Still don't think art has anything to do with the political struggle? The FBI disagrees. Check out this story from the April issue of Jazz Times about decades of FBI investigations and hounding of some of the greatest jazz musicians, singers and bandleaders, including Max Roach (in picture at left), Charles Mingus, Nat King Cole, Cab Calloway and Duke Ellington.Art teachers are under the gun at Parsons the New School for Design, where the nefarious administration of Vietnam war criminal Bob Kerrey is giving the axe to what may turn out to be most of its visual arts faculty. They are adjunct instructors, so their teaching lives are insecure, never knowing from semester to semester whether they'll have work and income. They do, however, to Kerrey's and the bosses' dismay, have a union, UAW Local 7902, and a contract, so these workers are organized and fighting back. They're also drawing support from artists around New York, who are uniting behind the Parons teachers against the mass firings.
For writers and poets on the prowl for publication, here's a good current list of calls for submissions. It's not for me, however, because for the first time in a long time I have nothing to submit. This is a good thing. All my completed stories have either been published or accepted for publication. All the stories I'm working on have a ways to go before they're ready to submit. Novel #2 an even longer way. I'm still seeking publication for novel #1 but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not letting it block my concentration on new work. Tayari Jones has some helpful advice in this regard.
