KUCI: Get the Funk Out!

Let’s Talk Race A Guide for White People By Fern L. Johnson and Marlene G. Fine

Let's Talk Race pulls no punches as it examines why white people struggle to talk about race, why we need to talk about race, and what obstacles preclude conversations that promote racial understanding and social action for racial equity.
Written by two specialists in race relations and parents of two adopted African American sons, the book provides unique insights and practical guidance richly illustrated with personal examples, anecdotes, and prompts for personal reflection and conversations about race.
Coverage includes:
Seeing the varied forms of racism
How we normalize and privilege whiteness
Essential and often unknown elements of Black history that inform the present
Racial disparities in education, health, criminal justice, and wealth
Understanding racially linked cultural differences
How to find conversational partners and create safe spaces for conversations
Conversational do's and don'ts.
Let's Talk Race is for all white people who want to face the challenges of talking about race and work towards equality.
Fern L. Johnson, PhD, is Senior Research Scholar and Professor Emerita at Clark University, specializing in race, culture, and language. Her publications include Speaking Culturally and Imaging in Advertising, and many journal articles. Fern co-authored, with Marlene Fine, The Interracial Adoption Option, which draws on their experience as white parents of African American son
Marlene G. Fine, PhD, is Professor Emerita at Simmons University, specializing in cultural diversity, leadership, and dialogue. She authored Building Successful Multicultural Organizations, and her articles appear in a broad range of journals. She is a seasoned speaker and workshop facilitator. She lives near Boston, Massachusetts.

Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor, returns this May with THE GUNCLE, a warm and deeply funny summer read about ...

Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus and The Editor, returns this May with THE GUNCLE, a warm and deeply funny summer read about a once-famous gay sitcom star who, after an unexpected family tragedy, gains custody of his niece and nephew for the summer. It’s a moving tribute to the power of love, patience, and family in even the most trying of times, wrapped up in the humor and heart that have become trademarks of his work, and will be sure to please readers of Rowley’s earlier novels and fans of Andrew Sean Greer, Maria Semple, Grant Ginder, and Matt Haig. THE GUNCLE is a perfect book for summer reading and Pride Month coverage.
"A laugh-out-loud heartwarmer." —O, The Oprah Magazine

Dream Horse featured on KUCI 88.9fm - Director: Euros Lyn Written by: Neil McKay Produced by: Katherine Butler, Tracy O’Riordan Cast: Toni Collett...

Synopsis:
The film tells the inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town Welsh bartender, Jan Vokes (Academy Award® nominee Toni Collette). With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream in the hopes he can compete with the racing elites. The group's investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks with grit and determination and goes on to race in the Welsh Grand National showing the heart of a true champion.
Run Time:
113 minutes
Website/Socials:
#DreamHorse

Danielle Henderson, TV writer and podcast host shares an uproarious, moving memoir of her unconventional childhood—and a moving look at what it means ...

