The following is a 25min segment of the panel discussion following the viewing of the documentary “Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes” which was a part of The Ground Level Movie Night series.  Panel participants include Lance Ellis, Martini Rox , Naki Akrobettoe, Edward McDanial, and Kamaron Kyser.

Stay tuned for more thought provoking and impactful events!

Movie Night is every 2nd and 4th Tuesday at the Ground Level Coffeehouse.  Video courtesy of WEPAWEBTV.

Starting Wed. March 3rd the Ground Level Coffeehouse is proud to introduce Wednesday Jazz Jam Sessions to our weekly line up of events.

Join us EVERY 1ST AND 3RD WEDNESDAY with UT Professor Noha Liebel, UT Jazz students and local Jazz enthusiasts for a night of improv, collaboration, and Great Music!!!  Event begins at 7pm and open to all jazz musicians.

Also, check out a New Jazz Trio that made their debut last month.  Relativity will be preforming jazz standards, original music and other favorites Wed Mar 24 @ 7pm.

Tues March 9 will be the Toledo Premier of Jason Gilmore’s short film “How Shawn Parker Fell in Love!”  Jason is a Toledo native whose currently living and filming in California.

Shawn Parker, a smug, attractive advertising exec, has little on his mind except bedding hot chicks. His next conquest will be Donnita Miller, an earthy young sista who is happily engaged and oblivious to his charms. Seeing the challenge, Shawn pursues her, and instead, a friendship develops. Caught between his newfound desire to lead Donnita out of darkness and his lifelong history of leading similarly fragile women into darkness, Shawn has to decide whether he’ll walk down the alley or down the aisle.

Here’s a  Special Thank You from the Director/Writer himself!!!

On Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 7:30 P.M., the documentary by Byron Hurt, Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats & Rhymes will be shown @The Ground Level Coffeehouse.

This profound documentary explores the current state of hip-hop and the impact that it has on our culture, society, and youth. It addresses misogyny, violence, and the exploitation of women in music videos. It includes interviews with, among others, Mos Def, Chuck D, Michael Eric Dyson, and Russell Simmons.

It will be followed by a panel/audiance discussion. The panel will include Kamaron Kyser of Thosefellows, LLC, poets Naki Akrobettoe and Edward McDanial, Lance Ellis, and local dj Martini of The Juice, 107.3. This event will be both informative and educational for youth and adults.

Hope you are able to attend.

Check out this 2min Preview.

Also:  Wednesday Feb. 24, we’ll be having an encore presentation of the documentary “To Shoot an Elephant”. @7pm.

New Works Writers Series will celebrate black history month with a dramatic reading of Young Messiahs Fly by Frank Dobson and several productions of Pearl Cleage’s play Late Bus to Mecca.

Theater-goers are invited to enjoy a special presentation by New Works Writers Series at 7 p.m. Feb.18 at the Ground Level Coffeehouse, 2636 West Central Avenue in Toledo. Actors performing with New Works, under the direction of Dr. Imelda Hunt, will give a dramatic reading of Dr. Frank Dobson’s play Young Messiahs Fly, which examines exploitation and sports in America. A discussion will follow this exclusive presentation.

New Works’ second black history month offering will be the play Late Bus to Mecca by Pearl Cleage. Enjoy these performances Feb. 21 at 3pm at Elizabeth House, 3837 Secor Rd. (across from Boston Market), and Feb.26 at 7pm at the Toledo Museum of Art.

“As one of Cleages’s most comical and passionate plays, Late Bus to Mecca is a story of sisterhood and the oldest profession,” says Hunt, founder of New Works.

Actors joining New Works for these special performances include Latoya Williams, Jeannette Turner, Jessica Kight, Kristen Noel Seay, Gary Bond, Darius Hall, Richie Brown, Deonte Moss, Kobe Towbridge, Katrina Barnhill, and Tisha Carroll

In its second decade, New Works Writers Series is Northwest Ohio’s oldest independent black theater and performing arts organization. A 501(c)3 non-profit, New Works has presented plays and workshops within the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library system, at Pittsburgh Kuntu Repertory Theatre and Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, to name only a few venues.

Admission to all events is $5.

“We promise exciting performances of these outstanding works,” adds Hunt. “We also expect to enjoy lively discussions.”

For more information, contact Dr. Imelda Hunt at (419) 380-8464 or via e-mail at director@newworkswritersseries.org.

