Pan-Afrikan Postcards ya Pride

Jana, marked an epic crossing of thresholds not only in my life but with youth leaders in mi hood, en warriors from (almost) all round de world, brought together by Rivers Through Time….najua I’ll be riding the magic of all de synergy abounding for de rest of mi maisha (life)

I have eaten. I am full…. It means I yam full inside for what we have shared. I feel good….When you truly see the Great Spirit in another, and then you may address the Spirit in thanks and celebration. So in this Great Spirit, I give thanks that we were brought together with sacred intentions and youth-led (in mentorship with honourable elders) organising at community arts festivals, na with (our own grassroots definitions of) Pride,

na (kwasababu wahenga walisema leo ni leo)

Today, I walked in spirit with Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, reflecting on the memories of all those honourable powahful teachers who continue to shape (not only) mi movements (but others) to fulfilling highest destinies. Nakumbuka all the times mi sistas en (gran) mamas saved so many of our lives, en held space for mi dreams to grow with their sage secrets of loving….warriors like Notisha Massaquoi. Alison Duke. Patricia Koine. Leleti Tamu. Yolisa Dalamba. Amai Kuda…..(dis litany of survival is for de powah of reclaiming memories in orality)

I recognise and acknowledge the mysterious reality of missing de festivities around Dyke March, de grand feast of a brunch at TRCC, de Christmas&NewYears-like reunion of growing chosen families and witnessing of so many others, missing all a dis as I continue taking mi health in own hands and honour the significant difference in mi ability to walk for long distances and withstand the assault of concrete on mi body.

But for a ‘mysterious’ accident, 4 moons (or 138 days) ago, I wouldn’t have been relearning mi ableism in de daily struggle of reconciling mi ritualised actions and patterns with the effects of being hit by a car as a pedestrian, systemically falling through the cracks of the system, yet constantly being saved & nourished by villages at the heart of what is Tdot renaissance

Tomorrow, will be de crowning of queer/trans pan-afrikan organising, right in de heart of pan-africanism in de diaspora, with our own Blockorama.

Mi cup is overflowing with de magic of malaikas (angels) who continue to advocate for, co-create, en share their gifs in abundance in sustaining our growing learning villages en communities.

These are what safe spaces na nyumbani (home) feels like, grown over years and centuries of lifetimes.

Afrika moja! Afrika Huru! Pamoja Tunafika!

 

Najivunia kuwa Mwafreeka: barua ya upendo

Dear (wa)kukhu na abakuka,

asante for your continued guidance and protection;

haki iwe ngao na mlinzi, natukae kwa undugu, amani na uhuru,

raha tupate na ustawi, not only sisi, lakini wengine.

nawashukuru wahenga najua kama Masinde wa Nameme okhwa Mwasame,

asante for your sacred leadership in the quest for peace, truth, justice,

and reclaiming the wealth of our people.

Visima vya kale havifunikwi,

Nashukuru the magic of your legacy  &  anniversary

inayoendelea ku-spread upendo, hope na positivity in abundance

ese

 

hadithi ya akina dada wa maji

kuna hadithi najua kuhusu how the earth floats in space on the back of a turtle, au (or)

ilibadilika kuwa dunia hii tunayojua ilipoletwa kama loose earth in a snail shell, iliyochimbuka na kuku.

wapi mchanga iliguza maji, it became solid land na chikichi ilipandwa kuwa mikindani, na mnazi….

kila mara hii hadithi husemwa, inabadilika.

sometimes the change is in de details, of reclaiming pan-afreekan languages.

other times hiyo badilisho is in de order of events.

But in all the telling of the tellers, the world never leaves de kobe’s back, and de turtle never swims away.

hadithi njoo, ukweli njoo, utamu kolea…..

 

If music be de food of love, drum on…

 stories like these nourish we so, check how our Tdot is…

growing en sustaining wisdom circles with ancient rhythms at the Pikin Amani Theatre (aka. Peace Gardens).

Shango Thunder Drummers are having new workshops to practise for Solstice festivities on Thursday June 21^st.

What’s IT About?

(Pan-) African Drumming workshops

Prepare to participate in the Summer Solstice drum circle with  FREE drumming workshops

Instruments are limited. Bring your drums & other percussion instruments if you have them.

No experience or prior knowledge required.

 When is IT?

Mondays June 11^th & June 18^th, 7-9pm

Where?

Children’s Peace Theatre at 305 Dawes Road

Contact info

To sign up for workshops, email alixa@childrenspeacetheatre.org

or please call 416-752-1550 for details

 

How do we support each other in honouring our wahenga (egun)?

Kuna hadithi najua kuhusu vile wahenga walinena,

Oju to ba ri Gelede, ti de opin iran (au iron?) 

“The eyes that have seen Gelede, have seen the ultimate spectacle”

ukweli, au siyo? infinitely grateful for standing tall on the backs of wahenga wangu na wa hii ardhi tunayoishi

kama vile Baba Awoyinfa Ifaloju alisema “We, those that follow Ifa’s

Religious Philosophy and other African systems have this as our responsibility to give our efforts and support, to make this year’s events [honouring our wahenga] memorable and serve our progenitors justly and rightly for what they have done for us to be standing where we are today, had it not been, where would we be ?

