The Little Rock Zoo wants input from kids

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Scott

The Little Rock Zoo is looking for kids ages 7-12 to provide input for the Mayor’s Task Force on the Future of the Little Rock Zoo. Applications can be downloaded from Little Rock Zoo.com and are due by September 10, 2019 at noon.

During the two sessions held on September 14 and September 21, 2019, the Kid Task Force will be asked what they want to see happen at the Little Rock Zoo. Their opinions will be sought on what kind of new animal habitats the Zoo should offer, what new experiences the Zoo should provide and what other amenities should be added.

As a part of Task Force membership, the children will learn about Zoo operations in a fun setting and get a chance to meet some animals up-close-and-personal. The Zoo’s Education Department will lead a series of roundtable assessments with the Task Force that will include creative “play” sessions to uncover creative thought. Such sessions are used in both adult and child settings to encourage unique thought and creative thinking.

If you have a child interested in taking part in the Task Force, please apply by September 10, 2019, at noon by downloading the application found at LittleRockZoo.com and sending it to mgates@littlerock.gov. Applications may also be mailed to:

Michael Gates
Little Rock Zoo Kid Task Force
1 Zoo Drive
Little Rock, AR 72205

Tonight on South on Main stage – Folk Family Revival and John Evans

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Scott

Image result for folk family revival Houston’s Folk Family Revival are bringing their dark Americana tunes to the South on Main stage this Wednesday, September 4.

Show begins at 8 pm with opener John Evans. Purchase advance tickets for $7 or pay $10 at the door. Tickets do not guarantee you a seat. Please call ahead to reserve a table – (501) 244-9660.

Wherever the Folk Family Revival plays, the ground underneath seems more a sanctuary than a stage. Sure enough, the Lankford family, Mason, Barrett and Lincoln, once filled a pew at a Magnolia, Texas church where the brothers became fast friends with their soon to be brother and lead guitarist Caleb Pace.

They played rock’n’roll in church for a time until the congregation found them a little too wild for their flock. So the family dug up their roots from that place and headed home to the little shed next to their parents’ house, the blue house, where the brothers honed their craft.

Beneath many hours of cosmic contemplation, tempered through many hours more of pressure and concentration, the boys fashioned a sound; clear and righteous, bold and forceful, complex and simple at the same time. Mason’s lyrics ride the narrow edge of paradox and preaching, while the rumble of the band pulses with a fury of sacred rage. They’ve come to shake the windows and rattle the walls. They will go down fighting.

With their record releases thus far, 2011’s “Unfolding” and 2015’s “Water Walker”, the band of brothers’ music has evolved and left fans guessing with each rendition of their ever-changing sound. With their new record, “Electric Darlin”, released June 2019, one can appreciate the multi-genre direction they’ll take with their new sound.

Over the years, Folk Family Revival has opened for legends such as Willie Nelson, Lucas Nelson, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Hayes Carll, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eddie Money, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Merle Haggard, George Jones, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Suffers and Jon Foreman.

Today at noon at CALS Butler Center Legacies & Lunch: Arkansas Teacher of the Year Stacey McAdoo

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling Stacey McAdoo, who teaches at the historic Central High School in Little Rock and was 2019’s Arkansas Teacher of the Year, had a vision over twenty years ago that she would one day stand and speak to a crowd of millions.

She interpreted that vision to mean she would change the world by serving as a writer, educator, and advocate for students. Today, her vision is a reality, as she represents the voices of 34,000 educators and 500,000 students across Arkansas.

McAdoo mixes passion and poetry to amplify the voices of her students, honor the history of her school, and unite her community. She has participated in several literacy/spoken-word organizations, such as the Sankofa Poets, the Word Up! Poetry Troupe, and Foreign Tongues, and is an Educator to Educator Facilitator with the Arkansas Education Association, an oral communications instructor, and the AVID (a college and career readiness program) coordinator at Little Rock Central High School.

Teaching Tolerance magazine recently featured her as a student advocate. Author of the books Sweet Melanin Messages and Baring My Soul, McAdoo is the sponsor of the Writeous Poets, co-produced the radio show The Writeous Hour, and has published two books of her students’ works: Stage A: Where Students Think, Speak and Dream and A Writeous Look at the Crisis. To read some of her recent work or follow her journey, visit www.stillstacey.com or @2019ATOY on all social media platforms.

