On February 2, 2012 The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, Incorporated received an award from University of Pennsylvania’s 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change.

The event was held at the Huntsman Hall on the university’s campus and hosted by artist Stephanie Renee and Ms. Diana Richie-Troy of the Makuu Black Cultural Center. The evening brought together some of the city’s most influential individuals and organizations who are dedicated to the arts and social change.

This program analyzed, recognized, and displayed local artistic talent that has bolstered the fight for social justice through use of visual, movement, spoken, musical, and multimedia arts. There was also an open discussion on the history and impact of the arts in social justice movements and performances.

ECBACC, Inc., represented by its Founder and President Mr. Yumy Odom, was recognized for its extensive history of creating, facilitating, and advocating impactful art as a means to address social issues.

Ms. Diana Richie-Troy begins the Awards portion of the program by emphasizing the importance of Culture and Consciousness as awardees and presenters look on.

Ms. Diana Richie-Troy introduces ECBACC, Inc. Founder and President, Mr. Yumy Odom to the audience filling Huntsman Hall University of Pennsylvania campus.

ECBACC Founder and President Mr. Yumy Odom graciously receives award for 11 years of service.

Host Ms. Diana Richie -Troy, humbly posses with the representatives of Philadelphia based organizations who seek social change via the arts:  Arts Sanctuary, ECBACC, Inc. Founder and President Mr. Yumy Odom, Freedom Theatre, and The Philadelphia Folklore Project. Ms. Richie’s program assistant stands with them.

Young performers excite the audience with their level of skill and professionalism as they prove to all that the legacy of using culture and art to raise consciousness lives on. Here DANSE4NIA Repertory Ensemble makes energetic movements seem fluid and effortless.

ECBACC Founder and President Mr. Yumy Odom, brings home the 2012 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change Award for ECBACC, Inc.

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CORRECTION: Mr. Turtel Onli is from Chicago, IL, instead of California

Like the heroines of her novels, Leslie Esdaile Banks pulled off the impossible.

No she didn’t hunt down vampires, find Prince Charming, or solve the murder. She did something MUCH harder – she successfully lived the writer’s life.

She used her magical gift for storytelling to transform the mundane details of life into gripping epics, whether the tale was a romance, crime thriller, supernatural odyssey, or family drama.

The result was an opus of more than 40 novels and 12 novellas that landed Esdaile among the rarefied ranks of authors on the New York Times and USA Today best-selling lists. Her work also earned her the

• 2009 Romantic Times Booklovers Convention Career Achievement Award for Paranormal Fiction
• 2008 Essence Magazine Storyteller of the Year Award
• 2008 Best 50 Women in Business Award for the State of Pennsylvania

Prior to the debut of HBO’s wildly popular True Blood series, the prestigious cable powerhouse featured her on its Vampire Literature and Legends special.

Her publishers have included St. Martin’s Press, Simon and Schuster, Harlequin, BET/Arabesque, Dark Horse Press, Genesis Press, Parker Publishing, Harper and Tor.

Leslie’s imagination knew no boundaries. As a writer of multiple genres, Leslie wrote fiction under several pen names. She penned her first novel, a romance titled Sundance, in 1996 under the name of Leslie Esdaile. As Leslie E. Banks she wrote two novelizations of the TV series Soul Food. As Leslie Esdaile Banks, she wrote a four-novel crime series featuring financial genius Laura Caldwell for Kensington/Dafina Press.

She perhaps made her biggest splash with her paranormal narratives published under the name of L.A. Banks. Her 12-novel vampire huntress series, The Vampire Huntress Legends ( first novel, Minion ), gave the darkness a new flavor and continued on in a multi-issue graphic novel series called Hidden Darkness. She published a six-novel werewolf series, A Crimson Moon ( first novel, Bad Blood ), which she wrote under the name of L.A. Banks.

Leslie had also ventured into the best selling young adult market this year with her Neteru Academy series ( first novel, Shadow Walker ). She has also written non-fiction, including an autobiographical contribution to the inspirational anthology Chicken Soup for the African American Soul. Through Red Rose Publishing Leslie’s work is available in ebook format.

Leslie’s own story began on Dec. 11, 1959 in Philadelphia, PA, where she was born. She earned a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a Master of Fine Arts in Filmmaking degree from Temple University. Her fierce spirit as a single mother wrestling with the issues of health insurance for herself and her daughter brought her to the attention of the White House. As a result of her passionately written letter supporting the President’s efforts to reform the nation’s health insurance system, she was tapped to introduce President Barack Obama during a 2010 speech at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA.

Although her journey in THIS realm ended on Aug. 2, 2011, it’s comforting to know that she’s only just taken her first step as one of the immortals.

SOURCES: www.leslieesdailebanks.com, Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Esdaile_Banks

Born Dwayne Glenn McDuffie in 1962 and raised in the city of Detroit, Michigan, his education began at the Roeper School. McDuffie chose the University of Michigan for his undergraduate studies from which he received a bachelor’s degree in English. Eventually, he went on to receive a Master’s in Physics. Continuing his schooling and creative interests, McDuffie studied film at New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts. He became a radio co-host while simultaneously moonlighting as a freelance writer for stand-up comedians. Some of his scripts made it to late-night television comedy programs.

