|
|
Toni Morrison Chairs National Black Writers' Conference
|
|
|
A Gender Bending Chemical In Plastics Is Feminizing Boys
Plastics have made life much more convenient and are almost everywhere these days. Unfortunately, they may be having one very unintended affect – feminizing boys!
Researchers at the University of Rochester, NY have found that a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are present in everyday items like furniture, packaging, vinyl flooring, shower curtains, cosmetics, fragrances and even toys; can disrupt hormones and cause some to even take on the properties of the female hormone estrogen.
In their study (which is almost five years old!) they found that boys exposed to high levels of phthalates while in their mother’s wombs were less likely to later exhibit the aggressive play habits or toy preferences typical of males.
The changes brought on by phthalates not only were behavioral, but there is evidence that they may also have physical affects like undescended or small testicles and smaller penises (that right there is enough to scare you away from Saran Wrap!)
Lead researcher on the project, Professor Shanna Swan said, "We were able to show, even with our relatively small sample (134 boys), that exposed boys were likely to display a cluster of genital changes."
Professor Richard Sharpe, a reproductive scientist in Edinburgh, Scotland commented on the research saying, "It is significant. It is the first piece of evidence that we have that phthalates may cause adverse effects on reproductive development in human fetuses."
"Testosterone is absolutely critical to development - most of the things that make males different to females are down to pre-natal exposure to the hormone. It is not just the effect on genital development, but also on tissues throughout the body, including the brain."
An earlier Harvard University (circa 2002) study showed that phthalates could damage the sperm of adult men, but it was inconclusive as to whether the damaged sperm would cause infertility or birth defects.
On a recent episode of actor Mario Van Peebles’ “My Green House”, a TV One reality show depicting his family’s move to a more green lifestyle, it was mentioned that this chemical can leach into drinking water contained in plastic bottles exposed to the heat of sunlight for prolonged periods.
Scary!
|
|
|
The Jazz Loft Project Is a Treasure Trove of Jazz History
A new book coming out later this month (Nov. 24th) from author Sam Stephenson entitled “The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957 - 1965” is an amazing look at an even more amazing find of treasure!
You see, during the years mentioned in the title, photographer W. Eugene Smith recorded approximately 4,000 hours of live jam sessions on 1,741 reel-to-reel tapes and shot nearly 40,000 photographs in his 6th Ave. loft in Manhattan's wholesale flower district. Smith's work has remained unknown until now. "The Jazz Loft Project" is an on-going project dedicated to uncovering the personalities and stories behind this legendary moment in American cultural history.
That is an unimaginable amount of music and imagery documenting a wide swath of artists, known and obscure, from several major periods in the evolution of the music called jazz. It must have been a completely overwhelming moment to discover that this existed and a monumental labor of love, resources and money to catalogue and then digitize it all!
To find out more about the book and the scope of the project itself, check out JazzLoftProject.org
Continue>>>
|
|
|
Unknown Soldier Comic Book Centers on the Horrors of Ugandan Civil War
Critically-acclaimed comic book "Unknown Soldier" centers on the horrors of Ugandan civil war. This is not your average superhero battles supervillain comic book.
Written by Joshua Dysart and beautifully illustrated by Alberto Ponticelli, the Vertigo Comic (a DC Comics imprint -- DC is the home of Superman, Batman, et al) is set in 2002 during the brutal violence of the civil war and its associated atrocities that devastated the Central East African nation.
The hero is a heavily bandaged Dr. Lwanga Moses, a Ugandan raised in the U.S. after his family fled there to escape when he was 7 years old. Dr. Moses has returned to Uganda with his wife, Sera, who is also a doctor to utilize their skills to benefit the country. What they encounter; child warriors, merciless killers, rampant HIV infection, brutal assaults rocks their world and provides the rich stories for the comic.
In order to write the series, Mr. Dysart did extensive research related to the country and the conflict and even traveled to Uganda in 2007. He was overwhelmed by the access, cooperation and reception of the people to getting their story out.
Where are the African or African American comic publishers dealing with serious subject matter such as this in an intelligent, yet artful and entertaining manner?
To read even more about Unknown Soldier check out the NY Times article or go to JoshuaDysart.com.
|
|
|
E. Lynn Harris Is Dead at 54
Author E. Lynn Harris, chronicler of Black gay life and an avid sports fan has died at 54.
Harris's appeal extended well beyond a gay readership, though. With 10 straight New York Times Bestsellers List, E. Lynn Harris was the biggest selling Black author of all times and was promoting his 11th book, "Basketball Jones", about an NBA player and his gay lover.
Don't know cause of death yet, but quite sure the speculation will be obvious – was Harris a victim of the life he wrote about?
|
|
|
|
