Artsnotes: Historian to Receive Award | WASHINGTON AFRO-AMERICAN, April 21, 2007 - April 27, 2007, P.C2

Abdur-Rahim Muhammad announced that the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute will present John Hope Franklin, Ph.D., with the 2007 "Here I Stand" award that is named in honor the great Paul Robeson.

"We present the award each year to an individual that we believe has lived their life and managed their career with uncompromised integrity consistent with Paul Robeson's statement that 'I make no separation between my work as an artist and my work as a human being,'" Muhammad said.

"Franklin, a historian and former president of every major Historical Society in the United States, has lived his life in exactly this manner." Franklin is also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him by then President William "Bill" Clinton.

His book, From Slavery to Freedom changed forever how United States history is taught and understood.

"Dr. Franklin, in my opinion, is the most important scholar since Dr. W.E.B. Dubois," Muhammad said. "Dr. Franklin said that his favorite book is Dr. Dubois' Souls of Black Folks."

Ron Walters, Ph.D., will interview Franklin at 7:30 pm., on April 21 a the historic Lincoln Theater, 1215 U St. N.W. Walters is the distinguished professor of Politics and Leadership at the University of Maryland.

Also appearing on the program will be world-renowned mezzo-soprano Barbara Smith Conrad and soprano Candice Hoyes who will sing Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson's favorite spirituals and selections from each one's repertory. Call 202-265-1670 for ticket and other needy children and young adults."

"The terrorism of poverty and illiteracy continues to overwhelm tens of thousands of America's young citizens," said Harry Belafonte who was the first recipient of the award. "I commend the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute for its commitment to the welfare of young people in our nations' capital by its example in confronting the terrors of poverty and illiteracy. I encourage that the Institute be supported to the fullest measure in this important undertaking."

Call Muhammad at the number listed above or visit online at www.martialactivist.org for more information on the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute.

MEDIA RELEASE--Dr. John Hope Franklin to be Presented Paul Robeson "Here I Stand" Award | 21 April 2007

For Immediate Release
December 12, 2006
CONTACT: Rahim Muhammad 202-265-1670
http://www.martialactivist.org

DR. JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN RECEIVES PAUL ROBESON AWARD AT LINCOLN THEATRE

Washington, DC -

Historian, Presidential Advisor, internationally recognized scholar-historian John Hope Franklin will be interviewed live, onstage about his prodigious academic work studying the history of race relations in the United States. He will also receive the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute's Paul Robeson "Here I Stand" award for his unceasing efforts in educating the community at large.

In addition to being an honored historian and serving US Presidents, Mr. Franklin believes in reaching out to the community, in order to teach young adults about the tumultuous and tragic underpinnings of race, equality and social justice in our society today. He has spent a lifetime uncovering moments of courage and tragedy from the annals of American history, and more specifically, the history of African-Americans.

Dr. Ronald Walters, Director of the African American Leadership Institute, Distinguished Leadership Scholar, Professor in government and politics of the University of Maryland will interview Dr. Franklin.

Barbara Smith Conrad, world-renowned concert recitalist, mezzo-soprano, and civil rights pioneer will perform a selection of songs.

Candice Hoyes, soprano, vocalist nouveau appears as well.

DC's historic Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U Street N.W., Washington D.C., Saturday, April 21 from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. will be the venue for this fundraising event.

Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute is a nonprofit located in the U Street community addressing the high risks for disease and violence faced by inner city residents. Through this event, and previous Lincoln Theatre events, the institute provides examples of qualities that are necessary to be effective leaders such as perseverance, consistency, team-building and team-leading, time management, decision-making, planning and problem-solving, building trust, diet, nutrition, personal hygiene, etiquette, and preventive health care. The institute grew from the passionate commitment to community betterment, of a fourth-generation Washingtonian. In a city that remains stubbornly segregated, the institute is a magnet for students of all races, ages, nationalities, socioeconomic backgrounds, and sexual orientation who come together for personal and spiritual growth.

Tickets available February 1, 2007, at Ticketmaster.com and Ticketmaster outlets, as well as Lincoln Theater box office. Ticketmaster locations include Hechts, Kemp Mill Music, and Tower Records. The Lincoln Theater Box Office (Monday - Friday 10 a.m. - 6 p.m) is located at 1215 U Street, NW.

