CALL FOR PAPERSThe 2^nd Annual

Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposium and Cotton Pickers Ball

• Itta Bena, Mississippi •

Now accepting abstracts/proposals • Deadline: September 6, 2013

SUBMIT ABSTRACTS or PROPOSALS HERE

Plan now to join Khafre, Inc in Itta Bena, MS at Mississippi Valley State University (MVSU), for the second annual “Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom” symposium on October 17, 2013.  Khafre, Inc is all about building out monumental programs that allow reflection, reconnection, and renewal. This will be a day of stimulating discussion about historic preservation, leading-edge research, innovative practices, and foundational values. The two-day event concludes with a good-old-fashion “black-tie” (or period-piece costume) “Cotton-Pickers’ Ball,” on October 18, 2013.

This year Khafre, Inc in conjunction with Mississippi Valley State University shall organize the USA’s premier interdisciplinary professional meeting on cotton, sharecropping, and its cultural significance. By these three overlapping terms we mean a broad array of topics, both “cultural” and “economic,” managed by different entities under a variety of designations:

• National parks at all levels: federal, state/provincial, county, and city
• Culture; the visual and performing arts, including music, dance, tapestry, sculptures and paintings
• historic, archaeological, and other cultural sites; cultural landscapes
• research areas and designated locations
• areas and sites; sacred burial sites, cotton fields, shotgun homes and jook joints
• private land-plantations

 Khafre, Inc is unique among professional organizations because our vision is to encourage dialogue and share information that allows for cultural exchange among all the people needed for a community of dignity, across all disciplines. 

Want to share your work, your ideas, and your ideals with the larger academic and cultural communities?  The “Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom” symposium is the place to do it.  We invite abstracts from people who want to:

• present a Research Paper
• present a Poem/Song/Dance/Tribute to the Ancestors
• present a Poster
• present an Exhibit
• organize a Workshop
• organize a Business Meeting
• organize a Sharing Circle

This wide variety of options makes for an exciting, diverse program.

To submit an abstract, go to: www.khafreinc.org and follow the links. The deadline is September 6, 2013.

Plan to join us in Itta Bena, Mississippi!

This is your chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues at The Valley, make important new contacts, discuss the latest in cultural management, stay current with research findings in the historic preservation field, and connect with people who share your core values. We look forward to welcoming you to the home of America’s Root Music and Culture!

C.Sade Turnipseed, MBA/MS/PhD (candidate)

Executive Director

sade@khafreinc.org

662.347.8198

www.khafreinc.org

Eulah Peterson, PhD

Conference Coordinator

info@khafreinc.org

Linda Rule, MA

Cotton Pickers Ball Coordinator

rocrule01@yahoo.com



SUBMIT ABSTRACTS or

PROPOSALS HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Purchase a Legacy Brick(s); to ensure Grandmama’nem’s historical legacy

and their permanent place on the Monument Complex.

LET'S HONOR THEM.

__________________

The Cotton Pickers Monument

by Ed Dwight

Coming soon to the Mississippi Delta with your support!

Dear Friends of American History and Culture, 

For the last few years, members of the Khafre, Inc team have traveled around the Delta and throughout the country listening to people share their hopes and dreams for Mississippi.  They are hopes of fairness; harmony among the races; a state government that serves and protects all Mississippians, and hopes of finding an equitable way to show respect for the culture and historical legacy of the people who worked so hard to give this country its financial footing to become a world super power…it’s all about dignity preservation.

After deeply listening to those concerns and spending more time in quiet prayerful meditation, our team, too, became hopeful that a path to positive change would be revealed. Essentially, we have concluded the obvious. There is a definite and distinct need to build a monument that pays tribute to the spirit, the work and the heritage of the people who planted, chopped and picked cotton, the Cotton Pickers, and that honors their “sweat equity” investments in America. We, as a nation, have shamefully ignored the very essential labor force that made “cotton king” in the Mississippi Delta and cotton trade/manufacturing the most important industry in America for nearly two hundred years. This is the primary work of Khafre, Inc. Our goal is to bring emphasis to this oversight and assist in the process of healing the traumatic pain still felt by the people who were Cotton Pickers. In our assessment, the lack of awareness about the major contributions made by the millions of people in the South is the central issue that impact dreams of fairness, harmony and respect throughout this country.

