FWD: Open letter from concerned genocide scholars on situation in Syria and Iraq

http://genocidewatch.net/2014/08/28/open-letter-from-concerned-genocide-scholars-regarding-the-situation-in-syria-and-iraq/

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129th birthday of Alain Locke

(Born 13 September 1885, Philadelphia, US)

Distinguished philosopher and prolific multidisciplinary scholar aptly described by Martin Luther King as one of the preeminent philosophers that “came through the universe”, dean of the 1920s-1930s Harlem Renaissance

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90th birthday of Amilcar Cabral

(Born 12 September 1924, Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau)

Agricultural engineer, outstanding theorist and philosopher of the national liberation resistance (see, particularly, Amilcar Cabral, Revolution in Guinea [New York: Monthly Review, 1970] and Cabral, Return to the Source [New York: Monthly Review, 1973]) and founder of  Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e CaboVerde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) that frees Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde in 1974 from 500 years of the Portuguese conquest and occupation

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87th birthday of Elvin Jones

(Born 9 September 1927, Pontiac, Mich, United States)

Renowned drummer and member of the 1960s John Coltrane classic quartet (Coltrane, tenor and soprano saxophones; McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; Jones, drums), who provides the polyrhythmic anchor for the group’s restless stretch of creativity, and whose duet passages with Coltrane in many a performance of compositions, during the period, are opportunities for profound commentaries and analyses on pertinent subjects of both domestic and international affairs

(John Coltrane Quartet, “One Down, One Up”: in this composition, which has Coltrane’s longest solo recorded (26 minutes), pianist Tyner and bassist Garrison create the space at approximately 13.13 minutes into the saxophonist’s solo for 13 minutes of one of the most breathtaking of duets – between Coltrane and Jones [personnel: Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Tyner, piano; Garrison, bass; Jones, drums; recorded: live, The Half Note, New York, US, 28 March 1965])

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80th birthday of Sonia Sanchez

(Born 9 September 1934, Birmingham, US)

Distinguished prolific poet, playwright, academic, human rights activist

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83rd birthday of Marion Brown

(Born 8 September 1931, Atlanta, US)

Distinguished lyrical alto saxophonist, composer, and academic, with a distinct Youngesque-low-key seemingly effortless tone who is the second alto (besides John Tchicai) in the historic 11-person ensemble that plays on John Coltrane’s composition, Ascension (June 1965)

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59th birthday of Osonye Tess Onwueme

(Born 8 September 1955, Ogwashi-Ukwu, Igboland)

Award-wining prolific playwright and academic whose works include Broken Calabash (1984), The Desert Encroaches (1985), Ban Empty Barn (1986), Legacies (1989),  Tell It to Women (1995), Then She Said It (2003), What Mama Said (2004) and Riot in Heaven (2006)

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