Her limbs, like branches stretched high in sun salutation, extend upwards
eyes closed, warm beams raining down, forming a blanket of warmth
Beautiful, spontaneous, fresh and alive
Her time has come
She has arrived
In this moment and for all time
She is completely free
Mulch of the world's sorrows
Fed, sustained then released her
To unfurl, straighten
Erect and proud
She is completely free
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The LiberatedMuse.com community poem is a frequent activity where members of the network lend verses to create an original poem. Liberated Muse creator Khadijah "Moon" Ali-Coleman, Jimmy DiLorenzo and Sandy Hoar contributed to this poem, titled, "Sun Salute".
"...so the deal: open mic, featured artist. cash bar. traveling salon. and in a valiant effort to erase ego and encourage unity: always always a house party. and this month's host is ... ME!"
Who is "ME"?Me is the fantastic poet .jade foster, an enigmatic 20-something who is a DC-born creative phenom. Her work has been featured in various poetry anthologies
Check out her poem/photo collage poem@twenty below and click HERE for her MySpace page.
(In video: Bridget Gray and her popular "Letter to Hip Hop")
Los Angeles filmmaker Bob Bryan has unveils his seventh powerful installment in his multi award-winning Documentary Series entitled GV7 RANDOM URBAN STATIC: The Iridescent Equations of SPOKEN WORD.
He is releasing two (2) versions: An Unofficially Rated G Version for General Audiences, Schools and Libraries and the Original Unedited Version for those who do not mind some “raw street vernacular.” Both versions will have a Running time of 2 hours.
Bob Bryans’ last documentary GV6 THE ODYSSEY explored the point of views of 31 contemporary Literary Page Poets. GV6 THE ODYSSEY deals with those Poets who write words for the page, while GV7 RANDOM URBAN STATIC probes the reality of those Poets that write for the stage.
Not all the poets shared a deep abiding love for hip-hop in its current incarnation. Many of the Poets feel that Hip-hop has within its grasp the potential to be a positive catalyst for massive personal & social change. They feel unfortunately that its potential has been severely underdeveloped and in some cases perversely denigrated by some of its commercial practitioners.
But at the same time other poets in GV7 openly discuss issues of date-rape, the courage to be an artist, the psychological repression of women, How Hip-hop can help or Hurt, HIV-AIDS & homosexuality, image vs. reality, obsessions, race-consciousness, anorexia, self-love, the high-jacking of black men’s masculinity & vunerability, disappointment with God, insanity, self-loathing, inspiration and salvation.
"Noone can say these poets tread lightly or try to avoid issues that we all, in some way or another grapple with. It's what makes this expression so relative, ” says Filmmaker Bob Bryan.
"Those millions of readers familiar with Toni Morrison’s work, in particular her novel Beloved, won’t be surprised at the numerous instances of brutality and deprivation in her new book, A Mercy, the Nobel Prize winner’s ninth novel and her first since Beloved to depict American slavery—albeit in a very early, seventeenth-century form. What may well throw them for a loop is the redemptive tone: a pristine landscape, a compassionate white Northern farmer, and a notable absence of racial animosity—felt even more keenly in an election year with a full deck of race cards. In A Mercy, Jacob Vaark’s collection of laborer-charges (a Native American, a black child, an orphan, and two indentured servants) are united by and against a spreading culture of servitude that has little to do with skin color."New York Times
Morrison will be in Washington DC tonight to discuss this new book and all of the themes addressed.
“I really wanted to get to a place before slavery was equated with race,” Morrison told New York Times reporter Boris Kachka. “Whether they were black or white was less important than what they owned and what their power was.”
Farah Lawal is one of the most talented actresses I've ever worked with. I have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with her as we are both members of the artist collective The Saartjie Project. Farah has been the epitome of professionalism as she has mentored all of us on the key elements of theatre and the fundamentals that enhance a passionate performance.
Farah is a UMD theatre graduate and will be performing some of her poetry on November 1st at 3 pm and 7:30 pm at a program called "Women, Words and Power!"
It will take place at Playbill Cafe in Washington DC, which is located at 1409 14th Street NW (at the corner of 14th & P St NW).
The program is associated with The Essential Theatre and will feature Farah and 8 female spoken word artists and a group of female drummers.
The tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the door. Support this program!