Legacies & Lunch is a free monthly program of CALS Butler Center for Arkansas Studies about Arkansas related topics. Program are held from noon to 1 pm on the first Wednesday of the month. Attendees are invited to bring a sack lunch; drinks and dessert are provided. A library parking discount is available upon request. For more information, please contact 918-3030.

A Photo that Shook the World – taken on Sept. 4, 1957

Posted on September 4, 2019 by Scott

Will Counts (American, Little Rock, 1931 – 2001, Evansville, Illinois), It was not the plan for Elizabeth Eckford to walk along toward Central High, 1957 (printed 1997), gelatin silver print, 25 x 32 inches, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation Collection: Gift of the artist, Bloomington, Indiana. 1997.039.007

On September 4, 1957, the students known as the Little Rock Nine made their first attempt to enter all-white Little Rock Central High School.

This was the second day of the 1957-58 school year in Little Rock. Over the preceding Labor Day weekend, it had been decided that the African American students would wait until the second day of school to officially start at Central.

As is now well known, NAACP leader Daisy Bates was not able to notify one of the students about meeting as a group of the Bates house. That one student, Elizabeth Eckford, approached the school by herself and quickly realized the National Guard members surrounding the school were not their to protect her, but to ban her and the others.

Arkansas Democrat photographer Will Counts captured Eckford’s quiet determination in the face of the guards and the taunting crowds. His photo of a white student screaming at Eckford was picked up by media outlets worldwide. It became not only a symbol for the Central High integration crisis, but for the Civil Rights movement. Counts’ photo was the jury’s choice for the Pulitzer Prize in Photography in 1958. But the jury was overruled by the Pulitzer board, with no explanation given.

LR Likes Ike. In September 1952.

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Scott

Detail from UPI photo of General Eisenhower following his address.

If Ike, Little Rock and September are considered, it is usually in reference to his role in the desegregation of Little Rock Central High in September 1957. But five years earlier, he appeared in Little Rock on September 3, 1952.

General Eisenhower’s speech to 14,000 in MacArthur Park was the final leg in his swing through the South on his campaign for the White House. He became the third presidential candidate to visit MacArthur Park in 1952 following General MacArthur (in his ill-fated attempt to gain traction as a GOP candidate during the delegate selection process) and Democratic nominee Adlai Stevenson.

He visited every southern state except Mississippi on this campaign jaunt. In comments that neither he nor his audience could have foreseen as prescient, Eisenhower declared that he deplored the government meddling in areas in which it did not belong. This remark was made in reference to race relations. His stance was that some rights of minorities should be protected, but it was not necessarily the role of the federal government.

Ike proffered that if white southerners did not protect the rights of African Americans they were in danger of losing their own rights, too. In the era of the Cold War when people were worried about the imminent loss of rights, this message seems to have crafted to appeal to those concerns. While Eisenhower did not shy away from addressing civil rights, his Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson was silent on the issue. But with Alabama segregationist Senator John Sparkman as his running mate, it put Stevenson in a difficult position to try to bring it up.

In the end, Ike lost most of the South. He did carry Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and Florida. The only states Stevenson won were in the South. Eisenhower’s 43.74% of the Arkansas popular vote was the highest any Republican had garnered since General Grant carried the state in 1868 and 1872.

The number of votes Ike received in 1952 prompted Adlai Stevenson to come to Little Rock in 1956 – the first time a Democratic nominee had come to solidly Democratic Little Rock since the 1920s.

It is RBG Day!

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Scott

Image may contain: 1 person, eyeglasses and closeup

After selling out in less than 45 minutes (proving she really is a rock star!) and switching venues (which still left a waiting list of several thousand long), tonight is the night that the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court makes her appearance here.

In July, the Clinton Foundation and Clinton School of Public Service announced the next Frank and Kula Kumpuris Distinguished Lecture would feature Justice Ginsburg. She will be introduced by the man who nominated her to the Supreme Court, President Bill Clinton.

Though the event is sold out, it will be available to watch via live stream.

Those attending the Kumpuris Lecture with the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, please read this important information on entry, seating, security, accessibility, and more:

Event Information
• The event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. and doors open at 5 p.m.
• Please arrive early and expect traffic delays and long lines.

