Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. This verse from the musical RENT's song "Seasons of Love" talks about how to measure a year. The song's choice of measurement is love, but in the realm of Los Angeles Faith & Community, it is the people and events that shaped lives, communities, and the world at-large. This 2012 Year-in-review refreshes the memory as we take a look back, before we take a step forward.
Book Review: We began 2012 spotlighting Douglas E. Welch latest e-book, Cultivating Your Career Reputations: a clear, concise, handy guide which helps to focus you as an employer, employee, or as an essential part of any team. Douglas' wisdom is culled from his 25-plus years of experience as a pioneer in the blogging world, technology, and Social Media, and as an employee, independent contractor, and business owner himself.
The e-book is still available for purchase on Amazon.com in Kindle format. Check out my review of the book Book Review: Cultivating your Career Reputations, the Amazon listing and reviews, or discover more about Douglas E. Welch and his work at his website.
The Global Church: World Revival Church of Kansas City, Missouri is a hub of evangelism and world outreach. They demonstrated this in a big way through Revival Wired, uniting with various other church denominations around the world for a live-streamed interactive service on Sunday, March 25, 2012. Churches from the Midwest and Western United States, Canada, and as far-flung as The Netherlands, and Finland participated in this powerful time of unifying the church. This live-streamed event took the church a step closer in fulfilling Jesus' prayer in John 17:21: "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
Community Education and Outreach: The Los Angeles Black Book Expo (LABBX) fundraised, inspired, and reacquainted the world with Literary Greats Past and Present on April 20, 2012, and again on June 1. Artistic luminaries such as Denise “The Oracle” Cook, Spencer Allen, Kate Purnell, and Keg Johnson dramatized the work of literary greats Gil Scott Heron, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, Mabel Mercer, Maya Angelou, Nikki Giovanni, Zora Neal Hurston, Phyllis A. Wheatley, Rita Dove, and James Baldwin.
World Changers: In the Gospel According to Dustin, we met world-changer and peripatetic traveler Dustin Berlin, who uses his hair artistry much like Paul used his tent-making: as a tool to spread the good news and love of Jesus. Dustin has since moved back to Santa Rosa, California to be closer to family, and to have a launch point for his international travels.
The summer saw the visionary and collaborative work of Brigette Dunn-Korpela come to life in "Love Letters". Under the banner of BDK Dance Kollective, choreographer and creative director Brigette united with fellow dancers Cornelius Jones, Jr., and Melanie Mah to produce a well-received piece of performance art for the &NOW 2012 Festival in Paris, France.
Film Review: The world of film cannot be excluded from the community equation, and Kumaré was the surprise indie sleeper of the Summer. Vikram Gandhi (who also plays the lead character Sri Kumaré) gives us a window on his own journey to find meaning in his faith system of Hinduism by inventing a faith system of his own embodied in the guru Sri Kumaré.
At 84 minutes, Kumaré is well-weaved, humorous, yet surprising touching. It leads the audience on an unpredictable exploration of faith, belief, and the role spiritual leadership plays in the journey. Catch it on iTunes, Amazon, or any "In Demand" station on cable or DirectTV.
Community Event: The beautiful Louise Marie Cornillez led us into the Holidays with her "Evening of Song" one-woman show in November. Louise's illustrious stage career includes singing with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre National de Lille in France. Louise has also performed with the Atlanta Opera, East West Players, San Gabriel Valley Music Theater, and the Sacramento Music Circus.
Faith & Technology: To round out your gift list for Hannukah or Christmas 2012, Michel Kripalani's Oceanhouse Media offered interactive book apps with a purpose. Focusing on children's illustrated content, along with a number of self-improvement offerings, these apps, which include the Berenstein Bears series, and Dr. Seuss books like The Lorax, reflect a certain quality of life, and family focus. These apps are also geared toward education and inspiration. How many interactive producers can make that claim to fame?
There's still time to spend some of that Holiday cash you may have received to purchase interactive materials that uplift and inspire--what a wonderful gift for yourself, and for others.
The Year 2013 promises more trailblazers, influencers, travelers, and world changers. Los Angeles Faith & Community will continue to highlight those who enlighten, inform, and inspire our audience.
Happy New Year!
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