At the Breath of the Ancestors Exhibit Reception, Wednesday, October 15, at the Prescott Joseph Center we honored the legacy of the San Francisco Bay Area’s premiere artists: Berkeley resident, Joy Holland and Oaklander by way of St. Louis, Casper Banjo, with featured artist: Keith Hopkins, another Oaklander.
The exhibit, titled: “Breath of Our Ancestors” is an opportunity to meet a woman whom one guest tonight said sounded like Fanny Lou Hamer, Harriett Tubman and Ida B. Wells rolled into one. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the work of internationally acclaimed artist, Casper Banjo who was taken from us too soon, last year, when he was shot not far from his home in October as he took his evening walk.
Stories of Joy’s banner on the side of her home with the words: “No Son-of-a-Bush,” walks through the neighborhood where talk of her fearlessness spread. No one bothered Joy. Ava said she hadn’t shed a tear since her mom passed months ago…perhaps she said, because her mother’s spirit lives. Her brother Tajmal echoed these sentiments later on.
TheArthur Wright spoke of his good friend Casper Banjo, an internationally well-known artist, whose passing was such a surprise. Shot by a police man, the exact circumstances are still unknown as the police refuse to release their report to family. Casper’s material was brick—an unusual medium…but one the St. Louis native knew well. Mary Rudge, poet laureate for the City of Alameda, spoke of Casper fondly, his love of all art—literary, visual and performance and how he didn’t let his gender or race keep him from participating on art shows or gatherings.
Avotcja spoke of her relationship with Casper who was “a trickster,” portrayed as Anansi in African tales, Brer Rabbit in African folk tales here in America—Elegba in the Yoruba tradition.
“He was such a personality…outrageous and fun.” Avotcja said about her friend, who went to college and high school with her. (Casper’s family relocated to Oakland where he graduated from Oakland Tech.) She and Casper taught at Laney college, and were participants in an artist center not far from Prescott Joseph Center—7th and Peralta. Avotcja said Oakland needed places more places like this now: free, assessable art spaces where artists could get together and hang their work.
Mary Rudge said she thought often of how she’d like to have an exhibit where bricks were the medium…a brick wall. She said bricks were a material used by cultures throughout the world…. Casper told me of a suit he made from fabric stenciled with brick patterns he created. The medium was certainly durable—bricks, reminiscent of the earth and its inhabitants…human beings the new comers, clay a lot older.
TheArthur spoke of his friend. He said Casper was everywhere there was art. Even once he had heart surgery, and suffered from depression, the humor and playfulness associated with Casper was well-known. TheArthur recalled. TheArthur explained how Casper was a friend and a mentor because he comes late to painting, his first love or medium writing. (TheArthur is well-known for his painting with bleach of images of Queen Califia.)
It was great hearing the stories about the artists –Ava shared her mother’s poetry and Avoctja played a DVD she’d made from a performance in 1991 at La Peña Cultural Center where Joy and the ensemble Black Poets with Attitudes: Joy Holland, Avotcja, Abimbola Adama, Beverly Jarrett and Wanda Sabir, performed. “We were better than good!” Avotcja said later on—she’d previewed entire show and pulled our the two segments of Joy’s.
Seeing Joy reciting her poems: “The Key” and “Port Chicago” and her love poem, brought back so many wonderful memories. I recalled Joy’s periodic phone calls and cards and articles in the mail. She’d clip articles I wrote and send them to me for my records. She’s also called me to encourage me to continue writing or to ask how she could help with many of the poetry events I put on. Casper did the same thing. I’m so sorry I never took him up on his many invitations to write a story about his many exhibitions. I didn’t realize until later how great an artist he was. I just knew he was everywhere and his spirit was gentle and kind and encouraging. I think one of my best visits was once when I was on the 57 bus and he and I shared a ride from MacArthur BART to Eastmont and we had a chance to talk. Riding public transportation is a great way to slow down. For once I wasn’t in control and had to give that aspect of the journey over to someone else and thus I was able to enjoy visiting with a wonderful man, a man I respected.
