ANNOUNCING THE UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2015

Mama C in Cape Town, South Africa

Charlotte Hill O’Neal aka Mama C, visual and spoken word artist, musician, longtime community activist and co Director of United African Alliance Community Center UAACC based in Tanzania, East Africa is pleased to announce that the UAACC Heal the Community Tour 2015 is scheduled to begin in early February to mid April 2015 in time for both Black History Month and International Women’s Month activities and more!

Mama Charlotte will be available to visit your community or school to speak on more than two decades of UAACC outreach in America and East Africa including the UAACC Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home program; screen unique and inspiring documentaries; perform her music and poetry and spread the love and inspiration!

from the Joanne Hershfield documentary, Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush

In addition to the well-known classic, award winning documentary by Aaron Matthews, A PANTHER IN AFRICA which focuses on the life and history of former Kansas City Black Panther Party leader and Founder of UAACC Pete O’Neal, Mama Charlotte will also be available to screen a new documentary about her life as an artist activist by film maker, Dr. Joanne Hershfield titled Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush

Leaders of Tomorrow Children at UAACC

The Royal Knowledge by Italian film maker Francesco Molteni which concentrates on the Leaders of Tomorrow Children who have lived with the O’Neal’s for nearly six years plus a brand new short documentary by TAISHI STUDIOS Jermaine Thomas about the recent historic Black Panther Party Legacy Celebration 2014 that was hosted by Mama C in Kansas City will also be available to screen!

Black Panther Women Andre Weatherby Rawls; Barbara Easely Cox; Kathleen Cleaver and Mama C at Black Archives of Mid America after a panel discussion during the Black Panther Party Legacy Celebration  Oct. 2014 in Kansas City

Mzee Pete O’Neal and Mama Charlotte O’Neal with some of the 22 Leaders of Tomorrow Children, day students and volunteers at UAACC in Imbaseni Village, outside of Arusha, Tanzania!

Leaders of Tomorrow Children are being groomed for productive and creative lives that will push Africa and the world to be what it is meant to be…a place of peace, love and prosperity! The older students are offered classes in various subjects that will also open doors of opportunities in their lives. All teachers are volunteers and all classes are free.
Support this unique initiative by visiting http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz and click on the make a donation button!
Plan to visit Tanzania for a ‘hands on’ experience in making a difference in many lives…then pass it on!!

Mama C lecturing in Ghana last year

Mama C with students at Sacramento College during the 2014 tour

BRING MAMA CHARLOTTE TO YOUR SCHOOL OR COMMUNITY
TO INSPIRE YOUR YOUTH!

We expect her calendar to fill up rapidly for the 2½ months that she will be on tour in the states from early February to mid April 2015 so please don’t wait too late to send your invitations and inquiries!

For inquiries and to make arrangements to bring Mama Charlotte O’Neal to your school or community contact: mamacharlottesmusic2@yahoo.com

Some of the LEADERS OF TOMORROW at home in Imbaseni Village at UAACC

SUPPORT THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW CHILDREN’S HOME community outreach programs!!

Support this unique initiative by visiting http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz and click on the make a donation button!

One more time…glimpses into Heal the Community Tour 2013 Part IV

I traveled for the first time to Accra, Ghana as a guest of Alliance Francoise International Women’s Month celebrations! Then it was back to the states and Seattle with my family there then to San Diego and Tijuana with my family there and…the journey continues!  Stay tuned!!

doing a presentation in Ghana

painting live with the music and Ben Swatez at the Jua Lekunda benefit

with Sister Makeda Makossa founder of World Beat Center, at Casa de Tunel in Tijuana, Mexico

performing at Casa de Tunel in Tijuana, Mexico

poster for Audre Lorde Celebration
in San Diego, CA

with my sister Seka and east African hip hop legend, Kamau Ngigi in Seattle

performing at Alliance Francoise in Accra, Ghana

with my Seattle Family..Marmalade, Luc and the Lovingtons and Upwell joined hands for a Jua Lekunda benefit for UAACC

in Ghana with Mama Imakhus

I love to share about the instruments that I play. Her showing a Ghanian sister about obokano

a gathering of women writers in Accra

GLIMPSE INTO UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2013!