Toledo City Paper readers recently voted us as the BEST OPEN MIC and THE BEST PLACE TO HEAR SPOKEN WORD. This means that in less than 9 months we have established ourselves as THE PLACE to celebrate local talent and enjoy the beauty of the Spoken word.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TOLEDO, OH. We look forward to living up to this award Every Week with amazing weekly events and Thought Provoking Feature Presentations.

EXCERPT FROM THE TOLEDO CITY PAPER

When the former Brewed Awakenings on Central Ave. announced it was closing its doors, longtime performance artists Jesse Lipman and Imani Latees saw an opportunity to continue its tradition of spoken word poetry. The Ground Level Coffeehouse emerged, bringing a new identity and renewed life to the location.
“We like connecting a lot of good poets from the region. We have local college age poets, experienced poets and poets from Detroit,” said co-owner Jesse Lipman.
A prototypical college coffeehouse with an eclectic variety of furniture, Ground Level is filled with a warm vibe where you’d expect to see students working away on their laptops, playing chess, or a poet talking Kurt Vonnegut with a man wearing a beret and horn-rimmed glasses.

Hosted by Steve Athanas (with musical accompaniment provided by THE COOSTERS: Dick Lange (guitar), Dave Saygers (tuba/upright bass), Larry Reinstein (mandolin), Jim Briggs (percussion) and El Extreme (guest percussion) the monthly 30 minute program explores the RADICAL VAUDEVILLE (RV) movement globally.

It doesn’t get any better than this.

Three rounds of Championship Slam Poetry.

Featuring the Best and Bravest Poets in the Northwest Ohio, The Midwest, and The Country!

The crowned Ground Level Slam Champion wins a trip to Hawaii to feature at the World Famous First Thursday Slam in Honolulu.

Go Hard or Go Home.

Thurs. Feb. 4
Doors: 7pm
Cover: $5

*Official Rules to follow soon*

The Ground Level Coffeehouse is proud to present our First Ever Independent Films Series. Beginning Tuesday, January 19 (and the next 2 consecutive Tuesdays) we will be showing a series of entertaining, provocative, and inspirational movies directed and produced by creatives from the Toledo area and across the World.

All of these events are FREE and Open to the Public. Donations may be collected to help support various film makers.

WARNING: Some of the films discuss material of a mature nature and may not be suitable for all audiences.

Tuesday, January 19,2010:
Feature Film: Athena (2009)/20min
Writer-Dir Nicole Tarver

Come out for a screening and discussion of “Athena,” the award winning, emotionally charged documentary that explores the little known world of prostitute mothers in Toledo. A Q and A with the film’s director, Nicole Tarver and the real-life Athena will follow the screening.   Also featuring the work of other Toledo natives

Tuesday, January 26,2010:
Feature Film: To Shoot an Elephant/113 min
Arabic w. English subtitles.

An award winning eye-witness account of the invasion of the Gaza Strip in December 2008.  21 days of footage from film makers embedded in Palestinian ambulances.  Also screening: Sacred Space Denied; Bethlehem and the Wall.

Tuesday, February 2,2010: Tue. Feb. 9, 2010
Feature Film: How Shawn Parker Fell in Love
Writer/Dir Jason Gilmore

Shawn Parker, a smug, attractive advertising exec, has little on his mind except bedding hot chicks. His next conquest will be Donnita Miller, an earthy young sista who is happily engaged and oblivious to his charms. Seeing the challenge, Shawn pursues her, and instead, a friendship develops. Caught between his newfound desire to lead Donnita out of darkness and his lifelong history of leading similarly fragile women into darkness, Shawn has to decide whether he’ll walk down the alley or down the aisle.

If you were to ask me what exactly is THE INTIMATE VACUUM.  I’d tell you what they told me:

Intimate Vacuum: Premiere Show Taping, Hosted by Steve Athanas, live music, performance artists, off beat interviews, an alternative to the alternative scene, 8 pm, $3

And after that I STILL wouldn’t be quite sure. I’m sure its one of those things you have to see FIRST HAND. I can almost guarantee you’ve never seen ANYTHING like it in Toledo, Ohio. And I can almost guarantee YOU will be a part of the Show. So expect nothing less than wall to wall debauchery!

The promotional video Totally whets our appetite for the 23rd!  CHECK IT OUT BELOW.