jalylah burrell

writer· dj · educator

[jalylah]

“Hands down, nobody’s doing what we’re doing.” Meghan Stabile (2008)

Donate to this GFM to assist with funeral expenses.

[jalylah]

“Back by Black Demand”

(Poster for Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress, 1969)

[jalylah]

A Blind Publisher, Poet — and Link to the Lower East Side’s Cultural History

Steve Cannon is a bridge to 50 years’ worth of thinkers in New York, and a point of contact to David Hammons, one of the most elusive artists of our age.

“[Hammons] talks about the importance of humor in his work ('When someone laughs at a piece, you don’t have to ask if they like it') and why he does what he does: 'You just do these things. No rhyme or reason, just to go through the thing. Visual artists are afraid to be laughed at. Black folks are afraid to be laughed at. But you must be willing to be laughed at, ’cause it’s that feeling that hurts.’ Here, Henderson suggests that ‘black folks being afraid to be laughed at’ is a ‘postmodern thing.’

[jalylah]

Please join me this Sunday in Chicago!

[jalylah]

Most, if not all, human lives are full of fantasy—passive day-dreaming which need not be acted on. But to write poetry or fiction, or even to think well, is not to fantasize, or to put fantasies on paper. For a poem to coalesce, for a character or an action to take shape, there has to be an imaginative transformation of reality which is in no way passive. And a certain freedom of the mind is needed—freedom to press on, to enter the currents of your thought like a glider pilot, knowing that your motion can be sustained, that the buoyancy of your attention will not be suddenly snatched away. Moreover, if the imagination is to transcend and transform experience it has to question, to challenge, to conceive of alternatives, perhaps to the very life you are living at that moment. You have to be free to play around with the notion that day might be night, love might be hate; nothing can be too sacred for the imagination to turn into its opposite or to call experimentally by another name. For writing is re-naming.

Adrienne Rich. “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision,” College English (1972) 

[jalylah]

I try to illustrate the strong, reassuring and free expressions of proud Black people. I get my subjects from the people I see and the places I go within my community. . . what I am doing is creating a historical record. I feel that it is important for Black artists to interpret their feeling and experiences. Who else is going to create the painting and who else is going to deal with our triumphs and our sufferings if it is not us?

Varnette Honeywood, qtd. in Darlene Clark Hine, “To Be Gifted, Female and Black,” Southwest Review (1982)

[mnifst]

[jalylah]

I need two beats to warmup before I break it down #aswell

[jalylah]

Worth revisiting.

[jalylah]

        i have a secret to tell you

i got old, looking at myself young

        i learned how to run standing still

                i gave up, holding on...

Carolyn Rodgers, “Black Licorice,” The Heart As Ever Green (1978)

[jalylah]

Free and open to the public.

[jalylah]

[jalylah]

Auteur and icon Spike Lee hosts his annual celebration for the late King of Pop’s genius this Saturday in Bedford-Stuyvesant from noon to 7pm. The block party is a guaranteed good time for all-ages.

Summer Spectacular Picks

August 21 - August 27

August 21, Harlem Run, Marcus Garvey Park August 22, Digger’s Delight Park Jam, St. Nicholas Park August 23, Double Dutch, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 2 August 24, Vinyl Nights Dance Party w/ Dj Misbehaviour, Plaza 33 at Penn Station August 25, Freshen Up Friday w/Soul Science Lab, West Harlem Piers Park August 26, Brooklyn Loves MJ,  Stuyvesant Ave. between Lexington Ave. and Quincy St. August 27, Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Tompkins Square Park

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google Calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

Avant-garde singer-songwriter Bilal, photographed by me performing at SOBS in the mid-aughts, returns to Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park Wednesday evening. His concert will be preceded by an opening set by DJ Reborn.