The UAACC Heal the Community Tour 2013 was jammed packed and exciting! It included stops in many cities in the United States and also in Mexico and Ghana, west Africa!

Mama C had the blessing to share about the work of UAACC including the community outreach programs such as The LEADERS OF TOMORROW CHILDREN’S HOME which Mzee Pete O’Neal founded five years ago and her work with the youth of Tanzania.

Enjoy these photos video and that capture a few of the cities visited by Mama C where she screened A PANTHER IN AFRICA and/or MAMA C: URBAN WARRIOR IN THE AFRICAN BUSH; performed her music and poetry and the vibes of love from the UAACC community!!

with Sister Sufia Amenwashu, founder of Reel Black Film Festival and my host in South Carolina!

An afternoon discussion and spoken word at Columbia College in South Carolina

Radio talk show host, Sister Tizima and Columbia College professor after presentation

Jammin with Baba Seitu in South Carolina hosted by Reel Black Film Festival

first stop on the tour…Addis Ababa for radio interviews, music and communing with friends

flashing Peace Gang sign at the radio station in Addis Ababa after interview!

MAMA C ANNOUNCES UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2014!

Charlotte Hill O’Neal aka Mama C, visual and spoken word artist, musician, filmmaker, long time community activist and co Director of United African Alliance Community Center UAACC based in Tanzania, East Africa is pleased to announce that the Heal the Community Tour is scheduled to begin in early February to mid April 2014 in time for both Black History Month and International Women’s Month activities!

Mama Charlotte will be available to visit your community or school to speak on more than two decades of UAACC outreach in America and East Africa including the UAACC Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home program; screen unique and inspiring films; perform her music and poetry and spread the love and inspiration!

In addition to the well known classic, award winning 2004 documentary by Aaron Matthews A PANTHER IN AFRICA, which focuses on the life and history of former Kansas City Black Panther leader and founder of the United African Alliance Community Center UAACC, PETE O’NEAL, Mama C will be available to screen a new documentary about her life as an artist activist by Dr. Joanne Hershfield. Hershfield is an award-winning filmmaker and Director of Women’s Studies department at North Carolina State University at Chapel Hill. The documentary is titled MAMA C: URBAN WARRIOR IN THE AFRICAN BUSH. 
The film premiered at the prestigious PAN AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL in Feb. 2013 and continues to screen at film festivals around the world!

She will have copies of her new poetry book, Life Slices…a Taste of My Heaven along with her first 2008 poetry book Warrior Woman of Peace. 

Mama C performing in Tijuana, Mexico during tour 2013 at Casa del Tunel

Also available will be her spoken word videos and music albums including her very first nyatiti/obokano album!
Mama C is the first woman in east Africa to play the obokano professionally. The obokano is an eight string African lyre from the Gusii community in western Kenya that was traditionally considered taboo for women to play.
There are about 4 or 5 women in the world who play nyatiti professionally and Mama C is one of them! Nyatiti is also an 8 string lyre from the Luo community in Kenya and was also taboo for women until a Japanese woman musician broke the barrier.

We expect her calendar to fill up rapidly for the 2½ months that Mama C will be on tour in the states from February to mid April 2014 so please don’t wait too late to send your invitations and inquiries!

For inquiries and to make arrangements to bring Mama Charlotte to your school or community contact: mamacharlottesmusic2@yahoo.com

For inquires to screen the film Mama C: Urban Warrior in the African Bush contact Joanne Hershfield at http://www.mamacurbanwarriorfilm.com

http://www.uaacc.habari.co.tz

Mama C announces Heal the Community 2013 Itinerary!

Most of the dates are full on this year’s
UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY Tour!