Entry and Seating
• You must have a printed or digital Eventbrite ticket to gain admission to the event. This event is at full capacity and we cannot admit anyone who does not have a ticket.
• Your tickets can be accessed through the Eventbrite app or through your Eventbrite account online at https://eventbrite.com. Your tickets are also attached to this email.
• Seating for the event is general admission with open seating. Again, the event is at full capacity, so we encourage everyone to move to the middle of the row as you arrive to make seating go more smoothly.
• If you plan to sit together during the event, please arrive together. We cannot accommodate saving groups of seats because we need to fill in the rows as guests arrive.

Parking Information
• There will not be reserved parking for this event.
• There are paid and public parking areas around Verizon Arena. Directions and parking information can be found at this link.
• As a reminder, the METRO Streetcar rides are currently free and the Blue Line has a stop located two blocks from Verizon Arena.

Bag and Security Policy
• We will be following Verizon Arena’s Security Policies. A full list of those policies can be found at this link.
• All guests entering Verizon Arena will be subject to inspection by walk-through metal detector and all bags will be inspected.
• Any bags larger than 14” x 14” x 6 will not be allowed in Verizon Arena.

Accessible Information
• Verizon Arena strives to meet all public facility structure and service requirements set by the Americans with Disabilities Act. ADA parking is available by the Washington Street/Box Office Tunnel.
• All ADA areas can be accessed from the Box Office Tunnel Entrance.
• ADA seating is available on a first come, first served basis, and each ADA seat comes with one (1) companion seat.
• There will be an interpreter during the event. American Sign Language designated seating will be at the front of Section 106.
• ASL seating is available on a first come, first served basis, and each ASL seat comes with one (1) companion seat.
• Wheelchairs and hearing impaired devices are available at Verizon Arena Guest Services, located in front of sections 113-144 on the Main Concourse.
• More ADA information can be found at this link.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933. She married Martin D. Ginsburg in 1954, and has a daughter, Jane, and a son, James. She received her B.A. from Cornell University, attended Harvard Law School, and received her LL.B. from Columbia Law School.

She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edmund L. Palmieri, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, from 1959–1961. From 1961–1963, she was a research associate and then associate director of the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure. She was a Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law from 1963–1972, and Columbia Law School from 1972–1980, and a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in Stanford, California from 1977–1978. In 1971, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as the ACLU’s General Counsel from 1973–1980, and on the National Board of Directors from 1974–1980. She served on the Board and Executive Committee of the American Bar Foundation from 1979-1989, on the Board of Editors of the American Bar Association Journal from 1972-1978, and on the Council of the American Law Institute from 1978-1993.

She was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980. President Bill Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After receiving unanimous confirmation from the United States Senate, she took her seat August 10, 1993.

Writing contest by CALS in honor of 2019 Banned Books Week

Posted on September 2, 2019 by Scott

Image result for fight club book The Central Arkansas Library System has announced the title for its annual Banned Book Writing Contest and Crazy Free Books giveaway.

The 2019 Banned Books Writing Contest is inspired by Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, which has been challenged in the U.S. due to some readers’ perception of the “violent and explicit” nature of some of the book’s content.

The writing contest has one $300 grand prize and one $100 honorable mention prize. Winning entries will be selected based on creativity, flow, style, and originality. CALS will give away 30 free copies of Fight Club as part of Crazy Free Books starting September 4.

Entries will be accepted beginning September 1 and must be received by September 20. Entries can be mailed to CALS Banned Books Writing Contest, 100 Rock Street, Little Rock, AR 72201 or sent to sixbridgesbookfestival@cals.org. The writing contest winner will be announced at a special event on Thursday, September 26, at CALS Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Avenue.

For more contest rules and information about the Six Bridges Book Festival and Banned Books Week, call 501-918-3000 or visit cals.org.

Little Rock Culture Vulture

Cultural events, places and people in the Little Rock area

Monthly Archives: September 2019

The Little Rock Zoo wants input from kids

Tonight on South on Main stage – Folk Family Revival and John Evans

Today at noon at CALS Butler Center Legacies & Lunch: Arkansas Teacher of the Year Stacey McAdoo

A Photo that Shook the World – taken on Sept. 4, 1957

LR Likes Ike. In September 1952.

It is RBG Day!

Though the event is sold out, it will be available to watch via live stream.

Writing contest by CALS in honor of 2019 Banned Books Week

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