Origin of the term.

The term "common speech" ("sermo vulgaris"), which later became "Vulgar Latin", was used by inhabitants of the Roman Empire. Subsequently, it became a technical term from Latin and Romance-language philology referring to the unwritten varieties of a Latinised language spoken mainly by Italo-Celtic populations governed by the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.  Traces of their language appear in some inscriptions, such as graffiti or advertisements. The educated population mainly responsible for Classical Latin may also have spoken Vulgar Latin in certain contexts depending on their socioeconomic background. The term was first used improperly in that sense by the pioneers of Romance-language philology: François Juste Marie Raynouard (1761–1836) and Friedrich Christian Diez (1794–1876).  In the course of his studies on the lyrics of songs written by the troubadours of Provence, which had already been studied by Dante Alighieri and published in "De vulgari eloquentia", Raynouard noticed that the Romance languages derived in part from lexical, morphological, and syntactic features that were Latin, but were not preferred in Classical Latin. He hypothesized an intermediate phase and identified it with the "Romana lingua", a term that in countries speaking Romance languages meant "nothing more or less than the vulgar speech as opposed to literary or grammatical Latin".  Diez, the principal founder of Romance-language philology, impressed by the comparative methods of Jakob Grimm in "Deutsche Grammatik", which came out in 1819 and was the first to use such methods in philology, decided to apply them to the Romance languages and discovered Raynouard's work, "Grammaire comparée des langues de l'Europe latine dans leurs rapports avec la langue des troubadours", published in 1821. Describing himself as a pupil of Raynouard, he went on to expand the concept

Sources.

Vulgar Latin is a blanket term covering the popular dialects and sociolects of the Latin language throughout its range, from the hypothetical "prisca latinitas" of unknown or poorly remembered times

History.

The original written Latin language (what is today referred to as "Classical Latin") was adapted from the actual spoken language of the Latins, with some minor modifications, long before the rise of the Roman Empire. As with many languages, over time the spoken "vulgar" language diverged from the written language, with the written language remaining somewhat static. During the classical period spoken (Vulgar) Latin still remained largely common across the Empire, some minor dialectal differences notwithstanding.  The collapse of the Western Roman Empire caused rapid changes. The former western provinces became increasingly isolated from the Eastern Roman Empire, leading to a rapid divergence between the Latin spoken on either side of the Adriatic north of a line that ran from northern Albania mid-way through Bulgaria but stopped short of the Black Sea coast which was Greek-speaking. In the West an even more complex transformation was occurring. A blending of cultures was occurring between the former Roman citizens who were fluent in the "proper" Latin speech (which was already substantially different from Classical Latin), and many of the Gothic rulers who, though largely Latinised, tended to speak Latin poorly, speaking what could be considered a pidgin of Latin and their Germanic mother tongue, though this changed over time. Notable among those who spoke Latin well is Theodoric the Great, imperial regent of Italy (493–526) who is reputed to have been illiterate based on his use of a stamp to sign documents. Since he lived as a hostage of Emperor Leo I at the Great Palace of Constantinople from 461 to 471 (from age 7 to 17) and was well-educated by Constantinople's best teachers, it is difficult to believe he did not know Greek and Latin.  The 'vulgar' or conversational Latin language that continued to evolve after the establishment of the successor kingdoms of the Roman State

Vocabulary.

Vulgar Latin largely kept much of its classical vocabulary, albeit with some changes in spelling and case usage.

Shifting usage of words.

In many dialects of Vulgar Latin, new words were either created or gained greater popularity as the language developed. For example, "equus" ("horse") (Classical Latin), was replaced by "caballu". Many words started to change or broaden their meaning.

Phonology.

There was no single pronunciation of Vulgar Latin, and the pronunciation of Vulgar Latin in the various Latin-speaking areas is indistinguishable from the earlier history of the phonology of the Romance languages. See the article on Romance languages for more information.

Evidence of changes.

Evidence of phonological changes can be seen in the late 3rd-century Appendix Probi, a collection of glosses prescribing correct classical Latin forms for certain vulgar forms. These glosses describe:  Many of the forms castigated in the "Appendix Probi" proved to be the forms accepted

Consonant development.

The most significant consonant changes affecting Vulgar Latin were palatalization (except in Sardinia); lenition, including simplification of geminate consonants (in areas north and west of the La Spezia–Rimini Line, e.g. Spanish "digo" vs. Italian "dico" 'I say', Spanish "boca" vs. Italian "bocca"'mouth'); and loss of final consonants.

Loss of final consonants.

The loss of final consonants was already under way by the 1st century AD in some areas. A graffiti at Pompeii reads, which in Classical Latin would read ("may whoever loves be strong/do well"). (The change from to

Lenition of stops.

Areas north and west of the La Spezia–Rimini Line lenited intervocalic to. This phenomenon is

Simplification of geminates.

Reduction of bisyllabic clusters of identical consonants to a single syllable-initial consonant also typifies Romance north and west

Loss of word-final m.

The loss of the final "m" was a process which seems to have begun by the time of the earliest monuments of the Latin language. The epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus,

Neutralization of /b/ and /w/.

Confusions between "b" and "v" show that the Classical semivowel, and intervocalic partially merged to become a bilabial fricative (Classical semivowel became in Vulgar Latin, while became an allophone of in intervocalic position). Already by the 1st century AD, a

Consonant cluster simplification.

In general, many clusters were simplified in Vulgar Latin. For example, reduced to, reflecting the fact that syllable-final was no longer phonetically consonantal. In some inscriptions, > "mesis" ("month"), or > "cosul" ("consul"). Descendants of include Portuguese "mês", Spanish and Catalan "mes", Old French "meis" (Modern French "mois"), Italian "mese". In some areas (including much of Italy), the clusters,, were assimilated to the second element:,,. Thus, some inscriptions have > "onibus" ("all [dative plural]"), > "inditione" ("indiction"), > "bissit" ("lived"). Also, three-consonant clusters usually lost the middle element. For example: > "imtores" ("buyers").  Not all areas show the same development of these clusters, however. In the East, Italian has >, as in > "otto" ("eight") or > "notte" ("night"); while Romanian has > ("opt", "noapte"). By contrast, in the West, the weakened to. In French and Portuguese, this came to form a diphthong with the previous vowel ("huit", "oito"; "nuit", "noite"), while in

Vowel development.

In general, the ten-vowel system of Classical Latin, which relied on phonemic vowel length, was newly modelled into one in which vowel length distinctions lost phonemic importance, and qualitative distinctions of height became more prominent.

System in Classical Latin.

Classical Latin had 10 different vowel phonemes, grouped into five pairs of short-long,. It also had four diphthongs,, and the rare diphthongs. Finally, there were also long and short, representing, in Greek borrowings,

Monophthongization.

Many diphthongs had begun their monophthongization very early. It is presumed that by Republican times, had become in unstressed syllables, a phenomenon that would spread to stressed positions around the 1st century AD. From the 2nd century AD, there are instances of spellings with instead of. was always a rare diphthong

Loss of distinctive length and near-close mergers.

Length confusions seem to have begun in unstressed vowels, but they were soon generalized. In the 3rd century AD, Sacerdos mentions people's tendency to shorten vowels at the end of a word, while some poets (like Commodian) show inconsistencies between long and short vowels in versification. However, the loss of contrastive length caused only the merger of and while the rest of pairs remained distinct in quality:,,,,.  Also, the near-close vowels and became more open in most varieties and merged with and

Phonologization of stress.

The placement of stress generally did not change from Classical to Vulgar Latin, and except for reassignment of stress on some verb morphology (e.g. Italian "cantavamo" 'we were singing', but stress retracted one syllable in Spanish "cantábamos") most words continued to be stressed on the same syllable they were before.

Lengthening of stressed open syllables.

After the Classical Latin vowel length distinctions were lost in favor of vowel quality, a new system of allophonic vowel quantity appeared sometime between the 4th and 5th centuries. Around then, stressed vowels in open syllables came to be pronounced long (but still keeping height contrasts), and all the rest became short. For example, long "venis", "fori", "cathedra" ; but short "vendo", "formas". (This allophonic length distinction persists to this day in Italian.) However, in some regions of Iberia and Gaul, all stressed vowels came to be pronounced long: for example, "porta", "tempus". In many descendants, several of the long vowels underwent some form of diphthongization, most extensively in Old French where five of the seven long vowels were affected by breaking.

Grammar.

Romance articles.

It is difficult to place the point in which the definite article, absent in Latin but present in all Romance languages, arose, largely because the highly colloquial speech in which it arose was seldom written down until the daughter languages had strongly diverged; most surviving texts in early Romance show the articles fully developed.  Definite articles evolved from demonstrative pronouns or adjectives (an analogous development is found in many Indo-European languages, including Greek, Celtic and Germanic); compare the fate of the Latin demonstrative adjective ",, " "that", in the Romance languages, becoming French'and'(Old French "li", "lo", "la"), Catalan and Spanish ','and ', Occitan'and ', Portuguese'and'(elision of -l- is a common feature of Portuguese), and Italian ','and '. Sardinian went its own way here also, forming its article from ", " "this" ("su, sa"); some Catalan and Occitan dialects have articles from the same source. While most of the Romance languages put the article before the noun, Romanian has its own way, by putting the article after the noun, e.g. "lupul" ("the wolf" – from *"lupum illum") and "omul" ("the man" – "*homo illum"), possibly a result of being within the Balkan sprachbund.  This demonstrative is used in a number of contexts in some early texts in ways that suggest that the Latin demonstrative was losing its force. The Vetus Latina Bible contains a passage "Est tamen ille daemon sodalis peccati" ("The devil is a companion of sin"), in a context that suggests that the word meant little more than an article. The need to translate

Loss of neuter gender.