Community outlets for individual and group tickets may contact Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute 1351 U Street, NW, Washington, DC (202-265-1670) or Dar Es Salaam Books, 3830 34th St. Mt Rainier, MD 20712 (240-667-2299).

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Dulles to Beijing Service Inaugurated | LOUDOUN BUSINESS, March 2007

Before the inagural flight between Dulles and Beijing airports took off last month, the ribbon cutting ceremony included a dance to ward off evil spirits. The Chinese custom, in which a lion dances to music to bring luck to new ventures, was performed by the Washington, DC-based kung fu academy, Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute.

Hung Tao Choy Mei Lion Dance Inaugurates DC to Beijing Nonstop Flight, Dulles Airport | USA TODAY, 28 March 2007

United's Inaugural Flight to China Brings out Fliers
USA Today
Ben Mutzabaugh
28 March 2007

One month after winning federal approval for a coveted non-stop route to China, United Airlines launched its inaugural flight Wednesday from Washington's Dulles International Airport to Beijing to the applause of passengers." That's the take from The Associated Press in a story about United's inaugural flight between the capitals of USA and China.

Local media reports say all 347 seats on United's Boeing 747-400 were sold out for the first flight. "Flights from the United States to China are always packed," says Matthew Alesse of Buffalo, whose business takes him to China about four times a year. "Round-trip prices ranged from about $1,000 for economy class seats to $14,000 for first class on the 13½-hour flight," AP adds. United had staged a celebration at the airport before the flight, a spectacle that include a Chinese-style dragon dancing in the gate area.

Instill the Courage of Leadership | WASHINGTON INFORMER, August 2006

By Carlton R. Van Lowe, WI Contributing Writer, Thursday, August 3, 2006

The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute uses the martial arts of Kung-Fu to teach young people how to stay healthy, avoid trouble, and focus on building a positive lifestyle.

Children in Meditation Abdur-Rahim Muhammad, founder of the Institute, was inspired to launch the Institute after spending time in Africa, where neo-colonialism compelled him to return home and offer youth skills and tools to act upon and positively affect the world in which they live.

"I wanted to develop an institution that was not just an arts institution, not just a physical fitness center, Muhammad said. But an institution that would train young people to be very very, conscious of the world that they lived in so that they would use all the power and the energy and the clarity of mind and vision…to do something not only in their community but be able to go out and change the world."

Founded in 1996, the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute, located on Washington D.C.’s historic U Street, continues to teach martial arts, which providing students with discipline and a vision for participating in and improving their communities. Over the past several years the Institute, a non-profit organization, has also put on such community-based events as town hall meetings on health, violence, and other issues challenging the community. It also hosts fund-raisers, including one held in April, featuring Dick Gregory and Manning Marable.

Here I Stand Award 2005"We do these things ourselves, we don’t hire event planners or other people to put these things together for us, Muhammad said. This is how we train our young people to get involved and do positive programs and activities for the community, he added. You’d be surprised how many of our children, young people, even young adults, just don’t know how to get things done.

So what we teach is the science of achievement. What is that, it means you take one step and then another, and then another, one step at a time building blocks with basics getting things done."

The parents of students enrolled in Hung Tao Choy Mei praise the achievements and enhanced sense of character that their children gain as a result of their training there.

"It’s been able to support them in the idea of manhood. The Kung-Fu is just a vehicle to help teach them about the first level of self-defense, which is knowledge of self, and their roles and responsibility in a civilized society, said Sabur Muhammad the parent of two sons, Hadi, 12, and Nuri, 6. His sons also are learning how to interact properly with men and women.

Cyndi Lucas, whose daughter, Anaudia Hussain is enrolled in Kung-Fu classes at Hung Tao Choy Mei added, "It’s really given her self-confidence and a real tangible thing to show her that she’s competent at something and that’s been really important for her.

By being fully involved in their martial arts training as well as the planning of Hung Tao Choy Mei’s community events Muhammad hopes that the children emerge as well- rounded people of action. He explained that the students of Hung Tao Choy Mei lead by the example they set as fledgling community activists.

That’s how we lead. It’s the concept and the mind set of everything you do, Muhammad said. Do it in a sense that others want to follow and emulate your action.

