Ages: 7 – 12
Saturday, December 17th
 Time: 12 noon – 1:30PM
Fee: $20.00
Ages: 13 and up
Time: 2:15PM – 4:15PM
Fee: $25.00

Jazmia past performances:
Performed with Beyonce’ for Oprah Winfrey’s 2011 Surprise Spectacular, and the Billboard Awards Show.
Featured in For Colored Girls
Big Momma’s House 3

A Cinderella Story: One upon a Song
True Colors Theatre Production of Black Nativity
Studies with Debbie Allen
Danced abroad in Paris France
Graduate of the North Atlanta High School Performing Arts Program.
For more information contact elanjazz@gmail.com

Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts Peace Garden
5616 Memorial Drive
Stone Mountain, GA 30083

Are you bold enough to take a journey through the Peace Garden? Do you have the guts? We Hope You Come Out In One Piece!

Tours start at 7:30PM – 11PM
All ages are welcome, kids under 10 must be with an adult.

Price:
$10.00 Adults
$7.00 Students
$5.00 Kids under 10

A proclamation issued by the Atlanta City Council will be presented to Cooke’s two surviving siblings, L. C. Cooke and David Cook, both of Chicago, IL.  Featured speakers will discuss Cooke’s prominence in the history of American popular music as well as his contributions to the 1960’s civil rights movement.

The program is the first of several weekend activities sponsored by the Sam Cooke Fan Club as part of its 6th Sam Cooke Tribute.  A buffet lunch and an afternoon bus tour of historic Atlanta sites, including a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site in the Sweet Auburn District, will follow the program.  The Fan Club will also host a Friday night dance party and a dinner and show on Saturday, October 15, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, located at 265 Peachtree Center Ave NE.  

Room reservations can be made by contacting the Marriott Marquis at 404-521-0000 and requesting the Sam Cooke Fan Club rate of $139 per night.

The program at TASF brings together fans of two legendary musical performers, both of whom were nearing the peak of their popularity at the time of their untimely deaths.  Cooke was shot and killed on December 11, 1964 in Los Angeles; Shakur was shot on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas, where he died six days later.

“It is symbolic that a program honoring Sam Cooke should take place at the center dedicated to the memory of Tupac,” said Carlos Coleman, Community Outreach Director for TASF.  “Tupac was very much aware of Sam Cooke and his contributions,” Coleman added, “and he even mentioned Cooke in his poetry.”

For more information about the Sam Cooke Day program contact the TASF Center at (404) 298-4222.  For additional information and to register for the Fan Club’s 6th Tribute activities, contact Greg Alldredge, Fan Club President, at 310-701-9653 or Toni Cook Howard, Fan Club Vice President, at 312-550-1078.  Reservation forms are available at the Fan Club’s website, www.samcookefanclub.com.

About TASF
MISSION – Our mission is to provide training and support for students who aspire to enhance their creative talents. Each and every child desires freedom to creatively express themselves. We provide an environment that encourages freedom of expression, serves as a resource for families, and empowers via education.

ABOUT – Founded in 1997 by Afeni Shakur, mother of the multi-talented Tupac Shakur, the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation (TASF) originally began as the Shakur Family Foundation. Afeni formed the Foundation as a way to bring quality arts training to our young people. A broad range of training is offered via the Annual Performing Arts Day Camp held at the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (home of the Foundation). Disciplines include creative writing, vocal technique, acting, stage set design, dance, poetry & spoken word, and the business of entertainment. The Performing Arts Day Camp is open to students ages 7-18.  The Foundation has also hosted Essay Competitions throughout the U.S., charity Golf Tournaments, & awarded scholarships to students pursuing undergraduate degrees.

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CONTACTS:        

Don Piper
Secretary, Sam Cooke Fan Club
Email:  dkpiper728@earthlink.net
Cell:   (818) 335-6809

Carlos Coleman
Community Outreach Director
 Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts
Email:  carloscoleman1@gmail.com
  Phone:  (404) 298-4222

 
Following two years of extensive collection and categorization, the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library announces the opening of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Collection on the fifteenth anniversary of the death of the platinum recording artist, actor and poet who remains one of the most influential writers and performers in the hip hop/rap genre.
 
Spanning a period from 1969 to 2008, this remarkable collection includes song lyrics, poems, track lists and video treatments, as well as manuscripts by Shakur family members and members of the rap groups Dramacydal and the Outlawz. Memorabilia, correspondence to and from Shakur, fan mail, media clippings and publicity materials are also included. Particularly noteworthy items within the collection are a handwritten video treatment for “Dear Mama,” his song that was inducted into the Library of Congress collection; a notebook of songs eventually recorded for Shakur’s immensely successful 2Pacalypse Now album; and handwritten drafts of poems included in The Rose That Grew from Concrete.  
 
The Shakur Collection represents a partnership between the AUC Woodruff Library and the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation to make available for scholarly research the manuscript writings and other papers of Shakur. The collection is extensive and comprises approximately 11 linear feet, with 30 boxes of materials, and has the distinction of being one of the few publicly available research collections of an individual hip hop artist.
 
Born in East Harlem, New York, Shakur first came to prominence in the early 1990s as a featured rapper for the vocal group Digital Underground and went on to become one of the most significant cultural icons of the hip hop generation. Prior to his untimely death at the age of 25, Shakur released five record albums and appeared in four motion pictures.
 
Ten albums, numerous compilations and four feature films have been released posthumously, including Tupac: Resurrection, which received an Academy Award nomination for “Best Documentary (Feature)” in 2005.
 
“We’re honored to have partnered with the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation to preserve the artistic legacy of Tupac Shakur through this collection,” said Loretta Parham, CEO and Library Director. “He transformed the landscape of hip hop culture and was one of the most compelling voices and talents of his generation. As an academic library, we feel privileged to be the stewards of the Shakur Collection and to promote for scholarly research.”
 