It is for this reason that the Khafre, Inc. Board, Maya Angelou (honorary chair), Ed Dwight (Monument developer), Clifton Taulbert (national spokesman), U.S. Congressman Danny Davis (historical advisor) Johnnie L. Dupree (historical advisor), Carroll Van West (historical advisor), and thousands of people from around the world have agreed to support the initiative to build the “Cotton Pickers of America Monument and Sharecroppers Interpretive Center” on the outskirts of Mound Bayou, MS. Just for a moment, imagine the power of the light of dignity when it shines on this Monument in the Mississippi Delta!

We are certain of the economic and “feel-good” impact on the region, once we do the “right thing” and celebrate the work of those who spent their entire lives, for seventeen generations planting the seeds of success for us all. That is why I am asking for your input and your love, too. I believe, together, we can inspire the artists, politicians, and educators of American cultural history to join this movement. We want to show respect for the legacy, by developing interpretive material and that will contribute to the construction of a historical site, at the epicenter of our collective pain and the place where America’s root music, the Blues, was born! The Monument and Interpretive Center will serve as a symbol of dignity for the Cotton Pickers place where America’s root music the Blues was born, in the Mississippi Delta!

There are several ways to support our effort:

• Your Financial Contribution; will underwrite our educational and youth programs in the Mississippi Delta: Healthy U, Young Publishers’ Network and Young Leaders Lecture Series
• Legacy Brick(s); to ensure Grandmama’nem’s historical legacy and their permanent place on the Monument Complex
• Corporate Sponsorship Opportunities; underwrites Khafre, Inc’s annual events, e.g., Cotton Pickers’ Ball, and the Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom symposium
• Miniature Statues; of Cotton Pickers’ Monument
• Petition; to induct the Cotton Pickers of America Monument complex into the National Park System upon completion

During this season of giving, I look forward to involving you in this ongoing effort to finally pay respect to the people whose compensatory rewards are long over due. It is time and, on behalf of grandmama’nem, we sincerely appreciate your support.

With heartfelt gratitude,

C.Sade Turnipseed, Founder/Executive Director 

____________________________

 Sweat Equity Investment in the Cotton Kingdom Symposium, Monument Ground Breaking Ceremony and Cotton Pickers Ball

@ MVSU

October 11-12, 2012

To download flyer, click here...

for press release, click here...

COTTON PICKERS BALL

Advance Tickets NOW available online

click here or cut and paste link below:

(https://www.ticketriver.com/event/4514-cotton-pickers-ball)

_____________________

 COTTON PICKERS OF AMERICA MONUMENT and SHARECROPPERS INTERPRETIVE CENTER

COTTON PICKERS STATUE MINIATURES

Fund Raising Campaign

ORDER FORMS

KHAFRE, INC.

“Building monumental programs…changing our world forever”

JANUARY 2012

For the last few years we’ve traveled around the Delta and throughout the country listening to people share their hopes and dreams for Mississippi.  Those concerns are heartfelt and strikingly similar: hopes of fairness; harmony among the races; a state government that serves and protects all Mississippians, and finding a way to show respect for the historical legacy of its hard-working people…it’s all about dignity preservation.

After listening to people, spending more time in prayer and in quiet meditation, our team too became hopeful that a path to positive change would be revealed. Essentially, we have concluded the obvious. There is a definite and distinct need to build a monument, in the Mississippi Delta, that pays tribute to the spirit, the work and the heritage of the cotton pickers, and that honors the “sweat equity” investments made in cotton fields throughout the South. We as a nation have neglected the essential labor force that made “cotton king” in the Delta; and the most important industry in America, for nearly two hundred years. And that oversight simply must be corrected. In our assessment, this is the central issue that pivots on the hopes and dreams of fairness, harmony and respect felt by people throughout this country.

Therefore, Khafre Inc, Maya Angelou, Ed Dwight, Clifton Taulbert, Johnnie L. Dupree, Carroll Van West and many citizens of the Delta have stepped up in support of the initiative to build the “Cotton Pickers of America Monument and Sharecroppers Interpretive Center (CPAMSIC),” and we need your input. The Monument will bring much needed positive attention to the impoverished Delta, help build economic development within the region, and celebrate the unrecognized work of those who tirelessly planted the seeds for all of us. Collectively, we can inspire Americans to respect this unobserved legacy by constructing a historical site, as a symbol of dignity at the epicenter of our collective pain…where America’s root music Blues was born, the Mississippi Delta!

