“Othering” – Art Menius Chapel Hill News September 14, 2016
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill-news/chn-opinion/article101334797.html
Defining people who don’t appear to be like you as others, as members of groups that aren’t us, as sources of our problems. Makes for an easy explanation of problems. Then demagogues can attack the others, make them less than us, to be controlled or eliminated.
Rhiannon Giddens Brings Diversity to Banjo Award http://nyti.ms/2cFjQfx
Ms. Giddens is the winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. The $50,000 award is presented annually by a board that includes Mr. Martin as well as other banjo stars like Bela Fleck, Tony Trischka, Pete Wernick and J. D. Crowe. The board’s official announcement of Ms. Giddens’s honor is expected to be made on Monday.
Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun http://nyti.ms/2c9EXZQ
Now, those warnings are no longer theoretical: The inundation of the coast has begun. The sea has crept up to the point that a high tide and a brisk wind are all it takes to send water pouring into streets and homes.
http://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2016/09/labor-day/?loclr=eaftb
It should not be forgotten that Labor Day was born out of struggle for better treatment and recognition of the workers who built the wealth of this country. The fight was for many things we take for granted today, such as a minimum wage, a five day work week, the right to form and belong to unions, and the rights of working children.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/arts-culture/article99291307.html
If the words “folk festival” make you think of oldtimers playing banjos while someone accompanies them on the dulcimer, welcome to the club. That’s the image I conjured. And I’m not knocking banjos or dulcimers – I love them both. My parents raised me on Peter, Paul and Mary, and Ian & Sylvia.
But as the National Folk Festival approaches – it’s in Greensboro Sept. 9-11 – Charlotte historian Dr. Tom Hanchett took time to set me straight.
The National Endowment for the Arts is releasing new research that for the first time offers a complete state-by-state perspective on how Americans participate in the arts. In addition, the data reveal that despite decades of declining arts attendance by U.S. adults in the performing and visual arts, more recent rates are holding steady. The new research comes in the form of two “arts data profiles,” NEA collections of statistics, graphics, and summary results from data-mining about the arts. The latest additions are Results from the Annual Arts Basic Survey (2013-2015) and State‐Level Estimates of Arts Participation Patterns.
http://yesweekly.com/mobile/articles/articleView/id:21727
The National Folk Festival is worth planning ahead for, penciling some dates on the calendarand coming up with a strategy for how to get to all the shows you’re going to want to see. The free three-day festival is having a three-year residency in Greensboro, and the 2016 festival, which takes place Sept. 9 – 11, marks year two of the run.
http://worldmusiccentral.org/2016/08/19/interview-with-zydeco-accordion-virtuoso-jeffery-broussard/
Jeffery Broussard and The Creole Cowboys are set to perform at the National Folk Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Concerts dates include Friday, September 9 at 6:00 pm at Wrangler Stage; Saturday, September 10 at 2:45 pm at Dance Pavilion; Saturday, September 10 at 9:30 pm at Wrangler Stage; Sunday, September 11 at 12:00 pm at Dance Pavilion; and The Big Squeeze: Accordion Traditions on Sunday, September 11 at 3:15 pm at Lawn Stage.
http://www.dailyyonder.com/review-another-take-on-hillbilly-elegy/2016/08/16/14807/
By my esteemed friend Bill Turner
Art Menius 