Included on the 16th a Benefit for Test Positive Awareness Network

JASON STUART PERFORMS AUGUST 16-18TH.

Jason was the first openly gay comedian to headline Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, where he has been a making audiences laugh out loud since 1983. Jason came out publicly in 1993 on the Geraldo show in an episode called “Unconventional Comedians”. And with this appearance, he is celebrating 20 years of being openly gay in the entertainment biz! Jamie Masada, The Laugh Factory’s owner, has given Jason a place to work and grow as a comedian for 30 years. In 1995, Jamie gave Jason the club for a full week to celebrate National Coming Out Day, an event that generated a cover story in the Los Angeles Times. Jamie says, “Jason Stuart has always been ahead of our time.

He paved the road for gay entertainers in Hollywood and gave them to courage to be themselves.” Jason has been in over 150 film & TV shows and starred in his own hour special on the gay network Jason Stuart: Making It To The Middle. For two decades, he has headlined clubs all over the country, and to this day Jason works alongside the best comedians in the business. Jason recently appeared in the Lifetime movie Home Invasion, starring Haylie Duff and C. Thomas Howell. He also guest starred opposite Shailene Woodley in ABC Family’s The Secret Life Of The American Teenager and HBO’s Entourage. Coming up: he appears in the indie films Bearcity 2 : The Proposal, playing a Hollywood wanna-be-producer with Kathy Najimy, and in K11 as a rough prison trustee with Goran Visnjic and D.B. Sweeney. Jason also has a major supporting role – as a straight guy! – in The Guest House with Daniel Baldwin. Jason also just completed the movie Posey with Oscar nominated actress Sally Kirkland & Ray Wise and the sci-fi drama Goodbye World starring Adrian Gernier (Entourage) & Gabby Hoffman. In addition to just being cast in Hush Up Sweet Charlotte starring Varla Jean Merman & Mink Stole and The Heart Of A Women. Jason supports other openly gay actors as national chairperson for SAG AFTRA LGBT Committee. Its pioneering work includes a survey on out actors. He is the comedy chair for Lifeworks at the Los Angeles Gay Lesbian Center, producing and performing in their annual benefits hosted by The Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Jason also mentors gay youth. Jason was an out actor and comedian before Neil, Ellen, Rosie and a host of others ever set foot in this unknown land of being gay in Hollywood.

He has walked the walk and talked the talk by being of service to his community. “It’s not always easy, but it became more important to me to be openly gay than to be in show biz. I was willing to risk my career to be authentic, but it actually worked out OK”, he says. Jason knows the best is yet to come, and thanks Jamie and The Laugh Factory for treating him as an equal to his straight peers. He looks forward to sharing that with Chicago. “To have the same rights is the goal for my fellow gay artists”, says Jason… a simple guy from a crazy town called Hollywood! JASON STUART PERFORMS AUGUST 16-18TH AT THE LAUGH FACTORY, 3175 N Broadway (between Belmont Ave & Briar Pl) Chicago, IL 60657;(773) 327-3175

http://www.laughfactory.com / Tickets: 773-327-3175

http://www.tpan.com/about/mission.shtml

The Chicago office of international educational nonprofitFacing History and Ourselves announced today the 12 individuals and groups honored in Upstanders: Portraits of Courage—a featured local component of the organization’sacclaimed multimedia exhibition Choosing to Participate during its Chicago engagement at the Harold Washington Public Library’s Winter Garden, 400 South State Street, August 27-November 11, 2012. Upstanders: Portraits of Courage features photographs and narratives of the unsung heroes behind 12 initiatives making positive changes in communities across Chicago. Among the remarkable individuals are professionals, volunteers and students such as Nikki Jarvis, a Deerfield High School graduate and active member of the NAACP chapter at Loyola University whose work confronts issues of race and privilege; and former eighth grade classmates Jacques Agbobly, Diamond Lenoir andElizabeth Adebiyi, who created an anti-bullying and LGBTQ awareness assembly at Chicago’s Stockton Elementary School.

“Choosing to Participate is a catalyst for conversation about civic participation in our community, our nation, and across the globe,” said Bonnie Oberman, the Chicago director of Facing History. “The dedicated individuals honored in Upstanders: Portraits of Courageare living proof that through the choices we make each day, each of us can make a positive impact on others and help to build more inclusive communities.”

The Chicago-area honorees featured in Upstanders: Portraits of Courage are:

• ·         Nikki Jarvis (Loyola University, Chicago): Confronting race and privilege is not easy—though for Nikki, it was made easier through guidance by her Facing History teachers at Deerfield High School. Now Nikki has moved the conversation from classrooms and community meetings in her hometown to the Loyola University campus, where she is an active member of the NAACP chapter, and to the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago, where she volunteers to teach English.