There are numerous ways to support this effort:

• Your financial contribution of $5, $50, $500, $5,000, or more
• Legacy Brick(s) @ $100 each
• Cotton Pickers statue miniatures
  
• Petition to convert CPAMSIC into a National Park upon completion

I look forward to involving you in this ongoing effort to finally pay respect to the people who planted, chopped and picked cotton in America. It is time…and, we sincerely appreciate your support.

With heartfelt appreciation,

C.Sade Turnipseed, MBA/MS, PhD candidate, Founder/Executive Director

662.347.8198

Join our Facebook page - Join our mailing list

www.khafreinc.org – www.khafre.us - info@khafreinc.org



~~~

"LEGACY BRICKS"
 

campaign to begin construction of the 20-acre sculptural park, in a cotton field along HWY 61. The Monument will be in tribute to the people who invested their blood, sweat and tears in the soils of the Delta; thereby making cotton "king" and the crop most significant to America's development...for over two hundred years.
 
To reserve a Legacy Brick and preserve your family's legacy, please join Maya Angelou, Ed Dwight and others in the building of the Cotton Pickers Monument and Sharecroppers Interpretive Center, in the Mississippi Delta! ~ click here~


   Khafre, Inc announces the launch of their most recent Youth Empowerment project, “Healthy U...Gourmet Academy for Youth.” Beginning Saturday March 26th, 2011, Middle High School students will meet at 10:30am and High School students will meet at 1:00pm. A public Healthy U orientation meeting is scheduled March 19th at 3:00pm, at da' House of Khafre located at 105 Main Street, in historic downtown Indianola, MS. No advanced registration is required to attend orientation.

   Healthy U is an innovative weekly after-school culinary arts program that targets young people, 13–18 years of age. Healthy U is designed to teach local youth to live healthier lives and encourage them to seek fresh and more healthily prepared foods; and, to exercise more frequently. The students will learn the benefits of consuming fresh, clean, living foods; and to be more aware of the potential damage processed foods can have on their physical and mental health. Each Saturday, professional guest chefs will demonstrate recipes and teach each student how to prepare a healthy gourmet dish. This educational program targets young people, specifically. The focus area is Indianola, in Sunflower County Mississippi. In essence students will learn to prepare healthy life-sustaining foods, themselves. In a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

   The health and education problems are in epidemic proportions in the Mississippi Delta.  The situation is that approximately 80% of the population (all age groups) suffers from health challenges directly related to poor dietary habits, useful health-related information and the lack of physical exercise. To help alleviate this crisis KHAFRE, Inc has come up with a unique program that offers a long-term solution.

   Khafre, Inc is recipient of the Delta Health Alliance HRSA Grant in the amount of $22,000 and the contribution of $17,000 in equipment from the Viking Range Corporation. The hope in developing the “Healthy U...Gourmet Academy for Youth” is to see a Mississippi Delta in which everyone lives enriched, long and healthy lives.

   The Delta Health Alliance is gratefully acknowledged for support of this project through HRSA Grant Number U1FRH07411. The Delta Health Alliance is a non-profit organization based in Stoneville, MS that advocates, develops and implements collaborative programs to improve the health of citizens in the Delta through the support of partnerships that increase access and availability of health care, conduct and apply health research, or offer health educations programs that foster healthy lifestyles of Deltans. For more information about the Delta Health Alliance visit www.deltahealthalliance.org.

   Khafre, Inc is a Mississippi Delta-based 501(c) (3) not for profit community based organization.  Our mission is to build monumental programs that will have a favorable impact on the youth in the Delta. Our purpose and applicability is to offer educational workshops, seminars and conferences for the entire community that celebrate the Mississippi’s culture and its contributions to world history, including: music, cuisine, writing, and other artistic expressions.

  FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

HEALTHY U...Delta Gourmet Academy for Youth

662.347.8198 info@khafreinc.org

