the lush 1500 acres of greenery.

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The advantage offered by the apartment is not enough to make this deal more than good. So, let's shed some light on the apartment’s location and figure out if it adds any value. Shriram Park 63 - Phase II is located in GST Road, off Tambaram. The following places are located in close proximity to the project: Perungalathur Railway Station - 6 km, Chennai International Airport - 17 km, Kilambakkam Bus terminus - 700 m, Mahindra World City - 18 km, Velammal School - 3.2 km. Besides this, it also connects to many routes which make traveling easier, both within and outside the city.

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personalcoachingcenter · 4 years ago

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Research Paper: Positive Psychology Interventions in Leadership/Executive Coaching

New Post has been published on https://personalcoachingcenter.com/research-paper-positive-psychology-interventions-in-leadership-executive-coaching/

Research Paper: Positive Psychology Interventions in Leadership/Executive Coaching

Research Paper By David Braun (Executive Coach, CANADA)

Introduction

As a consultant who intervened and helped other leaders regularly, I had been intrigued by Positive Psychology Interventions (PPI). In 2000, when I first discovered PPI related readings, I was studying Psychology at university. I was drawn to the positive, humanistic approach to helping people perform better and live happier lives. Unfortunately, at the time I was informed by professors that Positive Psychology was fringe science and not reliable in helping people. Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years for me professionally and for the field of Psychology. In certifying as an ICF coach, I am expanding my ability to use PPIs in a coaching context in ways I could not do as a consultant. As well, in the Psychology field, there is a considerably more academic research and field application of Positive Psychology in diverse settings such as schools, clinical environments, with managers, leadership development, and the workplace. These are great developments in light of the massive changes leaders and organizations have experienced in the past two decades.

Today’s workplace is dynamic, stressful, conflict-ridden, and constantly changing. With new technologies, increased uncertainty and more diversity, managers and leader’s ability is being stretched to deal with ever-increasing stressful challenges. Although organizations have invested in restructuring, cutting edge technologies, and increased incentive strategies, pressures continue to rise while performance levels haven’t changed. What can leaders do to deal with this challenge? An adage relates to the problem, “You can’t take people where you haven’t been yourself.” Similarly, a leader’s ability to effectively and sustainably manage the well-being of their team members’ performance and greater organizational performance is linked to how well they can manage their performance and ultimately their well-being. When personal well-being is flourishing, a leader’s resilience, optimism, problem-solving, and creativity is optimized.

Individual well-being has been explored and researched in the Positive Psychology field. This field of study focuses on well-being and happiness versus the traditional Psychology focus of pathology and pain. Consequently, PPI has grown in popularity among practitioners and leadership/ life coaches because it claims to help individuals develop personal capacities for increases in well-being. PPI includes a variety of techniques and tools for helping individuals develop their own positive emotions, experiences, and character strengths. This approach allows leaders to expand their personalized spectrum of abilities through the ongoing influence of happiness and purpose.

I believe the PP interventions allow coaches to help leaders with customized exercises to develop their internal capacity, therefore increasing their effectiveness and performance at work. This is possible with many types of PPI’s available to a coach. Some popular interventions include humor, gratitude, building character strengths, optimism, mindfulness, kindness, and active-constructive responding. Because PPI is client-centered, solution-focused, it fits well with the coaching philosophy of being client-centered with a focus on supporting a client to move forward in their discoveries of solutions that work for them. PPI’s are tools available to coaches in helping assist and support clients as they learn to master their strengths and grow their well-being, therefore propelling them into greater levels of excellence as leaders.

What is PPI?

After World War II, most of Psychology focused on studying and correcting pathologies. It was out of this focus, humanistic psychologists looked to move beyond pathologies to more positive aspects of human nature. From the 1950s to the 1980s, psychologists such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Eric Fromm pioneered more person-centered approaches to theoretical understanding and clinical interventions. During this time positive psychology was not at the center of academic study in the Psychology field. However, by the 1990s the stage was set for a gradual flow of enlightening theories and works to be published, bringing positive Psychology into greater focus and interest. Although not in any way an exhaustive list, a few examples of popular titles include works such as Csikszentmihaleyi’s 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience; Seligman’s 2002 book, Authentic Happiness; Peterson & Seligman’s 2004 book, Character Strengths, and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification; Boniwell’s 2012 book, Positive Psychology In a Nutshell: The Science of Happiness.

One of the major academic voices in Psychology for Positive Psychology is Martin Seligman, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. According to Seligman’s P.E.R.M.A. Model of Happiness, everyone can find meaning and fulfillment through incorporating the following five elements: Positive emotions of optimism and enjoyment; Engagement or finding flow in work activities; Relationships with healthy love, intimacy, and social connection; Meaning or living with a sense of purpose in life; Accomplishments through the achievement of goals that produce pride.

Over the past couple of decades, several interventions in Positive Psychology research and practice have been developed to help individuals build happiness, fulfillment, and purpose into their lives. Based on a client’s goals PPIs can be grouped into seven categories. They are the following:

Savoring PPI’s involve helping the client more fully connect with the perceptions of various experiences (i.e. eating, smelling, etc.). The understanding behind this intervention is that an individual’s ability to fully consciously attend to little experiences builds self-satisfaction and well-being.

Kindness Interventions involve the client’s willful gestures of compassion and care for others. Studies show that happiness and kindness are complementary to each other.

Empathy PPI’s focuses on strengthening relational bonds through developing self-love, communication skills, and greater perceptual awareness. The premise behind this intervention is that having and maintaining healthy relationships is foundational for a person’s well-being.

Optimism Interventions work toward helping individuals increase the positivity of their view of the future. Exercises such as “The Best Possible Self” work by leading individuals to imagining and experiencing their best possible outcomes in the future.

Gratitude Interventions can include either self-reflection or interactive expressions of gratefulness to others. Studies show that regularly practicing gratitude dramatically increases satisfaction and positive emotions in recipients and those expressing gratefulness.

Strength-building Interventions help individuals gain a sense of their internal capabilities. Studies show this intervention has helped individuals deal with depression, as well as helping individuals recognize and value their internal resources in challenging circumstances.

Meaning PPI’s focus on helping individuals understand what brings meaning to them. Often this includes building realistic goals and expectations. Studies reveal that individuals with clarity on their goals tend to be more confident and content with their lives.

When one or more of these types of PPI’s are deployed, they can help raise an individual’s happiness, contentment, and positive outlook. With these increasing internal benefits, a person’s ability to be resilient, creative, and happy can help leaders and managers raise their influence and be more skillful with managing tasks and people, ultimately accomplishing their goals.

