Monday, October 17, 2011

Weds. (10/19/2011)*9pm c/10pm e/7pm p*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: 2PAC Back! The Ultimate Tribute Show.

 

4 Years In The Tank Now It's Time To Get $Bank$

***Radio Free Dixie For The 21st Century***

October 2011 Theme: Built To Last...
 
Air Date: Weds. October 19, 2011




Time: 9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P


Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Show:



 ***Note: All Shows Are Recorded, Archived, & Available For Downloads & Listens 24/7 @ Their Same Link Of Original Broadcast.***
 
Topic: 2PAC BACK! The Ultimate Tribute Show.
(6/16/1971-9/13/1996???)

Promo Video:


W.E. A.L.L. B.E. TV: My Open Letter To Ms. Afeni Shakur, 2Pac's Mom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM5Lk1ygjOk

MY OPEN LETTER TO MS. AFENI SHAKUR THE MOTHER OF 2PAC (TEXT):


"My mama always used to tell me: 'If you can't find somethin' to live for, you best find somethin' to die for.'"

"Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real."
 
"I don't have no fear of death. My only fear is coming back reincarnated."
~Tupac Shakur
2Pac Back! 15 YEARS LATER THE LEGEND ENDURES!!! Join Us On Weds. Oct. 19 @ 9pm c/10pm e/7pm p As We Celebrate The Life, Genius & Legacy Of Tupac Amaru Shakur, Hip Hop's Biggest Icon, Dead Or Alive...Guests include: 
1.) Sis. Leila Steinberg (2Pac's First Manager)
 http://www.leilasteinberg.com/
***
 
2.) The Outlaw Immortalz 
 http://www.outlawzmedia.net/index2
 
***
 
3.) Investigative Journalist & Author Sis.Cathy Scott
 http://www.cathyscott.com/
 
***
 
4.) COINTELPRO Expert & Author John Potash
 http://www.fbiwarontupac.com/
 
***
 
5.) LAPD Detective & Author Greg Kading 
 http://www.murderrap.com
& Many More...Tune In To Find Out...Join In The Convo...One ♥!
http://www.thetruthabouttupac.com
http://www.2pac.com
http://www.thuglifearmy.com

W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!


Or You Can Mail Us A Money Order:

Attn: Ronald Herd II

The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc.

P.O. Box 752062

Memphis,TN 38175

Create a Radio Show and Reach Millions.  Free for 30 days. Start now.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

***PLEASE JOIN US FRIDAY NOV. 4, 2011, FROM 6PM-9PM C FOR THE MOST KNOWN UNKNOWN CLOSING RECEPTION TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES & ONE OF A KIND & HISTORIC DEAN MCLEOD TRIBUTE***

***PLEASE JOIN US @ NU-ART SERIES' METROPOLITAN GALLERY FRIDAY NOV. 4, 2011, FROM 6PM-9PM C FOR 'THE MOST KNOWN UNKNOWN' CLOSING RECEPTION TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES & ONE OF A KIND & HISTORIC DEAN JAMES MCLEOD TRIBUTE...FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!!***
Pics: My Uncle Arthur The Martyr - The Lunceford Way by Ronald Herd II & "R2 Blowin' @ The Elmwood"

Ronald Herd II:
The Most Known Unknown

September 9 through November 4, 2011
at the Nu-Art Series' Metropolitan Gallery
2936 Locust Blvd., St Louis, MO, 63103
(314) 535-6500
Hours: 11am-5pm Wednesday - Friday, and Saturday by special appointment
Accessible to persons with disabilities. 

Contact:
Bro. Ron Herd II aka R2C2H2 Tha Artivist
phone: 901-299-4355

Promo Video:

http://youtu.be/83Xmr5Bk6_k

Thank You For Attending Opening!   

 

http://youtu.be/5VI6bInctZo

***PLEASE JOIN US @ NU-ART SERIES' METROPOLITAN GALLERY FRIDAY NOV. 4, 2011, FROM 6PM-9PM C FOR 'THE MOST KNOWN UNKNOWN' CLOSING RECEPTION TO FEATURE PERFORMANCES & ONE OF A KIND & HISTORIC DEAN JAMES MCLEOD TRIBUTE...FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!!*** 
About The Artist
Ronald Herd II, a.k.a. Bro. Ron, a.k.a. r2c2h2 tha artivist is not only an artist but a protean force of nature. He is a man of immense talents and a multi-faceted personality who is also a multi-disciplinary artist; a 21st Century Renaissance Man. A committed artist and activist, hence the term “artivist,” Bro. Ron uses his talents to participate in social justice movements and to highlight and address historical wrongs.

