Africa Celebrates! Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation and TIBET'S WAR OF PEACE

Southern California Experience with LaFern Cusack

710 ESPN Radio Los Angeles

Click Here To Listen Live Online: ESPN Los Angeles.com

Airing Sunday, June 6, 2010 (5a-6a PST)

Joseph Peter: AFRICA CELEBRATES! Images from the FIFA World CupTM Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola and The Paley Center for Media


Joseph peter is one of the most traveled young Artist/Photographers in the world. Joseph has traveled to over 130 countries before the age of 30. At the age of 18 Joseph moved to Paris to work for ESPN during the FIFA World Cup 98 and thereafter pursue his professional soccer career until 2004.

Joseph  cites influences ranging from the work of Peter Beard, Dan Eldon, Cartier-Bresson, and mentor Steve Mccurry. Joseph uses his art/photography to build awareness of social issues around the world. Joseph in on pace to travel document and photograph all 208 FIFA recognized countries in the world by his 35th birthday in 2015 to complete his Books of Happiness and Books of Football Series. He is the youngest member of the Sandisk Extreme Team. The exhibit is based on his The Book of Africa Happiness… http://www.josephpeter.com/index.php#mi=1&pt=0&pi=3&s=0&p=0&a=0&at=0


Fans will see a unique side of the World Cup in this extraordinary photo exhibition, which follows the journey of the FIFA World CupTM Trophy across the African continent, capturing the love and passion of its diverse people for football (soccer). The images translate how the world’s greatest sporting event promotes happiness, unity, and peace while building bridges around the world through the communal interaction and development of sport. From a broader angle, Africa Celebrates! portrays the positive heart and soul of a continent often associated with its challenges. The selected images in exhibition in Los Angeles represent the journey of the artist/photographer Joseph Peter as he accompanies the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy through fifty African nations in seventy-five days during the fall of 2009. 
 
This unique selection of images translates how the world’s greatest sporting event promotes happiness, unity, and peace while building bridges around the world through the communal interaction and development of sport. From a broader angle, Africa Celebrates! portrays the positive heart and soul of a continent often associated with challenges. The exhibit will be on display until September 12.    For more information on Joseph Peter:  http://www.josephpeter.com/  

FIFA WORLD CUP TM 2010 LIVE!

Lunchtime Screenings @The Paley Center for Media

The Paley Center for Media Presents

FIFA World Cup™ LIVE! from South Africa

Every Day starting June 11 to July 11, 2010

Watch LIVE Feeds of the Games EVERY DAY FREE: Through partnerships with ESPN and ABC, the Paley Center will be screening some games LIVE and be a meeting place where fans can gather and watch together. We will screen the third game of the day LIVE at 11:30 am PST Mondays through Sundays starting June 11, as well as all the final matches ending on July 11. Doors open at 11:00 am PST. So bring your lunch and watch your favorite team! Check http://www.paleycenter.org/ for more details.





The Paley Center for Media joins soccer fans from around the planet from Algeria to Korea to Australia to Brazil--to enjoy the excitement and drama of thirty-two nations competing in the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010™ games. The Paley Center's celebration of this global event includes live feeds of the games, screenings of soccer and Africa-related programming from our collection, an interactive web component to share favorite pix of your own soccer games, and a special gallery exhibit of images by photographer Joseph Peter. Traveling throughout Africa, Peter captured the spirit of African people from fifty nations participating in the one sport – soccer - that unifies the continent. Our World Cup coverage will be capped by a viewing party with food and drinks to cheer on the last two nations in the final game on July 11. For details and schedule, please visit http://www.paleycenter.org  

The Paley Center for Media Celebrates FIFA World CupTM
***Please note the schedule is subject to change***

Screenings about Soccer and Africa: World Cup fans can also attend screenings of Africa- and soccer-themed programming from the Paley Center Collection, including episodes of The Team Kenya, produced by the nonprofit Search for Common Ground, to promote soccer as a conduit to understanding and conflict resolution, and films submitted by the African Film Festival. For more information on these screenings, please visit our website at www.paleycenter.org.