HTCMLI Lions Dance at Panda Naming Ceremony, National Zoo | ALEX WONG, GETTY IMAGES, 27 October 2005

Members of Hung Tao Chow Mei Kung Fu Academy perform a lion dance during a naming ceremony yesterday for the giant-panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.HTCMLI Lucky Green Lion and Lucky Red Dance at Panda Naming Ceremony | ALEX WONG, GETTY IMAGES, 17 October 2005: Members of Hung Tao Chow Mei Kung Fu Academy perform a lion dance during a naming ceremony yesterday for the giant-panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. ALEX WONG | GETTY IMAGES

The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute: A Hidden Gem on U Street | WASHINGTON INFORMER, May 2005

The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute: A Hidden Gem on U Street
By Lester Davis
Washington Informer Contributing Writer

Mention the District’s historic U Street corridor to some Washington natives and names such as the Bohemian Caverns, Lincoln Theater, and Ben’s Chili Bowl are sure to be among the most cited. But a fairly newcomer – The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute – is bringing some Asian influence – along with the sense of community involvement – to a place that has traditionally been synonymous with jazz music and fine dinning.

[Courtesy Photo - Abdur-Rahim Muhammad is pictured with a group of his students during class instruction.]

Founded in 1996 by Abdur-Rahim Muhammad, the institute, which sits at 1351 U St., N.W., offers the city a variety of classes, ranging from Thai Chi to Kung Fu. The students, who vary in ages between five to 70-years-old, can usually be seen sweating, kicking and punching 7 days a week inside the institute.

Muhammad, who came to Washington, D.C. from Boston, Mass., in 1976, said he started the institute as a way to teach martial arts and developmental lessons to the community.

The goal of the institute “isn’t just to show [students] how to punch and kick. It’s really aimed at molding and shaping,” their lives, Muhammad said. We try “to prepare them to live a meaningful life,” he added.

Muhammad said he’s seen U Street transform into an attractive magnet for new community development. While the transformation is welcomed, Muhammad said he hopes the price of operating a center on U Street doesn’t become too pricy.

“I came to U Street when a lot of business and homeowners were reluctant to come,” he said.

Along with martial arts classes, the institute organizes several community health forums a year. One of the most notable took place April 9 at the Lincoln Theater, when Harry Belafonte praised the institute for “its commitment to the welfare of young people in our nation's capital by its example in confronting the terrors of poverty and illiteracy.”

One of the biggest points the institute tries to emphasize, said Muhammad, is the importance of community health – both physically and mentally.

“The message we try to share with our students is that we want to keep our children healthy, in school and out of the criminal justice system,” he said. “We put on these events for the immediate good that they have on the community,” Muhammad added.

Since its opening, about 20 young people from the Washington, D.C. area have traveled to several countries in Asia for martial arts competitions.

Muhammad said that about 80 people participate in classes offered at the institute on a weekly basis.

Harry Belafonte to Accept "Here I Stand" Award | DC NORTH, February 2005

DC North. "Ward 1 News", P.18, February 2005.

Harry BelafonteThe Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute, a U Street center for martial arts training, will present an award to actor, musician and activist Harry Belafonte in honor of his contributions to both art and society. Belafonte will receive the award from actor Danny Glover at the Lincoln Theater on April 9 to raise money for the Institute.

Deemed the "Here I Stand" award in honor of famed actor and singer Paul Robeson -- whose 1958 autobiography bore that name -- the award will annually recognize an individual who combines artistic excellence with contributions to the community at large. Robeson became one of the most well-known Americans internationally in the 1930s and 40s at the pinnacle of a career that touched many corners of American life: He was an All-American football player at Rutgers University, a graduate of Columbia Law School, an award-winning stage actor and popular singer.Muhammad said Belafonte was a natural selection to be the first recipient because of his success both as an activist and an artist. Born in Harlem, Belafonte became a famed nightclub singer and Broadway performer. His album "Calypso" was the first pop album ever to sell one million copies and included his most famous song "Banana Boat," the lines of which "Daaaay-O" can still be heard on the radio today. Belafonte became an influential civil rights and humanitarian activist, helping to organize the "We are the World" album, accepting a position with the United Nation\'s Children\'s Fund (UNICEF) and speaking out against apartheid in South Africa.