Potential Weakness of PPI?

Regardless of past results, PPI has its critics. Not surprisingly, because Positive Psychology is a growing field, critics point to the lack of empirical evidence or in some cases lack of rigor of past studies conducted. Although there have been some valuable scientific studies in the field, there remains a need for more research to avoid the mistake of creating a false view that one size fits all. However, in the past 20 years, there has been a noticeable rise in the number of published studies with increasing reliability, validity, and applicability. In fact, since 2010 after the University of Pennsylvania introduced the first Masters of Applied Psychology degree, over 80 respected universities have faculty that have expressed interest in pursuing research on PPIs.

Another observation by critics is the positive-only focus of the field, which can create limitations on who can benefit from Positive Psychology interventions. Critics claim PPI’s oversimplifies and carries a superficial “happiology” prescription to complex and harsh life realities. While Positive Psychology doesn’t dismiss complexity and trauma, ongoing research of the impact of PPI’s employed responsibly shows impressive and encouraging results. The intervention of positive thoughts, feelings, and actions on the human nervous system, individual’s subjective happiness set points, long-term health, education performance, work performance, and organizational cultural indicators, is showing PPIs are helpful and beneficial. As the field continues to grow empirical evidence may continue to reveal how Positive Psychology interventions significantly affect clients at multiple levels.

Benefits of Using PPI in Coaching

Leadership coaching with PPI could help leaders to expand their internal resources in difficult, stressful work environments. This is important for coaching clients as they pursue their personal transformation goals in their coaching journey. Maintaining positive emotions and an optimistic outlook can help leaders be more mindful in managing stress at work. This, in turn, helps leaders remain grounded and resilient in their decision-making, planning, and execution.

There is some evidence that coaching leaders using PPI’s can help individuals develop a growth mindset. Leaders functioning with a growth mindset, are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, invest in sustained efforts, learn from criticism or mistakes, including learning from other successful leaders or role models. The growth mindset not only helps leaders to better performance, but it provides direct reports solid modeling of healthy professional habits.

Managers and/ or leaders impacted through PPI’s during their coaching journey, may be able to recognize and internalize the importance of people finding meaning in their work and its connection to their happiness and work performance. This link between work and meaning is a helpful guide for leaders during the talent management process, encouraging recruitment and hiring of new employees whose personal purpose and values align with organizational purpose and values.

Coaching with Positive Psychology gives an executive coach a flexible framework to customize solutions based on the client’s leadership development journey. Positive Psychology provides a framework involving empowering concepts such as helping a leader know and live out of their character strengths (values); making mindful choices toward increasing their well-being (P.E.R.M.A.) and understanding their unique arousal-performance balance toward optimal functioning.

Employee engagement is a major problem for leaders and managers. Leadership coaching with evidence-based PPI’s helps influence a new standard of leadership. As a leader grows in self-awareness, learning to maintain positive thoughts and feelings, new leadership behaviors can begin to form. Furthermore, as leaders learn to develop and lead out of their unique character strengths, their experiences increase their understandings of how to help employees develop and work from their strengths, potentially increasing engagement levels.

Collectively, PPI’s deployed during coaching may help move individuals leadership standard from a task-focused, compliance-based, transactional management approach to a development-focused, vitality based, transformational management style. This new style of leadership helps shift an employee’s connection, raising engagement levels, increasing organizational results, therefore, elevating quality, quantity, ethics, teamwork, and effectiveness.

Conclusion

In most cases, leading and managing others’ performance is a difficult position. We’ve all heard the mantra, “it’s lonely at the top”. However, actively managing oneself toward happiness and fulfillment, gives the power to lead differently. Regularly investing in activities proven to increase optimism, elevated workflow, nurturing healthy relationships while raising a meaningful sense of personal mission, helps to equip leaders to thrive in difficult circumstances.

Clients moving toward a goal or transformational target require increased self-understanding, perspective shifts, and changes in a personal capacity as they patiently work and move forward. PPI’s are one of many tools, coaches can use to empower and support clients as they journey toward their intentions or goals.

References

Billups, Paula, (2016). Positive Psychology and Positive Leadership Styles: An Explanatory Case Study on the Work Engagement of Millennial Employees. ProQuest.

Chowdhury, Roy Madhuleena. (2019). 19 Best Positive Psychology Interventions + How to Apply Them. PositivePsychology.com

Fridman, Adam, (2017). Three Ways Positive Psychology Impacts Leadership and Performance. Inc.com.

Gatto, Keith, (2016). Innovation and Leadership through Positive Psychology. Berkley Engineering, Executive & Professional Education.

Grenville-Cleave, Bridget, (2013). How Positive Psychology is transforming the way we think about leadership. The Open University.

Lickerman, Alex. (2013). How to Reset your Happiness SetPoint. PsychologyToday.com

Miller, Kori. (2020). 5+ Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset Using Grit and Resilience. PositivePsychology.com

PsychologyCareerCenter, (2015). The Growing Field of Positive Psychology: Happiness. PsychologyCareerCenter.org.

Reham Al Taher, MSc., (2019). The 5 Founding Fathers and a History of Positive Psychology. PositivePsychology.com.

Seligman, Martin. (2013). Flourish A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being. Atria Paperback.

Original source: https://coachcampus.com/coach-portfolios/research-papers/david-braun-positive-psychology-interventions-in-leadership-executive-coaching/

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aintshitbiz · 4 years ago

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Nucci Reyo Enlists Jim Jones to Engage The Streets 'This Far By Faith' Album [Prod by The Heatmakerz]

A Royal Priesthood: Nucci Reyo Enlists Jim Jones to Engage The Streets

Mainstream Hip Hop Culture Catapults the Community into a “Faith-Fresh” Direction.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9/4/2020

LEHIGH VALLEY, PA: The 2020 summer of Covid and racial unrest finds its culmination within the widely-anticipated release of Hip Hop artist Nucci Reyo’s project, “This Far By Faith,” scheduled to be released September 4, 2020, on all digital platforms including Godify. Featuring music by The Heatmakerz- whose endless credits include; Dipset Anthem (Diplomats), Tha Carter II (Lil’ Wayne), Trap House (Gucci Mane), and On My Way To Church (Jim Jones), the EP also features GRAMMY-nominated songwriter and R&B success Eric Roberson who is known for having pioneered the independent movement in R&B/soul. The collaborative components of musical artistry and genius along with the awe of seeing Jim Jones and Heatmakerz jump on a gospel mixtape, at minimum, is warranting curiosity from all levels within the Hip Hop industry and culture.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” This scripture in the book of Isaiah remains familiar within the traditional church community- and today, these words are being pronounced to the streets as the door of liberation desperately sought after in a time of injustice and the deep need to connect to something greater. There has been much discussion about who in the industry would be the next artist to join Nucci Reyo on the gospel side, to which Nucci states, “We all are from church, some just lost their way. It’s time for us to come home.” Nucci continues to explain, “The project title, This Far By Faith, was named with the hopes that the music would spark the memories of artists, fans, and executives within the hip hop community that reminds them of who they are... We’ve Come This Far By Faith, was one of my favorite songs that I use to sing in the choir and now I am using it as bait for those wandering in the dark and off the path.” Nucci brought in RocNation artist and hip hop legend, Jim Jones, to host the project because his roots also begin in a church-going family and he knows the power of faith. Jim Jones grounds the project with a thoughtful reflection of where he is on his journey of faith and provides timely encouragement to the people needing hope: “Faith in God will determine your fate, hold each other up because they have been holding us down too long,” he concludes on the last track of the project.

