| Dear Friends of ChickenBones:
We have all been blessed over the last several years by the
on-line journal known as ChickenBones: A Journal (www.nathanielturner.com).
We have had everyday access to original intellectual work by
some of the most important artists and theorists of the past 100
years, made possible by the dedicated and selfless labor of the
singular Rudy Lewis.
Rudy has been performing the same kind of cultural labor that
earned Langston Hughes his respect as a midwife of the Harlem
Renaissance and Dudley Randall his own as the man behind
Broadside Press and the Black Arts Movement. One glance at the
ChickenBones
website is enough to convince anyone of this idea.
We cannot forget that behind every great artist there is a
whole army of talented everyday workers such as Rudy who, like
Dudley Randall did, takes the greatest pleasure in simply
raising up other artists, and who has no problem with the
anonymity that often comes with this kind of behind-the-scenes
labor. And yes, like the great
Dudley Randall was in his life,
Rudy is a librarian.
Rudy is hardly anonymous to those of us who know him and
depend personally on his work at ChickenBones, but, for
the million readers who visited the site last year, he probably
is. This year ChickenBones was visited by 1.5 million
people, and this coming year we expect even more. For
information about the basic facts of ChickenBones, read
the
Conversation
on ChickenBones Survival
What most readers of ChickenBones do not know is that
Rudy carefully maintains the website without any financial
support from readers or grant-giving institutions. The time has
come for things to change here, because we simply cannot lose ChickenBones,
it's not an option.
There are essential infrastructural improvements that must be
made. For example, there is an urgent need for new hardware,
software, DLS internet provider, web hosting and security
services, as well as technical assistance. Our
fund-raising goal is $25,000. But, even more important, there is
the fact that Rudy needs to be compensated for his valuable
editorial labors. We are asking folk to join us in helping to
support Rudy and his irreplaceable work at ChickenBones.
In concluding his great book The
Crisis of the Negro Intellectual , Harold Cruse wrote that the intellectual
horizons of the black intelligentsia have been so narrowed in
scope and banalized by the American corrosion that Negro
creativity has been diminishing since the 1920s. The staying power of Rudy Lewis's work at
ChickenBones
is the way he has helped to reverse this trend, all by himself,
by broadening our horizons each and every day. Tell Rudy you
know this by cutting him a check.
Donations (check or money order) should be made out to ChickenBones:
A Journal and sent to:
ChickenBones is not listed as a charitable
organization. Patrons will need to make individual decisions
regarding how they wish to claim for income tax purposes.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
The Committee to Keep ChickenBones Alive
Rudolph Lewis, Founder and Editor
Miriam
DeCosta-Willis
Jerhretta DaFina Suite
Eugene B. Redmond
Jeannette Drake
Joyce E. King
Louis Reyes Rivera
Jonathan Scott
Patricia Jabbeh Wesley
Sandra L. West
* * *
* *
Friends
of ChickenBones Contributors
Contributors 2006
|
special thanks and holiday greetings 2006
I'd like to send out a special thanks and holiday
greeting to
Benjamin
S. Schwartz,
Anita
Cantor,
Eugene B. Redmond,
Amin Sharif,
Melissa Dymock,
Clarence "Tiger" Davis,
Yvonne Terry,
Wilson J. Moses,
Caroline
Maun,
Larry Ukali Johnson-Redd
,
Marvin X,
Rose Ure Mezu,
Jerhretta DaFina Suite,
Austin Sydnor,
Stuart W.
Doyle,
Father Zilonka,
and
Stephen R. Early.
In 2006, they
contributed each between $100 and $3,000 in support
of
ChickenBones:
A Journal. Without their gracious
support I would not have the equipment or the means
to be online.
Yet they were not the only ones who came to our
needed assistance. There were many who made
donations of $50 or more. And many sent or did what
they could in one way or another, either making a
financial or a literary contribution, or responding
with a kind word. No contribution, even the $2
ones, went unappreciated, especially in those down
moments when I thought none cared. Some of these are
listed
are listed above
(1-72).
We served a great audience in 2006: nearly 2 million sessions; over
3.3 million pageviews. In 2007, we still need your active
financial support. ChickenBones is adding and supporting
daily new and established writers, scholars and publishers. We are a
unique and fresh experience in Internet publishing. Our Black
Arts files are growing and including table of contents of
anthologies of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s out of publication and not
on the Internet. We have archival material that is difficult to
access. We have current African writers and a Nigerian audience. We
have religionists of every stripe, including Turks and atheists,
too. We have articles and materials still on the site published 5
years ago. We have free access. Artists, writers, publishers want to
be on ChickenBones because google and other search engines
put their work in the top ten hits. But they are lax in their
financial support. I cannot accomplish what we do alone: we need
your continuing support. Please send in your donations, today,
encourage your friends, also. Help
Save ChickenBones
I wish all of you the best of the holiday season.
Our work in 2006 has been a labor of love and
commitment. I hope in 2007 we can redouble our
efforts and push forward to greater victories. --
Rudy
Rudolph Lewis, Editor
ChickenBones: A Journal
www.nathanielturner.com |
Responses from Friends
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