A graduate of John Overton High School (1998), Washington University in St. Louis (BFA 2002) and Bethel University (MBA 2009) respectively, for 13 years he has had successful one man and group art shows in the U.S. In 2004, his art was also featured in a group show in Paris, France, curated by the Hip Hop music supergroup The Roots. His W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio program http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe has a listenership of nearly 500,000, while his online W.E. A.L.L. B.E. TV Shows, and his weekly public access tv show “Real Talk With Tha Artivist” (http://www.youtube.com/weallbetv & http://www.weallbetv.blip.tv) have generated a combined viewership in the hundreds of thousands.

Tha Artivist has interviewed some of the most prominent movers and shakers, icons and iconoclasts of our times including crusading former 2008 U.S. Presidential Green Party candidate the honorable Cynthia McKinney, Jazz great Gerald Wilson, acclaimed historians the late Dr. John Hope Franklin and the late Dr. Manning Marable, renowned psychiatrist and author of "The Isis Papers" Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, the great comedian and 'huemanitarian' Dick Gregory, MLK lawyer and speechwriter ("I Have A Dream") Clarence Jones, award-winning author and journalist Patrice Gaines, author and activist the honorable Judge D'Army Bailey (the founder of The National Civil Rights Museum), celebrated U.S. Presidential portrait painter Simmie Knox, first Black NASA astronaut candidate and acclaimed sculptor Ed Dwight, The Father Of The Black TV Sitcom Eric Monte (Good Times, Sanford & Son, The Jeffersons), 80s art counterculture icon and the godfather of Hip Hop TV Michael Holman, among countless others.

Using his media acumen and investigative journalism instincts via his W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio platform, R2C2H2 Tha Artivist was among the first stateside to interview key participants in the Jena 6 movement as well as investigate the recent December 2010 hanging death of a young black man named Frederick Jermaine Carter in Greenwood (his work in that case led to the state of Mississippi to finally release the autopsy reports of the deceased after a several week delay) and the August 2009 surreal assault of an unarmed young Black male in Tallahatchie County chased by a drunken militia led by a tank driven by the son of the lawyer who defended Emmett Till's killers and a canine unit from Parchman Penitentiary, both outrageous and stranger than fiction events taking place in the both celebrated and infamous Mississippi Delta.

Bro. Ron is also an award winning author. In 2005, he self-published his first book "James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant" (http://www.jazzlieutenant.blogspot.com). The book, which is both illustrated and written by R2C2H2 Tha Artivist and which deals with the legacy of World War One hero and early jazz pioneer James Reese Europe, was selected to be on the Smithsonian Institute's Jazz Books For Kids & Young Adults List.

2005 also saw the debut of "The Arthur 'Soldier Boy Grip' Taylor Chronicles" (http://www.soldierboygrip.blogspot.com), an online comic strip blog dedicated to the memory of his late great maternal grandfather who was a World War 2 veteran and member of the legendary Red Ball Express.

In 2007, R2C2H2 started The Jimmie Lunceford Jamboree Festival Movement http://www.jimmielunceford.com to honor the legacy of Jimmie Lunceford, the first Memphis City Schools High School Band Director & Jazz Swing Great. His efforts led to Jimmie Lunceford being honored with a brass note on Beale Street in Memphis, TN, in July 2009 and a Mississippi Blues Trail Marker in his hometown of Fulton, MS, in June 2011.

In Bro. Ron’s Own Words:
" My job an artivist (artist + activist) is to actively promote understanding, love and appreciation for the creative arts as well as for creative people. I use my art in particular to break down all types of walls and barriers that people put up either to justify their hatred, prejudice and indifference or because of their ignorance and naiveté towards certain issues and topics concerning people, history and culture(s). One of my main objectives in my profession is to teach the world how to love, not just tolerate black people and other beautiful beings and things! If I reach just one hue-man being then my entire existence in all its meaning will be totally justified!