Nucci Reyo made his transition from secular hip hop into more of a “Kingdom Artistry” genre over a decade ago, knowing that God was saving him from the culture to eventually come back and be an effective influence within the industry and culture he loves so much. Nucci spent time building Godify, the world’s first Christian streaming App and platform where true ground-breaking projects such as This Far By Faith can be enjoyed by hip hop fans (and all genres) looking to embrace powerful music that connects them to the Good News of the Kingdom.

Something unique and exciting is being pushed forward by a generation of new priests, outside the walls of the church- and into the streets in a time where everyone is feeling the distress and looking to bold leadership with messages that can lead people out of the dark and into change. Download This Far By Faith on all digital platforms on Sept. 4, 2020, and learn more about Godify, Nucci Reyo, The Heatmakerz, Eric Roberson, and Jim Jones by clicking on their respective links.

Listen here on Spotify

Listen on YouTube

Audio Mack

https://audiomack.com/ilovethekingskid/album/this-far-by-faith-hosted-by-jim-jones-ep

Twitter @Nucci_Reyo

IG Nucci_Reyo

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benningtonalumnirelations · 7 years ago

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A 2017 Bennington Alumni Reading List!

As 2017 wraps up, we’re looking towards a new year full of great books! Here’s a year-in-review of some of the new releases of 2017 by or about Bennington alumni.

- Lydia ’19

From Rockaway (re-release) and Swell by Jill Eisenstadt ’85

"With tremendous tenderness, Eisenstadt captures the traumatized Rockaway of the early 2000s in swirling Technicolor....A whimsical portrait of a still-raw community." --Kirkus Reviews

Honeysuckle Drift by Virginia Johnson, MFA ’12

“The scent of honeysuckle that pervades Honeysuckle Drift is sweet in the in the way things are just before they rot. The story that unfolds for the young, well-meaning protagonist, Ellen, will be both a tragedy and a chance to overcome it. In this fine debut novel Virginia Johnson beautifully evokes the place, the era, and the terrible ties between parents and children, ties that, while invisible, can strangle as well as bind.”—Jim Krusoe, author of The Sleep Garden

Botticelli's Muse by Dorah Blume (Deborah Bluestein ’65)

“Blume’s interpretation of master painter Sandro Botticelli is at once a florid love story and a chilling political drama. Sensuous and provocative as well as mysterious, the novel follows Sandro’s troubled relationship with Florence’s ruling Medici family.” --Publisher’s Weekly

Shock Wave by Florian Louisoder ’82

“Shock Wave took me immediately with it's premise because I love time travel related stories...It's a great journey for the imagination to see how one event can alter the future in so many "shocking "ways. Louisoder has an uncanny knack for fleshing out his characters and making them live and breathe on the page. I really look forward to the next in the series.” --Amazon Customer Review

The Other Island: Ben’s Story by Barbara Kent Lawrence ’65

“The Other Island is as much a reflection and refraction of her first novel as it is a sequel. Islands of Time traced the love affair between Becky Granger, a summer visitor to Mount Desert Island, and Ben Bunker, a year-round resident of Little Cranberry Island — from Becky's point of view. In The Other Island, Lawrence gives voice to Ben's side of the romance: "She's told you her story," he states at the novel's start. "Now I'll tell you mine. They are wound up in me like the way I was in her from the moment I met her."” --The Penobscot Bay Pilot

Sally’s Genius by Brooks Clark, a biography about pioneering educator Sally Smith ’50

“In 1967 Sally Smith needed a school for her son Gary, who suffered from dyslexia, among other learning disabilities. Finding none, she founded one, the Lab School of Washington. In the process, she developed the Academic Club Methodology, by which children with learning disabilities can be engaged and inspired in school, where they had previously suffered only frustration and defeat. While directing the Lab School, Smith taught her system and ran the master's program in special education at American University for 32 years, inspiring a new generation of teachers to pioneer innovations in education. Smith also wrote books, starting with "No Easy Answers" in the late 70s and in various editions thereafter, that serve as the definitive works in the special education field. Smith was driven, creative, unique, and unforgettable.”--Lulu.com

How Do I Explain This to my Kids? by Ava Siegler ’59

“Child psychologist Dr. Ava Siegler brings together stories by authors and writers...about the conversations they are having with their children in the current political climate...as well as how to raise them to be engaged citizens.” --Bill Moyers & Company

Positive Art Therapy Theory and Practice: Integrating Positive Psychology with Art Therapy co-authored by Gioia Chilton ’89

"Wilkinson & Chilton are synonymous with positive art therapy – I am excited about this book and its potential to revolutionize art therapy theory and practice! It’s a wonderful and much needed contribution to the literature, promoting strengths-based and relational approaches to art therapy practice grounded in positive psychology.”-- Donna Betts, PhD, ATR-BC, president, American Art Therapy Association, associate professor, Art Therapy Program, George Washington University

Heart Smart for Women by Jennifer Mieres ’82

“A terrific, potentially life-saving book that’s a must read for all black and Latina women.” --Jane Chesnutt, Editor-in-Chief, Woman’s Day

Thinking with the Dancing Brain by Rima Faber ’65

“a must read book for educators, artists, and scientists. This gem is revolutionary in its structure. Current brain research and valuable educational theories are interspersed in every chapter with simple movement explorations that make the research understandable and the theories memorable. The book proves once and for all that the body and brain work as one unit and that thought cannot take place without movement.” --Anne Green Gilbert, founding Director of Creative Dance Center

Blue Money by Janet Capron ’69

“Capron writes with the fearless, experiential drive of a Beat poet… This intense, electrifying memoir explores a life of prostitution in 1970s New York City.” --Shelf Awareness