After an early job as a copy editor at Investment Dealer’s Digest, a business magazine, McDuffie landed a position at Marvel Comics in 1987 as an assistant editor. While working for Marvel, McDuffie helped to create Marvel’s first trading cards and eventually the mini-series entitled Damage Control. McDuffie then went on to write stories for various titles like: Spider-Man, Deathlok II, Captain Marvel, Avengers Spotlight, Hellraiser, X-O Manowar, and others. McDuffie also submitted a spoof proposal for something he called “Teenage Negro Ninja Thrashers.” It was said that this was McDuffie’s response to Marvel’s portrayal and treatment of Black comic book characters. McDuffie tried his hand at writing for other comic book companies as a freelancer: DC Comics, Archie Comics and Harvey Comics.

It was in 1993 that McDuffie’s interest in changing the portrayal of Black heroes and multicultural characters began to take shape.  He along with partners Denys Cowan, Michael Davis and Derek T. Dingle created Milestone Media, Inc., which was published through DC Comics. Popular Milestone characters included: Icon, Static, Hardware, Xombi, Shadow Cabinet, Blood Syndicate, and Kobalt. Milestone would become the foremost comic book company which created quality African-American and ethnic heroes. Static, a character McDuffie co-created became a popular animated series on the Kids WB! McDuffie not only wrote for that program, he also went on to write for other television shows including: Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, the Cartoon Network animated series, What’s New Scooby Doo?, the Teen Titans, Ben 10: Alien Force and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. McDuffie penned the script for the DC animated feature film Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths and All-Star Superman for Warner Home Video.

McDuffie is the recipient of a Writer’s Guild Award, a 2003 Humanities Prize, two Emmy Nominations, eleven Parents’ Choice Awards, three Eisner Awards, a Golden Apple Award and a Glyph Comics Award. He was an example not only to comic book loyalists and science fiction fans, but also to comic book creators, professionals, artists and writers of what the combination of purpose, talent and hard work can produce. His work was and is revered as having a standard of quality, in which excellence of craft and an unmistakable flavor that was just “Dwayne” came together for our benefit. He was able to take the reader and the audience on rides that were new, wild and adventurous yet authentic, real and respectful. He represented the best in quality and professionalism. He entertained us all and will continue to do so for many, many years to come. The examples on this page are only a sampling of the works of Dwayne McDuffie. He was a creator, an author, a shaper and producer of ideas, and most of all a creative mind, a brilliant and humble soul. His work was his gift to us. Our memory and reverence of his efforts are our gift to him. We urge that you collect, hold dear, rediscover, value and reintroduce yourselves to the works of Mr. Dwayne G. McDuffie. And, after you come down from the ride, simply say: “Thank you, Dwayne!”

Reference:
Dwayne McDuffie Wikipedia page, DwayneMcDuffie.com, IMDB.com,

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to the

2011 Glyph Comics Awards Winners

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Mr. Ray Billingsley created the comic strip Curtis, which is distributed by King Features Syndicate and printed in more than 250 newspapers nationwide.

Mr. Billingsley was born in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and raised there in his earliest years. Later, his family moved to Harlem, New York. He contributed early cartoons to Kids, a magazine “by kids for kids” published in Cambridge, Massachusetts and then in New York City from 1970 to 1975 under the co-editorship of Ms. Jenette Kahn, future president and editor-in-chief of MAD Magazine and DC Comics. Those intricately detailed drawings already showed a cartoonist in the making. After graduating from the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan, he attended the School of Visual Arts on a four-year scholarship. After graduating, he began an internship at Walt Disney Studios in 1979.

Mr. Billingsley drew a nationally syndicated strip called Lookin’ Fine from 1979 to 1982. By 1988, he was freelancing in advertising and public relations; doing television commercials, posters and animation; and working for magazines such as Ebony. In October of that year, King Features Syndicate introduced Curtis. Mr. Billingsley states that the inspiration for Curtis came to him in the wee hours of the morning. “It was 3:30 or 4:00,” he said. “I didn’t even turn on a light. I just sketched a little boy, and the next morning, there he was: Curtis.” He credits sibling rivalry with sparking his initial fascination with cartooning. As a young boy, he learned to draw in order to emulate his older brother, who studied fine arts.

Mr. Billingsley acknowledges that Wee Pals creator Mr. Morrie Turner, the first Black cartoonist in national syndication, opened the door for Curtis and other strips. He also credits Mr. Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, for encouraging him to stretch out artistically. “[Eisner] always told me to reach out and do more than I thought I could. I continually draw strength when I relive his teachings,” Mr. Billingsley said.

Since 1987, Reggie Byers has created, written and illustrated comic books professionally. He got his first break penciling ROBOTECH comic books for Comico. The comics were the American licensed comics basedon the popular Japanese anime, “MACROSS.” He illustrated ROBOTECH for 2 years. After Comico, he self published a variety of comic books which includes: SHURIKEN, about a female ninja, “JAM QUACKY THE HIP-HOP DUCK” and currently, “KIDZ OF THE KING”, which he produces with his wife of 20 years, Dionne.

Founded on the Bible scripture, Galatians 3:26, KIDZ OF THE KING is a Christian comic book that teaches its readers how to live their lives according to the Bible and is currently published by UMI Inc out of Chicago, Illinois.

In 2006, Ten Talents Productions was granted the license to produce “Kidz” as an animated series on DVD, which debuted in October 2008. Reggie and his wife look forward to growing this “comic book ministry” to the level where children all over the world will desire to be “Kidz of the King.” Reggie also facilitates “Kidz of the King Youth workshops”, speaks and preaches at Churches nationwide for youth services and special ministry events.

reginaldbyers.com/
www.thekidzoftheking.com
www.tentalentsproductions.com