 __________________

We welcome your assistance in realizing success in the bold journey we put forth. If There is a contribution that you feel so moved to make we thank you in advance.

KHAFRE Inc is a not for profit 501c3 organization that was officially incorporated in September of 2009, by the Mississippi Secretary of State. The purpose of the organization is to provide educational, lifestyle and cultural programs, build monuments and memorials to honor, celebrate, and recognize the rich and complex history of the Mississippi Delta and to positively impact the quality of life of those living in the Delta, especially the disproportionately poor African American community. Understanding that this organization desires to create great change that is far beyond the reach of one organization, we endeavor to be a networking hub that works with and connects non-profit organizations, educational institutions, legislators, and individuals of consciousness for the purpose of establishing a social movement that fundamentally transforms the Delta and ushers in a renaissance and renewal of the human spirit.

Vision

KHAFRE, Inc was established to be the epicenter of a social movement that will cause a powerful, positive and profound shift in the very trajectory of the African American experience in the Mississippi Delta; a shift that will necessarily reverberate throughout the state of Mississippi, the United States of America and beyond. As a result of the monumental programs, activities, initiatives and efforts of this social-justice and purpose driven force, individuals of ALL races, ethnicities, and social statuses will embrace the dignity endowed to them by their Creator, understand their worth and embrace the value of their lives to their families and communities, dream the powerful dreams that come from an empowered and true understanding of their ancestry and heritage, and cast off the plantation mentality, as a result of fallowing the fields of their minds and planting the seeds of hope in their souls. KHAFRE, Inc exists to transform lives, build communities of equality and operate as a hub of hope – one that seeks out, connects and strengthens individuals, organizations and groups of consciousness inside and outside of the Mississippi Delta.

Mission

To realize its’ critically important and intentionally bold vision, KHAFRE Inc. will build monuments and memorials, offer programs and workshops around education, health, and history, provide resources to the formal and informal educators in the Delta, engage in community outreach and connection, and operate as a repository and distributor of information on the history, beauty, and talent of and within the Mississippi Delta, all for the overarching purpose of improving the quality of life of her sons and daughters.

To realize its’ critically important and intentionally bold vision, KHAFRE Inc. will build monuments and memorials, offer programs and workshops around education, health, and history, provide resources to the formal and informal educators in the Delta, engage in community outreach and connection, and operate as a repository and distributor of information on the history, beauty, and talent of and within the Mississippi Delta, all for the overarching purpose of improving the quality of life of her sons and daughters.

Purpose

(a)     To offer educational workshops, seminars and conferences for the entire community that celebrates the Mississippi Delta culture.
(b)     To produce events that showcase musicians coming together to perform traditional African rhythms and American Roots Music…the Mississippi Delta Blues.
(c)     To erect  monuments that honor and celebrate Mississippi history and culture, including music, writers, and other artistic expressions.
(d)    To operate as an equal opportunity, non-profit organization which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, or national origin; and

KHAFRE INC is a nonprofit organization as defined under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the Organization shall maintain a registered office in the State of Mississippi, and shall have a registered agent whose address is identical with such registered office.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE AND OR SUPPORT THIS WORTHY CAUSE, PLEASE SEND YOUR INQUIRY TO:

KHAFRE, INC 

POB 64 INDIANOLA, MS 38751  USA

662 347.8198, info@khafreinc.org 

 DONATE NOW

TEAM 

 C.Sade Turnipseed, MBA, MS, PhD (candidate), Founder/Executive Director

Mary Roberts, MA, Youth Programs Director