Casper’s body of work spans historic and more recent events and topics, such as a recent piece, Katrina, painted September 2005. Using graphite, printmaking and embossing, he also drew or painted work celebrating his family, like his nephews and mother, Lucy.
Joy was also multitalented. Ava mentioned how her mother began writing during the time she was caretaker of her parents, whom she refused to put in a convalescent home, until after quitting her job to take care of them, the task grew to much for her to handle. Her paintings were something her children Ava and Taj and their deceased sibling grew up watching their mother do. When I met Joy, I guess 20 or so years ago, she was a poet, painter, and clothes designer. Did I mention activist and teacher?
She and I taught poetry workshops at Longfellow Elementary school, just up the street from her home. The children wrote poetry, made books and then performed for the school. She loved children, evident in her relationship with her grandchildren and the youth in the neighborhood.
Joy’s advocacy and work to revitalize the more well-known of California’s black towns, Allensworth, which celebrated its 100 anniversary last weekend, October 11-12, 2008, was known. She was one of the reasons why I wanted to make the pilgrimage last week. It was my way of saying thank you. Even though the town was dusty, its large fields barren, except for the replicas of old buildings like the old library, Col. Allensworth’s house, the school, barbershop, town store and pharmacy, plus homes of prominent citizens, many of them friends of the Colonel and other prominent citizens—it’s history is undeniable. And I hadn’t known Allensworth was in the desert and the land was sold to Allensworth and the other founders because they were expected to fail.
The Buffalo Soldiers were present Saturday when we attended the celebration. Mary Rudge recalled her stop at the town another Founder’s Day years ago—it was a special stop on her trip from Southern California back north. The Amtrak conductor told his passengers the detour was for passengers headed to the felicitations. The fact that the train was rerouted was one of many factors that killed a town, as I said; no one ever expected to thrive. When Col. Allensworth bought the land with other founders, it wasn’t expected that the descendents of enslaved Africans would make an oasis in the desert, but they did, despite hostile responses from Tulare county leadership and some residents.
“It was Klan country,” Avoctja said, “yet these black people made a way out of no way and built their town. They weren’t trying to prove anything to white people, they did this for themselves. This same fearlessness is characteristic of Joy Holland and Eddie Abrams who almost singlehandedly stopped Tulare County from issuing permits to dairy farmers who were going to bring cows into the county just across the road from Allensworth.
It is Joy Holland and Eddie Abrams’ commitment to keeping this town and its revival paramount that forms the basis of its going from a barren field to as stated previous, a slowly growing installation which has the potential of complete revitalization. Presently, the town of Allensworth is still uninhabitable; there still isn’t any running water, electricity. One can camp at Allensworth State Park, but why anyone would want to is questionable—
As we drove through the town last Saturday, it looked like the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, the only thing, there was no hurricane, but the unnatural elements, racism and structural violence struck this black town, the same way –neglect and policies of exclusion keep the Lower Ninth and Allensworth from accessing government resources which would enable both to rebuild. Just as in Allensworth, for miles and miles all on sees in the Lower Ninth are empty fields…boarded up homes, weeds, peopled sparsely by people in trailers. If you didn’t know you were in California, you’d think you were in Mississippi or Louisiana.
Our other artist, Keith Hopkins attempted to call me, but I didn’t hear the phone ring, and so those at the reception were unable to hear from him. Keith Hopkins work can be viewed at http://healourpeople.com/index.html. I also had an interview with Keith some time ago on my radio show: visit http://wandaspicks.com/ (click the links and check October 3. It was a Friday.)
The show is up through the end of the month, October 31, at 920 Peralta Street in Oakland, 9-5 p.m. daily. The community organization is closed on weekends again now that the play, Ebony and Johnny has concluded. Admission is free. For information about Prescott Joseph call (510) 208-5651.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Maafa Ritual 2008
Sunday morning was breezy. I arrived about 5 a.m. to an African sunset, daybreak on the horizon. People were drumming and sitting around the fires--children prayed, Muslims greeted the rising sun and then slowly the lines formed and people walked through the Doors of No Return. There were many newcomers this year--refreshing, everyone was excited and many had cameras ready to capture the moment, even at those inappropriate times....Some wanted to capture the moment so much so, I spent much of the first part of the ritual asking people to put away their cameras, and most did. The flashing bulbs were a bit disconcerting.