Finals Viewing Party: On July 11th, the Paley Center will host a viewing party for the final game LIVE at 11:30 am PST with food, drink, and spirited rivalry to end this historic event in style! Doors open at 11:00 am PST. Admission to this event is free.

Share Your Soccer Moments! The Paley Center wants the soccer playing, soccer loving fans to share their own favorite photos of the sport. Join the spirit of the World Cup by sharing your images with the community. Go to paleycenter.org for details and to submit. For more information, please visit http://www.paleycenter.org/ .

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Segment II: Sunday, June 6, 2010 (5a-6a PST)
Listen Live Online: ESPN Los Angeles.com

Roberta Mariani, Associate Director, Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation

The Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation's goal is to assist nonprofit community organizations based on need. With the Foundation's focus on the use of sports to promote education, teamwork and self-esteem among Los Angeles area youth, our fundraising directly supports these initiatives by providing financial assistance to children and local youth programs.

Through programs like Read to Achieve, Student and Educator of the Month Award, and the Memorial Chick Hearn Scholarship Award, the Lakers work closely with local colleges, and elementary, middle, and high schools to honor those who demonstrate outstanding academic achievements in the classroom.

Read to Achieve

Now in its ninth year, the annual Lakers “Be A Champion… and Read” Reading Challenge is open to local elementary schools and has encouraged over 165,000 students to read for Lakers prizes and tickets. All participants receive a Lakers reading folder and bookmark. First and second grade students are challenged to read for 15 minutes per day, three times per week. While, third, fourth and fifth graders are challenged to read six chapter books in a six week period. Students who complete the challenge receive a prize, a certificate of completion and are entered into a drawing to win two tickets to a Lakers game. Classrooms with a 100% completion rate are eligible to win Grand Prizes such as an ice cream party with Lakers players, game tickets for the entire classroom or a pep rally at their school.


During the 2008-09 season, the Los Angeles Lakers held our annual book drive to collect books for the Lakers Reading and Learning Centers throughout the city. Collected books were donated in memory of Chick Hearn and over the past four seasons, Laker fans have generously donated over 5,500 books to support literacy.

Each year, the Los Angeles Lakers also send members of the Lakers All-Star Reading Team out into the community to conduct L.A.K.E.R. (Los Angeles Kids Enjoy Reading) Time Outs. The focus of the read aloud program is to encourage children to be excited about books and to develop a life-long love for reading. The All-Star Reading Team is comprised of players, coaches, the Laker Girls, spouses and parents of players, former Lakers and local celebrities.

Since 2002, the Lakers have created or renovated fourteen Lakers Reading Rooms or Lakers Learning Centers throughout Los Angeles and Hawaii. Each site was remodeled with new carpet, new paint, framed Lakers photos, bookshelves, tables, chairs, sofas and new children’s books, offering children a safe and fun learning environment dedicated to literacy.

READ TO ACHIEVE PLEDGE

Reading is fun and

books are cool too.

I will read a book daily

to learn something new.

I will learn different words

and I will listen in school,

when teachers read stories

and share reading rules.

I will practice my skills

in every way,

reading is something

I will do everyday.

Reading will offer

great adventures to me,

reading will help me be

the best I can be.

DONATE TO THE LAKERS YOUTH FOUNDATION
If you'd like to send in a tax deductible donation to the Lakers Youth Foundation, make check payable to Lakers Youth Foundation and mail it to Lakers Youth Foundation 555 N. Nash St., El Segundo CA 90245.
For more information: http://www.losangeleslakers.com

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Segment III: Sunday, June 6, 2010 (5a-6a PST)

Listen Online Live: ESPNLosAngeles.com

Dennis M. Cusack, TIBET'S WAR OF PEACE: a nation's nonviolent struggle for freedom