Vernal Cambridge, Executive Director of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation adds, “We are excited about the centralization of Tupac’s massive body of work and materials. The Tupac estate has done a great job at preserving his history. Similar to his albums, and documentary film, Tupac: Resurrection, this unique collection gives Tupac another opportunity to tell his story in his own words. The lessons that students, researchers, and fans can learn from this close and personal look at his writings are invaluable.”
 
The collection is available for research in digital and original formats in the AUC Woodruff Library’s Archives Research Center Reading Room. For inquiries about researching the collection, e-mail the Archives Research Center at archives@auctr.edu or call 404-978-2052.
 
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About the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation
The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation is home to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts, just outside of Atlanta in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The Center is dedicated to providing youth and the community with educational programs in the arts. It is a fact that early arts education improves school grades, as well as offers invaluable life lessons while building self esteem and confidence. For nearly 10 years, the Center’s programs have served youth of all social and economic backgrounds, giving countless young people the courage to get off the streets and learn vital skills that have the potential to positively impact their communities. The Center is open to the public and hosts several noteworthy events throughout the year. For more information or to make a donation, visit www.TASF.org.
 
About the Robert W. Woodruff Library and Archives Research Center
Constructed in 1982, the Atlanta University Center (AUC) Robert W. Woodruff Library serves the collective research and information needs of Clark Atlanta University, the Interdenominational Theological Center, Morehouse College and Spelman College. The Woodruff Library’s Archives Research Center is the repository for historical materials documenting the AUC institutions, as well as manuscript collections and organizational records, including the Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. Collection and the Maynard Jackson Mayoral Administrative Records. To learn more about the Woodruff Library, visit www.auctr.edu. For inquiries about the Archives Research Center, e-mail archives@auctr.edu or call 404-978-2052.

Pac’s Life dance showcase is inspired by a collaboration of Tupac’s songs.Watch and follow along as Pac’s Kids’ take you on a journey of technical and intricate dance moves thru different genres of dance, from ballet ballroom, jazz, modern, and hip hop beginning from the womb until the end of time.

View the event on Facebook

Tupac’s spirit lived on Thursday night at the Atlanta Symphony Hall, as family, friends and fans celebrated him on what would have been the late rapper/actor’s 40th birthday.

Rick Ross, Erykah Badu, Bun B, 8Ball & MJG and comedian Mike Epps all attended the event, raising money for the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, which helps students develop their skills in the creative arts. The crowd stood and applauded when Epps, host of the event, presented ‘Pac’s mother, Afeni, with a $10,000 donation, The Associated Press reported.

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Wednesday, 25 May 2011 07:34

Stone Mountain, Georgia – (by David Trivino)– One of the bedrock principles in our legal system is the right to self representation.  But how many of us would actually be able to do so?
 
 
The Black Panther party of the late 1960s had a ten point program that attracted many disenfranchised African Americans.  The Black Panthers public plights included the idea that all people needed to have better schools, betters housing, and an end to police brutality.
 
In April of 1969, in New York, 21 Black Panther members were arrested and charged with over 100 charges, including having the materials to produce bombs and of being responsible for causing chaos.
 
One of the 21 arrested was a young Afeni Shakur (the name Afeni means lover of people).   Afeni decided to sever herself from the other defendants and represent herself. Afeni Shakur is  the mother of slain hip-hop / rap star Tupac Shakur.
 
At the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts (“TASCA” & www.TASF.org), the story of Afeni’s trial is recreated by the talented director Hilda Willis.
 
In this short play Afeni (Danye Brown) begins with the closing arguments from the hearing.  At the time being the longest and most expensive in New York.
 
The cast was a cross generational mix of new thespians to seasoned performers.  One of the challenges that director Hilda Davis had was explaining the story to a diverse audience.  The Black Panther movement was more of a northeast experience, so those in the south may not be as familiar with this story.  Today’s youth are far removed from the turbulent late 1960s.
 
The production was set in the courtroom and the jail cell of Afeni.   The cast began with a resounding step inspired introduction, using the entire space for added effect.
 
The production also moved along between scene changes with the steady background beats ranging from Public Enemy to Kelly Price and Nina Simone.
 
The production ends with the closing argument as presented by Afeni and the juries return of not-guilty.  The ending monologue challenges the audience to view life’s struggles as an opportunity to teach others.  Afeni (Danye Brown) implores, “if I could wish, it is to teach from the place that I know.” Tupac Shakur was born just a month after the end of the trial.
 
In discussing the role, Danye Brown, explained the independent research that she made, to capture the spirit of Afeni at the time.  Danye did not speak to Afeni before the show, but use all the relevant information to channel her in the production.
 
This production is another feather in the cap for Hilda Willis, a well known Atlanta artist, writer and director.  Hilda’s work includes two musicals that were later produced in several Off-Broadway venues and has directed several televised events. Hilda is also featured in the newly released documentary film “The Start of Dreams” produced by the Horne Brothers, which has been selected in this years’ Atlanta Film Festival. Hilda is currently on the staff of Kenny Leon’s, True Colors Theatre Company and is responsible for the expansion of the August Wilson Monologue Competition among other directorial responsibilities.   (http://youtu.be/FCKfGrojTWk )
 
To keep up and for more information about Hilda Willis, visit www.hildawillis.com
 
 
To keep up with upcoming events with the Tupac Foundation visit: http://www.tasf.org/

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December 3, 2011 @ 6PM

404-298–4222 (O)

Sunday Brunch @ Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts

5616 Memorial Drive

Stone Mountain, GA 30083

Tickets are $25.00 per person

866-919-6291 ext 101