We opened with a dance recalling the suffering and trauma our ancestors experienced, followed by pouring of libations by Brother Greg, Sister Ayanna and Sister Geri. It was really lovely. The entire ritual was lovely...I was so caught up in the logistics, I didn't have a chance to really enjoy the day until everyone was gone and I finally had an opportunity to reflect.
I wrote this prior to the Ritual, and everyone didn't get a copy, so I have resubmitted it here--just in case.
Reflections: Maafa 2008
By Wanda Sabir
It’s been year since I have seen many of you and I hope your solar journey has been blessed. We always hope this annual commemoration of our ancestors is an opportunity to forge bonds and develop umoja, kujichagulia and ujamaa, but alas life and other distractions get in the way. Here we are once again…and with this—our collective presence, is another opportunity to meet one new person today and promise to call each other three times during this 12 month cycle just to let the other person know you care about him or her and hold them in the light of truth and blessings and all good things.
Can we do this? Of course we can.
The organizers, especially this one standing before you appreciates Wo’se Church of the Sacred African Way, and the administration’s commitment to take on the financial responsibility of the commemoration at the beach each year for the past few years. This is the true spirit of Harambee, the clenched fist…each person a finger in the hand –the power present in the impact of the hammer on the situation…in this case remembrance and responsibility and safety. I want to especially thank our elder, Baba Alaman Haile who is part of the handful of volunteers who spent many days and months thinking and planning events around the theme of remembrance and responsibility and safety. Once a people feel safe, they can learn to trust one another.
I’m not saying that spies are not present and that everyone standing and listening is your sister or brother, but we have to start somewhere and what better place than at the feet those who made our path easier to follow?
We come together in the spirit of our ancestors to remember and to look to our responsibility to do more and go further than they were able to. Our community is in dire straits. Ever under attack, we’ve let the enemy into our ranks and it’s going to take a concerted effort to get rid of this evil force. This is what the Maafa addresses, the soul and spirit sickness directly connected to the suffering a disposed and transported people experienced and still experience throughout the world where the African presence is defiled, disgraced, denigrated, and despised. No one wants to be an African, yet most of us cannot escape…some of us don’t want to escape, yet don’t know how to live in this skin, in this heritage, in this soul…connected to generations of other such souls…healthy and happy—well and doing even better than we expected in an ever repressive society, during its time of economic crisis.
This is why we come together each year the day before Indigenous People’s Day: to remind ourselves of our beauty, our resilience, our strength and our wonderful heritage, which though we’re commemorating our ancestors who didn’t get a funeral…who perished without anyone calling their name or setting a marker on their graves—we know African history didn’t begin with the European slave trade, a slave trade outlawed this year, January 1808, 200 years ago in this country. But do you think that stopped anything?
No. Watch the film, “Traces of the Trade,” which is being shown this afternoon at the Museum of the African Diaspora on Mission at Third Street in San Francisco, 12-2 p.m. Admission is $5. The co-producer, Katrina Browne, a descendant of the DeWolf family, the largest traders in Africans in this country, will be present to talk about her film afterwards.
Again, the relationship starts with us. Get the phone number and email address for one person you don’t know today and develop a fraternal relationship with him or her— We have to get to know one another outside this special time for African people in the San Francisco Bay Area—The Maafa Commemoration. This is a funeral and at funerals all the folks come out your haven’t seen in a long while. We usually promise to get together under more pleasant or happier circumstances, but the years pass and once again, we see each other at another funeral. Please fill out the questionnaires that are attached to the program. Send in donations. Visit the website: http://maafasfbayarea.com. Comment at the blog which is linked to the site. Let us know what you are doing and how we can support you. Also let us know what you’d like to see happen outside this commemorative ritual each year. We are especially interested in those who have developed strategies to help our people heal from the residual psychological effects of enslavement—in all its ugly forms and manifestations. I am experiencing drive-bys and walk-by shootings on my block in East Oakland. It’s scary. What can we do to heal? What can we do to help our youth channel their rage? What is available already and what can we create to use this energy as the basis for problem solving and productivity rather than death and destruction? And it’s not just the youth, women and men are also experiencing this trauma—life in America with all its implications. Our morbidity is high from preventable ailments such as hypertension, some cancers, stress which leads to other diseases, like AIDS, illiteracy, mental illness, suicide and homicide. Are there any doctors in the house—and I’m not just speaking of medical practitioners; however, we need to know who you are and where you practice too.