Danielle Henderson, a TV writer for shows including Maniac, Divorce, and Difficult People, creator of the viral Feminist Ryan Gosling meme, and cohost of the podcast I Saw What You Did, shares her memoir THE UGLY CRY. With signature humor, wit and deep insight, she reminisces on being Black, weird, and overwhelmingly uncool in a predominantly white, granola town in upstate New York.
“The Ugly Cry is the funniest memoir I have ever read. It is also achingly sad. And powerfully redemptive.”
– Augusten Burroughs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Running with Scissors
“If you fight that motherf**ker and you don’t win, you’re going to come home and fight me.” Not the advice you’d normally expect from your grandmother—but Danielle Henderson would be the first to tell you her childhood was anything but conventional. In her memoir, THE UGLY CRY, she shares how she grew up and grew wise with the help of her foul-mouthed, horror film-loving grandmother in Warwick, NY.
Abandoned at ten years old by a mother who wanted to start a new family with her drug-addicted, abusive boyfriend, Danielle was raised by grandparents who thought their child-rearing days had ended in the 1960s. Under the eye-rolling, coarse, loving tutelage of her unapologetic grandmother—and the horror movies she obsessively watched—Danielle grew into a tall, awkward, Sassy-loving teenager who wore black eyeliner as lipstick and was struggling with the aftermath of her mother’s choices. But she also learned that she had the strength and smarts to save herself, her grandmother gifting her with a faith in her own capabilities that the world would not have most Black girls possess. With humor, wit and deep insight, Henderson upends our conventional understanding of family and redefines its boundaries to include millions of people who share her story.
In interviews, Danielle Henderson discusses:
· Growing up Black and on food stamps in the overwhelmingly white, crunchy town of Warwick, NY
· How being raised by her strong, unfaltering grandmother whose unconventional ways of expressing love taught Danielle to have a strong will and a sharp sense of humor
· How she has learned to overcome, deal with, and talk about childhood trauma
· Her grandmother’s hysterical, wildly inappropriate, yet sound advice
· Where the title of the book THE UGLY CRY came from
· The role that research played in her writing process, as she depicts details from coming of age in the 1970s such as escalators in Macy’s and New Jersey’s infamous Action Park
· What it means that Danielle is moving back to Warwick this year to care for her grandmother – the very person who saved her life.
Danielle Henderson reminds us of the capacity we all have to survive, the momentous joy we can find amidst the moments of pain, and that laughter can be found at every one of life’s corners. Razor sharp, irresistibly charming, and utterly hilarious, THE UGLY CRY is both Danielle’s happy ending and the beginning of what is sure to be a long writing career of a breakout talent.
About the Author:
Danielle Henderson is a TV writer whose credits include Maniac, Divorce, and Difficult People. A retired freelance writer and former editor for Rookie, she has been published by The New York Times, The Guardian, AFAR Magazine, BuzzFeed, and The Cut. A book based on her popular website, Feminist Ryan Gosling, was released in 2012. Danielle currently co-hosts the podcast I Saw What You Did There with Millie De Chirico about the weird ways we respond to and learn to love movies. She likes to watch old episodes of Doctor Who when she is on deadline, one of her tattoos is based on the movie Rocky, and she will never stop using the Oxford comma.

Kim Snyder talks about her powerful film US Kids | Impact Partners Film

Synopsis:
From Kim A. Snyder, director of the Peabody Award-winning documentary Newtown, comes an insightful, rousing coming-of-age story of a generation of youth leaders determined to take the reins and fight for justice at a most critical time in our nation's history. Sparked by the plague of gun violence ravaging their schools, Us Kids chronicles the March For Our Lives movement over the course of several years, following X Gonzalez, its co-founders, survivors and a group of teenage activists as they pull off the largest youth protest in American history and set out across the country and globally to build an inclusive and unprecedented youth movement that addresses gun violence prevention, racial justice, a growing public health crisis, and shocks a political system into change.
Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Interview: X González’s March for Our Lives Documentary Made Sundance Film Festival History - NBC.com
X González’s March for Our Lives Documentary Made Sundance Film Festival History #Sundance #USKids #Fallon #JimmyFallon #Kim Snyder

Gravitas Ventures Set to Release the Award-Winning Altitude Not Attitude on Apple+ TV and iTunes on June 8th The documentary feature film from Latinx...

Imagine the nicest, liveliest, most gregarious self-made entrepreneur you could ever hope to meet. This is Southern California born and bred financial advisor, Michael Warkentin. Then recognize that he also happens to be quadriplegic. Altitude Not Attitude follows one man’s ambitious once-in-a-lifetime global adventure, traveling around the world amongst gorgeous European landmarks and spectacular vistas, all while exploring the six phases of recovery to which everyone who has experienced tragedy can relate. The uplifting and award-winning documentary premieres on Apple+TV and ITUNES on June 8th distributed by Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios Company. The feature film marks a directorial debut for the promising Hispanic actress-turned filmmaker Magi Avila (A Better Life, Dog Eat Dog, First Kill).