Dennis Cusack is a lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area and a writer. He has studied the international Tibet support movement for over twelve years. He is a current Board member and past President of the Berkeley-based non-profit, Tibet Justice Center. The work he has done for Tibet Justice Center has included advocating on behalf of Tibetans to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In March 2008, the Tibetans had staged an uprising across the Tibetan Plateau. Thousands were arrested; hundreds are still in prison; several Tibetans were executed for their roles in the Uprising. Tibet remains under very heavy police control. Tibetans in response have engaged in creative nonviolent resistance. Tibetans normally celebrate the Tibetan New Year, Losar, in very festive fashion. In February 2009, Tibetans across Tibet refused to celebrate Losar. This has evolved into a broader effort by Tibetans to display their Tibetanness by, for example, more consistently wearing traditional Tibetan dress, honoring "White Wednesday," writing and singing about traditional Tibetan themes. Some very popular Tibetan singers have recorded and performed songs that are nationalistic in tone, with subtle and sometimes not so subtle pro-Tibetan lyrics. A Tibetan woman, Woeser, who lives under house arrest in Beijing with her Chinese husband, Wang Lixiong, has become a strong voice for Tibetans, blogging regularly about events in Tibet. Her blog can be read in translation on High Peaks Pure Earth website http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/

Unfortunately, the Tibetan people suffered a natural disaster recently. On April 14, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck eastern Tibet, near the town of Kyegudo. Several thousand people were killed and tens of thousands have been left homeless. The notable stories coming out of this earthquake are about the monks who came to the area by the hundreds to help dig people out and care for them, doing much more than the Chinese soldiers. There remains a great need for contributions for earthquake relief.

If you go to http://www.tibetnetwork.org/ , you can find information on how to donate to groups that are providing direct relief on the ground. The Tibetans in the area of the earthquake have appealed to allow the Dalai Lama to visit and pray for them, but the Chinese Government has not responded.

For more information: http://www.tibetswarofpeace.com/

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Coming Up Next Week - June 13, 2010

Gloria King, Director, Community Development/Director Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation: The Los Angeles Galaxy Foundation is a 501(1)(c) organization dedicated to supporting and creating educational, health and recreational activities and programs for children in Southern California, with a specific focus on assisting underserved and at-risk youth. The Galaxy Foundation is committed to encouraging, educating and empowering the children in our community.
For more information: http://www.lagalaxy.com/

Neil McGuffin, Associate Director, The Corporation for Supportive Housing: The Corporation for Supportive Housing is a national nonprofit organization and community development financial institution that helps communities create permanent housing with services to prevent and end homelessness. CSH advances its mission by providing advocacy, expertise, leadership, and financial resources to make it easier to create and operate supportive housing.
For more information: http://www.csh.org/

Kellie Roberts, Playwright, "Transitions" and Ben Guillory, Producing Artistic Director, Robey Theatre Company:  Robey's mission is, through the creative process, to explore and develop relevant provocative, and innovative new plays written about the Black experience, as well as to reinterpret established works.  “Transitions.” World Premiere engagement of a new show. Written by Kellie Roberts. Directed by Dwain A. Perry. Produced by Ben Guillory for Robey Theatre Company in association with Los Angeles Theatre Center. Los Angeles Theatre Center, in the intimate Theatre 4, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013. Previews Thursday, June 17 at 8 p.m. Opens Friday, June 18, 2010 at 8 p.m. Regular show times Fri. at 8, Sat. at 3 and 8, Sun. at 3 and 7. Closes Sunday, June 27. ADMISSION: $30. Students $20. RESERVATIONS: (213) 489-0994 ext. 107. ONLINE TICKETING: http://www.thelatc.org/
For more information: www.robeytheatrecompany.com

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LaFern Cusack currently produces and hosts 710 ESPN's Experience (Sun. 5a-6a) and Radio Disney AM1110 Playground (Sun 6:30a-7a). With these shows LaFern delivers an inspiring, dynamic and insightful experience to listeners. She brings her humor, warmth and talent for tackling topical community issues with her unique style connecting with every aspect of the show.