Hello!!

I hope you all had a great summer and are ready (well, as ready as you can be!) for the school year.

Greetings from Sweet Blackberry!!

I will be signing our latest DVD, Garrett's Gift at the Hue-Man Bookstore & Café's Annual Book Signing Family event on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 2 p.m. The event will take place at 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd, (Between 124th and 125th Streets), New York, NY. Come and enjoy the beginning of spring and an afternoon of fun. And bring a friend!

Also, take a second to take a look at the Kids Reviews from Mrs. Wright's 2nd grade class on The Journey of Henry "Box" Brown. They're the kids' reviews PLUS their own illustrations! What a talented group. I had to share them with you.

You can purchase Garrett's Gift and The Journey of Henry "Box" Brown at the Hue-Man Bookstore and from our website, Sweet Blackberry.

In case you missed The Journey of Henry "Box" Brown and Garrett's Gift on HBO, you can still catch them on HBO Family. Check your local listing.

Check out the May, 2008 issue of Ebony Magazine. There's a piece about Sweet Blackberry and my life as a mother, complete with a picture of me and my munchkins, Lana and Nico. Grab a copy OR visit the library! (My mom told me to say that.)

~Karyn

OCTOBER 18, 2006
Danaroc.com has done a piece on Sweet Blackberry and me (click here)! If you’re not already familiar with danaroc.com, please check it out. It’s a wonderful e-zine!

The Boston Globe has written an article on Sweetblackberry and me. You may want to click and read

Sweet Blackberry is also very excited to announce 4 new retailers that
have begun carrying “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown” DVD. They are:

Be well.

Karyn

September 25, 2006

Greetings!

 Some great new news from Sweet Blackberry; We have been asked to participate in WBLS’ Annual Circle of Sisters in New York City. Circle of Sisters is the largest Business Expo in New York City, focusing on “uniting women of color.” Our DVD, “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown”, will be for sale at the Hue Man Bookstore booth and I will be on hand to meet folks and answer questions. It’s going to be a great day. If you’re in the city, please stop by.

Circle of Sisters takes place Saturday, Oct. 7th from 10am-10p and Sunday the 8th from 10am-8pm at the Jacob Javits Convention Center,?655 West 34th St.?New York, N.Y. 10011. You can purchase tickets to the event at Amy Ruth's: 113 W. 116th St. (Btwn. Lenox & 7th Ave.) (212) 880-8779.

Be well.

Karyn

August 24, 2006

Welcoming the beautiful Fall weather!

The Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival was fantastic. It was my first year, but I will definitely be back. The location was perfect (and so was the weather), the filmmakers were inspired, the audiences engaged, and Stepahnie and Floyd Rance, who started the festival 4 years ago, could not be better hosts. Their selections were great and I think everyone who attended got a lot out of the entire experience.

I’d like to share some very new and exciting news here at Sweet Blackberry:

Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator, R. Gregory Christie has signed on to illustrate our new DVD, “GARRETT’S GIFT: The Story of Garrett Morgan”! Greg is an incredibly talented artist with a very distinct style that you are bound to recognize from his many works in children’s books, album covers, and illustrations on the pages of Vibe, Parenting, The New Yorker and others.

We are thrilled to welcome this enormous talent to Sweet Blackberry.

To view the work of Greg Christie, please visit: www.gas-art.com.

Regards,

Karyn

August 10, 2006

Hello!

I hope you’re all enjoying your summer and have managed to take advantage of the sunshine without completely melting. Man, has it been hot!

Today marks the start of the 4th Annual Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival (www.mvaaff.com). The festival runs from August 10th through the 13th. This year, the festival has asked Sweet Blackberry to join the festival with a screening of “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown” on Friday, August 11th at 7:30pm.  I will also be on hand for a Q & A session after the screening.

I’d like to share some very new and exciting news here at Sweet Blackberry:

We have signed on Coretta Scott King award-winning illustrator, Greg Christie to illustrate our new DVD, “GARRETT’S GIFT: The Story of Garrett Morgan”!

Greg is an incredibly talented artist with a very distinct style that you are bound to recognize from his many works in children’s books, album covers, and illustrations on the pages of Vibe, Parenting, The New Yorker and others.

We are thrilled to welcome this enormous talent to Sweet Blackberry.

For more information, and to view the work of Greg Christie, please visit:

www.gas-art.com.

We also want to send a big congratulations to our wonderful narrator of  “The Journey of Henry ‘Box’ Brown”, Ms. Alfre Woodard, for receiving two -  that's right, not one, but TWO -  Emmy Award nominations!: “The Water Is Wide” (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation), CBS (Supporting Actress, Miniseries or a Movie), and "Desperate Housewives," ABC (Supporting Actress, Comedy Series).

