Critical Exposure

Critical Exposure teaches youth to use the power of photography and their own voices to become effective advocates for school reform and social change.

The organization was founded in 2004 by a former educator and an education policy analyst in response to the drastic disparities that exist among public schools.

By empowering young people to develop skills as documentary photographers and advocates, we expose citizens and policymakers to the realities of our current two-tiered education system as seen through the eyes of the students who confront those realities each day.

Through this approach Critical Exposure works to secure policy changes in order to ensure that all children have access to an excellent, equitable public education, fulfilling this nation's promise of providing all children with an opportunity to succeed.

Critical Exposure will have a presence at Split This Rock's upcoming benefit party featuring Dwayne Betts and the DC Youth Slam Team. The party is January 18, and donations of $100-1000 are accepted. For more information and to RSVP, contact ali at splitthisrock dot org.

To see some of Critical Exposure's galleries, click here.

Stone Hammered to Gravel

Head over to Foreign Policy in Focus to read "Stone Hammered to Gravel" a poem by Martín Espada, a featured poet at the 2008 and 2010 Split This Rock poetry festivals, for poet Dennis Brutus, who died at age 85 on December 26, on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

Somehow Tenderness Survives: Remembering Dennis Brutus, January 10

Sunday, January 10, 2010, 4-6 pm
Langston Room, Busboys and Poets

14th and V Streets, NW
Washington, DC
www.busboysandpoets.com
202-387-POET

Please join Busboys and Poets, Split This Rock, TransAfrica Forum, Africa Action, Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, and Haymarket Books as we celebrate the life and work of South African poet and pioneer for justice Dennis Brutus (1924-2009).

Featuring poetry and remembrances by poets Kenny Carroll, Elen Awalom, Holly Bass, and Sarah Browning, Sameer Dossani, former director of 50 Years is Enough, Zahara Heckscher, Emira Woods of Foreign Policy in Focus, Neil Watkins of Jubilee USA Network, Dave Zirin, author of What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States, and others. Audience members will also have an opportunity to offer their memories or to read a favorite poem by Dennis Brutus. Program to be followed by a screening of I Am a Rebel, a 50-minute documentary of Brutus' life by the South African filmmaker Vincent Moloi.

A world-renowned political organizer and one of Africa's most celebrated poets, Brutus was a life-long champion of peace and social justice. As an early opponent of Apartheid in South Africa, he spent years in prison on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela. Upon his release and exile, Brutus successfully organized an international sports boycott of South Africa. Among his many books are Poetry & Protest: A Dennis Brutus Reader (Haymarket Books, 2006).

Photo Credit: Jill Brazel

Photo of the Week: Kim Roberts and Regie Cabico

This new feature will highlight a different photo each week from the 2008 festival. For more photos from the last festival, check out Split This Rock's Flickr.



Kim Roberts, editor of Beltway Quarterly, celebrating 10 years, and Regie Cabico, Split This Rock Youth Educator, at the Sunday March at the 2008 festival.

The Art of Extraction article at FPIF

The following is excerpted from a Foreign Policy in Focus article on The Art of Extraction event in November. Read the full article here.

It's a vision of heaven and hell worthy of a medieval painter. Indeed, with their monumental black-and-white works, the Collective has updated the art of the triptych. Like Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights, the coal graphic is crammed with imagery that requires careful scrutiny and an accompanying guide to decode the symbolic content. It offers a three-part narrative of paradise, temptation, and damnation. And it is infused with a moral fervor that confronts the viewer with stark choices about how to live one's life.

For more information on Mark Nowak, check out his blog, Coal Mountain. For more information on The Beehive Collective, check out their website, BeehiveCollective.org.

2010 Adult Poetry Contest Deadline Extended to January 22!

2010 Adult Poetry Contest - Deadline extended to January 22:
Split This Rock has extended the deadline for our third annual poetry contest, to be judged by Chris Abani, one of the 2010 festival's featured poets.

First place $500;
2nd and 3rd place, $250 each.

Winning poems will be published on SplitThisRock.org, and the 1st-place winner will be invited to read the winning poem at Split This Rock Poetry Festival in March 2010. We're excited to announce that the winning poem will also be published in Potomac Review.

NEW Deadline: January 22, 2010.

See the website for guidelines: SplitThisRock.org

Happy Tenth Birthday, Beltway Poetry Quarterly!

Beltway Poetry Quarterly Celebrates Ten Years of Publication!

Announcing Volume 11.1: Winter 2010
Beltway Poetry's Tenth Anniversary Issue:
A Celebration of Guest Editors

Beltway's newest issue features poems and reminiscences from the 15 talented people who have generously served as guest editors since the journal's founding: Merrill Leffler, Brian Gilmore, 2008 Split This Rock Featured Poet, Hilary Tham, Saundra Rose Maley, Grace Cavalieri, 2008 Split This Rock Featured Poet, Naomi Ayala, 2008 Split This Rock Featured Poet, Sarah Browning, Split This Rock Co-Director, Andrea Carter Brown, Kwame Alexander, Teri Ellen Cross, Split This Rock advisory board member, Regie Cabico, Split This Rock core leader, Katie Davis , Maureen Thorson, Toni Asante Lightfoot, 2010 Split This Rock Featured Poet, and Dan Vera, key Split This Rock activist. Editor Kim Roberts is also a member of the Split This Rock advisory board.