• Jacques Agbobly, Diamond Lenoir and Elizabeth Adebiyi (Stockton Elementary School, Chicago): Jacques, Diamond and Elizabeth were the backbone of an entire eighth grade class that was dedicated to building tolerance and fighting injustice. The three were actively involved in creating an anti-bullying and LGBTQ awareness assembly at Stockton last winter. As they move on to different high schools, they will bring with them the leadership and activism they learned while at Stockton

• ·         Chiye Tomihiro (Chicago): Though born in the USA, Chiye and her family were placed in the Mindoka Relocation Center in Idaho in 1942, along with thousands of other Japanese Americans. When she shares her experience with young people, she addresses the humiliation of the experience, stressing that the internment camps violated Constitutional rights, and emphasizing the importance of speaking up in the face of injustice.

• ·         Sara and Mazher Ahmed, daughter and mother (Chicago and Batavia, IL): For the Ahmeds, the commitment to building and teaching tolerance and compassion is an intergenerational value and part of a family inclination to help others. Mazher started interfaith work in the family living room, founded a mosque, and helped inspire Sara to become a teacher. At Burley School in Chicago, where Sara has taught for eight years, the language of Upstanders and Bystanders “permeates the school,” and Upstander Awards are granted to exemplary students.

• ·         Zoey Bond (Glencoe): After learning about the Holocaust in her eighth grade Facing History class at Glencoe’s Central School, Zoey wanted to do more: “I felt like if I didn’t do anything about the issue, I would be a bystander too.” After interviewing survivors, she decided theater was the right medium to communicate their stories. The resulting play, Raining Season, has been performed for more than 4,000 people at schools, synagogues and churches, bringing together young people and survivors.

• ·         Henry Henderson (Natural Resources Defense Council – Midwest, Chicago): Henry came to environmental law through St. Augustine and St. Ambrose. Inspired by the transformational thinking and social concerns of those religious thinkers, Henry says, “Practicing law gives me the ability to participate in the public language of my time.” Environmental law ripples from backyards to entire geographical regions—it can empower entire communities.

• Howard Rossman and Adar Cohen (Civic Leadership Foundation, Glencoe): An after-school mobile music production studio. A school greenhouse. A program to increase physical education in the community. All run by students, with support to succeed from the non-profit Civic Leadership Foundation (CLF). Helping to provide programs in schools and after-school that connect education, economics and social engagement, CLF director Adar and founder Howard emphasize how such projects help students “attain and retain personal investment,” empowering them as effective actors in their own lives.

• ·         Student Ensemble and Artistic Staff (Albany Park Theater Project, Chicago): Albany Park Theater Project’s youth ensemble gives voice to the thousands of members of the Albany Park community who have something to say but may not speak the language. “We’re committed to amplifying the voices of people who often don’t control how they’re represented in mainstream media,” says founder David Feiner.

• ·

• Tiffany Childress (North Lawndale College Prep High School, Chicago): The non-violent conflict resolution practiced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired Tiffany to find the potential for peace in her school. Peace Warriors was born, incorporating lessons and readings about peace into student leadership meetings and in-school suspension time. Now, Peace Warrior students are an active presence at North Lawndale, mediating conflicts, actively combating harassment and training students and teachers in other neighborhoods.

• ·         Zio Perez (Nettelhorst School, Chicago): Zio knows she was meant to be a teacher. “What I love doing is helping them fall in love with school,” she says of her pre-K students. Building partnerships with families, she extends her classroom into the community. Innovative co-founder of SwaziKids, a non-profit that provides books and educational materials to children in Swaziland and other African countries, Zio has built a connection in her students’ minds and lives to their peers abroad.

• ·         Scheherezade and Salamishah Tillet (A Long Walk Home, Chicago): A multi-faceted program for victims of sexual assault, “A Long Walk Home,” is a phrase from a poem written by organization president Salamishah as part of her own healing after surviving sexual assault. Her sister, executive director Scheherezade, notes, “Salamishah started this walk alone. Then it was me and her, and now others, through the schools and communities we work with.”

• ·         Tony Wasilewski (Schiller Park): Tony paid little attention to America’s immigration debate until May 2007, when his wife Janina was deported back to Poland, uprooting a marriage, a family and a thriving small business. Their story captured the attention of filmmaker Ruth Leitman, who created the documentary film Tony and Janina’s American Wedding to share their story with others. Now reunited with his wife and their son Brian, Tony is an activist for immigration rights.