Going to Wings by Sandra Worsham ’06

“Sandra Worsham’s humor, clear-eyed honesty stitch this amazing quilt of meaning and experience together in a wonderful way.” --Kirkus Reviews

I’m the One Who Got Away by Andrea Jarrell, MFA ’01

"Though the settings of Jarrell’s stories range from Camden, Maine, to Italy and Los Angeles, the author’s small-town Americana tone is reminiscent of Joyce Carol Oates. The work’s lasting message is that love, like Jarrell’s prose, is both painful and beautiful. A stunning series of recollections with a feminist slant." ―Kirkus Reviews STARRED REVIEW

Maya Healers by Fran Antmann ’69

“Fran Antmann’s work in Maya Healers, years in the making, is imbued with the depth and texture only great photography can achieve; where the images transcend being mere documents but reach great art. Many of the images, especially of the people in their daily lives, are transcendent and absolutely gorgeous, revealing an empathy and visual perception that is timeless.” --Ed Kashi, international prize-winning photojournalist

Sign of the Apocalypse: Ruminations and Wit from an American Roadside Prophet by John Getchell ’86

“Friends, neighbors, and passersby from all over the country can’t fail to miss “The Sign’s" constantly changing humor and insight. On occasion, The Sign of the Apocalypse (SOTA) traffics in the earnest, but at its heart is rooted in a deep-seated desire to express the sarcastic and snort-worthy. This, and a love of haiku, pizza, Latin, double entendre, and the worst puns ever crafted.” --Amazon

We and She, You and Then, You Again by Leah Tieger ’03

“Leah Tieger examines the human condition with a stark elegance and passion of language that allows us to inhabit the ragged husks of bodies—of seeds—and gives us hope even in our emptiness. Like a gentle farmer, she removes our desiccated husks and listens as we long for more than blankets, for shelter from the sun. She writes the necessary poems of minutia, of lovers forcing approximate passions, of unraveling sweaters hanging in silent closets. She watches the waiting parts in us and reveals them, allowing the small spaces of our lives to shine through, into insightful—and honest—existence.”-- Josh Gaines

Bloodline by Radha Marcum ’96

“Congratulations to Radha Marcum. Her debut poetry collection, Bloodline...delves into the difficult family history of the work of Marcum's grandfather on the Manhattan Project, building the first atomic bombs in Los Alamos, New Mexico, during World War II—and how that both brave and heavy legacy has affected the women in her family, both then and now.” --WinningWriters.com, Subscriber News July 2017

The Myrtlewood Cookbook: Pacific Northwest Home Cooking by Andrew Barton ’09

"This cookbook is unabashedly PNW to its core, from the cutting boards carved from native Myrtlewood trees to the mushrooms that pop up in soup, risotto, and pizza. Unlike most cookbooks, Barton’s recipes read more like an actual book; each dish spans multiple pages with paragraphs in the place of ordered steps. Barton’s conversational tone is certainly homey, as is the food itself." -- Seattle Met

#books #book recommendations #2018 reading list #bennington college #poetry #fiction #memoir #nonfiction #cooking #photography

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pamphletstoinspire · 7 years ago

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Saint Sylvester Gozzolini, Abbot - Feast Day: November 26th - Latin Calendar

St Sylvester was born at Osimo, near Ancona. He became a canon of the cathedral. When present one day at a funeral, he exclaimed: "I am today what this man was, and one day I shall be what he is." This is referred to in the Collect. He immediately gave up everything, and retired into a desert where he devoted himself to penance and meditation. Later he built at Monte Fano a church in honour of St Benedict who advised him in a vision to found the Order of Sylvestrines, whose rule and habit he described to him. This branch of the Benedictine Order spread in a short time and already numbered twenty-five houses in Italy when its founder died in 1267, at the age of ninety.

***

Another Story:

ADDRESS OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE SYLVESTRINE BENEDICTINES

Saturday 8 September 2001

Venerable Sylvestrine Benedictines,

1. I am happy to meet you on the occasion of your General Chapter, and welcome each one of you cordially. I greet Fr Andrea Pantaloni, re-elected Abbot General, and thank him for his kind words on behalf of all. I greet the Chapter Fathers and the entire Family of Sylvestrine Benedictines, ever ready to offer the Church the precious contribution of their spiritual and apostolic work.

The Chapter meeting is a providential opportunity for your Institute to reflect on the challenges of the present time and to seek new ways in which to express your charism. You have therefore fittingly chosen to spend these days of prayer and intense work at Fabriano, in the Hermitage of Montefano called after your founder, St Sylvester Abbot, who in this very site grafted a new congregation onto the fruitful tree of the Benedictine Order in 1231. A contemplative and anxious to be consistent with the Gospel, Sylvester became a hermit, practising a strict ascetical life and growing in a deep and vigorous spirituality. For his disciples he chose St Benedict's Rule, wishing to build a community that would be dedicated to contemplation but would not ignore the surrounding social reality. In fact, he himself united a life of recollection, with the ministry of an esteemed spiritual fatherhood and the proclamation of the Gospel to the people of the region.

2. On these solid foundations, Your Congregation has lived through more than seven centuries of history, overcoming numerous difficulties. In the mid-19th century it expanded to horizons beyond Europe and introduced the Benedictine Rule in Asia, in the Island of Ceylon - today Sri Lanka. In the course of the past century new foundations were made in the United States of America, in Australia, in India and, recently, in the Philippines. This comforting development continues to bear valuable apostolic and missionary fruit. With monasteries on four continents, the Congregation can certainly claim to be international, and, thanks be to God, to be slowly and constantly increasing in number.

As I encourage you to continue on this journey opening yourselves to the demands of the new evangelization, I pray the Lord that he may always help you with the power of his love. May God bless in particular your project for further foundations in Europe and in Africa, so that your spirituality may spread for his glory and for the good of souls.

3. The lofty and demanding goal to which we must ceaselessly aspire, Fathers, is first and foremost holiness. It is important not to forget it, especially in our time, when our society feels the need for God more than ever. In our daily apostolate, we must keep our spirit turned toward God. There is a keen awareness of this in your Congregation in which down through the ages the Holy Spirit has inspired generous monks who distinguished themselves by their example and apostolic zeal. It is enough to think, in modern times, of the missionary Bishops Giuseppe Bravi, Ilarione Sillani and Giuseppe Pagnani, Vicars Apostolic of Colombo in the 19th century; of Beekmayer, the first native Prelate of Ceylon, and of Bernardo Regno, Bishop of Kandy. Twenty years after his holy death, his fame lives on among the poor workers of the tea plantations, as well as in his native Fabriano. The foundation's two pioneers in the United States in 1910 also deserve special mention: Giuseppe Cipolletti and Filippo Bartoccetti, who were patient, fearless missionaries among the miners of Kansas. And lastly, I would like to recall the Servant of God, Abbot Ildebrando Gregori, whose cause of canonization has been introduced.