The three grammatical genders of Classical Latin were replaced by a two-gender system in most Romance languages.  The neuter gender of classical Latin was in most cases identical with the masculine both syntactically and morphologically. The confusion had already started in Pompeian graffiti, e.g. "cadaver mortuus" for "cadaver mortuum" ("dead body"), and "hoc locum" for "hunc locum" ("this place"). The morphological confusion shows primarily in the adoption of the nominative ending "-us" ("-Ø" after "-r") in the "o"-declension.  In Petronius' work, one can find "balneus" for ("bath"), "fatus" for'("fate"), "caelus" for'("heaven"), "amphitheater" for'("amphitheatre"), "vinus" for'("wine"), and conversely, "thesaurum" for "" ("treasure"). Most of these forms occur in the speech of one man: Trimalchion, an uneducated Greek (i.e. foreign) freedman.  In modern Romance languages, the nominative "s"-ending has been largely abandoned, and all substantives of the "o"-declension have an ending derived from "-um": "-u", "-o", or "-Ø". E.g., masculine'("wall"), and neuter'("sky") have evolved to: Italian ', '; Portuguese ', '; Spanish ', ', Catalan ', '; Romanian ', "cieru>"; French ', "". However, Old French still had "-s" in the nominative and "-Ø" in the accusative in both words: "murs", "ciels" [nominative] – "mur", "ciel" [oblique]. For some neuter nouns of the third declension, the oblique stem was productive; for others, the nominative/accusative form, (the two were identical in Classical Latin). Evidence suggests that the neuter gender was under pressure well back into the imperial period. French "(le) ", Catalan "(la) ", Occitan "(lo) ", Spanish "(la) ", Portuguese "(o) ", Italian language "(il) ", Leonese "(el) lleche" and Romanian "(le)" ("milk"), all derive from the non-standard but attested Latin nominative/accusative neuter'or accusative masculine '. In Spanish the word became feminine, while in French, Portuguese and Italian it became masculine (in Romanian it remained neuter, "/lăpturi"). Other neuter forms, however, were preserved in Romance; Catalan and French ', Leonese, Portuguese and Italian ', Romanian'("name") all preserve the Latin nominative/accusative "nomen", rather than the oblique stem form *"nominem" (which nevertheless produced Spanish ').  Most neuter nouns had plural forms ending in or ; some of these were reanalysed as

Loss of oblique cases.

The Vulgar Latin vowel shifts caused the merger of several case endings in the nominal and adjectival declensions. Some of the causes include: the loss of final "m", the merger of "ă" with "ā", and the merger of "ŭ" with "ō" (see tables). Thus, by the 5th century, the number of case contrasts had been drastically reduced.  There also seems to be a marked tendency to confuse different forms even when they had not become homophonous (like the generally more distinct plurals), which indicates that nominal declension was shaped not only by phonetic mergers, but also by structural factors. As a result of the untenability of the noun case system after these phonetic changes, Vulgar Latin shifted from a markedly synthetic language to a more analytic one. The genitive case died out around the 3rd century AD, according to Meyer-Lübke, and began to be replaced by + noun (which originally meant "about/concerning", weakened to "of") as early as the 2nd century BC. Exceptions of remaining genitive forms are some pronouns, many fossilized combinations like sayings, some proper names, and certain terms related to the church. For

Wider use of prepositions.

Loss of a productive noun case system meant that the syntactic purposes it formerly served now had to be performed by prepositions and other paraphrases. These particles increased in number, and many new ones were formed by compounding old ones. The descendant Romance languages are full of grammatical particles such as Spanish ', "where", from Latin'+ ', or French ', "since", from'+ ', while the equivalent Spanish and Portuguese'is "de" + "ex" + "de". Spanish'and Portuguese ', "after", represent "de" + "ex" + '.  Some

Pronouns.

Unlike in the nominal and adjectival inflections, pronouns kept great part of the case distinctions. However,

Adverbs.

Classical Latin had a number of different suffixes that made adverbs from adjectives: ', "dear", formed ', "dearly"; ', "fiercely", from '; ', "often", from '. All of these derivational suffixes were lost in Vulgar Latin, where adverbs were invariably formed by a feminine ablative form modifying ', which was originally the ablative of "mēns", and so meant "with a... mind". So'("quick") instead

Verbs.

In general, the verbal system in the Romance languages changed less from Classical Latin than did the nominal system.  The four conjugational classes generally survived. The second and third conjugations already had identical imperfect tense forms in Latin, and also shared a common present participle. Because of the merging of short "i" with long "ē" in most of Vulgar Latin, these two conjugations grew even closer together. Several of the most frequently-used forms became indistinguishable, while others became distinguished only by stress placement: These two conjugations came to be conflated in many of the Romance languages, often by merging them into a single class while taking endings from each of the original two conjugations. Which endings survived was different for each language, although most tended to favour second conjugation endings over the third conjugation. Spanish, for example, mostly eliminated the third conjugation forms in favour of second conjugation forms.  French and Catalan did the same, but tended to generalise the third conjugation infinitive instead. Catalan in particular almost completely eliminated the second conjugation ending over time, reducing it to a small relic class. In Italian, the two infinitive endings remained separate (but spelled identically), while the conjugations merged in most other respects much as in the other languages. However, the third-conjugation third-person plural present ending survived in favour of the second conjugation version, and was even extended to the fourth conjugation. Romanian also maintained the distinction between the second and third conjugation endings.  In the perfect, many languages generalized the "-aui" ending most frequently found in the first conjugation. This led to an unusual development; phonetically, the ending was treated as the diphthong rather than containing a semivowel, and in other cases the sound was simply dropped. We know this because it did not participate in the sound shift from to. Thus Latin "amaui", "amauit" ("I loved; he/she loved") in many areas became proto-Romance *"amai" and *"amaut", yielding for example Portuguese "amei", "amou". This suggests that in the spoken language, these changes in conjugation preceded the loss of.  Another major systemic change was to the future tense, remodelled in Vulgar Latin with auxiliary verbs. A new future was originally formed with the auxiliary verb "", *"amare habeo", literally "to love I have" (cf. English "I have to love", which has shades of a future meaning). This was contracted into a new future suffix in Western Romance forms, which can be seen in the following modern examples of "I will love":  A periphrastic construction of the form 'to have to' (late Latin "habere ad") used as future is characteristic of Sardinian:  An innovative conditional (distinct from the subjunctive) also developed in the same way (infinitive + conjugated form of "habere"). The fact that the future and conditional endings were originally independent words is still evident in literary Portuguese, which in these tenses allows clitic object pronouns to be incorporated between the root of the verb and its ending: "I will love" ("eu") "amarei", but "I will love you" "amar-te-ei", from "amar" + "te" ["you"] + ("eu") "hei" = "amar" + "te" + ["h"]"ei" = "amar-te-ei".  In Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, personal pronouns can still be omitted from verb phrases as in Latin, as the endings are still distinct enough to convey that information: "venio" > Sp "vengo" ("I come"). In French, however, all the endings are typically homophonous except the first and second person (and occasionally also third person) plural, so the pronouns are always used ("je viens") except in the imperative.  Contrary to the millennia-long continuity of much of the active verb system, which has now survived 6000 years of known evolution, the synthetic passive voice was utterly lost in Romance, being replaced with periphrastic verb forms—composed of the verb "to be" plus a passive participle—or impersonal reflexive forms—composed of a verb and a passivizing pronoun.  Apart from the grammatical and phonetic developments there were many cases of verbs merging as complex subtleties in Latin were reduced to simplified verbs in Romance. A classic example of this are the verbs expressing the concept "to go". Consider three particular verbs in Classical Latin expressing concepts of "going": ', ', and *"ambitare". In Spanish and Portuguese "ire" and "vadere" merged into the verb "ir", which derives some conjugated forms from "ire" and some from "vadere". "andar" was maintained as a separate verb derived from "ambitare".  Italian instead merged "vadere" and "ambitare" into the verb "". At the extreme French merged three Latin verbs with, for example, the present tense deriving from "vadere" and another verb "ambulare" (or something like it) and the future tense deriving from "ire". Similarly the Romance distinction between the Romance verbs for "to be",'and ', was lost in French as these merged into the verb '. In Italian, the verb'inherited both Romance meanings of "being essentially" and "being temporarily of the quality of", while "" specialized into a verb denoting location or dwelling, or state of health.

Word order typology.

Classical Latin in most cases adopted an SOV word order in ordinary prose, although other word orders were allowed, such as in poetry,

Vulgar Latin or Sermo Vulgaris ("common speech"), also Colloquial Latin, or Common Romance (particularly in the late stage), was a range of non-standard sociolects of Latin spoken in the Mediterranean region during and after the classical period of the Roman Empire. It is distinct from Classical Latin, the standard and literary version of the language. Compared to Classical Latin, written documentation of Vulgar Latin appears less standardized. Works written in Latin during classical times and the earlier Middle Ages used prescribed Classical Latin rather than Vulgar Latin, with very few exceptions (most notably sections of Gaius Petronius' "Satyricon"), thus Vulgar Latin had no official orthography of its own.

Le latin vulgaire, ou latin populaire (en latin : "sermo uulgaris", « le langage populaire »), est un terme qui englobe les dialectes vernaculaires latinisés qui existaient, pour la plupart, dans les provinces de l'Empire romain jusqu'à ce que ces dialectes, s'écartant de plus en plus du latin, soient graduellement transformés en langues romanes primitives..


Colonial origin.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony founded a group of six towns, including Boston, Cambridge, and Roxbury. For more than 200 years, Roxbury also encompassed West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. Three miles south, the only land route to the capital led through Roxbury, which made the town important for both transportation and trade. Roxbury in the 1600s also held many of the resources that the Colonists prized: potentially arable land, timber, and a brook (source of water and water power), and stone for building. That particular stone exists only in the Boston basin; it is visible on stony outcroppings and used in buildings such as the Warren House, and it proved to be a valuable asset to the community that led to early prosperity. The village of Roxbury was originally called "Rocksberry" for the rocks in its soil that made early farming a challenge. It is noted for its hilly

Revolutionary War and following.

