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Laced with Ginger and the spirit of Jayne Cortez

New York (Harlem) 25 March

I travelled by Megabus to NY – usually comfortable, this one was not so great – it was a new bus with non- stop air conditioning that the driver did not know how to operate!

I arrived near Penn Station very early in the morning, before even the 24hr MacDonalds was open! (Closed between 4-5am – they KNOW that this is false advertising! and if I’d known that, would have gone to the deli that was open instead).

I was going to be staying with friends in Harlem. My friend Tim’s fiancée is a the very lovely and talented poet and playwright Melanie Maria Goodreaux. She is also the creator of the award winning project and book, ‘A Poem as Big as New York City.’

We went together on Monday night to the home of Rashedah Ishmaili in Harlem; a close, close friend of the late Jayne Cortez, currently the OWWA interim President.

Rashedah is one of those people who knows and has known everyone in the Black Arts movement – she affectionately rolled her eyes when Melanie said she was going to take me to meet the (in)famous Steve Cannon, publisher of A Gathering of the Tribes, (who also knows and has known everyone!)

A lovely warm gathering of women poets, with Ros King (Yari Yari conference co-ordinator), Gabrielle, Melanie, Jaira, Shruti, Rashedah’s grandson from Zimbabwe,Tichacunda and her son Daoud who recorded the event for us.

We honoured Jayne by each one reading one of her poems; Rashidah has all of her books. The poem I read was “For the Brave Young Students in Soweto.’ I hadn’t read it before – the ‘firespitter’ in Jayne Cortez is so powerful in that poem … it made me feel that I need to spit more fire in my poetry and performance.

The discussion spread to Lucille Clifton, transracial adoption, black arts in the UK, collaborating with visual artists and of course, the forthcoming Yari Yari Ntoaso conference.

We shared poems, stories and a lovely meal of vegatable soup, chicken, fresh fruit, vegetarian cheese and a heavenly apple cake laced with ginger.

I love evenings like this. I’m thinking that I should do something similar in The Gambia.

Yari Yari Ntoaso – 16-19 May
http://owwainc.org/index.html
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/yari-yari-ntoaso-international-black-women-writers
Jayne Cortez Memorial in London 19 July – contact George Padmore Institute for more information

Mangoes and Oysters

Boston 21-23 March

After Philadelphia, I travelled to Boston for the NeMLA conference on the overnight train from Philadelphia again – and yes, more snow, but at least it was already stacked up on the side and I didn’t have to fight through it.

I had a taxi driver who tried, as they all did to make me feel guilty, (so that I will feel compelled to give a larger tip – doesn’t work) by declaring how heavy my case was when they picked it up. It was less than the air flight ‘standard’ of 23 kg a – I’ve carried heavier.

But this driver turned out to be a Sierra Leonean – we taled cassava leaves in coconut oil – his favourite, like mine is crain-crain. I was making him feel homesick he said.

There is a Sierra Leonean restaurant in Boston – in Dudley he told me. I asked him how he had ended up in Boston and as I suspected, had left the country because of the civil war – he’d gone to The Gambia first – Umaru was excited that I knew the country – he’d been a dj there in between his Sa Lone and Boston life – his second home he called it and would love to go back. So we parted, friendly, and he even carried my bags to the door of Anthony’s Town House for me – so much different from the experience I’d had at the beginning of the month, when a taxi driver in Boston stated that it wasn’t possible to take my cases out of his trunk because I didn’t have enough cash for a tip.

I spent most of the rest of the day finishing my paper. I had originally wanted and agreed to be on the Black British Women Poets panel and then had decided to also submit an abstract to the Dubois panel too. I read the outline of the proposal – not a sniff of internationalism or Pan Africanism which, if nothing else, is what I knew Dubois to be passionate about – so I sent in an abstract titled :‘Father of Pan Africanism’: The Soul of Dubois is in Ghana, not in America.

They liked it; accepted it – then I had to write it! Thanks to Nana-Essi Casely-Hayford and Akilah Karima whose powerful personal statements and stories helped me to frame my discussion; and thanks to Kwame Dawes too, who reminded me that there were other and earlier ‘fathers’ (mothers too more like, although ‘invisible). I made reference to those too, and referenced Nkrumah calling Dubois this name. Another timely reminder from publisher Woeli Dekutsey who said to me that unless we have literature for young people on our leaders, their work will not be remembered. He has recently written a book for young people on Nkrumah’s life and achievements. He said, “As for DuBois, on your next trip to Accra, just stop the next student in the street and quiz him/her about DuBois and you’ll be shocked!”

I started my paper reading the first half of the poem, “Ghana Calls’ :

Ghana Calls

By W. E. B. Du Bois

(Dedicated to Kwame Nkrumah) Continue reading →

The Irki Tour – in America

Philadelphia 14 March

I wanted to start my blog with the Irki book tour – but it’s been so full on – I’m going to start with my last reading and work backwards. On 14 March, I was in Philadelphia at the Charles L. Blockson Collection at Temple University.

The one main thing I’ve realised through travelling and attending and participating in conferences and readings is that it is rarely the reason that I’m there for that produces the highlight consequentially the people I meet and the environment I’m in. This was underscored by the event organised by the totally passionate literary and community activist Larry Robins (known for Robin’s Bookstore). For the short time I lived in Philadelphia, Robin’s Bookstore was an ‘anchor’. He had sent me an email a few weeks ago saying ‘I messed up’ ; my name wasn’t on the list to perform at Fergie’s on the 13^th. You know, this was one of the best ‘mess up’s ever – because of it I met a wonderful new poetry sistah , Trapeta Mayson from my country next door – Liberia. She is amazing – my gosh – fantastic poet, beautiful spirit. Her poetry speaks of her childhood, growing up as an African child, who had moved from Liberia because of the civil war to the USA; mental health issues in her family . We are going to meet up again before I leave Phila in a few days because we know there are things we want to do together in the future.
Here Trapeta Mayson reading here:

trapeta mayson march 14

I had not heard of – the Charles L. Blockson Collection. A jewel that (I hope) Temple University treasures. We were given two beautiful books – The Haitian Revolution – Celebrating the First Black Republic by Blockson and The Journey of John W. Mosley – an African American Pictorial Album. I had vowed not to carry any new books on this trip but …It’s on my radar to go there and visit again before I leave or on my next trip here. Possibly my next trip when the weather is warmer – I got caught in the snow in Boston and haven’t recovered. The audience was small, warm and genuine – offering wonderful questions and stories – and now I’m part of the Charles L. Blockson collection too with my signed book!

After the reading, Larry zoomed us down to the World Café Live to hear Artist in residence of U Penn AMIRI BARAKA– standing room only. I asked the young guy at the desk if we could still go in : Continue reading →