Janeane speaks with Donna Butts, Executive Director of Generations United

Generations United (gu.org)
Donna Butts is the Executive Director of Generations United, a position she has held since 1997. For more than 30 years, Butts has worked tirelessly to promote the well-being of children, youth and older adults through nonprofit organizations across the country and around the world. She began her career in her home state of Oregon as a youth worker with the YWCA, where she worked one-on-one with teens and saw the positive effects of intergenerational programs firsthand.
Butts has held leadership positions with Covenant House, a New York-based international youth serving organization, and the National 4-H Council. She served as the Executive Director for the National Organization on Adolescent Pregnancy, Parenting and Prevention before taking the helm of Generations United.
An internationally sought-after speaker, author and advocate, Butts frequently speaks on intergenerational connections, grandparents raising grandchildren and policies effective across the lifespan. Her commentary has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor and the Wall Street Journal. She has been interviewed on the TODAY Show, National Public Radio and ABC News, and was invited by the United Nations to sit on four expert panels most recently on intergenerational solidarity and social cohesion in preparation for the 2014 20th anniversary of the International Year or the Family.
In 2004, Butts was honored with the National Council on Aging’s Jack Ossofsky for Leadership, Creativity, and Innovation in Programs and Services for Older Persons. She served as a 2005 delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. A respected author, she has written countless articles, chapters and publications regarding the welfare of children, youth and older adults.
Butts received her undergraduate degree from Marylhurst College and is a graduate of Stanford University’s Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders. She is a former chair of the board of the International Consortium of Intergenerational Programmes (ICIP) and serves on the board of the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships. She was recognized three years in a row (2012, 2013 and 2014) by The Nonprofit Times as one of the Top 50 most powerful and influential nonprofit executives in the nation.
In 2015, she was named one of the Top 50 Influencers in Aging by Next Avenue. Under her leadership, Generations United received the 2015 Eisner Prize for Excellence in Intergenerational Advocacy. Recently she was honored with one of the 2017 International Federation for Family Development Awards.
Check out Generations United’s newest report, Family Matters: Multigenerational Living Is on the Rise and Here to Stay.

Julianne O’Brien - Professor, Chair, Department of Dance College of Performing Arts Chapman University; Department of Dance Expertise: Dance Pedagogy;...

From the Orange County Register:
Chapman University dancer Lauren Leung, 19, top, is lifted up by fellow dancers with Chapman University’s Department of Dance during a performance for residents at Emerald Court, a senior living community, in Anaheim on Monday, May 17, 2021. Chapman dance students in a Dance Education and Outreach course were assigned a project to pair up with a senior at Emerald Court. The student/senior pairs communicated via weekly calls where the student learned about the lives and experiences of the seniors. The project culminated with a dance performance choreographed based on the lives of the seniors.

Director D.W. Thomas talks about her debut film, TOO LATE OPENING IN SELECT THEATERS & ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS ON JUNE 25. TOO LATE - STARRING ALYSSA LIM...

OPENING IN SELECT THEATERS & ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS ON JUNE 25
STARRING ALYSSA LIMPERIS, RON LYNCH, WILL WELDON, MARY LYNN RAJSKUB, & FRED ARMISEN
This cozy horror comedy set in the Los Angeles indie comedy scene features Violet Fields who works a thankless job as the assistant to Bob Devore, famed comedian and host of the live variety show, Too Late. But what only Violet knows is that Bob is a monster both literally and figuratively. Resigned to her fate, Violet is caught by surprise when she meets aspiring comedian Jimmy Rhodes and sparks fly. But as her feelings for Jimmy grow and Bob starts to doubt her loyalty, she and Jimmy could end up as Bob’s next meal.
TOO LATE is the debut feature film from director D.W. Thomas and writer Tom Becker. It stars Alyssa Limperis (Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun), Ron Lynch (Bob’s Burgers, Adventure Time), Will Weldon (Comedy Central’s This Isn’t Happening), Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Fred Armisen (SNL, Portlandia), Jenny Zigrino (Bad Santa 2, 50 Shades of Black), Jack De Sena (Avatar: The Last Airbender), and Brooks Wheelan (SNL).

New York Times bestselling novelist Kristan Higgins shares her latest novel, PACK UP THE MOON, her most ambitious and moving story yet

New York Times bestselling novelist Kristan Higgins turned her worst fear—losing a spouse and being left alone—into the subject of her latest novel, PACK UP THE MOON, (Berkley Trade Original; June 8, 2021).
At twenty-four, Kristan lost her beloved father in a tragic accident. She’s keenly aware of life’s fragility and as the wife of a firefighter has spent most her marriage steeling herself for the potential loss of her husband, Terrence. Kristan and her husband share a very happy marriage, but she’s written Terrence’s eulogy four times. If he’s late coming home from work and she can’t reach him, she automatically prepares for the worst.
Kristan wrote PACK UP THE MOON to explore her own scariest question: how do you move on after losing the love of your life? In writing the book, she reaffirmed her belief that love has the power to transform even after the one you love is gone and that there is always space for hope.
In PACK UP THE MOON (Berkley Trade Paperback Original; June 8, 2021), Kristan Higgins delivers a tragic love story with a hopeful ending—just not the one you expect. Reminiscent of Me Before You, this is the story of young widower Joshua Park, whose late wife, Lauren, left him twelve letters with directions on moving forward in the first year after her death. In true Kristan Higgins fashion, the result is a laughter-through-tears page turner.
PACK UP THE MOON is her most ambitious and moving story yet.