The First Church of Roxbury was the starting point for William Dawes' "Midnight Ride" of April 18, 1775 (in a different direction from that of Paul Revere) to warn Lexington and Concord of the British raids at the opening of the American Revolutionary War. After the war, those able to afford it sought to live in free-standing, single-family houses away from their jobs in the city, and this led to Roxbury becoming one of the first American suburbs. Many homes were built in the Greek Revival style, symbolizing the republic of ancient Greece, a democracy that the young United States admired.  Trade was booming in the early 1800s in rum, salt, fish, and tobacco which brought in a horse-drawn carriage line across Boston Neck and down Washington Street, as

20th century.

Many German immigrants also immigrated to the US in the early 1900s, quite possibly to escape the effects of the first World War. German immigrants also settled in the Mission Hill area of Roxbury, and were instrumental in developing the many breweries that prospered along the Stony Brook until prohibition. In the early 20th century, a Jewish community was also established. Responding to the need for increased municipal services, the citizens of Roxbury voted to incorporate as a city in 1846, and later to become annexed to Boston in 1868. During the 1940s and 1950s, a major migration from the southern

Lower Roxbury.

Lower Roxbury was once the name of the thriving area from Dudley Street to Tremont Street with bustling businesses up and down Ruggles Street. Around 1965, one side of Ruggles Street was small shops and the other side was decorated with tenement style and single family housing. At the corner of Douglas Square and Tremont Street was one notable shop called People's Market;

Industry.

In the 1600s, most people were farming or living off the land. In the 1700s mills and tanneries made up the main industry of Roxbury, but by the 1800s breweries, piano makers, iron foundries and rubber makers provided employment for a growing Roxbury population. By the turn of

Urban policy.

As Roxbury developed in the 19th century, the northern part became an industrial town with a large community of English, Irish, and German immigrants and their descendants, while the majority of the town remained agricultural and saw the development of some of the first streetcar suburbs in the United States. This led to the incorporation of the old Roxbury village as one of Massachusetts's first cities, and the rest of the town was established as the town of West Roxbury.  In the early 20th century, Roxbury became home to recent immigrants; a thriving Jewish community developed around Grove Hall, along Blue Hill Avenue, Seaver Street and into Dorchester along Columbia Road. A large Irish population also developed, with many activities centered around then-Dudley Square (now Nubian Square), which just before and following annexation into Boston, became a central location for Roxbury commerce. Following a massive migration from the South to northern cities in the 1940s and 1950s, Roxbury became the center of the African-American community in Boston. The center of African American residential and social activities in Boston had formerly been on the north slope of Beacon Hill and the South End. In particular, a riot in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. resulted in stores on Blue Hill Avenue being looted and eventually burned down, leaving a desolate and abandoned landscape which discouraged commerce and business development. Rampant arson in the 1970s along the Dudley Street corridor also added to the neighborhood's decline, leaving a landscape of vacant, trash filled lots and burned out buildings. In early April 1987, the original Orange Line MBTA route along Washington Street was closed and relocated to the Southwest Corridor (where the Southwest Expressway was supposed to be built a couple decades before). More recently, grassroots efforts by residents have been the force behind revitalizing historic areas and creating Roxbury Heritage State Park.  A movement known as the Greater Roxbury Incorporation Project, led by Roxbury residents Andrew Jones and Curtis Davis, sought to form an independent municipality out of the Roxbury and the Mattapan area.

Demographics.

"Today Roxbury is home to a diverse community which includes African American, Hispanic, and Asian families, along with young professionals". The neighborhood has a total population of 59,626 people as of 2016. There are 21,116 males (46.1%) and 24,713 females (53.9%). Of the total population 33,182 (72.4%) are not Hispanic or Latino. White alone makes up 3,695 (8.1%) of the total population. There are 26,081 (56.9%) Black or African American people in the neighborhood of Roxbury. Asian alone is a total of 1,345 people (2.9%). Two or more races were reported by 1054 people (2.3%). Hispanic or Latino was reported by 12,647 people (27.6%). 6,523–14.2% reported being 60 years and older. Of the 45,829 surveyed 42,571 were over the age of five, the language spoken at home was recorded. Between the ages of 5–17 (8,898,20.9% of total population), 5,086 speak only English (57.2%), 2,508 (28.2%) speak Spanish. Between the ages of 18–64 (29,296–68.8% of total population) 17,040 (58.2%) speak only English. In this age group 7,440 (25.4%) speak Spanish, and 2,696 (9.2%) speak other European languages. Those surveyed who were 65 years

Housing.

There are many housing resources in Roxbury, including government housing, shelters, different organizations and Domestic Violence resources. Emergency Shelter Commission mission is to help prevent and end homelessness and hunger through proactive planning, policy analysis, program development and advocacy with our city, state, federal and community partner agencies. The Boston Fair housing helps Boston residents purchase, improve, and keep their homes. They offer training and financial help to first time buyers. There are different organizations such as MASS housing, Section 8 waiting list, Action For Boston Community Development and Mass Access. Mass Housing provides more than $16 billion for financing housing for home buyers and home owners. It will increase affordable housing for Massachusetts residents. Section 8 waiting list is a voucher program that opened on January 2003 in accordance with provisions contained in the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended. Action for Boston Community Development provides basic services and programs to help individuals, families and communities of Boston to overcome poverty live with dignity and achieve to their full potential.

Project Bread, Food Project, and the Foodsource Hotline.

Project Bread, located in East Boston, supports more than 400 community food programs in over 120 communities in Massachusetts. Funds raised throughout the year help support over 400 community food programs—soup kitchens, food pantries, food vouchers at health centers, subsidized CSA shares, community gardens, double-value farmers market coupons, etc.—in over 120 communities statewide in Massachusetts. This funding also targets the state's most vulnerable populations—children, working poor families, immigrants, and elders. They have much support from partners, donors, corporate sponsors, and individuals. The Food Project helps with growing produce to help serve the community in farmers markets as well as donations

Other community resources.

The Green house garden is a program that assists low income families in obtaining fresh produce. The garden is a Roxbury community initiative to battle obesity rates. The Program is powered by two hundred volunteers who assist in planting the produce as well as maintenance. The BCYF (Boston Center for Youth and Families) Shelburne Community Center serves the Roxbury community. This community resource provides basketball leagues, classes (computer, digital media, martial arts etc.), physical fitness, teen mentoring and more. BCYF is an integral component

Environmental resources.

The Environment, Energy and Open Space Cabinet oversees the Inspectional Services Department, the Environment Department, the Parks and Recreation Department, and oversees programs and policies on energy efficiency, green buildings, groundwater, park planning, recycling, renewable energy, and certain transportation issues. The City of Boston continues to pursue energy-saving initiatives to conserve energy in municipal buildings and also encourage residents and businesses to improve their energy use. They are dedicated to the development and construction of public and private renewable energy systems throughout our community. The Public Works Street Lighting Division is working to convert street lights from traditional lighting sources,

Recreational centers.

The Roxbury YMCA was founded in 1851 in the Greater Boston which is a cause driven nonprofit organization committed to developing youth by informing them about healthy living and promoting social responsibility in the community. It is one of the largest urban YMCA's in the country and Boston s largest provider of social services for children and families. The Greater Boston YMCA offers programs in categories, including adult education, aquatics, child care, sports and health/wellness.  The John A. Shelburne community center is a non-profit recreational, educational, and cultural enrichment facility located in the heart of historic Roxbury. The Hattie B Copper Community center served Leadership development for women of color for over 89 years. The Center was named after John A. Shelburne, a Roxbury native.  In 1916, the Hattie B Cooper Center opened their doors to 69 children at the Fourth Methodist Church on Shawmut

Education.

Primary and secondary schools.

Students in Roxbury are served by Boston Public Schools (BPS). BPS assigns students based on preferences of the applicants and priorities of students in various zones. Roxbury contains Boston Latin Academy, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School and John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science, 7–12 secondary schools and two of the city's three exam schools. Roxbury Preparatory Charter School is a public charter school that serves Grades 6–8 in the Roxbury neighborhood of Mission Hill. Roxbury Charter High Public School is located elsewhere in the area.  Roxbury High School was once located on Greenville Avenue.  The Boston Public Schools' pilot schools have a great partnership that was launched in 1994 among Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the

Colleges and universities.

Roxbury is home to Roxbury Community College,"Roxbury Community College is a co-educational public institution of higher education offering Associate Degrees and certificate programs. RCC's primary objective is to provide residents of the Commonwealth, specifically those individuals living in the greater Boston area, optimum opportunity for access to a college education consistent with their interests and aptitudes and to reduce to a minimum economic, social, psychological and academic barriers to educational opportunity." Beginning in the Fall semester from academic school year 2011–2013 Roxbury Community College has had an average female enrollment of 1761, and an average male enrollment of 868 in credit courses.

Public libraries.

Boston Public Library operates the Dudley Branch Library in Roxbury. The branch, which opened in April 1978, replaced the Mount Pleasant Branch, a library branch, and the Fellowes Athenaeum, a privately endowed facility. Next to the Dudley Branch Library is the Dudley Literacy

Other educational services.

Boston Day and Evening Academy, located in Roxbury, re-engages off-track students in their education. It prepares them for high school graduation, post-secondary success and meaningful participation in their community. BDEA is open 10 hours a day in where it serves any Boston Public School student who is overage for high school, who has had trouble with attendance issues, has been held back in 8th grade, who feels they are not getting the attention in class that they need to succeed, or who has dropped out but is eager to come back to school to earn their diploma. City on a Hill Charter Public School is a cluster of charter schools in Roxbury. It is a network of three college preparatory high schools in the cities of Boston and New Bedford. Each City on a Hill school

Entertainment.

Museums.

Boston Children's Museum was founded in 1913 by the Science Teachers' Bureau, making it one of the largest children's museums in the world. The Boston Children's Museum was originally created to instill a sense of wonder about science and the arts in Boston's youth.  The Hamill Gallery of African Art is 16,000

Parks.