May striving for holiness be the first and basic goal of your personal and community life. This is why the Lord called you and entrusted an important apostolic mission to you.

4. The theme of your Chapter Assembly: Celebrating the Memory, Celebrating our Hope, inspired by the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte goes with this mandate. You would like to focus your attention on monastic identity in the third millennium, according to the spirit of the holy Benedictine Fathers, Sts Benedict and Sylvester, in order to give life to "evangelical communities that are multicultural, and open to the future, but, at the same time, firmly rooted in tradition".

Today, a monastic family like yours is called to make a valid contribution, above all, to the contemplative dimension of personal and ecclesial life. It is urgently necessary to respond to the men and women of our time who, often in an implicit way, ask: "we wish to see Jesus" (Jn 12,21), showing them, in the first place by our example, the royal road of prayer that leads them to contemplate the face of God revealed in Christ. Therefore, dear friends, fervently contemplate his holy Face, so that Jesus' message may shine forth in your lives.

From unceasing prayer draw renewed vigour in order to "put out into the deep" fearlessly, setting out, in accordance with your charism, on the way of total dedication to Christ and to His Gospel. Thus you will build communities that are open to the future and rooted in tradition in constant fidelity to the Rule of your Fathers, Benedict and Sylvester.

In this journey, may the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose Nativity we celebrate today, grant you her maternal assistance. May her Magnificat that celebrates the memory and hope of the People of God become your Congregation's canticle of praise at the beginning of this new millennium.

I enrich these wishes with the assurance of my prayer and a special Apostolic Blessing which I impart to you, to your confreres and to all who are entrusted to your apostolic care.

***

An Overview:

Navajeevan’, is a Benedictine monastery belonging to the ‘Sylvestro-Benedictine Congregation’, one of the 22 Benedictine Congregations of Men in the Benedictine Order.

St. Sylvester Guzzolini (1177-1267) is the founder of the Sylvestrine Congregation. He was a nobleman’s son who hSt. Silvesterad all the possibilities for a stellar career in the world. His father Ghislerio, belonging to one of the most influential families of the Ghibelline city of Osimo, was so proud of his son and with an intransigent firmness of purpose wanted his son to pursue the study of law in Bologna. But his pride was wounded when Sylvester abandoned his study of legal science at the university of Bologna and opted for ‘the study of divine letters’, became a canon at the Cathedral of Osimo. Once while taking part in a funeral, he was curious to know the condition of his cousin who was already buried there a few days ago and looking into his coffin, he was struck by the gruesome spectacle of the decomposing body of this once handsome young man, and was stirred within: “What he was I am, and what he is I shall be”. Sylvester’s vocation to a life of complete solitude and abandon to God’s care and love was motivated by this eSt. Benedictvent. His soul, seeking higher things, yearned the divine beauty in the tradition of the spirituality of the forest dwellers, and for this betook himself to the solitary mountain slopes of Grottafucile and then of Montefano where he finally settled down in a rocky cave, fed on herbs and water and in company of wild beasts. Thus “He loved the freedom of the forest in contrast with the slavery of the ‘profane’ city life.” In the rigour of solitude and prayer, he soon scaled such eights of sanctity that diffused into the neighbourhoods and became a source of spiritual energy for many around. He became a very inspirational figure, attracting many followers and stabilized a life-style for them a life according to the Rule of St. Benedict.

He was a known preacher and truly a spiritual master for many young men and at the same time a rallying point for numerous people around the place. He built a monastery for those disciples who flocked to him which later on became the motherhouse of the Congregation with the name ‘St.Sylvester’s Monastery, Fabriano’ and had to found other monasteries in the provinces of Marche and Umbria in Italy owing to the influx of followers to his way of life and of the pastoral needs of the time. Already during his life-time, the Institute obtained the Pontifical recognition from Pope Innocent IV on 27 June 1248 with the Bull “Religiosam Vitam”. Intense prayer, lectio divina, manual labour, preaching ministry and hospitality for the guests were the founding characSt. Sylvester's Monastery, Fabriano, Italyteristics of the Silvestrine monasticism. It initially had a sudden spurt of growth so as to have to number about twenty monasteries by 1298.

For the most part of its history through 12th to 18th century, the Congregation was confined to Italy, surviving many vicissitudes. Moreover, in the 19th century, due to historical compulsions, the monks dared to step out into other continents and thus the Ceylon Mission was begun in 1845.

Indeed, the Ceylon Mission begun about 150 years ago, was the first Benedictine foundation in the whole of Asia. The Sylvestrine charism took root in Sri Lanka, the erstwhile CeySt. Silvester's Monastery, Sri Lankalon, and many of its illustrious sons dot the history of the Sri Lankan Church. It soon grew with indigenous vocations and had among its membership not only local vocations but also some fifteen or so young men from India who later on, in the providence of God, were to become trail-blazers of Sylvestrine charism in that country, joined this monastery. An accident of history on the political scenario of Sri Lanka, made this dream come alive, when these Indian monks were asked to leave the country. It was these monks who occasioned the Sylvestrine charism to strike root in India, a land of great monastic and religious traditions.

Thus, in 1962, a monastery was founded in the northern part of the State of Kerala, the south-western strip of the Indian peninsula. Kerala is the cradle of Catholicism in India and Wayanad, the northern hill district, the land of aborigins and tribals, was at that time its most un-christianized region. Right from the beginning, this monastery attracted many young men and soon this young foundation began to flourish. TMonastero St. Joseph's Makkiyadhe spectacular growth in number of the new foundation paved the way for its constitutional recognition as a ‘Major Priory’ of the Congregation, according to the existing Constitutions with, of course, other limitations. Later on, in the re-organization of the Priories as a result of the Constitutional revision of 1983, it was raised to a ‘Conventual Priory’, equivalent to a Province of other Religious Institutes. This was called St. Joseph’s Priory of Makkiyad. In the course of years other dependent monasteries were started in order to take care of the formational needs and to meet the apostolic requirements of the country.