We hope that you will be able to come see Mama C at the public events that are scheduled from Feb to April, to view the new documentary MAMA C: URBAN SPIRIT IN THE AFRICAN BUSH by Prof Joanne Hershfield and the classic A PANTHER IN AFRICA by Aaron Matthews; hear Mama C speak on the life that she and Mzee Pete O’Neal have built in Tanzania during his more than four decades of exile; learn more about the various outreach programs based at UAACC including the Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home program and the daily classes for youth in the AruMeru community which are all taught by volunteers, the majority of whom are Tanzanian; hear some of Mama C’s poetry and music…in other words, there is a lot going on during the UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR!

Check out the calendar below and go to the events in/nearest your city. Plus find out about how you can contribute to the continuing success of UAACC community outreach programs.  Hope to see you there!

UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2013
Calendar of Events

Feb 2………..……..Leave Tanzania to begin the
UAACC HEAL THE COMMUNITY TOUR 2013

Feb 3………………15 hour stop over in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for Heal the Community happenings; poetry; music; networking

Feb 3……….………Arrival Kansas City

Feb 6…………….…..Arrival Columbia, South Carolina

Feb 7, 8, 9, 10……various activities and events in Columbia, SC including
Music jam with the South Carolina ‘Jazz Ambassador’  Skip Peerson and other musicians Reel Black Pix Film and Arts Festival
North American debut screening of Joanne Hershfield’s documentary MAMA C: URBAN SPIRIT IN THE AFRICAN BUSH at the 5^th Reel  Black Pix Film Festival
Hip Hop Summit panel which includes Prof Griff of Public Enemy original hip hop crew
Reel Black Pix Poetry Slam

Feb 11…………..Leave for Sacramento, California

Feb 12…………..presentation at San Francisco State University

Feb 13…………..presentation at Merritt College

Feb 14…………presentation at Cal State University, east Bay

Feb 15…………presentation at Monterey College

Feb 16 ………..Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles for screening of Joanne Hershfield documentary MAMA C:  URBAN SPIRIT IN THE AFRICAN BUSH followed by Q&A with Mama C and the Director, Prof Hershfield

Feb 17…………community event in Sacramento organized by It’s About Time BPP

Feb 18…………return to Kansas City

Feb 20, 21, 22…various activities and events in Houston, Texas including
presentations at Lone Star College

Feb 23………return to Kansas City

Feb 24, 25, 26, 27…………presentations at Cornell University
Ithaca, New York

Feb 28………………..presentations at Rutgers State University    Newark, New Jersey

March 1……………Return to Kansas City

March 2 to March 11…………performances and activities for International Women’s Month hosted by French Cultural Center
Accra, Ghana     west Africa

March 12 to 13……………return to Kansas City

March 14, 15, 16, 17…………presentations performances in
San Diego, CA and Tijuana, Mexico hosted by World Beat Center

March 18……………………return to Kansas City

March 19, 20………………..presentations  and performances at North Carolina University   Chapel Hill

March 21……………………North Carolina State University to receive the Benjamin O. Mays Award

March 22, 23, 24, 25…………………events in Kansas City

March 26……………………Bridgewater State University outside of Boston, MA

March 27……………………Ohio Weslyn University

March 28, 29……………University of Wisconsin at Osh Kosh

March 30 ………………return to Kansas City

March 31 to April 9^th………Seattle, WA for various performances, activities, events including Jua Lekunda Fundraiser

April 9^th – 10^th………………scenic train ride to Seattle to Los Angeles

April 11^th…………………..performance at Vibrations Poetry Space in Los Angeles

April 12^th to April 14^th……………………presentations continue in LA

April 15^th…………..return to Kansas City

April 16^th – 24^th………………various presentations, performances and events in Kansas City

April 25………stopover in DC events to be announced soon

April 26……..stopover in Addis Ababa for presentations/performance

April 27………..return to UAACC in Tanzania

More about Mama C…Focus on Art

Mama C has been performing professionally for more than twenty years and exhibiting her art work extensively since 1987. Her work is featured in several art books and numerous magazines, galleries, museums and traveling exhibitions. Mama C was greatly influenced in her early years by the jazz, blues and gospel that Kansas City is famous for and integrates elements of that experience in both her music and the rhythm of her poetry along with the African beats and vibe of her spirit.