Several parks, including the urban wilds that surround the William J. Devine Memorial Golf Course, offer residents substantial green space. Other parks including in the "urban wild" space are the Eliot Burying Grounds, the Puddingstone Garden and the Buena Vista Urban wilds.

Miscellaneous entertainment in Roxbury.

The Roxbury Center for the Arts, Culture, and Trade, which opened in 2005, celebrates community culture through visual and performance arts.  Roxbury International Film festival has been running since 1999 and was formerly known as the Dudley Film Festival, it was later changed to encompass all of Roxbury. The festival supports films with people of color or people of color who have created the films. For about four days, many different films are screened, to date more than 600 films

Boston Police Department.

Safety.

The Boston Police Department is a government organization dedicated to working in partnership with the community to fight crime, reduce fear and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods. Their Mission is Community Policing. The Boston Police Department established Safe Street Teams in 2007 to enhance community engagement. Safe Street Teams provide a reassuring presence in neighborhoods by walking the beat while cultivating local relationships, pursuing proactive crime prevention measures, enforcing public safety, and improving quality of life. Community policing builds trust and reduces crime in Boston's neighborhoods. The BPD Safe Street Teams create clean, safe and orderly environments, increase positive interaction with

Waste collection and disposal.

The Code Enforcement Police's (CEP) primary function is to maintain and enhance the quality of life for Boston's residents by enforcing the State and City sanitary codes related to illegal dumping, improper storage of trash, illegal vending and posting, and unshoveled sidewalks. CEP maintains a strong presence in the City by patrolling the streets of Boston on foot, bike, or car. The Waste Reduction Division (formerly Recycling and Sanitation) is responsible

Transportation.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) provides subway and bus services to the Roxbury community. In Roxbury, the subway's Orange Line stops at Roxbury Crossing, arguably the only train station servicing the Roxbury neighborhood.  Roxbury Crossing is located at 1400 Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, on the location of

External links.

Maps  Info  Northeastern University Archives  Tourism

Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury serves as the "heart of Black culture in Boston." The original boundaries of the Town of Roxbury can be found in "Drake's History of Roxbury and its noted Personages". Those boundaries include the modern day Longwood, Mission Hill and Symphony neighborhoods, including the Christian Science Center, the Prudential Center (built on the old Roxbury Railroad Yards) and everything south and east of the Muddy River including Symphony Hall, Northeastern University, Boston Latin School, Madison Park Technical Vocational High School John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science, Roxbury Community College YMCA, Harvard Medical School and many hospitals and schools in the area. This side of the Muddy River is Roxbury, the other side is Brookline and Boston. Franklin Park, once entirely within Roxbury when Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury and Roslindale were villages within the town of Roxbury until 1854, has been divided with the line between Jamaica Plain and Roxbury located in the vicinity of Peter Parley Road on Walnut Avenue, through the park to Columbia Road. Here, Walnut Avenue changes its name to Sigourney Street, indicating the area is now Jamaica Plain. One side of Columbia Road is Roxbury, the other Dorchester. Melnea Cass Boulevard is located approximately over the Roxbury Canal that brought boats into Roxbury, bypassing the busy port of Boston in the 1830s.

Roxbury est un quartier de la ville de Boston dans l'État du Massachusetts. Il fut fondé en 1630 et fut annexé par Boston en 1868.


Early life.

Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. His mother, Mary Frances ("née" Cashion), was a community arts center owner, and his father, Harry, a heating oil vendor. His mother is of Scottish ancestry, and his paternal grandparents, Mike Galifianakis and Sophia Kastrinakis, were emigrants from Crete, Greece. Galifianakis was baptized in his father's Greek Orthodox church. He has a younger sister, Merritt, and an older brother, Greg. His cousin is "Washington Post" cartoonist Nick Galifianakis. His uncle, a politician, is also named Nick Galifianakis. Galifianakis attended Wilkes Central High School, and subsequently attended North Carolina State University, where he majored in communications. While in college, he worked at a public access station. He taught a waltz class in 1991 where he crossed paths with Mary J. Blige.

Career.

Early work.

He began acting on television, guest-starring in "Boston Common" and joined "Saturday Night Live" as a writer but lasted only two weeks. Galifianakis has stated "I worked on "Saturday Night Live" for two weeks, and Britney Spears was the host one week when I was doing it. Wrote a sketch, Will Ferrell was going to play a bodyguard to her belly button, and we were going to shrink Will down to fit into a belly button....she just stared at me after I explained it to her. And then she finally goes 'Yeah that's funny.'" Galifianakis co-starred in the film "Out Cold", and had small roles in "Corky Romano", "Below", "Bubble Boy", "Heartbreakers", "Into the Wild", "Super High Me", "Little Fish Strange Pond" and "Largo". In September 2001, he appeared in one episode of "Comedy Central Presents". It included a stand-up routine, a segment with a piano, and a cappella group The Night Owls (introduced as his "12 ex-girlfriends") singing "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles while he made jokes. In 2002, he hosted his own VH1 talk show called "Late World with Zach". It featured many of his friends and regular performers from the LA comedy and music venue Largo where he appeared frequently during this time period. One episode featured Largo regulars Jon Brion and Rhett Miller as musical guests. He played Davis in the Fox drama series "Tru Calling". He appeared many times on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and played Frisbee in four episodes of "Reno 911!"  Galifianakis played Alan Finger on the Comedy Central show "Dog Bites Man", a fake news program that caught people during candid moments thinking they were being interviewed by a real news crew. He also guest-starred in the episode of the Comedy Central show "The Sarah Silverman Program" as Fred the Homeless Guy. He also had a recurring guest role as a doctor on the animated Adult Swim show "Tom Goes to the Mayor" and appeared in several episodes of "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" in a recurring role as Tairy Greene. In 2006, Galifianakis appeared in Fiona Apple's music video for the song "Not About Love", where he is seen lip-syncing the lyrics to the song. A year later, Kanye West employed Galifianakis and indie rock musician Will Oldham for similar purposes in the second version of the video for his song "Can't Tell Me Nothing". In June 2006, Galifianakis released the single "Come On and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)", a comedic hip-hop dance song which features Apple's vocals.  Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford, are the four Comedians of Comedy, a periodic packaged comedy tour in the style of The Original Kings of Comedy and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. They chose to perform at live rock clubs as opposed to comedy clubs to try to reach a different audience. Much of the tour was taped and has been featured in both a short-lived TV series on Comedy Central and a full-length movie that has appeared at SXSW and on Showtime. On February 22, 2008, he made an appearance on the "". He interviewed various members of the "Jackass" cast. Galifianakis starred in first leading role in the independent film "Visioneers" which played in select cities in 2008. The film which was released on direct-to-DVD. That same year, Galifianakis appeared in a web video series of advertisements for Absolut vodka, along with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creating a parody of the "Golden Girls" in which one has a deep anger issue, breaking the fourth wall in exasperation and outright violence on the set. He also completed the pilot "Speed Freaks" for Comedy Central.  Zach's 2006 stand-up concert film "Zach Galifianakis Live at the Purple Onion" was one of the first original programs from Netflix.

"Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis".

Galifianakis has a series of videos on the Funny or Die website titled "Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis" where he conducts interviews with popular celebrities between two potted ferns. He has interviewed Jimmy Kimmel, Michael Cera, Jon Hamm, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Bradley Cooper, Carrot Top, Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, Andy Dick, Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Tila Tequila, Jennifer Aniston, Will Ferrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tobey Maguire, Arcade Fire, Justin Bieber, Former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Brad Pitt. His interview style consists of typical interview questions, bizarre non sequiturs, awkward product endorsements and sometimes inappropriate sexual questions and comments. Galifianakis won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program as a producer of the show at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

Mainstream performances.

Galifianakis played Alan Garner in the hit comedy "The Hangover" and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance. He was also prominently advertised in subsequent films that featured him in supporting roles, such as "G-Force", "Youth in Revolt" and "Up in the Air".  Galifianakis starred in the HBO series "Bored to Death" and hosted "Saturday Night Live" on March 6, 2010 during the show's 35th season, during which he shaved his beard mid-show for a sketch, and closed the show wearing a fake one. He hosted again on March 12, 2011 and shaved his head this time, in a Mr. T-like hairstyle, which was allegedly supposed to be used for a sketch that never aired due to time constraints.  In 2010, he starred in several films, including "Dinner for Schmucks", "It's Kind of a Funny Story", and "Due Date". On October 29, 2010, while debating marijuana legalization on the show HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", Galifianakis appeared to have smoked marijuana on live television; host Bill Maher denied that it was real marijuana in an interview with Wolf Blitzer during an episode of "The Situation Room". In 2011, he reprised his role for "The Hangover Part II", which was set in Thailand and voiced Humpty Dumpty in "Puss in Boots". Galifianakis starred alongside Will Ferrell in Jay Roach's 2012 political comedy "The Campaign". He received critical praise for his performance in the 2014 film "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)", in which he starred with Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton. In 2017, Galifianakis voiced The Joker in "The Lego Batman Movie".

Personal life.

In August 2012, Galifianakis married Quinn Lundberg, co-founder of the Growing Voices charity, at the UBC Farm in Vancouver, British Columbia. On September 7, 2013, Lundberg gave birth to their first child, a boy, and Galifianakis missed the premiere of his film "Are You Here" to attend the birth. He and his wife had a second son in November 2016.  Lundberg's cousin, Charlie Clark, is the mayor of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. On the day of the election, Galifianakis made a video endorsing Clark's campaign.  In January 2014, Galifianakis and "A Night of a Thousand Vaginas" co-star Sarah Silverman announced their intention to raise $20,000 to help fund the Texas Abortion Fund, part of a nationwide network of funds set up to assist women in obtaining abortions in states whose legislatures had placed restrictions on the practice. The fundraiser was set up in response to the passage of Texas H.B. 2, which established several restrictions that forced a majority of the state's abortion clinics to close.  Galifianakis owns a farm in Sparta in northeastern Alleghany County, North Carolina, and splits his time between the farm and his work. He said, "My farm is a place that I get to think clearly and pretend to know what I am doing."  Galifianakis befriended a homeless woman in her 80s who was living in a Santa Monica laundromat for 18 years. Galifianakis got her an apartment across the street from the laundromat. The story was revealed in the 2015 documentary "Queen Mimi".