"He never separated his life as an artist from his life as a human being," Muhammad said of Belafonte. "He emphasized the importance of Belafonte and Glover as role models for the community. We believe by doing this we are putting examples of greatness in front of the youth in the community that are much better examples [for children] than many that are pushed out in front by the mass media," Muhammad said.

The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute provides classes on Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Chinese Lion Dancing. Tickets to the awards show are $75 to $125 and are available at the Lincoln Theater by calling TicketMaster at 202.397.7328.

For more information on The Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute, call 202.265.1670 or visit www.jowga.org.

Kung Fu Academy Thrusts Health Issues Forward | DC NORTH, April 2004

by Eliza Barclay
DC NORTH
Business Briefs. April 2004. p44.

An unusual combination of hip-hop artists and kung fu students took the stage of the Lincoln Theatre on the evening of March 9 as part of a rousing introduction to the biannual health and wellness series launched this month. Local MCs Head Roc and Noyeek the Grizzly Bear, backed up by DJ Eurok, opened the show. Kid Caramel, a pint-size adolescent MC, and accompanying First FAMM followed, offering rhymes on the importance of health and self-integrity.

The second act included students from the Hung Tao Choy Mei Kung Fu Academy, who performed a traditional Chinese Lion Dance for prosperity and goodwill under strikingly beautiful lion costumes, flanked by kung fu demonstrations featuring levels from beginner to expert.

After the brilliant, undulating lions slunk offstage, the forum's more formal objective--to deliver specific information to the community on health and well-being--got underway. "Healing Ourselves: A Health and Wellness Call to Action" was spearheaded by Abdur-Rahim Muhammad, President of the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute. Muhammad, the first speaker, said, "This event is a call to action; we need to stand up, get moving, and take more responsibility for our health and well-being."

Also in the first batch of speakers preceding the panel of health professionals was Kristie Cameron, Chairperson of the DC Hip Hop Alliance, who arranged the performance of the hip-hop artists. "Hip hop in DC has not been a healing agent, but we are working to make it one," said Cameron. "We are bringing hip hop into the churches and have worked on educating people about the closing of DC General Hospital through music."

The panel of health professionals included representatives from the fields of AIDS prevention, holistic healing, acupuncture, dentistry, substance abuse and addiction, cardiology, and healthcare policy.

The moderator, Dr. Marilyn Gatson, a Former Assistant Surgeon General, initiated the panel presentations stating, "50 percent of the deaths in the DC area are preventable. We have to start a revolution and address our serious health issues."

The panelists were each given seven minutes to discuss some way in which average citizens can take better control of their own health and healthcare. Other practitioners managing public health outreach initiatives outlined their work for the audience. Several of the practitioners emphasized the importance of integrating holistic and traditional forms of medicine with conventional forms.

Kokai Patterson of RAP, Inc. spoke about his organization's work, which includes a four-month residential abstinence program focusing on African Americans, in several locations for non-heroin-using substance abusers who are HIV-positive. and some of whom are addicted mothers with children in DC. Patterson also specializes in acupuncture for addictive disorders. "These kinds of treatments have been used in all parts of the world," Patterson said, "Africans used thorns as needles in their own form of acupuncture."

Patterson spoke of some of the reasons why African-American communities east of the river carry a much larger health burden than other communities in the city. "The money is plainly going to other communities, to schools in other communities." he provided the sobering statistic that as of December 2003, there were about 15,000 cases of AIDS in DC. Patterson concluded with a forceful statement "We must say yes to life and no to the things that destroy us."

Dr. Alison F. Henderson of the New Life Wellness Center in her presentation the importance of reading nutrition labels as a means of regulating a healthy diet. She also condemned the District government for the lead in the water. "We must demand that our politicians take care of the water. It is a shame to be in the nation's capital and to have water we cannot drink," Henderson declared. Henderson mentioned that she and her colleagues had long been aware of the danger in drinking DC's water; she urged residents to filter their water whenever possible.

Abdur-Rahim Muhammad, President of the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute, said the "Healing Ourselves" series will held every March and September at the Lincoln Theatre. The next forum will take place in September 2004. For more information, visit the Web site of the Hung Tao Choy Mei Leadership Institute at www.jowga.org/home.php. For more information on local health issues, listen to Jonie Eisenberg's show "Heal DC" on WPFW 89.3 every Monday from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm