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arts & culture
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Aries (March 21-April 19) Fortune's in your favor today. Practice a game you love. Relaxation and recreation restore your sense of humor and fun. Learn a new trick.
Taurus
(April 20-May 20) Household issues demand attention. Slow down and listen. Good news comes from far away. Actions taken now have long-term impact. Clean an old
Yusra Nabi/KANSAN Author and activist Nikki Giovanni at her book signing after her speech and poetry event at Woodruff Afterschool
Gemini
(May 21-June 20) Share information, data and facts. Research, write and keep communications current. Your words go farther today. Back them up with action to take major
ground.
Cancer
e 21-July 22
(June 21-July 22)
Your efforts get especially profitable. Take action for long-term benefit. Upgrade your equipment if it will increase productivity. Monitor cash flow. Love gives strength.
you strength.
Leo
(July 23-Aug. 22)
Use your power and confidence for good. Friends help you make a valuable connection. Pour energy into action to realize a personal dream.
personal dream.
Virgo
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Make plans for an inspiring future. Decide where to put your energy. Create a ritual to initiate this new stage. Find an answer in a dream
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Strategize with teammates.
You're especially productive. Create lasting impact for your project together.
Determine who does what,
and get moving. Go the
Scorpio
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
A professional challenge has your focus. Put in extra effort for extra gain. Your quick action draws praise.
A bonus is possible. Exceed expectations.
Sagittarius
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Expand your frontiers and get farther than expected. Dream big! Travel and fun are favored. Remain open to shifting circumstances. Make long distance connections.
Capricorn
(Dec. 22- Jan. 19)
Make payments and reconcile accounts. Long-term investments gain value. It's a good day to buy or sell.
Take stock of what you've hidden away
(Aquarius Jan. 20-Feb.18). Collaboration produces long-term benefits today. Pour energy into a shared endeavor. Brainstorm and share ideas and resources. Spark some action. Together, you're an unbeatable
Aquarius
team.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Physical action reaps long-lasting rewards. Get your muscles moving! Act quickly and make a good impression. A long-term prize is within reach.
Writer and activist Nikki Giovanni visits University, speaks about campus carry
BRITTANIE SMITH
@brittens_smith
Nikki Giovanni, a renowned writer and activist best known for her writing during the Black Arts and Civil Rights movements, gave a talk about her work and life in Woodruff Auditorium on Tuesday, April 4. The event was presented by the Project on the History of Black Writing.
The talk included her opinions on social issues such as concealed carry, stories about her life and a few poems. Giovanni has published over 30 books in multiple genres such as poetry and non-fiction, and has another called "A Good Cry: What We Learn from Tears and Laughter," which will be out in October 2017
According to the Hall Center website, "[She is] recognized for her poetry on race, gender, family, and issues of social relevance."
During her talk, Giovanni was witty, humorous and knew how to push the envelope. She kept the packed auditorium which consisted of a variety of audience members, such as students, adults and even young children - on their toes throughout the evening.
She discussed the poems "Tennessee by Birth," "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day," "Ego Tripping," and closed with "Deal or No Deal (for ENGL 4714 CRN 16937)."
The big takeaway was that people shouldn't write to please others - that writing that has the biggest impact and isn't written for that reason.
"Painters paint for themselves and it's not selfish," Giovanni said. "If you're writing for yourself, some truth will come out."
She added that she never intended for her books to be best sellers; she just wanted to write genuinely good books. She explained that the poems, "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day" and "Deal or No Deal," came from real life situations that she then reflected on.
Maryemma Graham, a professor at the University and the founder and director of the Project on the History of Black Writing, said that Giovanni was asked to speak at the University because of her stance and history with the concealed carry issue on college campuses. Also, the speech resonated, as April 4, was the 49th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
Giovanni has been teaching at Virginia Tech since 1987. She was there for the mass campus shooting on April 16,2007 where 33 people were murdered.
Giovanni said she is reluctant to give up teaching. She said that the best thing about teaching is the students because, in a moment of humor on Tuesday night, they keep her connected to their generation.
"She was a very outspoken advocate for not having guns on campus, but also understanding students and what culture we have," Graham said.
A longtime professor,
"If someone asked me
who my favorite rapper was, well, I don't know any beyond Tupac," she said.
Contributed photo Acclaimed jazz musician and professor at the University of Southern California Ron McCurdy will perform the multimedia concert, The Langston Hughes Project, this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
After her speech, Giovanni said that she has no advice for today's generation of activists because she is proud of the stances they're taking, and standing up for their
beliefs.
"My joy in watching as an old woman, it's a pleasure to watch the youngsters out there. I certainly wish all of us well on the gun law because guns have no business being in college," Giovanni said.
First-ever University jazz studies director returns Friday to perform 'The Langston Hughes Project'
OMAR SANCHEZ
@OhMySanchez
On Friday, April 7, the School of Music will welcome a musical multimedia performance by acclaimed jazz musician and professor at the University of Southern California Ron McCurdy. The presentation, entitled "The Langston Hughes Project" is inspired by social activist and Lawrence native Langston Hughes, and is embedded with themes of overcoming social strife and looking for equality.
McCurdy, the University's first-ever jazz studies director, is the current director of the Grammy Vocal Jazz Choir and Combo, as well having served as director of the Walt Disney All-American Summer College Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers in Orlando, Florida, for seven years. He was also recognized by the University in 2001 with the KU Distinguished Alumni Award.
"This work is designed to get people to think and be entertained," McCurdy, who received his masters and doctorate at the University, said. "I hope people are emotionally stirred by what they saw and heard. Enough to reexamine who they are and what they believe in."
The performance will encompass a live jazz quartet, led by McCurdy, as well as a live reading of Hughes' poem "Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz" and a video montage that will help contextualize the dense vocabulary used by Hughes.
The message of "Ask Your Mama" along with the multimedia component transcends the civil rights issues of the 1960s, when Hughes' originally wrote the poem. With the current Black Lives Matter
movement and notions of systemic mass incarceration recently examined by the Oscar-nominated documentary "13th,"the power of the jazz music and the stories detailing the struggle for freedom by Africans and African-Americans can still touch those in the audience.
"Langston was about bringing people together rather than dividing people," McCurdy said. "Right now, given our political climate today, we need
Langston more than ever. These words are more relevant today than they probably were in the 1960s."
Dean of the School of Music Robert Walzel helped bring McCurdy back to the University for the performance. He said those in attendance will be able to experience a heightened level of connection to the work and its message.
"By taking the read poetry of Langston Hughes and then playing jazz while it's being read — being reactive
to the words of Langston — it creates an incredible opportunity for cross-discipline type of creativity that is really pretty unique," Walzel said.
McCurdy put together the Langston Hughes Project after moving from teaching at the University to the University of Minnesota in 1990. He was invited to come up with a piece that would encapsulate Harlem Renaissance themes for the opening of their very own Wiseman Art Museum in the years following.
McCurdy said the opening reception was overwhelmingly positive, enough to continue performances and tour the piece across the nation. In addition to the performances, McCurdy as an educator and artist takes the time to teach students about artist entrepreneurship and the social implications of Hughes' work, which he will do at the University as well.
"By having him here to talk about how you make your way into a professional music opportunity, how you take care of business, how you build relationships, how you create networks, that's super exciting," Walzel said.
The performance is free and will be held at Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall starting at 7:30 p.m.