The priory Chapter of 1977, took a prophetic decision to implant the Sylvestrine monasticism in the State of Andhra Pradesh among other States of India non-Christian regions of India. Acordingly, a few monks were sent to the northern and central regions of India in order to undertake this mission. Thus, two monks reached the Diocese of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh in 1982, to explore the possibility of a Sylvestro-Benedictine presence in the south-central region of India. Andhra Pradesh is a geographical region of the Republic of India, having its own administrative unit in the polity of India, culture, language and traditions. The seat of the State-administration is Hyderabad, the state-capital. This Region has a predominantly hindu population, though muslims are also considerably present. The Christians and Catholics are just a minority, spread over its length and breadth in small pockets with their own ethnic traditions and faith formation. Moreover, it is a flourishing mission with almost fourteen Catholic Dioceses in two Ecclesiastical Provinces.

Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Thumma, the then Bishop of the Diocese of Vijayawada, was extremely happy to receive the monks into his Diocese. He immediately entrusted them with some pastoral responsibilities of a mission station and this served the monks as a launching pad for the future monastic mission. Soon afterwards, an agreement was drawn up between the Bishop and the Conventual Prior, Fr. Paulinus Vadakkepattani, detailing the terms and conditions of the monks’ life and work in the Diocese. The pioneers did remarkable improvements on the given property and residence and devoted themselves zealously to the pastoral care of the mission entrusted to them by the Bishop. But regrettably, the direct experience of a few years, indicated that the location was not suited for a future monastery and subsequently, the monks decided to look out elsewhere to establish themselves. On the search again for various other possibilities, a plot of four acres of land belonging to the same Diocese was spotted at Jaccampudi near Vijayawada city, for establishing a monastery and at the request of the monks, the Bishop agreed to hand it over to them in 1986.

Moreover, in 1986 an initial inspection of the site was undertaken by Rev. Fr. Simon Tonini osb, the then Abbot General and Rev. Fr. Antonio Iacovone osb, General Secretary, together with other Indian monks in order to study its suitability for a foundation, who subsequently, in agreement with the Bishop, decided to finalize it as the future base for the first Silvestrine mission in the south-central region of India.

EventuMonastery 'Navajeevan'ally, the Conventual Chapter of St. Joseph’s Priory in 1986, decided to establish the new monastery, recognizing it as a ‘Fondation’ according to the Constitutions, which meant that it was destined to become a full-fledged Priory later on, when the required conditions would be met with. It was also, at the same time, accorded some special faculties for its governance. The Foundation was replenished with another group of four monks from St. Joseph’s Priory, Makkiyad. In March 1987, the place was visited again by Rev. Fr. Simon Tonini, Abbot General, Rev. Fr. Andrea Pantaloni, the Conventual Prior of Italy and others, accompanied by the Bishop himself for a further verification of its scope for the future growth and expansion. On being given the green signal by the Superiors to go ahead, on 11 July 1987, the feast of St. Benedict, the official inauguration of the new Foundation took place at St. Peter’s Co-Cathedral, Vijayawada, in the presence of the Vicar General of the Diocese, the Conventual Prior of St. Joseph’s Priory, Makkiyad, and a few priests and religious of the Diocese. The Parish Priest kindly agreed to accommodate the monks in the parish house for a few months, till the monks built a residence of their own. Moreover, the Abbot General arranged a generous donation of $ 30.000 and the work on the monastery was earnestly begun. On 25 November, the monks could move into a ramshackle building put up on the site and organize a community life of their own. It took quite some time and strenuous efforts for the monks to obtain the necessary permits from the civil authorities to develop the land and begin the construction of the monastery. Braving the catastrophes of instant floods and cyclonic storms characteristic of the eastern sea coast of India, the monks remained steadfast in their purpose.

In the meantime, a new name was proposed for the new foundation and thus it was christened ‘NAVAJEEVAN’. ‘NavaLogo of Navajeevanjeevan’ means ‘new life’. It is a Sanskrit word combining ‘nav’ meaning ‘new’ and ‘Jeevan’ meaning ‘life’. It is common practice n India to give such names to religious houses and monasteries. The monastery ‘Navajeevan’, in accordance with its name, is intended to be a spring of new life of Jesus to all those live there and visit it. This life rebounds in the rhythm of ‘Ora et Labora’ of the Benedictine monastic tradition, echoing the simplicity of a Sylvestrine family.

On 19 March 1988, Bishop J. Thumma blessed the foundation stone of the monastery and the construction got underway in right earnest. On 11 July 1988, on the feast of St. Benedict, Patron of the new monastery, the first wing was blessed by the same Bishop in the presence of monks and well-wishers. Braving now the extreme heat that goes even up to 45-48° Celsius and now the tidal waves of the sea of Bengal Strait, the monks continued the works on the monastery without respite. A further donation of $ 60.000 of late Signora SELINI FERNANDA, was made available by Rev. Fr. Andrea Pantaloni and was transferred, after her sudden death, by her husband Signor Pensieri, to the ever depleting funds, which accelerated once again the construction of the monastery.

A year having gone by, a crisis cropped up in this pioneering community, as some monks had to leave the Foundation for other destinations due to various reasons. Nevertheless, during the ensuing years, other monks were sent by St. Joseph’s Priory of Makkiyad, to strengthen the new Foundation and it community living. In 1993 ‘NavBishop J. Thummaajeevan’ Foundation was granted the faculty of electing its own Prior.

The Benedictine presence in the Diocese of Vijayawada began attracting young men right from the start. Navajeevan began accepting candidates from the local catholic communities with their characteristic cultural heritages and traditions to be formed as monks with a view to truly implanting the Sylvestrine charism in the region. Thanks to God, the Foundation, as of now has among its membership, nine junior monks belonging to different cultural and linguistic groups of south-central India.

Eventually, measuring the growth already achieved and foreseeing faster growth, the community unanimously decided request the Conventual Chapter of St. Joseph’s Priory, Makkiyad, to raise this Foundation to a Conventual Priory. In the meantime, it so resulted that three more members of St.Joseph’s Conventual Priory of Makkiyad, upon being officially offered such an option, joined the proposed Priory, and this providentially fulfilled the constitutional requirement of membership for a Conventual Priory. Thus, the sufficiency of membership of the solemnly professed monks having been ensured, the Conventual Chapter of St. Joseph’s, Makkiyad, voted in favour of the request with 46/49 votes on 3 May 2001.

Subsequently, the proposal was presented to the General Chapter held in 2001 as required by the Constitutions and it decided to raise the NVery Rev. A. Pantaloniavajeevan Foundation to a Conventual Priory with an almost unanimous decision. Thus, the Navajeevan Conventual Priory was formally erected on 5 September 2001 at 16.30 hrs at St. Sylvester’s Monastery, Fabriano, the Mother House of the Congregation and the venue of this General Chapter. The official inauguration was fixed for 21 March 2002, after almost fifteen years of its existence as a Foundation of St. Joseph’s Priory of Makkiyad.