" My art is created through the use and motivation of three of my main passions: art, music and history, in particular African and African American History. I think four of my biggest influences, Jacob Lawrence, El Greco, William H. Johnson and Paul Gaugin, have taught and convinced me that interesting stories can be told in a visually expressive and highly original individual style without the use of the written word. These artists among the countless others that I admire like Picasso, Charles White, Van Gogh, Romare Bearden, Lois Jones, Archibald Motley, George Hunt, Jean Michel Basquiat to musicians Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Run DMC, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, Billie Holiday, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and 2pac remind me through their prolific outputs that research is one of the most important ingredients in forming your own artistic voice. Before I create a series of related artworks I dive deeply into the subject(s) of my choice. I feel artists are like synthesizers, taking in all foreign information and materials, mixing it with the artist's experiences and knowledge and then compressing it into a product made in the artist's likeness or image based on the artist's own ideas and philosophies. All great art to me seems to be those works that have substance and tell unwritten as well as written stories that are to be retold and reinterpreted for years to come. Hopefully my dedication to my art will continue to lead me in this direction."
ONE OF A KIND & HISTORIC DEAN MCLEOD TRIBUTE PRESENTED BY THA ARTIVIST & FRIENDS 

R2C2H2 THA ARTIVIST WILL PAY HOMAGE TO HIS FALLEN & NEVER FORGOTTEN MENTOR & FRIEND DEAN JAMES MCLEOD WHO PASSED AWAY FROM CANCER ON SEPTEMBER 6, 2011, WHICH WAS ALSO THE OPENING WEEK OF THIS SHOW...IF YOU ARE A PART OF THIS GREAT MAN'S LEGACY THEN YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!!!

Check Out Earlier Dean McLeod Tributes Done By Tha Artivist:

VIDEO: DEAN JAMES MCLEOD TRIBUTE
Tha Artivist Salutes Dean McLeod (7/26/1944 - 9/6/2011)
--

"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

"If I could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more."

-Harriet Tubman

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Video Promo; W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:Fever...Little Willie John: A Fast Life, Mysterious Death & The Birth Of Soul


 

4 Years In The Tank Now It's Time To Get $Bank$

***Radio Free Dixie For The 21st Century***

October 2011 Theme: Built To Last...
 
Air Date: Weds. October 12, 2011




Time: 9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P


Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Show:



 ***Note: All Shows Are Recorded, Archived, & Available For Downloads & Listens 24/7 @ Their Same Link Of Original Broadcast.***
 


W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!


Or You Can Mail Us A Money Order:

Attn: Ronald Herd II

The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc.

P.O. Box 752062

Memphis,TN 38175

Create a Radio Show and Reach Millions.  Free for 30 days. Start now.

Weds. (10/12/2011)*9pm c/10pm e/7pm p*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio:Fever...Little Willie John: A Fast Life, Mysterious Death & The Birth Of Soul

 

4 Years In The Tank Now It's Time To Get $Bank$

***Radio Free Dixie For The 21st Century***

October 2011 Theme: Built To Last...
 
Air Date: Weds. October 12, 2011




Time: 9 PM C/10 PM E/7 PM P


Call-in Number: 646-652-4593

Show:



 ***Note: All Shows Are Recorded, Archived, & Available For Downloads & Listens 24/7 @ Their Same Link Of Original Broadcast.***
 
Topic: Fever...Little Willie John: A Fast Life, Mysterious Death & The Birth Of Soul
Featured Guests...
 'FEVER'
Co-Authors
Sis. Susan Whitall & Bro.
Kevin 'Kajun' John
 (The Son Of Little Willie
John)




About Book
“Little Willie John is the soul singer’s soul singer.” – Marvin Gaye

“My mother told me, if you call yourself 'Little' Stevie Wonder, you'd better be as good as Little Willie John." – Stevie Wonder

Little Willie John lived for a fleeting 30 years, but his dynamic and daring sound left an indelible mark on the history of music. His deep blues, rollicking rock ‘n’ roll, and swinging ballads inspired a generation of musicians, forming the basis for what we now know as soul music.

Born in Arkansas in 1937, William Edward John found his voice in the church halls, rec centers and nightclubs of Detroit, a fertile proving ground that produced the likes of Levi Stubbs and the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson, and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. One voice rose above the rest in those formative years of the 1950s, and Little Willie John went on to have 15 hit singles in the American rhythm & blues chart, with considerable cross-over success in pop. Some of his songs might be best known by their cover versions (“Fever” by Peggy Lee, “Need Your Love So Bad” by Fleetwood Mac and “Leave My Kitten Alone” by The Beatles) but Little Willie John’s original recording of these and other songs are widely considered to be definitive. It is this sound that is credited with ushering in a new age in American music as the 1950s turned into the 60s and rock ‘n’ roll took its place in popular culture.

The soaring heights of Little Willie John’s career are matched only by the tragic events of his death, cutting short a life so full of promise. Charged with a violent crime in the late 1960s, an abbreviated trial saw Willie convicted and incarcerated in Walla Walla Washington, where he died under mysterious circumstances in 1968.

