"To Haiti, With Love" Benefit Concert Seeks Acts

Liberated Muse will be having a benefit concert for the crisis in Haiti on Friday, Feb. 12 at the Potter's House in Adams Morgan in DC as part of the Potter's House Sounds of Hope series. All proceeds will support Wyclef Jean's nonprofit YeleHaiti at Yele.org which is providing on the ground support. Special thanks to all of you members who emailed me to see if LiberatedMuse.com was going to do something to support the nation of Haiti, hopefully this event is worthy of your participation.

The fundraiser will be held on the Friday preceding Valentine's Day and entitled "To Haiti, With Love". If you are a performance artist (singer, poet, musician, live visual artist, etc.) who would like to perform in this benefit concert, message us through www.LiberatedMuse.com or email us atLiberatedMuseProductions@gmail.com. Our hope is that the people of Haiti will get the assistance they need for as long as it takes. A month from now, will folks still be talking about ways to help Haiti? We will, because we will be doing it. Contact us today if you are interested in performing. We ask that performers meet these guidelines:

1) Have live accompaniment if you are a singer. We prefer live instrumentation to track. If you are interested in performing but not connected to a live musician, let us know and we will connect you to artists on the site who are musicians.

2)We would like performers to be able to perform a 15 minute set (approximately 3 songs). We LOVE original music, but, we ask that one of those songs be your own remake of a song that audience members know if they aren't familiar with your music yet. The weekend of Feb. 12 is Valentine's Day as well, so if its a valentine's day appropriate song, all the better.

3) If you have never performed in a Liberated Muse production before, please make sure your page on www.LiberatedMuse.com is uploaded with a link to your music, video, etc. that we can use to determine your sound and appropriateness for this show.

We would like to have a roster of acts determined no later than Jan. 20 so we can begin with promoting the show. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot us a message.

Together, we can make a difference.

In peace,

Moon

www.LiberatedMuse.com

Check Out Some of Liberated Muse's Hottest Stars This Weekend

I met Dee Stone last year when she participated in last year's Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest. She is a warm and quirky lady and has vocals that are to die for. She and the following women will be performing this Saturday, May 2 @ the Capital Hill Arts Workshop in Washington DC for a benefit celebrating the HOMECOMING of Saartjie Baartman, the black woman known as the Hottentot Venus.

Visit http://www.thesaartjieproject.org/ for details on the event. It's a pay as you can pay scale which is great for those trying to scale back in the face of this trying economy.

MAHOGANEE


Mahoganee is a talented singer who is head of the Diva Militia and works actively in the community to mentor young girls. She writes original pieces which address various issues in our community. One of her most memorable songs is an ode to the survivors of Katrina.

Chaquis Maliq

Chaquis Maliq performed in the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest in 2008 and I can't wait to see her on stage again. Her beautiful voice is reminiscent of Chaka Kahn meets Stephanie Mills.

Jade Foster

Jade Foster is the poet featured in the above Jesse Boykins song. Founder of the Black Church Maraca, Jade is a prominent area poet who has been published in several books and performs regularly throughout DC and beyond.

Calling All Women Visual Artists, Dancers, Poets, Singers & Musicians!

The Saartjie Project is proud to present its first benefit showcase which will celebrate the homecoming of its muse Saartjie Baartman.

WHO WAS SAARTJIE BAARTMAN?

Born in 1789 into the Griqua tribe of South Africa's eastern Cape, the Khoisan woman was orphaned in an early raid and was later baptized Saartjie Baartman (her name means "little Sarah" in Afrikaans). She was working for a local farmer near Cape Town, South Africa when her physical appearance attracted the attention of a visiting ship's surgeon, William Dunlop.

Saartjie's enlarged buttocks and oversized labia intrigued Dunlop and he suggested that he take her to England to be studied. Arriving in England in 1810, Saartjie was examined by some of the leading anatomists of the time. Her unusual genital condition was formally termed the "Hottentot apron" (Hottentot being an archaic name for Khoisan). Seen by the public as nothing more than a sexual freak, she was placed on public display in Piccadilly and quickly dubbed the "Hottentot Venus". According to contemporary accounts, Saartjie was often "exhibited like a wild beast" (usually in a cage) and forced to parade almost naked before gawking audiences. Many spectators poked her with sticks to ensure that she was "all real" and she was often left in tears due to the pain and humiliation.

At some point, Dunlop and Cezar dropped out of the picture and Saartjie became the property of an animal handler named Reaux. Her showings in Paris were as popular as they had been in London and she was examined by many French anatomists, including Georges Cuvier. Numerous scientific papers were written about the "Hottentot Venus" that emphasized prevailing notions of racial superiority. Saartjie died on January 1, 1816 (probably of pneumonia) but the exploitation didn't end with her death. Her body was dissected by Georges Cuvier and a wax replica of her body was made. Saartjie's skeleton,brain and genitalia went on exhibit in Paris' Musee de l'Homme and remained there until 1974 when they were finally removed from public view.

Over the years, there were repeated pleas for the return to Saartjie's remains to South Africa but interest in the case intensified after Stephen Jay Gould wrote an article on her in 1985. Finally, following pressure from the South African government and debates in France's National Assembly, permission to return the remains was given in 2002. On May 6 of that year, Saartjie Baartman's remains were returned to South Africa and, in a moving ceremony, she was laid to rest on August 9 (National Women's Day in South Africa) in the Gamtoos River valley of the Eastern Cape.

THE SAARTJIE PROJECT CELEBRATES SAARTJIE'S HOMECOMING

The Saartjie Project, an artist collective based in the United States in Washington DC, debuted a stage performance in 2008 inspired by the life of Saartjie Baartman. Since the August 2008 premiere performance, The Saartjie Project has performed in sold out shows extending into 2009. This year, the collective is scheduled to perform in upcoming venues including the Capital Fringe Fest held in the nation's capital and The Theatre for the Oppressed Conference in Minneapolis.

To celebrate the anniversary of Saartjie's homecoming to South Africa and to support the growing programs and performances soon-to-be implemented, The Saartjie Project is pleased to put out a call for female artists-- visual & performing-- to participate in a benefit concert to be held on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) in Washington DC.

Email a link to your work and a bio to homecoming@thesaartjieproject.org for consideration. Deadline to submit your work for consideration is April 1, 2009.