Linda Rule, Technical Consultant

Khafre, Inc Board of Directors:

Maya Angelou, Honorary Chair

Hermon Johnson, Chair

Joseph Martin Stevenson, PhD, Vice Chair

Catherine Gardner, MA

Ollye Brown-Shirley, PhD

Valerie Simpson, PhD

Chris W. Shults, PhD

Heather McTeer-Toney, JD

Eulah Peterson, PhD

Khafre, Inc Board of Advisors:

Ed Dwight Monument Developer/Designer

Eric Davis, Architect

Clifton Taulbert, Historian/Author, National Spokesperson

Dr. Carroll Van West, MTSU Professor

Dr. Rebecca Conard, MTSU Public History, Dept Chair

Dr. Tommy Bynum, MTSU History, Professor

Jerry Redmond, Principal and Sr Design Director, Redmond Designs

Jaribu Hill, Legal Consultant

Kaiser Brown, Certified Public Accountant—Banks, Finley, White & Company

Arthur Marble, Consultant

Robert Terrell, Consultant

Reverend Darryl Johnson, Minister

Kenneth H. P’Pool, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer for Mississippi and Director of the Historic Preservation Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Robert Terrell, African Blues Consultant, Director of Entertainment, B.B. King Museum

Sherry Nelson, General Manager WABG-TV / Delta Fox 10 / NBC 33

STEERING COMMITTEE

Dr. Elaine Baker, City Revitalization Task Force

Cheryl Line, Manager of Tourism, Bolivar County

Linda Stout Coleman, Parents 4 Public Schools

Benita Conwell, President Women in Agriculture

Mr. William Crockett, Superintendent, Mound Bayou Public Schools           

Dr. Eulah L. Peterson, President, Historic Mound Bayou Foundation           

Rev. Larry Haywood, Mound Bayou Area Ministers                       

Mr. Pedro Woods, Owner, Peter's Pottery                       

Mr. Sampson Williams, Civic Representative, Little Mound Bayou           

Ms. Lynette Criss, President, American Legion Auxiliary           

Dr. Elaine Baker, Chair, Mound Bayou Revitalization Task Force     

Ms. Jarvis Malone, Student, John F. Kennedy Memorial High School     

Sis Donella Hartman, St. Gabriel Mercy Center                             

Mr. Louis Sanders, Mound Bayou Area Farmers                       

Mr. Melvin Gant, Chairman, Mound Bayou Planning and Zoning Commission     

Mrs. Cheryl Line, Cleveland/Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce                 

Mrs. Linda S. Coleman, Parents 4 Public Schools                             

Mr. Earl L. Carmicle, Civic Representative                                   

Mr. Henry Perkins, Mayor, Winstonville, MS                                   

Mr. Andrew Westerfield, Mayor, Merigold, MS                                   

Ms. Bonita A. Conwell, President, SRBWI Women in Agriculture                 

Rev. Darryl Johnson, Owner, Professionals Florist                             

Mrs. Willena S. White, Civic Representative

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES

Bennie Thompson, U.S. Congressman District 2

Trina George, Director USDA Rural Development, Mississippi

Richard Coleman, Supervisor, Bolivar County District 3

Kennedy Johnson, Mayor Mound Bayou

City of Mound Bayou, Board of Alderman

Stephanie Toothman, PhD, Assoc Director, Cultural Resources, National Park System

Robert Jackson, Mississippi State Senator

David Jordan, Mississippi State Senator

Willie Simmons, Mississippi State Senator

Linda Coleman, Mississippi State Representative, Bolivar County

Johnnie Thomas, Mayor Glendora

Clifton Whitley, President CEO—M.A.C.E.

Pam Chatmon, WABG-TV

Cissy Anklan, Interpretive Center/Museum Consultant

Kathleen Jenkins, Superintendent of the Natchez National Historical Park

R. Michael Madell, Superintendent of the Vicksburg National Historical Park

Laura Soullière Gates, Superintendent, Cane River Creole National Historical Park

Mary Francis Shepard, Queen of Jook

FOR MORE INFORMATION

www.khafreinc.org

info@khafreinc.org

LETTERS OF SUPPORT RECEIVED:

Senator Roger F. Wicker, (R, MS)

Congressman Benny Thompson (D.MS)

MS Senator Willie Simmons

MS Representative Sara Thomas

MS Representative William Bailey

MS Representative John Hines

State of MS Tourism Dir., D. Craig Ray

Embassy of USA, Burkina Faso

Min. of Culture, Burkina Faso

Ambassador of Burkina Faso

Min. of Culture, Senegal

Ambassador of Senegal

Min. of Culture, Cape Verde

Ambassador of Cape Verde

Min. of Culture, Kenya 

Ambassador of Kenya

Min. of Culture, Togo

Min. of Culture, Ghana

Min. of Culture, Cote d' Ivoire

Ambassador of Cote d' Ivoire

Min. of Culture, Sierre Leone

Ambassador of Sierre Leone