April 10, 2008, Atlanta, GA- Atlanta based author, educator, and counselor Ed Garnes joined educators and music/tv industry executives from allhiphop.com, National Academy of Recording Arts Scienes(NARAS), Radio One, CW Network, BET, and XXL Magazine for the national college tour Break Into The Music Conference at North Carolina Central University on April 9, 2008. One of the most influential college tours to date, the conference’s goal is to promote the importance of a college education by offering a full day of creative, interactive insights and experiences with representatives from all fields of the entertainment and media industries.

Garnes, founder of From Afros to Shelltoes, a community based organization focused on using art and education as tools of activism, moderated a discussion on the relevance of W.E.B. Dubois’s (revered educator, sociologist, and co-founder of the NAACP) concept of “The Talented 10^th.” The theory espoused by Dubois emphasized the necessity for higher education to develop the leadership capacity among the most able 10 percent of black Americans.

Garnes’ panel featured a who’s who educators and executives including Kim Cooper (BET), Dr. Mark Anthony Neal ( Duke University professor and acclaimed author of New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity ), Yahzarah (recording artist and voting member of NARAS), Sakiya Sandifer (co-author with Grammy Award Winning Artist Kanye West on “Thank You and You’re Welcome”) and hip hop legend Christopher “Play” Martin from the group Kid -N-Play.

For Martin, Artist in Residence at North Carolina Central University, Garnes participation was fully engaging. “If what Ed Garnes has done in regards to our NCCU Hip Hop Summit panel discussions and social events (for impact) is an appetizer or minute representation of From Afros to Shelltoes, I don’t know if I am ready for a full plate of what this service/ministry provides.”

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Sugar Johnson’s Genius Makes Math Easy

April 8, 2008, New York, NY – Sugar Johnson, a New York-based actor, author, and educator joined over 400 educators, parents, students, activists, and community members from around the world in the Second Annual Creating Balance in an Unjust World: Conference on Math, Education and Social Justice held at Long Island University’s Downtown Brooklyn campus.

Johnson presented an interactive workshop entitled “The Genius of Practicality: The Usefulness of Pre-Theoretical Mathematics.” The session focused on cultural groups like the Yoruba (masters of commerce) and the Chinese (masters of the magic square) practical use of mathematics prior to the desire for pseudo-infinite replication and space. As the co-founder of From Afros To Shelltoes with fellow alum Ed Garnes, the conference presentation was part of their series of cultural programs aimed at education and community engagement.

The conference featured a keynote address from Dr. Robert P. Moses, a Harlem-born Harvard-educated organizer for the civil rights movement as field secretary for the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Founder/President of the Algebra Project, an acclaimed non- profit using mathematics as an organizing tool to ensure quality public school education for every child in America.

For more information on the Creating Balance in an Unjust World Conference, click here

http://www.radicalmath.org/conference/

http://www.radicalmath.org/conference/2008creatingbalanceprogram.pdf

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