"CONGRATULATIONS, ALFRE!!!

For those of you who haven’t visited us recently, welcome to our new site. There have been quite a few changes, so please click around.

One new addition is this blog. It will allow me to keep you up on all that’s going on over here at Sweet Blackberry. 

Check back here frequently as I’ll be adding any and all updates.

Thanks for visiting us!

Be well.

Karyn

July 8, 2006

We want to send a big congratulations to our wonderful narrator of The Journey Of Henry Box Brown, Ms. Alfre Woodard, for receiving two- that's right, not one, but two- Emmy award nominations!: “The Water Is Wide (Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation),"CBS (Supporting Actress, Miniseries or a Movie), and "Desperate Housewives, "ABC (Supporting Actress, Comedy Series). 

"CONGRATULATIONS, ALFRE!!!

I am currently in Chicago kicking off the Children's Penny Cinema Theater at the Dusable Museum of African American History, where they are screening The Journey of Henry Box Brown. The Museum has also named me Honorary Chair Person of their annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The Arts and Crafts Festival is to be held on July 8th and 9th. The Festival, like the museum, is dedicated to exhibiting work that relates to African American themes, history and culture. I’m honored that they’ve asked Sweet Blackberry to participate and to have named me Honorary Chair.

For those of you who haven’t visited us recently, welcome to our new site. There have been quite a few changes, so please click around.

One new addition is this blog. It will allow me to keep you up on all that’s going on over here at Sweet Blackberry. 

ALSO, MORE GREAT NEWS!!! The Journey of Henry Box Brown has been selected to be screened at The Pan African Film Festival in Atlanta on Saturday, July 22nd, AND at The Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Thursday, August 9th through Sunday, August 13th.

For more information about these festivals, please visit:

http://www.paff.org/html/atlanta.php

and

http://www.mvaaff.com/

Check back here frequently as I’ll be adding any and all updates.

Thanks for visiting us!

Be well.

Karyn

 July 4, 2006

For those of you who haven’t visited us recently, welcome to our new site. There have been quite a few changes, so please click around.

One new addition is this blog. It will allow me to keep you up on all that’s going on over here at Sweet Blackberry.

I'm heading to Chicago again to kick off the Dusable Museum of African American History’s Children’s Penny Cinema Theater. They’ll screen The Journey of Henry Box Brown on July 6th and I’ll be there for a Q & A afterwards. ?The Museum has also named me Honorary Chair Person of their annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The Arts and Crafts Festival is to be held on July 8th and 9th. The Festival, like the museum, is dedicated to exhibiting work that relates to African American themes, history and culture. I’m honored that they’ve asked Sweet Blackberry to participate and to have named me Honorary Chair.

ALSO, MORE GREAT NEWS!!! The Journey of Henry Box Brown has been selected to be screened at The Pan African Film Festival in Atlanta on Saturday, July 22nd, AND at The Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Thursday, August 9th through Sunday, August 13th.

For more information about these festivals, please visit:

http://www.paff.org/html/atlanta.php

and

http://www.mvaaff.com/

Check back here frequently as I’ll be adding any and all updates.

Thanks for visiting us!

Be well.

Karyn

June 17, 2006

Greetings!

For those of you who haven’t visited us recently, welcome to our new site. There have been quite a few changes, so please click around.

One new addition is this blog. It will allow me to keep you up on all that’s going on over here at Sweet Blackberry.

I just got back from Chicago having had the honor of attending and participating in Rainbow PUSH’s Education Day Town Hall Meeting. It was an extremely informative trip. I was blown away by the talented and enthusiastic young people that I had the opportunity to meet, however, there’s so much work that still has to be done to ensure that our children are given the chance to receive a good education. We’re going to continue to do what we can here at Sweet Blackberry to try to help address some of the challenges that today’s children, their parents and their educators are facing.

I’ll be back in Chicago in July to kick off the Dusable Museum of African American History’s Children’s Penny Cinema Theater. They’ll screen The Journey of Henry Box Brown on July 6th and I’ll be there for a Q & A afterwards. ?The Museum has also named me Honorary Chair Person of their annual Arts and Crafts Festival. The Arts and Crafts Festival is to be held on July 8th and 9th. The Festival, like the museum, is dedicated to exhibiting work that relates to African American themes, history and culture. I’m honored that they’ve asked Sweet Blackberry to participate and to have named me Honorary Chair.