Don’t forget to visit: http://wandaspicks.com/ for all the news you need to know. Listen to my radio show also: Wanda's Picks, a program of the African Sistah's Media Network. Visit http://www.wandaspicks.asmnetwork.org/ (Tune in Thursdays: 6-7 AM and Fridays 8-10 AM)
I went to the historic black town of Allensworth yesterday. This weekend Allensworth celebrated its 100th anniversary. It took my younger daughter, my granddaughter and I, 4 hours to get there and 4 hours to return. I haven’t been to bed in a couple of days now, but I wanted my children to see what an African – Col Allensworth was a former enslaved African, is capable of and what happens to black people when they are prosperous in America. The county of Tulare cut off the town’s water and the train was diverted and all the commerce died with first one injunction and then the other. Yet despite this Maya Angelou says, “We Rise” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0). We might rise a little further down the road, or rise up and muster our posse and return, but like steam from the kettle…we keep getting up, ‘cause there ain’t no stopping an African on a mission, and that mission is peace, justice and prosperity.
Still I Rise
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/
We opened with a dance recalling the suffering and trauma our ancestors experienced, followed by pouring of libations by Brother Greg, Sister Ayanna and Sister Geri. It was really lovely. The entire ritual was lovely...I was so caught up in the logistics, I didn't have a chance to really enjoy the day until everyone was gone and I finally had an opportunity to reflect.
I wrote this prior to the Ritual, and everyone didn't get a copy, so I have resubmitted it here--just in case.
Reflections: Maafa 2008
By Wanda Sabir
It’s been year since I have seen many of you and I hope your solar journey has been blessed. We always hope this annual commemoration of our ancestors is an opportunity to forge bonds and develop umoja, kujichagulia and ujamaa, but alas life and other distractions get in the way. Here we are once again…and with this—our collective presence, is another opportunity to meet one new person today and promise to call each other three times during this 12 month cycle just to let the other person know you care about him or her and hold them in the light of truth and blessings and all good things.
Can we do this? Of course we can.
The organizers, especially this one standing before you appreciates Wo’se Church of the Sacred African Way, and the administration’s commitment to take on the financial responsibility of the commemoration at the beach each year for the past few years. This is the true spirit of Harambee, the clenched fist…each person a finger in the hand –the power present in the impact of the hammer on the situation…in this case remembrance and responsibility and safety. I want to especially thank our elder, Baba Alaman Haile who is part of the handful of volunteers who spent many days and months thinking and planning events around the theme of remembrance and responsibility and safety. Once a people feel safe, they can learn to trust one another.
I’m not saying that spies are not present and that everyone standing and listening is your sister or brother, but we have to start somewhere and what better place than at the feet those who made our path easier to follow?
We come together in the spirit of our ancestors to remember and to look to our responsibility to do more and go further than they were able to. Our community is in dire straits. Ever under attack, we’ve let the enemy into our ranks and it’s going to take a concerted effort to get rid of this evil force. This is what the Maafa addresses, the soul and spirit sickness directly connected to the suffering a disposed and transported people experienced and still experience throughout the world where the African presence is defiled, disgraced, denigrated, and despised. No one wants to be an African, yet most of us cannot escape…some of us don’t want to escape, yet don’t know how to live in this skin, in this heritage, in this soul…connected to generations of other such souls…healthy and happy—well and doing even better than we expected in an ever repressive society, during its time of economic crisis.
This is why we come together each year the day before Indigenous People’s Day: to remind ourselves of our beauty, our resilience, our strength and our wonderful heritage, which though we’re commemorating our ancestors who didn’t get a funeral…who perished without anyone calling their name or setting a marker on their graves—we know African history didn’t begin with the European slave trade, a slave trade outlawed this year, January 1808, 200 years ago in this country. But do you think that stopped anything?