Choosing to Participate examines the impact and history of bigotry and injustice, and inspires conversation about the choices we can make every day to foster civic engagement, tolerance, and mutual understanding in our communities. Central to the exhibit are five installations telling stories in the first-person about people and communities that have experienced racism and injustice, and how courage, initiative, and compassion are necessary to protect democracy. In addition to Upstanders: Portraits of Courage, another featured local component of Choosing to Participate is pARTicipation: Young Artists Speak Up, a display of original artwork from Chicagoland students in grades 7-12 that illustrates the importance of choices we make in our daily lives and the value of choosing to participate.

The Honorary Chair for Choosing to Participate in Chicago is Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Co-chairs for the initiative are Greg Case, President and CEO of Aon, and Jim Reynolds, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Loop Capital, and Al Grace, Co-Founder and President of Loop Capital. The national Honorary Advisory Committee for the exhibit includesfilmmaker Steven Spielberg, Congressman John Lewis, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and other internationally recognized leaders who have made significant contributions to building and strengthening civic life. For a full list of the Honorary Advisory Committee, please visit choosingtoparticipate.org. The Walmart Foundation is the national sponsor of Choosing to Participate’s current multicity tour. Aon is the lead local sponsor ofChoosing to Participate in Chicago.

Since the Chicago office of Facing History opened in 1990, more than 3,000 local educators have participated in Facing History’s professional development programs. These teachers annually reach more than 300,000 middle and high school students in more than 725 public, religious and independent schools in the Chicago metropolitan area. Training provided by Facing History enables students to deepen their knowledge of history, their understanding of the origins of hatred and violence and their ability to relate history to their own lives. A strong alliance with Chicago Public Schools and growing partnerships with suburban, religious and charter schools enable a critical and significant impact to be made.

Visit choosingtoparticipate.org to learn about local sponsors, view a full event calendar and preview resources that include a resource book available in English and Spanish. To schedule a tour, contact Andie Thomalla at andie_thomalla@facing.org or 312-345-3234.

Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. By studying the historical development of the Holocaust and other examples of genocide and mass violence, students make the essential connection between history and the moral choices they confront in their own lives. Facing History has provided in-depth seminars for more than 29,000 educators, and its active teacher network reaches nearly two million students annually. For more information, visit facinghistory.org and watch a video at facinghistory.org/video/face-it.

The Walmart Foundation Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and The Walmart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, The Walmart Foundation supports initiatives focused on enhancing opportunities in education, job skills training, sustainability and health. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and The Walmart Foundation gave $296 million to communities across the United States. To learn more, visit walmartfoundation.org.

Stay tuned my friends for my podcast with the prolific David Leddick, who is a man of all talents.  

Gorgeous Gallery, by David Leddick, is the first art book of its kind to combine what is considered “popular” sexual art with “fine” art. The message is clear, new, and bold: great art and great sex can co-exist. Published by Bruno Gmunder for worldwide release July 15, the 160-page volume presents a collection spanning three genres, which Leddick defines as: 1.) The classic “gay spirit” of the 20th century, 2.) Trend-setting contemporary artists at their most sexual, and 3.) A newer group of avant-garde artists largely unseen until now.

“This book goes further visually than any previous homoerotic art book,” says Leddick. “It is more graphic and more sexual than any previous collection, because now it’s the 21st century where powerful sex and art can exist in one work.” Leddick’s introduction to the book presents the case that there are many similar examples of sexual art from the past, but through the ages society has tried to ignore that art and sex do meet. The new book shows how historically, artists have almost always portrayed homoerotic images of sexy men, meant to be enjoyed by other men. “A book like this has never existed before. There are many paintings in this collection that have never been presented in an art book,” adds Leddick. “You don’t have to be gay to like sex, and the subject of where sex and art meet should be interesting to everyone.”

Order Gorgeous Gallery by David Leddick through Amazon.com   or TLA

About the new book:

Gorgeous Gallery, by David Leddick, published by Bruno Gmunder for worldwide release July 15, 2012
ISBN: 978-3-86787-248-5 160 pages, color, hardcover with dust jacket. 8½ x 11¼" (US$ 52.99)
With artworks by 47 artists including: Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Don Bachardy, Peter Flinsch, Wes Hempel, Michael Leonard, Mark Beard (Bruce Sargeant), Neel Bate, Paul Cadmus and many more.

About the author:
David Leddick is an author, playwright and actor, and contributes to The Huffington Post. He has 22 books published, many photography books about the male nude (including one of Taschen’s top-ten bestsellers, The Male Nude), the second edition of In the Spirit of Miami Beach (Assouline), and six novels. He has been a naval officer, a ballet dancer, and an advertising executive as Worldwide Creative Director for Revlon in New York and for L’Oreal in Paris. Residing in Miami Beach, Leddick considers living in his 80s to be “the new late middle-age,” and calls everyone living over 65 the new “Sextennials.”