Get in the Mix -- Become a RBMF Mentor!

The Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund would like to invite you to join us at our first Mentor Mixer. For those who are just being introduced to our work, we’ll be providing a brief overview of our history and initiatives. For those who have supported our work over the past four years, we’ll be unveiling our fall fundraisers and announcing the winners of the 2009 scholarship award. Most importantly, we’ll use the evening to begin transforming talented folks like you from young professionals and agents of change into mentors for the next generation of scholars and activists.

At the event, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the amazing young men and women who have received the seven scholarships we’ve granted since 2006. 2007 scholarship recipient Dashana Payne and her mentor Kemi Ilesanmi will be discussing their experience with our mentoring program, and 2009 recipient Nafissatou Traore (who has not yet been paired with a mentor) will speak briefly about how she’s been inspired by Rashawn’s legacy of selfless service and academic excellence.

We do hope that you’ll join us for this exciting event. Have a drink, bring a friend and learn a little about the role YOU can play in helping us build the New York City that Rashawn wanted to see; a diverse and affirming city free of violent crime.

To RSVP, email us today by clicking here.

i miss...

sending my thoughts out into the universe and eagerly awaiting the responses. tillett dining hall at rutgers, where there was always a friend to meet you for a meal. my family's apartment in germany, where i had my mother all to myself while my dad was on the army base and my sister was in school. recording my favorite songs onto a cassette tape and rewinding it hundreds of times to learn the lyrics. tuesday night talks with mervyn. being inspired by reverend kirk's sermons. married life. the pride i felt each time i walked into the english department at rutgers. being a spokenword poet. riding bikes in the hood with my cousin on the handlebars. crafting my theology. my undergraduate coursework. my roomie, tyrone hadley and our apartment "cream of the crop".

having my big sis around. being excited about christmas morning. doing research at the university of chicago. falling in love with a toni morrison novel. the youth choir at sharon baptist church. the first day of school. lauryn hill. saving up my lunch money to throw surprise birthday parties for my mom. playing nintendo with my dad. seafood. my first car. the sound of the ice cream truck coming down the block. kickball. the tour guides that led my backpacking through europe. dancing to ginuwine at the kendall park skating rink. firehouse parties. the warehouse. harmonizing with my father. winning dance-offs with my sister. making music videos at the livingston student center. reppin' res life and the quads. my singing group, ashton brown.

straight A report cards. all-night games of hide-and-seek. malt liquor with the McNair scholars. decorating my dorm room. my chalet in switzerland. the black graduate caucus. being the only person on the jazmine sullivan bandwagon. phase 10. atari. miniature golf with my grandfather. snick. HBO's "dream on". my cousin, khaawar walker. my religion teacher, mr dunn. kicking ass in checkers. aaliyah. short sets. catholic school. pizza parties. the franklin high school madrigals. having boston market at dean haynes'. working at six flags great adventure. having a pool, a jacuzzi and a tree house. south brunswick high school's philosophy club. cub scouts. the hotel in linden with the hot tub in the bedroom. amber. working out at the stephens fitness center at princeton. seeing phyllicia rashad every week at cornel's seminar. running for student council. fanny pack from america's best dance crew. sapphire's and the cook's store in new brunswick.

yesterday.

quotable larryly.

"the best side of the hudson is the WEST side of the hudson"
-larryly

anywhere in a blink

Tomiko:

i wanna be standing up on a surfboard somewhere.

if you could blink and be anywhere where would u be?
12:16pm

Larry:

in the huge walk-in closet on the third floor of the beautiful victorian home my partner and i purchased the moment i got my tenure-track appointment to the university of my choice
12:17pm

the home is the Ballantine House, right here in beautiful Newark, NJ. currently owned by the Newark Museum, this beauty is just around the corner from my apartment. i've spent many nights sitting on the stairs dreaming up a way to have it as my own.

the walk-in closet looks a little something like this, except in dark woods with a nicely appointed chaise and plenty of natural light.


the university has all of the academic rigor of princeton, but with the diversity of rutgers newark.

the partner? well, he remains to be seen. but here's what i know: he's brilliant and he's on his way.

not a dream. a plan.

the urban gothic shoot.

life is all about pursuing your passions and that's precisely what your boy larryly intends to do. what follows is a glimpse into how i'm merging my creative/artistic work with my social justice work.

as you know, i host a monthly pot-luck dinner/presentation series called Passions. the gathering allows my close-knit network of of artists, activists, scholars, dreamers, theologians and other assorted thinkers to share their work in a supportive setting. it's approaching it's 23rd session and it's really quite nice.

at any rate, amongst the Passions regulars happen to be one very talented make-up artist, one very talented stylist and one budding photographer named larryly. for months, the three of us bandied about the idea of working together on a few photo shoots. you know -- enjoy one another's passions while building our respective portfolios... but being the busy people that we are, we never quite got around to it. and then - EUREKA! i came up with an idea that i like to call genius.

what if we could use our talents in service of our shared commitment to social justice? what if we were to offer folks low-cost, high quality photo shoots and then donate the money to a good cause? engagement pictures. facebook pictures. headshots. hell, everyone needs pictures these days. everyone wants to put all of Tyra's televised model mentoring to the test. why not give the people the glam they want?


[*all images shot by larryly]

the cause? the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund, of course. you know... the non-profit i co-founded as a sustainable tribute to the 19-year old black gay man that was killed in 2005? yeah, that one. 100% of the proceeds from the project will be used to fund the $1500 scholarships that the RBMF offers annually to college-bound NYC high schoolers committed to the fight against racism, sexism and homophobia.

next month, we'll be promoting the fundraiser through facebook, myspace, email and the rashawnbrazell.com website. this month, we began our series of test runs. for the first shoot, stylist Isaam Houston and I teamed up for a lil something we call "urban gothic." something darkly delicious. something edgy and editorial. something memorable.

here are some of the images. click on them to enlarge, then let me know what you think.

more soon.

thanks for your patience, my loves.
there's a very special reward coming your way this week.

I'm about to change the focus

From the richest to the brokest

I wrote this opus

To reverse the hypnosis

Dinners by Desire

From noon-5pm this Saturday, Rashawn Brazell's mother Desire will be selling home-cooked dinners to raise money for the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Scholarship. Meals include southern fried chicken, collard greens, baked macaroni and cheese, potato salad, curried chicken, peas and rice, oxtails and red velvet cake for desert. Chicken meals are a mere $8 and oxtail meals a mere $9. The quest for justice has never been so delicious!


1091-1103 Gates Avenue
Apartment 4D
(Between Broadway & Bushwick)
Brooklyn, NY

call 917.971.5321 for details