The Signifyin' Monkey Credits

Credits and Acknowledgments

Profound thanks are in order for Dr. John Gissendanner, Director for the Office of Multicultural Studies at Towson State University in Towson, Maryland. Through his efforts, the nation and world has been blessed with what has become a major annual event on the Towson campus just outside Baltimore, with the Conference on African American Scholarship & Creativity out of which The Signifyin' Monkey originated. I had the privilege of presenting at the 3rd Conference at Towson held in April,1998 which had as its unifying theme "Images of Power." Now, several months later, that idea has matured I want to express gratitude to the following individuals, groups and institutions for their cooperation in helping to make this particular website possible. First, I want to give a special "Thanks" to Eloise Klein Healy, Chair of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Antioch University. I want to thank Sharman Apt Russell and all of my friends and colleagues in the MFA Program at Antioch for their support and encouragement. A special thanks to Crerar Douglas, the kind and gentle Chairperson of Religious Studies at CSU Northridge, for giving me the consistent "tweaks" along the way which added comprehensiveness and firmed-up the unbiased nature of the Webliography. Dr. Douglas served as the Chair of my Antioch Field Study Project "Images of Power or Not?" out of which The Signifyin' Monkey evolved. At the same time, I am grateful to Dr. Karin Duran, Director of the Instructional Media Library for the Delmarr Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge , to Christopher Sales,Information Technology Consultant for the Information Technology Support Group, CSU Northridge and to Verne Bryant and Dr. Rosentene Purnell, my colleagues in the Pan African Studies Department at CSUN. I want to thank Dr. Mack Johnson, Associate Vice President for Graduate Research and International Programs, Dr. Bill Flores, Dean of the College for Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. David Horne, Pan African Studies Chairperson for providing the institutional support from California State University, Northridge. Herbert Simmons and the Watts 13 Foundation over the past year provided me with the Watts 13 Foundation Creative Writing Fellowship . Thanks to Robert Stoneham, Assistant Director of the Learning Resource Center at Northridge, for his sagacious comments. A special note of thanks to the man who gave me the "eyes" to see the ultimate potential of the Internet to impact upon the direction of education as we know it, John Hartzog, Director of CSUN's Learning Resource Center. This project would not have been possible without the technical support, creativity and skills of two young black men, LaRon Scott and Stephen M. Thompson III. I want to give credit to Professor Kawabe Takayuki of Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan, for extending permission to use the photograph of the elephant. Credit also to Guinea's "Les Ballet Africains" for the photographs of the African Drummers, African Women,and African Musicians that have been incorporated into the graphic design. Finally, a note of heartfelt appreciation to my wife and soul mate of 20-plus years, Bessie, as well as my family for continued support while I spent so many evenings and weekends on this project. It is my fervent hope that a global directory comes from this effort - JS

Official Copyright Notice

In developing this website, special concern and attention was given to assuring that all of the links carried herein are educational in nature and are not commercial. The Signifyin' Monkey itself is a not-for-profit,nonpolitical, educational project intended solely for those interested in research, investigation, education and study of the issues, concerns,major figures and subject areas related to Pan African Studies worldwide. While some of the contributors may, in themselves, not be of African descent -- indeed, where many of the primary sources come from major universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and UCLA among others-- the paradigm which guided construction of this web site has been the contribution made towards furthering knowledge of the Pan African Diaspora. Music soundtrack is song "Mamala-Wololo-Mousso Lakassi" from album Heritage, performed by Les Ballets Africains, National Dance Company of the Republic of Guinea, Doundoumba Records, Conakry, Guinea, May 1995. Photography of "The African Warrior," "The Messengers," "African Male Dancers," "African Female Dancers," and "African Women" by Marc Robin. Accordingly, the author retains full copyright privileges and reserves all rights to the original design, format, and concept for The Signifyin' Monkey: A Webliography of Pan African Diaspora web sites under the official Copyright Laws of the United States of America and International Copyright as well. Permission to reproduce any of the pages contained within this electronic publication in any form must be granted in advance from the author. With respect to the web sites and web links within the webliography, permission must be gathered from the holders of the respective copyrights for the particular site and/or location.

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