The first elective Conventual Chapter was held from 16-18 March 2002 and was presided over by Very Rev. Fr. Andrea Pantaloni, Abbot General of the Congregation. Rev. Fr. James Mylackal osb was elected the first Conventual Prior. Further, Frs. Joseph Kulathinal and Dunstan Kurumbel were elected his Councillors and later on Frs Jose M.Parambukattil and Showraiah Guvvala were nominated Councillors by Fr. Prior.

#st. sylvester gozzolini

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chicagoindiecritics · 5 years ago

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New from Robert Daniels on 812 Film Reviews: CIFF Reviews: The New Bauhaus, Frank Gehry: Building Justice, Forman v. Forman

Earlier this week, the 55th annual Chicago International Film Festival (2019) kicked-off. It’s my second year covering, and this time around I was lucky to find three intriguing documentaries about notable creatives. I’m a sucker for any film that follows a famous designer, artist, or writer to discover their approach. To these ends, I watched The New Bauhaus (László Moholy-Nagy), Frank Gehry: Building Justice, and Forman v. Forman (Miloš Forman).

“He constantly reinvented himself out of sheer necessity,” as described by one of the many luminous voices of what made László Moholy-Nagy special. The famed Chicago-based Hungarian artist and founder of the Institute of Design serves as the subject of Alysa Nahmias’ impressive documentary The New Bauhaus—playing at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Over the course of 95 minutes, viewers witness the varied ways Moholy-Nagy reinvented, adapted, and creatively pushed his craft(s). Nahmias exhibits the change by having Swiss curator Hans-Ulrich Obrist—artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London—read transcripts in Moholy-Nagy’s voice of an interview the Bauhaus artist once gave. The Hungarian creator’s daughter Hattula Moholy-Nagy also appears in the film to share stories and perspectives of her father’s working habits, his techniques, and his personal idiosyncrasies.

Nahmias throughout The New Bauhaus understands the art and the humanity of the subject are not separated, they inform each other. And while such revelations shouldn’t come as a surprise, with Moholy-Nagy the divide between both certainly appeared minimal. To him, art wasn’t a profession, rather a discipline and self-experimentation that enriched the individual more than the pocketbook. Viewers witness his lessons not just through his work in painting, graphic arts, photography, and film but through interviews with his students like Blanche Gildin, Sumner Fineberg, and Beatrice Takeuchi as well. All were forever changed through his instructions.

A through line, from his humble beginnings in a nothing small town in Hungary, now left abandoned, to his tenure at the Bauhaus school run by Walter Gropius, to his pioneering work founding the Institute of Design in 1939 (now IIT)—speaks to the ingenuity of Moholy-Nagy’s will to rise from a broken provincial family to his vaulted place in art history. Nevertheless, his name today is rarely tossed around as reverently as say Picasso or Monet. Instead, his story remains an unique and partly exposed gem of Chicago. And while his legacy extends to his students becoming exceptional teachers and creators in their own right, spreading the word and style of the New Bauhaus to newer generations in varying cities and countries, he mostly remains a ballyhooed figure known for his reach more than expansive work.

Nevertheless, by Nahmias so wonderfully linking the two together: the man and the work—viewers can only hope but aspire to the creed by which Moholy-Nagy lived his life. And if you’re like me, and am fascinated by watching how highly successful figures approach their craft, if their fervent belief in their life’s vision inspires you as it does me, then The New Bauhaus can only spur you to reinvent yourself with the same dexterity used by Moholy-Nagy himself.

Frank Gehry is the most famous and lauded architect of his generation. Known for creating concert halls and large public space. The very idea of designing the “perfect” jail hits at the antithesis of his previous projects. Nevertheless, in Ultan Guilfoyle’s Frank Gehry: Building Justice, with the help of Yale’s architecture students, Guilfoyle composes the inequities of the American justice system down to the brick.

Much of Building Justice discusses how space psychologically affects humans: how ethereal open areas free us, and why claustrophobic confinement stokes our worst demons. Prisons have often relied on space as a form of punishment, as a method for dehumanizing which runs counter to the goal of rehabilitation. To these ends, Gehry enlists the help of Susan Burton. Burton, a formerly incarcerated woman, now dedicates her life to activism and prison reform. She provides a steady grounding for the architecture students’ loftier ambitions.

The documentary’s most poignant scenes arrive through the students, Burton, and Gehry interviewing former inmates who share their disparaging experiences in jail. Equally as eye opening, the students and Gehry visit Norway to use their prisons as case studies of successful jail designs. To witness the gulfs separating the American prison system and Norway’s, which relies on teaching trades, focusing on the arts, and allowing open spaces for prisoners to congregate, is a sobering wake-up call. However, ultimately, the students and Gehry are designing prisons for the future, when the expansive population housed within prisons falls to lower levels. The whole expedition feels far fetched and idealized, more Utopian than practical. Or maybe we’ve been conditioned to believe that the human treatment of criminals should fall under the category of pipe dream. Either way, Frank Gehry: Building Justice should serve as a startling shock for America.

In 2018, the famed Czech film director Miloš Forman passed away. A leading vanguard of Czechoslovak New Wave, he directed classics of the movement like Peter Black (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), and The Fireman’s Ball (1967). Later on, he would conquer Hollywood and win Best Director for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and Amadeus (1984). In between and early on, he would experience tragedy and solitude that ultimately shaped his worldview. Jakub Hejna and Helena Trestíková’s tidy 77-minute documentary Forman v. Forman follows the director on his journey to creating his career defining works.

Forman came from the unlikeliest and sobering of backgrounds to venerated Hollywood creator, mostly born from solitude. Born in Czechoslovakia at the turn of World War II, he grew up an orphan after his parents were sent and died in concentration camps. He later made his own family, with his wife Věra Křesadlová and their twin sons, only to be exiled from his country away from them because of his subversive filmmaking. Those events formed two constants through Forman’s life: the pursuit of creative freedom and the search for a family.

Decorated with interviews from the director, he describes the thinking and stories behind his most famous films. In several instances, he details the censorship within Czechoslovakia at the height of communism: How he needed his scripts approved by the government and then would later film what he wanted independent of screenplay, like with The Fireman’s Ball. In another, we witness the surveillance cast and crew were submitted to while filming Amadeus in Forman’s home country. An independent maverick, that spirit holds the documentary together, though it travels in standard linear fashion. One of the great treats of Forman v. Forman is seeing the director talk to his younger twin sons: born from his third marriage with Martina Zbořilová, about why he’s just so-so on The Last Samurai (2003). Surely, another reason to be his fan.