In this, the first official biography of one of the most important figures in rhythm & blues history, author Susan Whitall, with the help of Little Willie John’s eldest son Kevin John, has interviewed some of the biggest names in the music industry and delved into the personal archive of the John family to produce an unprecedented account of the man who invented soul music.



W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Needs Your Support...Give To Grow The Movement!


Or You Can Mail Us A Money Order:

Attn: Ronald Herd II

The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Group Inc.

P.O. Box 752062

Memphis,TN 38175

Create a Radio Show and Reach Millions.  Free for 30 days. Start now.

Saturday, October 01, 2011

Artivist In Action: Ronald Herd (R2C2H2) Teaches The Community Through Art.

Artivist In Action: Ronald Herd (R2C2H2) Teaches The Community Through Art.
LIMELIGHT November 2005


"ARTIVIST" PURSUES DREAM : Painter, Author,Musician, Volunteer, Memphis native and Washington University graduate Ronald Herd, 25, has quit Substitute Teaching to focus fully on his art. He frequently travels around the country to display his drawings and promote his self-published book, "James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant". Photo by Carl Hess II.


Herd is an 'artivist' combining his art and afrocentric and humanist sensibilities. "I try to synthesize everyone I meet, everything I read and see with my own DNA and experiences. I'm terrifically influenced by others art, including the masters and by music and my own spiritual connection to God and His Universe. I truly feel connected to the present and the past , tremendously eager about the future and my journey. Let me amend that to the earth and it's inhabitants journey in the cosmos. R2C2H2 is pictured here with his high school art teacher the great Dr. Emily 'Boo' Ruch at the opening reception of his one person exhibition, R2C2H2: In The Black, in the Ross Gallery at Christian Brothers University of Memphis,Tn (April 8, 2005). R2C2H2 is only the third African American to have had an exhibition at the venue. Photo by Carl Hess II.


FIRST OF MANY: "James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant" is Ronald Herd's book on the Composer/Music Publisher/Theatrical Producer/World War I Hero. The book is split between text that tells Lt. Europe's story and drawings by Herd that pull the reader into the narrative. Herd's approach to history has already won recognition; the book was recently named to the Smithsonian Institute's "Jazz Books for Kids and Young Adults" list. He hopes that his books will demolish the thought that it takes one person to manufacture social change. "It takes a group of people to get things going," says Herd.


Herd's art and writing have already brought the young artist to the attention of the art community nationally. It has also allowed him to travel and meet "so many diverse people". It has been a great side benefit for me. Here is at a gallery showing of his works (R2C2H2: Evolution of a Style,2002) at St. Louis' own Vaughn Cultural Art Center with Elaine Brown, the first and only female President of The Black Panthers. Herd refers to himself as an 'Artivist'. An artivist is an activist who combines the two disciplines.

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY THE BRILLIANT AND GREAT MR. B HIMSELF, BYRON LEE, A DEAR SUPPORTER AND FRIEND OF THE R2C2H2 EXPERIENCE...YOU CAN ALSO FIND THIS ARTICLE IN THE NOVEMBER 2005 ISSUE OF THE LIMELIGHT http://www.limelightnews.com/ , THE POPULAR ST. LOUIS REGION BLACK MONTHLY NEWSZINE...YOU CAN CONTACT MR. B THE GIFTED ARTIST OF WORDS AT THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS: BYRONLEE3@YAHOO.COM

Conversations with Ronald Herd, a self-proclaimed “Artivist” (artist meets activist), are captivating journeys through the pop cultural, political, and historical landscape. He voices his thoughts in a Southern baritone intermittently accented with a booming cackle of a laugh; he peppers those thoughts with references to everyone from Barry Bonds and Usher to Robert Johnson and John Bolton. The listener struggles between effortlessly going along for the ride and repeatedly asking, “Can you repeat that?”

It is Herd’s charismatic personality and wide-ranging intelligence that has allowed him to make a name for himself as an artist both in St. Louis and in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Herd, 25, has dedicated himself to educating people about the contributions of blacks through his art, and he sees no limit in how that art manifests itself.

His artistic journey began early in life. He developed a speech impediment at the age of 2. “My words would run together when I talked”, remembers Herd, “so I channeled my frustrations into my drawings.” He had more strife during his early school years. As a student in the Memphis Public School system, he was shuffled from school to school and misunderstood by many of his teachers. He would find solace in the schools’ libraries. “It was a way for me to feed my mind,” says Herd, who, thanks to his knowledge of American Presidents, earned a reputation for being one of the smartest kids in his class, even before he started making the Honor Roll.