Mama C performing with obokano lyre at National Museum in Dar es Salaam, TZ

She explores the reality of her life as a Diaspora born African who has lived most of her years in Tanzania, in many of her poems, one of the most famous being “I Almost Lost Myself”.

Her song writing and performing talents have been showcased on stage, television and radio in many cities in Africa and in America.  She launched her book of poetry, Warrior Woman of Peace in 2008 and plans to launch her second book of poetry titled Life Slices…a Taste of My Heaven in 2013.  Mama C debuted several of these poems during the Poetry Africa Tour 2010 to Cape Town, South Africa; Harare, Zimbabwe and Blantyre, Malawi and  the 14^th Annual Poetry Africa Festival in Durban, South Africa, all sponsored by the Creative Arts Center at University of kwa Zulu Natal.  She recently completed her 4^th music/spoken word album produced at Peace Power Productions studio at UAACC and she has directed and appeared in several music videos featuring East African artists.
Mama C was one of the East African based artists selected to participate in the MDGfive.com project initiated by Emmy Award winning film maker, Lisa Russell and Grammy award winning vocalist Maya Azucena in conjunction with the United Nations Maternal Health project.

Mama Charlotte was recently selected for an artist residency in Egypt for the Nile Project, a unique collaboration of artists and environmentalists from the Nile region.

Mama C and Pete O’Neal are the subjects of two award winning documentaries about their lives and activism including American Exile narrated by Hollywood actress Alfre Woodard and the PBS multi award winning documentary, A Panther in Africa by Aaron Matthews.

She is one of the featured artists along with M1 of deadprez, Umi of P.O.W. and several top East African artists, in a newly released documentary on art and activism by Michael Wanguhu and Russell Kenya titled Ni Wakati.

Mama C recently completed Obokano Blues…Reflection of the Creator’s Smile, a documentary filmed entirely with Flip camera, about her journey into the world of Obokano, an African lyre from the Gusii community in Kenya that was traditionally taboo for women to play.

Mama Charlotte Hill O’Neal is currently working on her first Obokano album and writing her autobiography, Life between the Blessings, that parallels her life and that of her husband of 43 years, Pete O’Neal.

 

Mama C announces reschedule of UAACC Heal the Community Tour

Charlotte Hill O’Neal aka Mama C, visual and spoken word artist, musician, filmmaker, long time community activist and co Director of United African Alliance Community Center UAACC based in Tanzania, East Africa is announcing a change in plans for the Heal the Community Tour which had been planned for 2012.

We are pleased to announce that the Heal the Community Tour is rescheduled for February and March 2013, in time for Black History Month and International Women’s Month activities!

Much has happened since this announcement was made in May including Mama C’s selection for an artist residency in Egypt with the upcoming Nile River Project in October, a project that fosters cross cultural collaborations with artists and environmentalists from the Nile River region.  There are also upcoming performances in Ethiopia, Zanzibar and Ghana.

Mama Charlotte will be available to visit your community or school to speak on more than two decades of UAACC outreach in America and East Africa including the UAACC Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home program; screen unique and inspiring films; perform her music and poetry and spread the love and inspiration!

We expect her calendar to fill up rapidly for the months of February and March 2013 so please don’t wait too late to send your invitations and inquires.  It’s surely going to be a busy two months!!

Hope to see you during Black History Month and International Women’s Month 2013!!

For inquiries and to make arrangements to bring Mama Charlotte to your school or community contact: mamacharlottesmusic2@yahoo.com

Mama Charlotte O’Neal was born in 1951 in Kansas, U.S.A. and has lived in Africa with her husband Pete O’Neal, founder of both the United African Alliance Community Center (UAACC) and Leaders of Tomorrow Children’s Home (LTCH), since 1970.  She is the mother of two children, Malcolm and Ann Wood.