Bright Skylark News Notes

Prints Available on Fine Art America Now Featured in New Non-Fiction Book

3/27/2019

Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah, new nonfiction and art by Aberjhani. (Published by Cyberwit.net)

Books containing compelling narrative writing combined with appealing fine art by a single creative individual are rare. That makes the forthcoming nonfiction narrative collection by Aberjhani, titled "Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah" (ISBN 978-9388125956), Cyberwit.net Publishers) as well as the artwork from it featured here at Fine Art America/Pixels.com, highly collectible. In addition, the rarity makes them likely to continue increasing in value.

The images in the book are black and white versions of color prints which may be viewed by clicking here: Art from and Inspired by Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah

Previous announcements concerning a book including art by Aberjhani stated it would be one of art and poetry titled "Incandescent Wonder," so the news regarding "Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah" took some by surprise.

"The inclusion of my art and photography in Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah surprised me as well," said the artist-author, "but I've been working on the narrative part of this title for a decade and have been posting updates about it on Facebook and my primary website for the past two years. The art and photography help complete the book in a lot of ways I never expected. I'm glad for the inspiration that prompted me to include it."

The recently-posted art titled "Historic Triumph of Dr. Abigail Jordan" corresponds with the 2019 update of the story in DREAMS titled "The Bridge and the Monument: A Tale of Two Legacies." Aberjhani was in the process of completing edits for the book when he learned Dr. Jordan, who for a decade led efforts to erect the famous African-American Family Monument on River Street in Savannah, had passed in January. She is one of three people to whom the new book is dedicated.

"Learning about Abigail Jordan's passing was quite a shock because so little upon her death was done to publicly acknowledge this great woman whose devotion to eradicating racism and promoting cultural literacy in Savannah has blessed the city so much. The unveiling of the monument in 2002 made headlines around the world. How media in the city neglected to properly acknowledge Jordan's passing is somewhat mystifying but hopefully we will correct that by adding her name more prominently to the monument itself in the form of a plaque or historical marker."

Pre-sales for the first limited edition of "Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah," due out May 1, 2019, are currently available for ordering here:
Pre-Order Dreams of the Immortal City Savannah Now

--Bright Skylark News Notes

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5 Reasons Using Promo Code HSPRXZ is Smarter Than You Might Think

10/19/2018

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(INTERNATIONAL, Oct 20, 2018)-- Most would agree it is a fairly big deal by itself to save a substantial 30 percentage off mark-up prices for wall art, iPhone cases, battery chargers, notebooks, items for the home like towels and shower curtains, T-shirts, baby-clothing, and coffee mugs. However, in addition to the savings, promo code HSPRXZ also gives buyers easier access to the qualities and signature features which make the Postered Chromatic Poetics art catalog at Fine Art America and Pixels.com unique.

Those exceptional qualities and signature features have increased the catalog's popularity over the past year and continue to do the same for its value. The following are five factors driving the increases and reasons why using promo code HSPRXZ is a lot smarter than you might think:

1. Two or More for the Price of One: Chromatic Poetics artwork more often than not actually consists of two or more creations harmoniously blended to produce cutting edge artworks and designs. This practice is a modified contemporary version of one which classic artists sometimes utilized by painting one exceptional work on the top or back of another. Technology allows Chromatic Poetics to blend different canvases so they become one completed piece of art. In some cases, this process can be reversed and the canvases made available as separate titles.

2. Customization: The customized digital matting and framing employed for catalog items often make them more adaptable for use with formats ranging from different-sized wall prints and hand towels to tote-bags and duvets. Buyers themselves are also able to further customize purchases by selecting preferred background colors or toggling a specific image for different products to further enhance particular details.

3. Variety: Collections include landscape- and portrait-formatted works suitable for a variety of tastes and environments. Subject matter and styles range from nature, abstract expressions, travel, and historical documentation to intimate poetic inspiration, compelling series, and powerful visual commentaries.

4. Commitment and Mindfulness: Meaningful themes which support dialogues on some of the most important issues of modern times inspired various individual canvases as well as some entire collections. For example, a number of pieces in the Redbird Series have been tagged to help raise funds for people displaced by natural disasters and war. A percentage of profits from artwork in the Abstract Dreamers of Love and Humanity Collection go toward supporting organizations committed to increasing more harmonious interaction between members of diverse demographics.

5. A Rare Kind of Artist: Catalog items are both created and curated by a historian of the Harlem Renaissance. That obviously means the works can reflect creative aesthetics gleaned from the period. But it also means collectors get a rare chance to acquire visual art by a noted award-winning historian, poet, editor, USAF veteran, and author. After years of working as a journalist and bookseller in order to meet personal and family obligations, the calls to art and literature asserted themselves too strongly to resist.

The above list actually demonstrates the advantages of acquiring Postered Chromatic Poetics artwork at any time, and why using promo code HSPRXZ is such a smart to make.
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Bright Skylark News Productions

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EDITORIAL: Is Personal Accountability Missing Key in Calls to Change Bridge’s Name?

2/21/2018

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Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge spanning Savannah River. (Getty image by Michael Orso)

The word accountable has a friendlier ring to it when applied to someone other than oneself. Used in a statement such as, “Today I will hold myself accountable for making a positive difference in the world,” it feels more nakedly ominous than courageous or inspiring.

Simply put, it means acceptance of responsibility for a specific action or desired outcome. That can be a good or bad thing depending on motives and results involved. In the example at hand, the motive is pursuit of social justice and the desired result is a long-sought correction of history.