His thirst for knowledge was noticed by his mother, Callie, a Computer Programmer who is heavily involved in community activism. Ms. Herd bought a World Book Encyclopedia set for her son; the youngster immediately started researching historical figures. Ms. Herd further nurtured her son’s interest by enrolling him in the Memphis Schools’ CAPA program (Creating And Performing Arts), a program that lasted from his 7th-12th grade years. “It allowed me to focus on my craft and take it seriously,” says Herd of the program. Finally, a twist of fate occurred when Herd was one of 15 blacks out of 250 students accepted into Tennessee’s Governor’s School program the summer before his senior year at Overton High School. Herd says that his experience in the program taught him how to interact with different groups of people. “There were people there who did not like the work that I did, but they eventually grew to respect me.”

One person who liked Herd and respected his work was Georgia Binnington, Associate Dean of the Washington University School of Art. Ms. Binnington, who was at the Memphis College of Art as part of National Portfolio Day, was so struck by Herd’s entries in the festival that she suggested that he apply for the University’s John B. Ervin Program, a program that provides a full scholarship. Herd was accepted.

Herd’s passion for art would unexpectedly take focus while Herd was sitting in an 8am class during his freshman year. He was watching a documentary on experimental jazz icon Sun Ra when he heard the legend make the statement that would become Herd’s credo: “Space is the Place.” Sun Ra’s quote has been used by several people, but Herd believes that many people have missed the true meaning of the statement. “You look at his garb, and you would think that he is talking about the cosmos, outer space. What he was really talking about was the space between your two ears, your mind, your brain. Your imagination is a very powerful tool. You can create whatever you want to. Use it as a tool and empower yourself and others with it.”

Inspired by both Sun Ra and the University’s “Introduction to Ragtime” course, Herd started studying jazz and blues musicians on his own. He was even more invigorated by what he read. “The early practitioners of jazz and blues were very powerful musically, even though a lot of them were not very rich socio-economically speaking. Their music was able to change people’s minds about a lot of things, it was able to start a lot of controversy, and it was able to get a lot of things moving.”

Herd started putting more historical information into his work. He also realized early on that if he was going to reach people, he would have to work on his own to make sure that his work was seen. He started searching through the Internet relentlessly in order to find openings in galleries. He also took the bull by the horns and booked one-man shows at the Sheldon and the Urban League. He was the youngest artist at the 2001 Art St. Louis display (where he made his first sale, the Charlie Parker-inspired “Bird In Flight,” for $1500) and, a few months later, he was one of 50 recipients, out of 14,000 applicants, to receive the $1,000 Double Mint Grant Award.

Adhering to his pledge to reach people, Herd also took part in the Chips In Motion Reach to Teach program, where members of disadvantaged communities are taught about health through the arts. Herd loved the equality demonstrated in the program. “There were older people and younger people, and everyone was teaching each other. No one was above anyone else. That is what education should be,” says Herd.

Herd graduated from Washington University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Printmaking/Drawing in the Spring of 2002 (he actively recruits black students for the school). He continued creating art while simultaneously working as a Substitute Teacher when he read “A Life In Ragtime,” Reid Badger’s biography of Composer/Music Publisher/Theatrical Producer/World War I Hero Lieutenant James Reese Europe. He then saw an opportunity to further educate an audience that would not normally be exposed to historical information. “Most people are not going to read a 300 page book. Some may not even read a 100 page book. I’ve always sprinkled historical facts in my work, so I saw writing a book on James Europe as an extension of that.”

Herd’s self-published book, “James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant” (which can be purchased from Herd’s website, www.r2c2h2.com, or from www.booksurge.com) is seventy-five pages almost equally split between text that tells Lt. Europe’s story and drawings by Herd that pull the reader into the narrative. Herd’s approach to history has already won recognition; the book was recently named to the Smithsonian institute’s “Jazz Books for Kids and Young Adults” list. “During his day, [Europe] was one of the most popular black men in North America. He organized the first black musicians union in our country. For him to be written out of Jazz History is a sham.”

Herd has decided to quit teaching and to pursue his art fulltime. He has several books ready for publication, and he hopes to continue to be both a resource and an inspiration for his audience “I want people to see in my work and my persona that it is okay to mess up and be rejected. As long as you get back up and follow your dreams, you can’t go wrong.”