Zachary Knight Galifianakis (; born October 1, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and writer who came to prominence with his "Comedy Central Presents" special in 2001 and presented his own show called "Late World with Zach" on VH1 the following year. He has also starred in films, such as "The Hangover" trilogy (2009–2013), "Due Date" (2010), "Puss in Boots" (2011), "The Campaign" (2012), "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" (2014), "Masterminds" (2016), and "The Lego Batman Movie" (2017).

Zacharius Galifianakis, dit Zach Galifianakis (), est un acteur, scénariste et producteur de cinéma américain, né le à Wilkesboro (Caroline du Nord). Il est principalement connu pour avoir joué l'excentrique Alan Garner dans la comédie "Very Bad Trip" et ses deux suites.


Signs and symptoms.

The symptoms of dysautonomia, which are numerous and vary widely for each individual, are due to inefficient or unbalanced efferent signals sent via both systems. The primary symptoms in individuals with dysautonomia include

Causes.

Dysautonomia may be due to inherited or degenerative neurologic diseases (primary dysautonomia) or it may occur due to injury of the autonomic nervous system from an acquired disorder (secondary dysautonomia). The most common causes of dysautonomia include  In the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), predominant dysautonomia is common along with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and interstitial cystitis, raising the possibility that such dysautonomia could be their common clustering underlying pathogenesis.  In addition to sometimes being a symptom of dysautonomia, anxiety can sometimes physically manifest symptoms resembling autonomic dysfunction. A thorough investigation ruling out physiological causes is crucial, but in cases where relevant tests are performed and no causes are found or symptoms do not match any known disorders, a primary anxiety disorder is possible, but should not be presumed. For such patients, the anxiety sensitivity index may have better predictivity for anxiety disorders, while the Beck anxiety inventory may misleadingly suggest anxiety for patients with dysautonomia.

Mechanism.

The autonomic nervous system is a component of the peripheral nervous system and comprises two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS). The SNS controls the more active responses such as increasing heart rate and blood pressure. The PSNS slows down the heart rate and aids in digestion, for example. Symptoms typically arise from abnormal responses of either the sympathetic or parasympathetic systems based on situation or environment.

Diagnosis.

The diagnosis of dysautonomia depends on the overall function of three autonomic functions – cardiovagal, adrenergic, and sudomotor. A diagnosis should, at a bare minimum, include measurements of blood pressure and heart rate while lying flat, and after at least 3 minutes of standing. The best way to achieve a diagnosis includes a range of testing, notably an autonomic reflex screen, tilt table test, and testing of the sudomotor response (QSART or thermoregulatory sweat test).  Additional tests and examinations to determine a diagnosis of dysautonomia include

Vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Particularly in the Russian literature, a subtype of dysautonomia which particularly affects the vascular system has been called vegetative-vascular dystonia. The term "vegetative" reflects an older name for the autonomic nervous system: the vegetative nervous system.

Management.

The treatment of dysautonomia can be difficult; since it is made up of many different symptoms, a combination of drug therapies is often required to manage individual symptomatic complaints. Therefore, if an autoimmune neuropathy is the case, then treatment with immunomodulatory therapies is done, or if diabetes mellitus is the cause, control of blood glucose is important. Treatment can include proton-pump inhibitors and H2 receptor antagonists used for digestive symptoms such as acid reflux.  For the treatment of genitourinary autonomic neuropathy medications may include sildenafil (a guanine monophosphate type-5 phosphodiesterase inhibitor). For the treatment of hyperhidrosis, anticholinergic agents such as trihexyphenidyl or scopolamine can be used, also intracutaneous injection of botulinum toxin type A can be used for management in some cases.  Balloon angioplasty, a procedure referred to as transvascular autonomic modulation, is specifically not approved for the treatment of autonomic dysfunction.

Prognosis.

The prognosis of dysautonomia depends on several factors; individuals with chronic, progressive, generalized dysautonomia in the setting of central nervous system degeneration such as Parkinson's disease or multiple system atrophy have a generally poorer long-term prognosis. Consequently, dysautonomia could be fatal due to pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, or sudden cardiopulmonary arrest.  Autonomic dysfunction symptoms such as orthostatic hypotension, gastroparesis, and gustatory sweating are more frequently identified in mortalities.

Dysautonomia or autonomic dysfunction is a condition in which the autonomic nervous system (ANS) does not work properly. This may affect the functioning of the heart, bladder, intestines, sweat glands, pupils, and blood vessels. Dysautonomia has many causes, not all of which may be classified as neuropathic. A number of conditions can feature dysautonomia, such as Parkinson's disease, HIV/AIDS, multiple system atrophy, autonomic failure, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, autoimmune autonomic ganglionopathy, and autonomic neuropathy.

La dystonie neurovégétative (ou DNV ou dystonie vagosympathique ou dysautonomie), du grec "dus" : difficulté, et "tonos" : ressort, est un dérèglement global du système neurovégétatif (ou système nerveux autonome ou SNA), dont l'origine est primitive ou secondaire.


Early life.

Plisetskaya was born on 20 November 1925 in Moscow, into a prominent family of Lithuanian Jewish descent, most of whom were involved in the theater or film. Her mother, Rachel Messerer-Plisetskaya, was a silent-film actress. Bolshoi Ballet principal dancer Asaf Messerer was a maternal uncle and Bolshoi prima ballerina Sulamith Messerer was a maternal aunt. Her father, Mikhail Plisetski (Misha), was a diplomat, engineer and mine director; he was not involved in the arts, although he was a fan of ballet. Her brothers Alexander Plisetski and Azary Plisetski became renowned ballet masters, and her niece Anna Plisetskaya would also become a ballerina.  In 1938, her father was arrested and later executed during the Stalinist purges, during which countless thousands of people were murdered. According to ballet scholar Jennifer Homans, her father was a committed Communist, and had earlier been "proclaimed a national hero for his work on behalf of the Soviet coal industry." Soviet leader Vyacheslav Molotov presented him with one of the Soviet Union's first manufactured cars. Her mother was arrested soon after and together with her seven-month-old baby sent to a labor camp (Gulag) in Kazakhstan for the next three years. Maya was taken in by their maternal aunt, ballerina Sulamith Messerer, until her mother was released in 1941.  During the years without her parents, while barely a teenager, Plisetskaya "faced terror, war, and dislocation," writes Homans. As a result, “Maya took refuge in ballet and the Bolshoi Theater.” As her father was stationed at Spitzbergen to supervise the coalmines in Barentsburg, she had stayed there for four years with her family, from 1932 to 1936. She subsequently studied at the Bolshoi School under the ex-ballerina of the Mariinsky imperial ballet, the great Elizaveta Gerdt. Maya first performed at the Bolshoi Theatre when she was eleven. In 1943, at the age of eighteen, Plisetskaya graduated from the Bolshoi School. She joined the Bolshoi Ballet, where she performed until 1990.

Career.

Performing in the Soviet Union.

From the beginning, Plisetskaya was a different kind of ballerina. She spent a very short time in the corps de ballet after graduation and was quickly named a soloist. Her bright red hair and striking looks made her a glamorous figure on and off the stage. “She was a remarkably fluid dancer but also a very powerful one”, according to "The Oxford Dictionary of Dance." “The robust theatricality and passion she brought to her roles made her an ideal Soviet ballerina.” Her interpretation of "The Dying Swan", a short showcase piece made famous by Anna Pavlova, became her calling card. Plisetskaya was known for the height of her jumps, her extremely flexible back, the technical strength of her dancing, and her charisma. She excelled both in adagio and allegro, which is very unusual in dancers.  Despite her acclaim, Plisetskaya was not treated well by the Bolshoi management. She was Jewish at a time of Soviet anti-Zionist campaigns combined with other oppression of suspected dissidents. Her family had been purged during the Stalinist era, and she had a defiant personality. As a result, Plisetskaya was not allowed to tour outside the country for sixteen years after she had become a member of the Bolshoi.  The Soviet Union used the artistry of such dancers as Plisetskaya to project its achievements during the Cold War period with United States. Historian Christina Ezrahi notes, “In a quest for cultural legitimacy, the Soviet ballet was shown off to foreign leaders and nations.” Plisetskaya recalls that foreigners "were all taken to the ballet. And almost always, "Swan Lake"... Khrushchev was always with the high guests in the loge,” including Mao Zedong and Stalin.  Ezrahi writes, “the intrinsic paranoia of the Soviet regime made it ban Plisetskaya, one of the most celebrated dancers, from the Bolshoi Ballet’s first major international tour,” as she was considered “politically suspect” and was “non-exportable.” In 1948, the Zhdanov Doctrine took effect, and with her family history, and being Jewish, she became a "natural target... publicly humiliated and excoriated for not attending political meetings." As a result, dancing roles were continually denied her and for sixteen years she could tour only within the Soviet bloc. She became a "provincial artist, consigned to grimy, unrewarding bus tours, exclusively for local consumption”, writes Homans.  In 1958, Plisetskaya received the title of the People's Artist of the USSR. That same year, she married the young composer Rodion Shchedrin, whose subsequent fame she shared. Wanting to dance internationally, she rebelled and defied Soviet expectations. On one occasion, to gain the attention and respect from some of the country's leaders, she gave one of the most powerful performances of her career, in "Swan Lake", for her 1956 concert in Moscow. Homans describes that "extraordinary performance:"

International tours.