Forman v. Forman, much like the director’s life, seems short, even in its thoughtful tribute. As if it’s missing another 5 minutes to discuss an incredible work like Man on the Moon (1999). Instead, it ends with The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), which fits with Forman’s search for creative freedom, but leaves the last two decades of his life untouched. The lack of footage serves as another reason to mourn that Forman didn’t live longer, and didn’t produce one more film with his unique brand of humor and empathy.

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96thdayofrage · 6 years ago

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In March 1969, at a grade school in Washington, D.C., an eclectic audience gathered to celebrate the inauguration of comedian Dick Gregory as the nation’s “president-in-exile.” The event was originally planned for American University, before the college’s president shut down proceedings, prompting a “hit and run occupation of campus buildings.” Gregory was unperturbed, completing his swearing-in ceremony with customary flair, before declaring to his raucous band of supporters that “whenever the occupant of the White House fails to respond to the just demands of human need, the independent army will bring their concerns to the Black House to their President-in-Exile.” According to Black weekly magazine Jet, Gregory informed spectators that his shadow presidency would be primarily concerned with ending the war in Vietnam and tackling issues such as bad housing, education, and ongoing discrimination.

Gregory’s “inauguration” marked the denouement to one of the more unlikely and entertaining presidential campaigns in American history. Over the previous eighteen months, the comedian had toured the country, focusing on college campuses and local events within Black communities, to promote his efforts to become the first Black president of the United States. While Gregory’s antics attracted considerable interest, he was just one of a number of Black activists and political campaigners who became direct participants in the 1968 presidential race. Alongside Gregory was pioneering Black feminist and labor organizer Charlene Mitchell, who ran as the presidential candidate for the American Communist Party, and Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver, who parlayed his editorial role at Ramparts magazine into a New Left-backed presidential bid with the Peace and Freedom Party. Joining this trio was Paul Boutelle, the Socialist Workers Party pick for vice-president and former leader of the all-Black Freedom Now Party which had been founded during the 1963 March on Washington.

Over my next four posts on Black Perspectives, I will address each of these individuals in turn, detailing their participation in the 1968 presidential campaign and connecting these experiences to their broader political histories and trajectories. In particular, I am interested in their place within two distinct but overlapping traditions: Firstly, African American presidential politics – a term I use here in reference to both the specific efforts of Black Americans to gain access to the White House, and the historical and continuing significance of race (the way ideas about race and racial formation, as well as racial anxieties, resentments and animosities) in shaping American presidential politics; Secondly, the ways in which these individual Black presidential and vice-presidential campaigns provide an expression of and a window into what Robin Kelley and other scholars have described as the “Black Radical Imagination.”

If we needed any reminder, the potent mix of white anxieties and identity politics which propelled Donald Trump into the White House provided compelling evidence of the continuing significance of race in presidential politics. It has become almost passé to point out that Trump is a racist, something which can be traced in a straight line from his efforts to keep Black tenants out of his buildings to his role in the “Birther” movement which sought to delegitimize the election of America’s first Black president. As Ta-Nehisi Coates has argued, whiteness, for Trump, is “neither notional nor symbolic but is the very core of his power…whereas his forebears carried whiteness like an ancestral talisman, Trump cracked the glowing amulet open, releasing its eldritch energies.”

These same racial anxieties and animosities played a central role in the 1968 presidential campaign, most notably through the impact of third-party candidate and ardent segregationist George Wallace, whose message of racial hatred would carry him to more than 13% of the popular vote and victory in five Southern states. They also helped to shape the development of Richard Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” – his racially loaded appeals to States’ rights and other touchstones for conservative white voters which underpinned the emergence of the New Right and focused the white backlash to the passage of landmark civil rights legislation such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. As scholars such as Michael Cohen have noted, racial tensions helped to guide individual campaigns, exacerbating the politics of division which characterized the campaign.1

At the same time, the 1968 election was held up as a litmus test for increasing African American political representation and as further evidence of a fundamental shift in Black voting patterns. For generations after the civil war, African Americans had remained loyal to the party of Lincoln, with a popular adage contending that “The Republican Party is the ship, all else is the sea.” However, the shifting allegiances of Black voters from Republican to Democrat – something which began during the New Deal and which cemented during the decades following World War II – would become codified during the 1968 campaign. At the 1968 Democratic National Convention, Black minister and civil rights leader Channing E. Phillips became the first African American to be nominated for president of the United States by a major political party, while Julian Bond became the first to have his name entered into nomination as a major-party candidate for the role of vice-president. These landmark (if largely symbolic) events served as a precursor to more serious Black presidential campaigns over subsequent decades, culminating in the electoral victories of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

And yet, the 1968 campaign also marked a moment of profound dissatisfaction with the two-party system among some sections of the Black community – something which has become more pronounced over the intervening years, as the limited ability of Black elected officials to change dominant political cultures within the two-party system has become increasingly apparent. At the same time, scholars such as Fredrick Harris, Michael Dawson, and Adolph Reed, Jr. have warned that growing Black political representation has been used of evidence of America’s supposed move towards a ‘post-racial society’, and a retreat from a politics aimed at challenging racial inequality head-on. Expressed in a different way by hip-hop artist 2pac Shakur, we might reflect on his contention that “although it seems heaven sent, we ain’t ready to see a Black president.” The tremendous backlash to Obama’s election and the rise of Trumpism has added further fuel to Harris’ question of whether the election of the first Black president was worth “the price of the ticket.”2

Rejecting the restrictions of the two-party system, Gregory, Mitchell, Cleaver and Boutelle instead embraced minor-party presidential campaigns as a vehicle for the expression of the “Black radical imagination.” In his 2002 book Freedom Dreams, Robin Kelley stressed the importance of imagination in the creation of Black political futures, arguing that “there are very few contemporary political spaces where the energies of love and imagination are understood and respected as powerful social forces.” Other scholars such as Robeson Taj Frazier have explored this notion with regards to Black diasporic struggle and the “philosophical shift from the pursuit of racial integration and reform within a liberal democracy to the attempt to build the prospective infrastructure for an independent Black nation.”3

None of the four candidates I discuss over the coming posts had any chance of being elected into the White House. Nevertheless, against the backdrop of the Black Power movement and the decolonization movement in Africa, their campaigns offer a window into the liberatory vision and political imagination of Black radical activists at home and abroad. Unshackled from the politics of the two-party system, Gregory, Mitchell, Cleaver and Boutelle offered distinct but overlapping visions of what a Black presidency, and Black freedom, might look like in a nation that appeared unwilling to accept either.

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