No. Watch the film, “Traces of the Trade,” which is being shown this afternoon at the Museum of the African Diaspora on Mission at Third Street in San Francisco, 12-2 p.m. Admission is $5. The co-producer, Katrina Browne, a descendant of the DeWolf family, the largest traders in Africans in this country, will be present to talk about her film afterwards.
Again, the relationship starts with us. Get the phone number and email address for one person you don’t know today and develop a fraternal relationship with him or her— We have to get to know one another outside this special time for African people in the San Francisco Bay Area—The Maafa Commemoration. This is a funeral and at funerals all the folks come out your haven’t seen in a long while. We usually promise to get together under more pleasant or happier circumstances, but the years pass and once again, we see each other at another funeral. Please fill out the questionnaires that are attached to the program. Send in donations. Visit the website: http://maafasfbayarea.com. Comment at the blog which is linked to the site. Let us know what you are doing and how we can support you. Also let us know what you’d like to see happen outside this commemorative ritual each year. We are especially interested in those who have developed strategies to help our people heal from the residual psychological effects of enslavement—in all its ugly forms and manifestations. I am experiencing drive-bys and walk-by shootings on my block in East Oakland. It’s scary. What can we do to heal? What can we do to help our youth channel their rage? What is available already and what can we create to use this energy as the basis for problem solving and productivity rather than death and destruction? And it’s not just the youth, women and men are also experiencing this trauma—life in America with all its implications. Our morbidity is high from preventable ailments such as hypertension, some cancers, stress which leads to other diseases, like AIDS, illiteracy, mental illness, suicide and homicide. Are there any doctors in the house—and I’m not just speaking of medical practitioners; however, we need to know who you are and where you practice too.
Don’t forget to visit: http://wandaspicks.com/ for all the news you need to know. Listen to my radio show also: Wanda's Picks, a program of the African Sistah's Media Network. Visit http://www.wandaspicks.asmnetwork.org/ (Tune in Thursdays: 6-7 AM and Fridays 8-10 AM)
I went to the historic black town of Allensworth yesterday. This weekend Allensworth celebrated its 100th anniversary. It took my younger daughter, my granddaughter and I, 4 hours to get there and 4 hours to return. I haven’t been to bed in a couple of days now, but I wanted my children to see what an African – Col Allensworth was a former enslaved African, is capable of and what happens to black people when they are prosperous in America. The county of Tulare cut off the town’s water and the train was diverted and all the commerce died with first one injunction and then the other. Yet despite this Maya Angelou says, “We Rise” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqo50LSZ0). We might rise a little further down the road, or rise up and muster our posse and return, but like steam from the kettle…we keep getting up, ‘cause there ain’t no stopping an African on a mission, and that mission is peace, justice and prosperity.
Still I Rise
By Maya Angelou
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/still-i-rise/
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Annual Ritual at Ocean Beach, Sunday, October 12, predawn, 5:00 a.m.
October is Maafa Awareness Month
Maafa is a Kiswahili term for disaster, calamity or terrible occurrence. This term has been used to describe the European Slave trade or the Black Holocaust. For the past 12 years, this month is a time for the San Francisco Bay Area community to reflect on the legacy of slavery, its economic, political and social impact on the region and nation, and the residual psychological effects on descendants: perpetrators, victims, and beneficiaries. Maafa Awareness Month is a time to look at how Africans or Black people, in particular, can heal from the trauma. The Maafa Ritual helps us put the situation in a context as we recall those painful memories and lay them to rest, this spiritual return to the ships, plantations, auction blocks … dungeon, deserted beach – cyclical movements turning then releasing the tight bands of subconsciousness which keep us tense, frightened and constrained … stuck. The path to wellness, to health, is both individual and collective. It's also ongoing.