Soviet leader Khrushchev was still concerned, writes historian David Caute, that “her defection would have been useful for the West as anti-Soviet propaganda.” She wrote him “a long and forthright expression of her patriotism and her indignation that it should be doubted.” Subsequently, the travel ban was lifted in 1959 on Khrushchev's personal intercession, as it became clear to him that striking Plisetskaya from the Bolshoi's participants could have serious consequences for the tour's success. In his memoirs, Khrushchev writes that Plisetskaya “was not only the best ballerina in the Soviet Union, but the best in the world.”  Able to travel the world as a member of the Bolshoi, Plisetskaya changed the world of ballet by her skills and technique, setting a higher standard for ballerinas both in terms of technical brilliance and dramatic presence. Having allowed her to tour in New York, Khrushchev was immensely satisfied upon reading the reviews of her performances. “He embraced her upon her return: ‘Good girl, coming back. Not making me look like a fool. You didn’t let me down.’”  Within a few years, Plisetskaya was recognized as “an international superstar” and a continuous “box office hit throughout the world.” The Soviet Union treated her as a favored cultural emissary, as “the dancer who did not defect.” Although she toured extensively during the same years that other dancers defected, including Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov, “Plisetskaya always returned to Russia”, wrote historian Tim Scholl.  Plisetskaya explains that for her generation, and her family in particular, defecting was a moral issue: “He who runs to the enemy's side is a traitor.” She had once asked her mother why their family didn't leave the Soviet Union when they had the chance, at the time living in Norway. Her mother said that her father “would have abandoned me with the children instantly” for even asking. “Misha would never have been a traitor.”

Style.

Although she lacked the first-rate training and coaching of her contemporaries, Plisetskaya "compensated" by "developing an individual, iconoclastic style that capitalized on her electrifying stage presence", writes historian Tim Scholl. She had a "daring rarely seen on ballet stages today, and a jump of almost masculine power."  Critic and dance historian Vadim Gaevsky said of her influence on ballet that "she began by creating her own style and ended up creating her own theater." Among her most notable performances was a 1975 free-form dance, in a modern style, set to Ravel’s "Boléro". In it, she dances a solo piece on an elevated round stage, surrounded and accompanied by 40 male dancers. One reviewer wrote, "Words cannot compare to the majesty and raw beauty of Plisetskaya's performance:"

Performances.

Plisetskaya created a number of leading roles, including ones in Lavrovsky's "Stone Flower" (1954), Moiseyev's "Spartacus" (1958), Grigorovich's Moscow version of "The Stone Flower" (1959), Aurora in Grigorovich's staging "The Sleeping Beauty" (1963), Grigorovich's Moscow version of "The Legend of Love" (1965), the title role in Alberto Alonso's "Carmen Suite" (1967), Petit's "La Rose malade" (Paris, 1973), Bejart's "Isadora" (Monte Carlo, 1976) and his Moscow staging of "Leda" (1979), Granero's "Maria Estuardo" (Madrid, 1988), and Lopez's "El Renedero" (Buenos Aires, 1990). After performing in "Spartacus" during her 1959 U.S. debut tour, "Life" magazine, in its issue featuring the Bolshoi, rated her second only to Galina Ulanova. "Spartacus" became a significant ballet for the Bolshoi, with one critic describing their "rage to perform", personified by Plisetskaya as ballerina, "that defined the Bolshoi." During her travels, she also appeared as guest artist with the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet National de Marseilles, and Ballet of the 20th Century in Brussels.  By 1962, following Ulanova's retirement, Plisetskaya embarked on another three-month world tour. As a performer, notes Homans, she "excelled in the hard-edged, technically demanding roles that Ulanova eschewed, including "Raymonda", the black swan in "Swan Lake", and Kitri in "Don Quixote."" In her performances, Plisetskaya was "unpretentious, refreshing, direct. She did not hold back." Ulanova added that Plisetskaya's "artistic temperament, bubbling optimism of youth reveal themselves in this ballet with full force." World-famous impresario Sol Hurok said that Plisetskaya was the only ballerina after Pavlova who gave him "a shock of electricity" when she came on stage. Rudolf Nureyev watched her debut as Kitri in "Don Quixote" and told her afterwards, "I sobbed from happiness. You set the stage on fire."  At the conclusion of one performance at the Metropolitan Opera, she received a half-hour ovation. Choreographer Jerome Robbins, who had just finished the Broadway play, "West Side Story", told her that he "wanted to create a ballet especially for her."  Plisetskaya's most acclaimed roles included Odette-Odile in "Swan Lake" (1947) and Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty" (1961). Her dancing partner in "Swan Lake" states that for twenty years, he and Plisetskaya shared the world stage with that ballet, with her performance consistently producing "the most powerful impression on the audience."  Equally notable were her ballets as "The Dying Swan". Critic Walter Terry described one performance: "What she did was to discard her own identity as a ballerina and even as a human and to assume the characteristics of a magical creature. The audience became hysterical, and she had to perform an encore." She danced that particular ballet until her late 60s, giving one of her last performances of it in the Philippines, where similarly, the applause wouldn't stop until she came out and performed an encore.  Novelist Truman Capote remembered a similar performance in Moscow, seeing "grown men crying in the aisles and worshiping girls holding crumpled bouquets for her." He saw her as "a white spectre leaping in smooth rainbow arcs", with "a royal head". She said of her style that "the secret of the ballerina is to make the audience say, 'Yes, I believe.'"  Fashion designers Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin considered Plisetskaya one of their inspirations, with Cardin alone having traveled to Moscow over 30 times just to see Plisetskaya perform. She credits Cardin's costume designs for the success and recognition she received for her ballets of "Anna Karenina," "The Seagull", and "Lady with the Dog". She recalls his reaction when she initially suggested he design one of her costumes: "Cardin's eyes lit up like batteries. As if an electrical current passed through them." Within a week, he had created a design for "Anna Karenina", and over the course of her career he created ten different costumes for just "Karenina".  In 1967, she performed as Carmen in the "Carmen Suite", choreographed specifically for her by Cuban choreographer Alberto Alonso. The music was re-scored from Bizet’s original by her husband, Rodion Shchedrin, and its themes were re-worked into a "modernist and almost abstract narrative." Dancer Olympia Dowd, who performed alongside her, writes that Plisetskaya's dramatic portrayal of Carmen, her favorite role, made her a legend, and soon became a "landmark" in the Bolshoi's repertoire. Her Carmen, however, at first "rattled the Soviet establishment," which was "shaken with her Latin sensuality." She was aware that her dance style was radical and new, saying that "every gesture, every look, every movement had meaning, was different from all other ballets... The Soviet Union was not ready for this sort of choreography. It was war, they accused me of betraying classical dance."  Some critics outside of Russia saw her departure from classical styles as necessary to the Bolshoi's success in the West. "New York Times" critic Anna Kisselgoff observed, "Without her presence, their poverty of movement invention would make them untenable in performance. It is a tragedy of Soviet ballet that a dancer of her singular genius was never extended creatively.” A Russian news commentator wrote, she "was never afraid to bring ardor and vehemence onto the stage," contributing to her becoming a "true queen of the Bolshoi." Her life and work was described by the French ballet critic André Philippe Hersin as "genius, audacity and avant-garde."

Acting and choreography.

After Galina Ulanova left the stage in 1960, Maya Plisetskaya was proclaimed the "prima ballerina assoluta" of the Bolshoi Theatre. In 1971, her husband Shchedrin wrote a ballet on the same subject, where she would play the leading role. "Anna Karenina" was also her first attempt at choreography. Other choreographers who created ballets for her include Yury Grigorovich, Roland Petit, Alberto Alonso, and Maurice Béjart with "Isadora". She created "The Seagull" and "Lady with a Lapdog". She starred in the 1961 film, "The Humpbacked Horse", and appeared as a straight actress in several films, including the Soviet version of "Anna Karenina" (1968). Her own ballet of the same name was filmed in 1974. While on tour in the United States in 1987, Plisetskaya gave master classes at the David Howard Dance Center. A review in "New York" magazine noted that although she was 61 when giving the classes, “she displayed the suppleness and power of a performer in her physical prime.” In October that year, she performed with Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov for the opening night of the season with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York.  Plisetskaya's husband, composer Rodion Shchedrin, wrote the score to a number of her ballets, including "Anna Karenina", "The Sea Gull", "Carmen," and "Lady with a Small Dog". In the 1980s, he was considered the successor to Shostakovich, and became the Soviet Union's leading composer. Plisetskaya and Shchedrin spent time abroad, where she worked as the artistic director of the Rome Opera Ballet from 1984 to 85, then the Spanish National Ballet of Madrid from 1987 to 1989. She retired as a soloist for the Bolshoi at age 65, and on her 70th birthday, she debuted in Maurice Béjart's piece choreographed for her, "Ave Maya". Since 1994, she has presided over the annual international ballet competitions, called "Maya", and in 1996 she was named President of the Imperial Russian Ballet. She was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2005 with the ballerina Tamara Rojo also. She was awarded the Spanish Gold Medal of Fine Art. In 1996, she danced "the Dying Swan", her signature role, at a gala in her honor in St. Petersburg.  On her 80th birthday, the "Financial Times" wrote: In 2006, Emperor Akihito of Japan presented her with the Praemium Imperiale, informally considered a Nobel Prize for Art.

Death.

Plisetskaya died in Munich, Germany, on 2 May 2015 from a heart attack. Plisetskaya was survived by her husband, and a brother, former dancer Azari Plisetsky, a teacher of choreography at the Béjart Ballet in Lausanne, Switzerland. According to her last will and testament, she was to be cremated, and after the death of her widower, Rodion Shchedrin, who is also to be cremated, their ashes are to be combined and spread over Russia.  Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences, and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that "a whole era of ballet was gone" with Plisetskaya. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko extended condolences to her family and friends:

Personal life.

Career friendships.