400 Girl Scouts and House Resolution 1054

The concept of accountability has my full attention at present because of the admirable way some 400 Girl Scouts made their way to the Georgia State capital to urge lawmakers to remove the late white supremacist Eugene Talmadge’s name from the impressive bridge spanning the Savannah River between the city and Hutchison Island, and replace it with that of their founder: Juliette Gordon Low. With the scouts symbolically and strategically at this side, Rep. Ron Stephens (R-GA) on February 6, 2018, introduced House Resolution 1054: “A RESOLUTION honoring the life of Ms. Juliette Gordon Low and dedicating a bridge in her memory; and for other purposes.”

Joining Stephens, a republican, on the bill’s sponsorship were five democrats: Rep. Gloria Frazier, Rep. Carl Gilliard, Rep. Mickey Stephens, Rep. Al Williams, and Rep. Teri Anulewicz.

The Girl Scouts’ highly-commendable move won them much applause across the nation. It also prompted questions concerning why African-American leaders and community members in Savannah and throughout Georgia have done so little to protest the current name of the bridge or have it changed. Why, for example, in a city famous for its majority-black population, was the African-American presence in the audience at the historic Symposium to Rename the Talmadge Bridge held at the Savannah Theater on September 5, 2017, so overwhelmingly under-represented? As in clearly, visibly, a lot less than half the attendees?

Accountability for Making Memorable Corrective History

The issue is at least as much about engaging the present and preparing for the future as it is about correcting a misstep from the past. Imagine, for example, if during this 2018 Black History Month educators, entrepreneurs, social justice activists, church members, mosque members, temple members, fraternity groups, student groups, government employees, and rappers all had gone one big step beyond applauding our forebears for their triumphs and sacrifices. What if citizens had chosen to hold themselves accountable for staging a peaceful march across Savannah’s bridge in the manner of those who made the perilous trek across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965––minus the bloodshed?

What might it be like to hold ourselves personally accountable for making memorable corrective history instead of simply praising what others have already contributed to it, even as we (apparently) ignore the costs of their unwavering commitment where the name of the bridge is concerned?

Black Leadership & Followership

The question of why black leaders and followers in the city should be singled out as the ones to hold themselves most accountable is a fair one. The answers are agonizingly numerous. One would have to be because: no one has likely already lost, or will continue to lose, anywhere near as much from failure to change the bridge’s name. Consider what it means to sanction via silence the daily overt devaluation of an entire population. Calculate how that institutionalized devaluation translates into impoverished families and individuals, and communities traumatized by gun violence, domestic violence, and social unease as well as disproportionate numbers of unemployed and imprisoned people of African descent.

But among the most important reasons black leaders and community members in different capacities should contemplate holding themselves accountable in this scenario is the exercise which doing so could provide, for currently and following generations, in serving as effective stewards of freedom and justice. On a lighter side: possible photo opportunities stemming from a peaceful march across the bridge would not hurt at all during these social-media-addicted times.

To Build Girls of Courage

Certainly the Girl Scouts make a good case for naming the bridge after Juliette Gordon Lowe (and if House Resolution 1054 makes it through the approval process that is exactly what will happen). Some of the reasoning stated in HR 1054 is debatable but few would argue with these:

“WHEREAS, Ms. Low's life mission was to build girls of courage, confidence, and character; (12 and 13) WHEREAS, her legacy continues to make an extraordinary impact on the lives of millions (14) of girls in Georgia and across our country, with 2.6 million members and 59 million (15) alumnae; and (16) WHEREAS, the movement started by Ms. Low now reaches every corner of the world, with (17) Girl Scouts living throughout the United States and its territories and in more than 90 [ ] countries across the globe…”

That there are already considerable public acknowledgements of Low—most notably the district bearing her name and year-round promotions of the same––and virtually none of other significant historical figures seems to have been discounted.

Alternative Possibilities

Compelling cases may also have been made for a number of other possibilities. My personal favorite happens to be The Tomochichi-Oglethorpe Bridge because combining the two names could symbolize the kind of coexistence for which so many are currently advocating.

Yet Civil War veteran and pioneering educator and author Susie Taylor King, publisher and hero of the Great Migration Robert Abbott, pre-Civil War entrepreneur and spiritual leader Andrew Cox Marshall, and long-time mainstay of the Poetry Society of Georgia Gerald Chan Sieg, all of whom held themselves accountable for facilitating the correction of unjust conditions, would also have made suitable choices. Opting for “The Savannah River Bridge” could be neutrally serviceable enough but also in some ways more of a cop-out than a useful compromise.

What matters more than anything else is engaging the issue, and others of similar significance, with intent to help resolve it in a way that proves more beneficial than antagonistic. We cannot, after all, hold legislators, history itself, or Girl Scouts accountable for righting grievous wrongs if we are not willing to take on the same responsibility ourselves.

Aberjhani
February 14, 2018
Savannah, GA

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Prints Available on Fine Art America Now Featured in New Non-Fiction Book

5 Reasons Using Promo Code HSPRXZ is Smarter Than You Might Think

EDITORIAL: Is Personal Accountability Missing Key in Calls to Change Bridge’s Name?

400 Girl Scouts and House Resolution 1054

Accountability for Making Memorable Corrective History

Black Leadership & Followership

To Build Girls of Courage

Alternative Possibilities

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