Ifa husema,

Egbe olowo l’egbee wa                The group of the owners of wealth is our group

Egbe olomo l’egbee wa                The group of the owners of children is our group

Egbe Oroki i s egbe ole                 The Oroki group is not a group of thieves

Aje olomo l’aje awa                        Powerful beings (who are) the owners of  children  are our powerful beings.

E tele mi ka’lo                                   You[pl.] can follow along with me,

E le r’omo gbe jo                              (so that) you can carry pikin and dance

(joyfully)

hadithi njoo, ukweli njoo, utamu kolea,

infinitely grateful for those among us who beba de sage secrets of loving and share their gifs in abundance,

hadithi like these, symbols ya postcards of inspiring & replenishing hubs na gif exchange networks,

make me so proud and happy to be an Afrikan growing with/in revolushunary learning vijiji in [love wid] de diaspora

 

The spaces between amani building en spring convergence

Hadithi ya emerging mashujaa wa mashinani [in diasporic sheng]

Kuna storymoja najua bout de dunia en how it floats in space on de mgongo wa kobe, na

kila mara hii hadithi husimuliwa inabadilika, sometimes it’s in de voice of de storyteller, saa zingine it’s in de details, lakini katika hadithi hizi zote, de dunia never leaves de kobe’s mgongo….

hadithi ya amani na upendo not only for ourselves na jamii wetu but for [wa] jirani na marafiki [ni kweli] huleta Baraka…..

au [in other werds], Ifa husema… Omi o! Ota o!…

Hadithi like these make me so happy to be a citizen [wa Nairobi] in Tdot [de diverse hub]

Check dis holistic renaissance movements…..

NOTICE: On the April 27th and 28th 2012 from 12pm to 6pm each day, The Permaculture Project (in partnership with Occupy Gardens) people will converge on Childrens Peace Theatre at 305 Dawes Road to participate in a weekend Convergence.

Activities of the permaculture living Convergence are: Planting food gardens in the City of Toronto in various locations, Holding panels, A picnic on the Lakeshore and on the steps of City Hall. We will go for a beautiful walk through Toronto expressing our thoughts and suggestions for Toronto and the GTA!

The public is invited and encouraged to join us! This notice is to alert all the necessary parties of our lawful and peaceful day of action.

 This exciting 3-day convergence weekend will include:

• Mass Seeding of the city with Occupy Gardens leading the way!
• Rallies and Marches throughout the city on topics such as: 1. Economy and Environment and why our current system is unprepared, 2. Leadership and Values diminished and concrete ways to move forward, 3. Marches across the city to show at-risk areas and what’s happening…*** Rallies: will be strategic panels and offer a large audience the ability to see and hear, by use of posters, signs, megaphones/mics and painting pictures and posing critical questions in an organized and respectful way.

• Informal Critical Workshops for how to take action on topics such as: 1. Legal Literacy for a day of action, 2. Media Literacy – how to assess what the media will see, 3. Tactical and Strategic Mobilization.
• Healthy, local food at our Food Market throughout the weekend – provided by citizens of Toronto and supported by serious local grassroots groups.   

Sunday, April 29 – The final day of the convergence will present

Market of the Diaspora

Music, Movement and Conversation – exploring the cycles of oppression in our communities of colour.

What does it sound like when the silenced speak?

What does it look like when the tribes reconvene?
What does it feel like when our roots find the river underneath?
When we share the fruit of our heritage and plant our elders’ seeds?

Throughout the day, experience live theatre, music performances and artwork from local artists, participate in storytelling, workshops and eat healthy, local food.

The Market of the Diaspora is an event to open conversations with respect to social, race and food justice, to illuminate our individual and collective strengths, to remember, reconnect and recreate our communities. This eclectic gathering reflects a way of life stemming from the roots of our traditional knowledge and brimming with the seeds for our shared future.

Reposted [na big upendo] from [en in solidarity with] www.thepermacultureprojectgta.com    

Pamoja Tutafika!

[kwa hivyo, what unique contribution can we we each make and what seeds might we plant this weekend that could make the most difference to de future of  zawadi exchange networks?]

 

Shairi ya full moon rising

If I yam because we are, then sisi ni Wafreeka,

litanies of  survival & de legacies of our wahenga.

Na ni ukweli ,  #we are trayvon martin, alem dechassa & anna brown

#we are sakia gunn, david kato, & eudy simelane

….and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

Kama vile Adrienne Rich alisema

“Until we can understand the assumptions in which we are drenched we cannot know ourselves.”

Na kwasababu ni muhimu kukumbuka, where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a womban who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powahs. A mwanamke with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs en tiaras of Spanish moss, this womban is a consort of de spirits. (ase)

[ntozake shange, sassafrass, cypress & indigo]

I give thanks for god/desse/s kama hawa, who know the truth, carry sage secrets of loving, en share their gifs abundantly. For sacred spaces like a righteously inspiring Sankofa night co-created by pan-Afreekan youth leaders from de Onyx Society & I Get Out 2.0  that sistas of dis collective organised in acknowledgement & celebration of black females .

I yam nourished,  mi cup overflowing wid healing upendo because we harvesting de wealth of our diversity en working on our unity so much mo.

…….so we continue speaking, remembering we were never meant to survive.

[asante sana Mama Audre Lorde, pamoja tunafika!]