The ritual is an honoring of our past and a prayer for our future. All black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask that for this one event, those who support the well-being of black people respect our desires about the commemoration ceremony and mourning ritual. The ceremony takes place at Ocean Beach, Fulton Street @ The Great Highway in San Francisco, before sunrise, about 5 a.m., Sunday, October 12. People are encouraged to wear white, to dress warmly, bring their children, flowers for the ceremony, vegan or vegetarian breakfast items to share afterwards, (along with dishes to serve them on), hot beverages and cups, drums, chekeres, rattles, and positive energy. Fire wood is useful for the bonfires Sunday morning. We will not be camping out the night before as in year's past. Let us know if you want to drop off a load early Sunday morning.
For more information, please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800, mail@maafasfbayarea.com, or visit http://www.maafasfbayarea.com/. If anyone needs a ride or can pick someone up please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800 #. We'd like to have stops in several locations in Oakland and San Francisco. We can use monetary donations as we have not had a grant in two years. Businesses can also sponsor an event this month such as an artist reception or the fundraising party at East Side. Donations are tax deductible. Mail to Maafa San Francisco Bay Area, P.O. Box 30756, Oakland, CA 94604. Checks can be made out to Wosé Community Church for Maafa http://maafasfbayarewa.com/ and we have a blog now linked to the website. Please visit it for photos from last year's Ritual, comments and updates. We'd like to hear from you.
Maafa is a Kiswahili term for disaster, calamity or terrible occurrence. This term has been used to describe the European Slave trade or the Black Holocaust. For the past 12 years, this month is a time for the San Francisco Bay Area community to reflect on the legacy of slavery, its economic, political and social impact on the region and nation, and the residual psychological effects on descendants: perpetrators, victims, and beneficiaries. Maafa Awareness Month is a time to look at how Africans or Black people, in particular, can heal from the trauma. The Maafa Ritual helps us put the situation in a context as we recall those painful memories and lay them to rest, this spiritual return to the ships, plantations, auction blocks … dungeon, deserted beach – cyclical movements turning then releasing the tight bands of subconsciousness which keep us tense, frightened and constrained … stuck. The path to wellness, to health, is both individual and collective. It's also ongoing.
The ritual is an honoring of our past and a prayer for our future. All black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask that for this one event, those who support the well-being of black people respect our desires about the commemoration ceremony and mourning ritual. The ceremony takes place at Ocean Beach, Fulton Street @ The Great Highway in San Francisco, before sunrise, about 5 a.m., Sunday, October 12. People are encouraged to wear white, to dress warmly, bring their children, flowers for the ceremony, vegan or vegetarian breakfast items to share afterwards, (along with dishes to serve them on), hot beverages and cups, drums, chekeres, rattles, and positive energy. Fire wood is useful for the bonfires Sunday morning. We will not be camping out the night before as in year's past. Let us know if you want to drop off a load early Sunday morning.
For more information, please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800, mail@maafasfbayarea.com, or visit http://www.maafasfbayarea.com/. If anyone needs a ride or can pick someone up please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800 #. We'd like to have stops in several locations in Oakland and San Francisco. We can use monetary donations as we have not had a grant in two years. Businesses can also sponsor an event this month such as an artist reception or the fundraising party at East Side. Donations are tax deductible. Mail to Maafa San Francisco Bay Area, P.O. Box 30756, Oakland, CA 94604. Checks can be made out to Wosé Community Church for Maafa http://maafasfbayarewa.com/ and we have a blog now linked to the website. Please visit it for photos from last year's Ritual, comments and updates. We'd like to hear from you.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Maafa Awareness Month Activities
The Annual Pre-dawn Ritual
Sunday, October 12, 2008, is the 13th Annual MAAFA Commemoration. The commemoration ritual is both an honoring of our African past and a prayer for the future. All black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask that for this one event, those who support the well-being of black people respect out desire for the commemoration ritual and mourning ceremony. The location and time is posted at the website: http://maafasfbayarea,com/. If there are questions please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800. You can also send questions to mail@maafasfbayarea.com
Art Reception
Reception for "Breath of Our Ancestors" exhibit at Prescott Joseph Center, 920 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., (510) 208-5651, Wednesday, October 15, 2008. There will be a reflection on the work of artists: Joy Holland, Casper Banjo and Keith Hopkins by their friends and family members, which will include introductory drumming procession and blessing. The show's curator is Wanda Sabir, with guest curators: TaSin Sabir and TheArthur Wright. We'd like to thank Dr. Burns,director of Prescott Joseph Center and Ayodele Nzinga, Shakespeare in the Yard, for their invaluable assistance. For information call: (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800# and visit http://maafasfbayarea.com/ and listen to http://www.wandaspicks.asmnetwork.org/ (Tune in Wed nesdays: 6-7 AM and Fridays 8-10 AM live or later archived shows) (Casper and Joy are ancestors; Keith Hopkins is alive.)