Plisetskaya's tour manager, Maxim Gershunoff, who also helped promote the Soviet/American Cultural Exchange Program, describes her as "not only a great artist, but also very realistic and earthy... with a very open and honest outlook on life."  During Plisetskaya's tours abroad, she became friends with a number of other theater and music artists, including composer and pianist Leonard Bernstein, with whom she remained friends until his death. Pianist Arthur Rubinstein, also a friend, was able to converse with her in Russian. She visited him after his concert performance in Russia. Novelist John Steinbeck, while at their home in Moscow, listened to her stories of the hardship of becoming a ballerina, and told her that the backstage side of ballet could make for a "most interesting novel".  In 1962, the Bolshoi was invited to perform at the White House by president John F. Kennedy, and Plisetskaya recalled that first lady Jacqueline Kennedy greeted her by saying "You're just like Anna Karenina."  While in France in 1965, Plisetskaya was invited to the home of Russian artist Marc Chagall and his wife. Chagall had moved to France to study art in 1910. He asked her if she wouldn't mind creating some ballet poses to help him with his current project, a mural for the new Metropolitan Opera House in New York, which would show various images representing the arts. She danced and posed in various positions as he sketched, and her images were used on the mural, "at the top left corner, a colorful flock of ballerinas".  Plisetskaya made friends with a number of celebrities and notable politicians who greatly admired and followed her work. She met Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, then living in the U.S., after a performance of "Anna Karenina". Bergman told her that both their photographs, taken by noted photographer Richard Avedon, appeared on the same page in "Vogue" magazine. Bergman suggested she "flee Communism", recalled Plisetskaya, telling her "I will help you."  Actress Shirley MacLaine once held a party for her and the other members of the Bolshoi. She remembered seeing her perform in Argentina when Plisetskaya was sixty-five, and writes "how humiliating it was that Plisetskaya had to dance on a vaudeville stage in South America to make ends meet." Dancer Daniel Nagrin noted that she was a dancer who "went on to perform to the joy of audiences everywhere while simultaneously defying the myth of early retirement."  MacLaine's brother, actor Warren Beatty, is said to have been inspired by their friendship, which led him to write and produce his 1981 film "Reds", about the Russian Revolution. He directed the film and costarred with Diane Keaton. He first met Plisetskaya at a reception in Beverly Hills, and, notes Beatty's biographer Peter Biskind, "he was smitten" by her "classic dancer's" beauty.  Plisetskaya became friends with film star Natalie Wood and her sister, actress Lana Wood. Wood, whose parents immigrated from Russia, greatly admired Plisetskaya, and once had an expensive custom wig made for her to use in the "Spartacus" ballet. They enjoyed socializing together on Wood's yacht.

Friendship with Robert F. Kennedy.

U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the younger brother to president John F. Kennedy, befriended Plisetskaya, with whom he shared the birth date of 20 November 1925. She was invited to gatherings with Kennedy and his family at their estate on Cape Cod in 1962. They later named their sailboat "Maya", in her honor.  As the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended a few weeks earlier, at the end of October 1962, U.S. and Soviet relations were at a low point. Diplomats of both countries considered her friendship with Kennedy to be a great benefit to warmer relations, after weeks of worrisome military confrontation. Years later, when they met in 1968, he was then campaigning for the presidency, and diplomats again suggested that their friendship would continue to help relations between the two countries. Plisetskaya summarizes Soviet thoughts on the matter:  Of their friendship, Plisetskaya wrote in her autobiography:  Robert Kennedy was assassinated just days before he was to see Plisetskaya again in New York. Gershunoff, Plisetskaya's manager at the time, recalls that on the day of the funeral, most of the theaters and concert halls in New York City went "dark", closed in mourning and respect. The Bolshoi likewise planned to cancel their performance, but they decided instead to do a different ballet than planned, one dedicated to Kennedy. Gershunoff describes that evening:

Awards and honors.

Plisetskaya was honored on numerous occasions for her skills:

Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she held both Lithuanian and Spanish citizenship. She danced during the Soviet era at the Bolshoi Theatre under the directorships of Leonid Lavrovsky, then of Yury Grigorovich; later she moved into direct confrontation with him. In 1960 when Galina Ulanova, another famed Russian ballerina retired, Plisetskaya became prima ballerina assoluta of the company.

Maïa Mikhaïlovna Plissetskaïa (en ), née à Moscou le et morte le à Munich, est une danseuse russe, considérée comme l'une des plus grandes ballerines et surnommée la « Diva de la danse ». Elle est faite "prima ballerina assoluta" du Bolchoï en 1962. Éternelle "prima ballerina assoluta", Maïa PlissetskaÎa reste unique par la hauteur de ses sauts,la fluidité de ses bras et la longévité de sa carrière (elle dansera jusqu'à 70 ans). Unique, également car, comme Maria Callas, autre "diva assoluta", sa danse, pleine d'intelligence, allie la technique la plus époustouflante à l'expression la plus dramatique.


Band history.

Early days and In-Effect Records.

Upon their formation in 1986, the band, consisting of Jimi Hazel, Rick Skatore, Kindu Phibes, and P. Fluid, quickly earned a dedicated following in New York City due to the eclectic mix of their music. The band would switch gears from Motown and soul sounds with lush vocal harmonies to violent heavy metal and hardcore punk with ease, sometimes several times within the course of one song. Phibes left the band in 1987.  In 1988, In-Effect Records, a subsidiary of Relativity, signed the band which now included Anthony Johnson, formerly of the three-piece New York ska band, A-Kings, replacing Phibes on drums. The band released their debut album, the genre-hopping "Harder Than You", produced by Bob Musso and Jimi Hazel, in December 1988. The first single was a cover of the Kool & the Gang song "Jungle Boogie." Critics and fans took notice of the band's left-wing political stance and the unique sound of their tight-knit, high-energy music. The album sold just under 300,000 units due to non-stop touring worldwide and became an underground hit. It remains a pioneering classic in the rock/funk/hip hop genre made popular in later years by such bands as 311, Limp Bizkit, and Kid Rock. The video for "Jungle Boogie" was the first single video on MTV to air on all of the following specialty shows: "120 Minutes", "Yo! MTV Raps", "Hard 60", and "Headbanger's Ball".  The band's second album, 1990's "Gumbo Millennium", produced by Jimi Hazel and Tom Soares, was once again released through In-Effect Records. The album was much softer than the previous effort, focusing mostly on clean guitar and lush R&B harmonies and grooves although it still contained elements of thrash metal and punk. The first single, "Don't Break My Heart!," while commercially viable, failed to receive radio airplay. Regardless, the album sold over 300,000 units once again due to massive amounts of touring and proved to be an underground success. It soon brought the attention of several major labels. The band were soon opening for Jane's Addiction on their 'Ritual De Lo Habitual' tour. The tour brought the band to a new audience but their growing success could not halt the sudden departure of Anthony Johnson and P. Fluid. Fluid made the announcement of his departure during the band's live performance on the final date of the Jane's Addiction tour. Allegedly, he had not made it known to his bandmates beforehand. Johnson followed suit and, as a result of the departures, the band dropped out of a planned co-headlining tour with Suicidal Tendencies. Fluid soon made it known that he intended to start a new band named The P. Fluid Foundation.

East West Records America.

Despite the loss of two of the band's four members, Rick Skatore and Jimi Hazel decided to continue on. Jeff Brodnax was brought in as the new vocalist along with former Cro-Mags and Bad Brains drummer, Mackie Jayson. Jayson only rehearsed with the band for a short time before leaving, to be replaced by Joel Maitoza. The new lineup received rave reviews and the band was soon signed to East West Records America, a division of Atlantic Records headed by label president, Sylvia Rhone. The company tested the marketability of the new band by releasing a five-song EP titled "This is...24-7 Spyz!", produced by Jimi Hazel and Bruce Calder in 1991.  In 1992, the band received their largest commercial exposure to date by appearing in a Budweiser television commercial that aired for the first five months of the year. Soon after, the hour-long "Strength In Numbers" album, produced by Terry Date and Jimi Hazel, was released and proved to be the band's most critically acclaimed release to date. The album saw the band depart from its New York hardcore roots to concentrate more on heavy metal and soul. Unfortunately, by that time, popular music had begun shifting away from musical dexterity and in favor of the simplicity of grunge. The album's single, "Break The Chains," received minor radio airplay and MTV exposure but Sylvia Rhone pulled the label's support before dropping the band altogether. To the band's dismay, the label only pressed 18,000 pieces and allotted 2,000 for press purposes, thus making the disc widely unavailable almost immediately.  Disgusted by their dealings with East West and Sylvia Rhone, the band members began working on other musical projects. Hazel and Skatore looked to form a new band, Black Angus, with Follow for Now drummer Bernard "Enrique" Coley. The Black Angus sessions were eventually recorded with drummer and longtime friend Carlton Smith of the Royal Crescent Mob. Maitoza formed Shockhead with vocalist Joseph McCraw and Nixons bassist Ricky Wolking, recording one disc, titled "Television", which was produced by Jimi Hazel. Brodnax concentrated on his band, Egypt.

The Enemy Label.

When Hazel and Skatore discovered how popular the first two albums remained in Europe, they reunited with Anthony Johnson and P. Fluid, now performing as Forrest (his real last name) to release "Temporarily Disconnected", produced by Jimi Hazel. The album was released exclusively in Europe by Enemy Records, and was followed by a quick tour of the continent before Johnson and Fluid left the band once again.  In March 1996, "6", produced by Jimi Hazel, was released exclusively in Europe through the Enemy label. The album contained covers of The Association's "Along Comes Mary" and Love's "7 and 7 Is." The album was titled "6" due to it being the sixth release by the band. In September 1996, What Are Records released "Heavy Metal Soul by the Pound", the American version of "6". The track listing would remain almost identical to "6" with the exception of the removal of "Along Comes Mary" and "7 and 7 Is" and the additions of "Earth And Sky" and "Save The World" as replacements.  Both versions of the album saw the band returning as a trio with Jimi Hazel on guitar and lead vocals, Rick Skatore on bass and Joel Maitoza returning to the drums for the first time in four years. Two tracks recorded before Maitoza's return featured guest drummer Carlton Smith of Royal Crescent Mob. Additional vocals were contributed by Doug Pinnick of King's X for the songs "Love And Peace" and "Yeah X 3".  The next release was the "If I Could" EP, available exclusively through their fan club and featuring remixes and live performances of several songs. In 1998, a disagreement between Hazel and Skatore led to the dissolution of 24-7 Spyz.