Also, The Journey of Henry Box Brown is being screened THIS WEEKEND at the 3rd Annual Juneteenth Film Festival in Dallas, Texas. The film was screened on Friday, June 16th and will also be screened Saturday June 17th. For more information please visit www.juneteenthfilmfestival.com.

SOME MORE GREAT NEWS!!! The Journey of Henry Box Brown has been selected to be screened at The Pan African Film Festival in Atlanta on Saturday, July 22nd, AND at The Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival. That festival takes place Thursday, August 9th through Sunday, August 13th.

For more information about these festivals, please visit:

http://www.paff.org/html/atlanta.php

and

http://www.mvaaff.com/

MARCH 2006 - BLACK HISTORY MONTH TOURtory Month tour. I had the pleasurmeetingomany incredible people during our screenings of “The Journey of Henry Box Brown.” hildren w
We started off in D.C. where we visited the Woodbridge Branch Library. Alexandra Dugger of the NAACP introduced me and I had the opportunity to screen the DVD for a large group of children and answer questions afterwards. The kids really enjoyed the story and had some great questions and observations of their own they wanted to share with me.

Next, I headed to Los Angeles where I appeared on Tavis Talks, Tavis Smiley’s talk show on PBS. As usual, he was a delight. Very engaging and very enthusiastic about Sweet Blackberry and what we’re trying to do.
The next morning I rolled out of bed and made my way to the KJLH radio station studios where I had a good time on-air with Cliff Winston and The Hometeam. I then headed to the Magic Johnson Theaters where “The Journey of Henry Box Brown” was being screened at the Pan African Film Festival. The Q & A was lively. A lot of kids. A lot of questions…about all sorts of things.

Next Stop, CHICAGO.

I had a great interview with Jittaun of WVEL Radio followed by a pretty amazing Saturday. I had the honor of speaking at The Rainbow PUSH Coalition during their live, weekly international TV broadcast and radio simulcast. Reverend Jackson couldn’t be there, as he was at home convalescing after a leg injury, but I look forward to meeting him next time. The response at Rainbow PUSH was fantastic. Dorothy Tucker, a local reporter and terrific lady, interviewed me for CBS and also turned out to be a trusted and helpful friend to us while in Chicago; Plus, I got a chance to make a new friend in her daughter, Nya.

After Rainbow PUSH, we headed to the African American Images bookstore for a screening and signing. African American Images was one of the first retail outlets to carry “The Journey of Henry Box Brown,” so it was a special visit for us.

Services on Sunday morning at the Carter Temple were lovely. We met Rev. Sylvester Williams and his wife, Carmen. The congregation gave us a warm reception and, once again, the response to Sweet Blackberry’s mission and our first DVD was wonderful.

After Carter, we were off to Salem Baptist’s House of Hope. We had the pleasure of experiencing Rev. Meeks’ inspiring service, as well as the opportunity to address the 20,000 member congregation from the pulpit. It was all broadcast live.

That night, we had only just arrived back at our hotel when we got a call asking if we could rush over to the Dusable Museum of African American History for their televised, black-tie gala event called “Night of 100 Stars,” which honors the contribution of African Americans from Chicago. Chicago native Michael Clarke Duncan was being honored but was held up in Toronto filming a movie, so the Dusable organizers called me to see if I would accept the award on Michael’s behalf. We had only about 20 minutes to get there! So there we were, back in the cab, no time to change my clothes or touch up my makeup. It all ended up just fine though, and I had a great time at the event. The Dusable Museum even asked us to come back in June. I can hardly wait. It’s a prestigious institution with a remarkable collection of historical information, and I’m proud Sweet Blackberry has garnered their recognition.

On our last day, we visited Superstation WGN’s Morning News Program. I think they may be the funniest morning team I’ve ever seen. Anchors Larry Potash and Roseanne Tellez provided the fun. Next, we hung out in the studio with Roland Martin at station WVON. Roland’s program (and Roland himself) is thought-provoking and fascinating. I enjoyed taking calls and hearing from his listeners.

Then it was off to Boston where we had another terrific screening with a group of librarians and children at the Codman Square Branch Library and then headed to Atlanta to have an interactive storytelling session with the children at the Imagine It! Children’s Museum. It was a great time.

As a company, we know that it is the support of Sweet Blackberry’s friends – new friends and those who have been with us since Day One – who will help us spread the word about what we’re trying to accomplish. I couldn’t end this “travelogue” without saying thank you to the people who believe in what we’re doing, and give us faith, hope and the energy to keep moving forward. So, thank you, and please keep spreading the word!

Regards,
Karyn Parsons and the Sweet Blackberry team