Summer Spectacular Picks

August 14 - August 20

August 14, Big Daddy Kane + C+C Music Factory + Chubb Rock + Das EFX + DJ Enuff + DJ Scratch + M.O.P. + Special Ed, Wingate Field August 15, Poetry Reading w/ Camille Dungy and Afaa Weaver, Bryant Park  August 16, Bilal, Marcus Garvey Park August 17, Film Screening: Mad Max Fury Road, Brooklyn Bridge Park August 18, African Diasporic Dance Lessons, West Harlem Piers Park August 19, Film Screening: I Am Not Your Negro, St. Nicholas Park August 20, Boogie on the Boulevard, Bronx Museum of Art

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google Calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

Legendary Reggae artist Sister Nancy, photographed by Isaac Brecken, performs at Lincoln Center Out of Doors’ Damrosch Bandshell Thursday evening at in support of headliner Timaya.

Summer Spectacular Picks

August 7 - August 13

August 7, The Coffins of Paa Joe and the Pursuit of Happiness, Jack Shainman Gallery August 8, Tango Lessons, Washington Square Park August 9, Staceyann Chin + Ntozake Shange, East River Park Amphitheater August 10, Timaya + Sister Nancy, Damrosch Park Bandshell August 11, Kendra Foster, Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza August 12, Film Screening: 13th + Soul Train Tribute, Marcus Garvey Park August 13, Sundae Sermon, St. Nicholas Park

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google Calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

Pathbreaking pianist, educator, composer and arranger Bertha Hope is this week’s resident musician for the lunchtime Piano in Bryant Park concert series. Catch her between 12:30 and 2:30 pm Monday through Friday.

Summer Spectacular Picks

July 31 - August 6

July 31, Film Screening: Green White Green, Morningside Park August 1, Letras Latinas Poetry Reading, Bryant Park Reading Room August 2, Uptown Bounce 80s Block Party, Museum of the City of New York (RSVP Required) August 3, Vernon Reid, David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center August 4, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Damrosch Park Bandshell August 5, Sweet Spot Festival, West Harlem Piers Park August 6, Jadakiss, Tremont Park

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google Calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

MC Lyte, pictured in a 1991 Rap Express profile, headlines the Rock Steady Crew Anniversary concerts Sunday afternoon in Central Park.

Summer Spectacular Picks

July 24 - July 30

July 24, Film Screening: Whose Streets? Our Streets, Maysles Cinema July 25, Panel on Women’s Musical Recordings, David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center July 26, Uptown Bounce: 90s Edition, El Museo del Barrio (RSVP Required) July 27, Kaia Kater, David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center July 28, Brianna Thomas, Marcus Garvey Park Ampitheater July 29, Double Dutch Festival, Lincoln Center July 30, Rock Steady Crew 40th Anniversary featuring MC Lyte, Central Park Rumsey Playfield

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google Calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

Common, pictured behind the scenes at his July 2016 Ebony magazine cover shoot, performs at Brookfield Place Tuesday evening as part of this year’s Lowdown Music Festival. His set will be preceded by the rousing sounds of Lion Babe.

Summer Spectacular Picks

July 17 - July 23

July 17, Screening: We Like it Like That, St. Nicholas Park July 18, Common + Lion Babe, Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza July 19, Uptown Bounce, El Museo del Barrio (RSVP Req.) July 20, Betty Lavette, Robert F Wagner, Jr. Park July 21, Hula Hoop Workout, Williamsbridge Oval Recreation Center July 22, Fort Greene Jazz Festival, Fort Greene Park July 23, Boogie on the Boulevard, Bronx Museum of Art 

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google calendar HERE.

[jalylah]

Catch a free screening of Get Out Monday night in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park as part of the ImageNation Outdoors Film and Music Series.

Summer Spectacular Picks

July 10 - July 16

July 10, Get Out, Marcus Garvey Park Amphitheater July 11, Poetry Reading w/ Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Regie Cabico, Elana Bell + Duy Doan, Bryant Park (Reg. Required) July 12, Mon Laferte + Princess Nokia + ÌFÉ, Central Park Rumsey Playfield July 13, Rebirth Brass Band, Robert F Wagner, Jr. Park (Reg. Suggested) July 14, Mr. Cheeks + Large Professor, Queensbridge Park July 15, The Three Musketeers, Marcus Garvey Park July 16, Roy Ayers + Seun Kuti, Central Park Rumsey Playfield

See the full 2017 Summer Spectacular: Free Fun in NYC Google calendar HERE.