Film Screening of 500 Years LaterHow Did It Get This Way? Why Do We Still Live As Slaves?
There will be a free screening of "500 Years Later," Saturday, October 11, 4-8 p.m. at the Bayview Opera House, 4705 Third Street (between Oakdale and Newcomb) in San Francisco. Food will be served during the discussion after the film. The event is sponsored by: Bayview Opera House, Bayview Safe Haven, The Company of Men. For information call: (510) 393-8803. Visit http://www.bayviewoperahouse.org/about.html
October 12, 2008 Film Screening - Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North12:00 pm – 2:00 pm MoAD Salon
Join us for a screening of the feature documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North in honor of the 13th Annual MAAFA celebration. In Traces of the Trade filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain a powerful new perspective on the black/white divide. Q&A to follow screening with Co-producer Katrina Browne.
Art Show at MoAD
There will be projected images from four artists: TaSin Sabir, Opal Palmer Adisa, Keith Hopkins and Nancy Duranteau in the MoAD salon this weeke nd, October 11-12. Admission is $5. (Mention the Maafa Ritual at the door. Demetrie is our contact person.)
Sunday, October 12, 2008, is the 13th Annual MAAFA Commemoration. The commemoration ritual is both an honoring of our African past and a prayer for the future. All black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask that for this one event, those who support the well-being of black people respect out desire for the commemoration ritual and mourning ceremony. The location and time is posted at the website: http://maafasfbayarea,com/. If there are questions please call (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800. You can also send questions to mail@maafasfbayarea.com
Art Reception
Reception for "Breath of Our Ancestors" exhibit at Prescott Joseph Center, 920 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., (510) 208-5651, Wednesday, October 15, 2008. There will be a reflection on the work of artists: Joy Holland, Casper Banjo and Keith Hopkins by their friends and family members, which will include introductory drumming procession and blessing. The show's curator is Wanda Sabir, with guest curators: TaSin Sabir and TheArthur Wright. We'd like to thank Dr. Burns,director of Prescott Joseph Center and Ayodele Nzinga, Shakespeare in the Yard, for their invaluable assistance. For information call: (641) 715-3900 ext. 36800# and visit http://maafasfbayarea.com/ and listen to http://www.wandaspicks.asmnetwork.org/ (Tune in Wed nesdays: 6-7 AM and Fridays 8-10 AM live or later archived shows) (Casper and Joy are ancestors; Keith Hopkins is alive.)
Film Screening of 500 Years LaterHow Did It Get This Way? Why Do We Still Live As Slaves?
There will be a free screening of "500 Years Later," Saturday, October 11, 4-8 p.m. at the Bayview Opera House, 4705 Third Street (between Oakdale and Newcomb) in San Francisco. Food will be served during the discussion after the film. The event is sponsored by: Bayview Opera House, Bayview Safe Haven, The Company of Men. For information call: (510) 393-8803. Visit http://www.bayviewoperahouse.org/about.html
October 12, 2008 Film Screening - Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North12:00 pm – 2:00 pm MoAD Salon
Join us for a screening of the feature documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North in honor of the 13th Annual MAAFA celebration. In Traces of the Trade filmmaker Katrina Browne discovers that her New England ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. She and nine cousins retrace the Triangle Trade and gain a powerful new perspective on the black/white divide. Q&A to follow screening with Co-producer Katrina Browne.
Art Show at MoAD
There will be projected images from four artists: TaSin Sabir, Opal Palmer Adisa, Keith Hopkins and Nancy Duranteau in the MoAD salon this weeke nd, October 11-12. Admission is $5. (Mention the Maafa Ritual at the door. Demetrie is our contact person.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