Solo albums and reformations.

In 2000, Hazel co-wrote several songs for a band named Crime, who were using the material to shop for labels. Skatore re-emerged in 2001, playing bass in a band named Blockk-16 alongside Savatage guitarist Chris Caffery. The band's first release, "Too Brutal For Radio" also featured appearances by Andrew Freeman, Ray Freeman Jr, Mosh Ben-Ari, Ronen Barak and Spread Eagle vocalist, Ray West. After the release of the album, Skatore suffered from a collapsed lung. Despite their prior disagreement, Hazel came to the aid of his friend by performing together as 24-7 Spyz for a benefit concert at New York City's CBGB's. Proceeds from the show went towards Skatore's medical bills.  In 2002, Hazel released his first solo CD, "21stCenturySouthBronxRockStar" on his own label, The Gumbo Recording Company. It was followed by the formation of Maitoza's new band, Crown 10, in May 2003. 2003 also saw Hazel and Skatore reunite for a second CBGB's performance with Tony Lewis on drums. Later that year, Hazel and Skatore would announce the official re-formation of 24-7 Spyz. In 2005, the band released a limited edition DVD titled "HMS4L: The Many Lives of Walter Rattamus" through their website. The DVD tells the history of the band through the various incarnations and also includes commentary from Jimi Hazel and Rick Skatore.  In 2006, the band released "Face the Day", with new drummer Tobias Ralph, through The Gumbo Recording Company label. The disc was produced by Jimi Hazel and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and was the first 24-7-Spyz studio album in a decade. Shortly thereafter, the band released a live performance from 1998 as a digital download and CD titled "Can You Hear the Sound?".  In 2009, Hazel and Skatore began focusing their attention on a new side project called A.N.M. (Anti Nigger Machine). Other members of the band included Doug Pinnick (vocals), Greg Fulton (guitar and vocals), Spacey T (guitar and vocals) plus Philip "Fish" Fisher (drums and percussion). Later that year, they released a four-song demo via their MySpace page. In 2010, the band began soliciting donations to fund the recording of their first album.  On August 6, 2011, 24-7 Spyz performed at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. The show saw former members Jeff Brodnax and Joel Maitoza return for a reunion of the "Strength in Numbers" era lineup. In November 2011, the band announced that the lineup would continue performing together with the "Strength In Numbers Twentieth Anniversary Tour" beginning with a string of European dates from late February through March, 2012. In September 2012, it was announced that the band had officially parted ways with Brodnax and Maitoza once again. It was also stated that Maitoza, Ralph and Lewis would all take part in recording drum tracks for a planned upcoming album. In November 2012, the band announced that Sekou Lumumba of Bedouin Soundclash had officially joined the band on drums. Guitarist Ronny Drayton would join the band soon after. On April 27, 2014, an image posted by the band on their official Facebook page stated that the band was on hiatus. In October 2014, the band announced via their official Facebook page that Phillip "Fish" Fisher, a founding member of Fishbone, had taken the position as drummer for the band. In January 2015, it was officially announced that the band had emerged from their self-imposed hiatus with plans to not only perform select dates in Europe but also to release a single and a new EP later in the year. The digital single, "Jungle (for Jef)" was credited as 24-7 Spyz & Family and featured a core lineup of Hazel and Drayton alongside drummer Lenny White and bassist Chico Huff, with additional instrumentation performed by Jesse Johnson, Eddie Martinez, Vernon Reid and Skatore. The song was a tribute to Jef Lee Johnson, a friend and fellow musician who had died in 2013 at age 54 due to complications from pneumonia and diabetes, and was released via iTunes and Soundcloud. The band's next release came in April 2016 in the form of CD and digital single for a song titled "Anthem" that would also be featured on their upcoming album. It was announced in 2017 that "The Soundtrack To The Innermost Galaxy" was expected to be released in 2018. In April 2018, the band started accepting pledges through PledgeMusic.com to fund the release of the album although a release date has yet to be announced. At Fishbone's August 24, 2018 Brooklyn, New York show, a three-piece version of the band consisting of Hazel, Skatore and Fish performed a short, unannounced opening set. On January 28, 2019, "The Soundtrack to the Innermost Galaxy", their eighth studio album, was released.  In January 2020, a three-piece version of the band, once again including Hazel, Skatore and the returning Tony Lewis, announced their "Sex, Juice & Heavy Metal Soul" tour which was scheduled to from April through October 2020. However, the tour was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On February 7, 2020, Ronnie Drayton died of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma at the age of 67.

Activity of former members.

Anthony Johnson reappeared as the drummer for the band Middle Man before moving on to perform a lead role in the Off-Broadway production of "Stomp". He was also featured in the HBO film "Stomp Out Loud". While performing in Stomp, Johnson was recruited to play drums for Japanese pop star, Bonnie Pink. Johnson relocated to Japan where he lived and toured with the band for a time. He was named as the drummer for Ben Folds during a tour supporting Folds' solo album, "Rockin' the Suburbs". In 2005, he made an appearance on the self-titled, five-song release by Lost Tricks, a band fronted by actor Trevor Oswalt. He has also performed with artists such as Eagle-Eye Cherry, Dionne Farris and Vanessa Daou. Johnson lives in New York City where he continues to participate in music, as a member of The Morning After Girls, and theatre.  P. Fluid and the P. Fluid Foundation performed in clubs in and around New York City but never released an album. Shortly after leaving 24-7 Spyz for the second time, P. Fluid, now using the name Forrest Thinner, formed BlkVampires. The band released a five-song EP titled "The Collector's Item" through the Catch A Fire website. These five songs had previously been recorded by 24-7 Spyz and released on "Temporarily Disconnected". In 2005, the New York City based band released their debut, self-titled album, compiling seven previously unreleased tracks as well as the five songs previously included on "The Collector's Item" EP. In 2010, the band released a follow-up ten-song EP/DVD titled "Blkcula". A five-song release, titled "The Devil's Music", followed in 2012. Also in 2012, Thinner was the creative director and publisher of a book titled "The HarlequinX". The book, based on a short film and characters created by Thinner, was written by CJ Cassidy and edited by Hector Valle. Thinner also appeared in the film "Riot on the Dance Floor", a documentary about City Gardens, a nightclub formerly located in Trenton, New Jersey. In 2015, the band released the two-song "Eric Garner" EP. In 2019, Thinner announced that BlkVampires had broken up and that he was embarking on his first solo project, BlkVampiresX.  Joel Maitoza has continued playing drums with bands such as Crown 10, Shockhead, Headtrip Superstar, Don Lithgow, Sahara, Seventrain and Kerry Conally. He remains heavily involved in session work, songwriting and producing and has appeared on a total of 22 albums as of 2016. From 2000-2006, Joel managed the thrash-groove metal act Brick Bath on the Pavement/Crash Music label. In 2007, Joel began working with French guitarist, Christophe Godin. Maitoza reunited with 24-7 Spyz in 2011 for a reunion of the "Strength in Numbers" lineup and continued to tour with the band through 2012 for the band's European tour dates. In September 2012, it was announced that Maitoza and the band had parted ways again, but that Joel would contribute drum tracks to the band's planned 2013 album along with other previous Spyz drummers. In 2013, Maitoza joined the blues-based heavy metal band Seventrain which also features former members of Cage and Tourniquet. Their self-titled debut album Seventrain (produced by Maitoza) was released in 2014 to rave reviews along with a video for the single Bittersweet Seduction. The band was nominated for Best Hard Rock Album of the Year at the 2014 San Diego Music Awards and charted on the CMJ Top 40 Loud Rock chart in February 2014. Maitoza left Seventrain in 2019 to focus on a solo career.  Jeff Brodnax went on to join the band Egypt. During his time with the band, they released two albums, "Drowning in the Promised Land" and "Soul Hammer". The singer later released a solo album titled "Acoustic EP" in 2002. It was followed in 2009 by an album titled "Forcing Me To Bend" which he continues to support through touring. Like Maitoza, Brodnax reunited with 24-7 Spyz in 2011 and continued to tour with the band through 2012 for the band's European tour dates. In September 2012, it was announced that Brodnax had parted with the band for a second time.

24-7 Spyz (pronounced "twenty-four-seven spies") are an American band from the South Bronx, New York, United States, formed in 1986, originally consisting of Jimi Hazel (born Wayne K. Richardson) (guitar), Rick Skatore (born Kenneth D. Lucas) (bass), Kindu Phibes (drums), and P. Fluid (born Peter Forrest) (vocals). The band is best known for mixing R&B, soul, funk and reggae with heavy metal and hardcore punk. The fact that they are African Americans playing variations of heavy metal led critics to compare them to bands such as Living Colour and Bad Brains. Though they were pioneers in the fusion of these particular music styles, influencing many bands, they have never achieved substantial commercial success. After several lineup changes, the band broke up in 1998, but reformed in 2003 before releasing their first new album of original material in over a decade in 2006. As of January 2020, the lineup of the band includes Hazel, Skatore, and drummer Tony Lewis.

24-7 Spyz est un groupe dont la production est difficile à classer, proposant un mélange de heavy metal, de hardcore, de rhythm and blues, de funk, de ska et de soul, le tout à travers une carrière émaillée de séparations et de reformations. Ils sont à présent les représentants d'un style qui leur est propre au sein de la catégorie fusion : le « heavy metal soul ».