Modern Griots: Adia Tamar Whitaker

Adia Tamar Whitaker is a San Franciscan dancer, choreographer and vocalist, and was artistic director of artistic director of the Brooklyn-based dance theatre ensemble, Ase Dance Theater Collective. For years, she has performed contemporary and Afro-Haitian dance styles, was part of the Afro-Haitian dance company Group Petit La Croix and taught workshops and master classes. In 2008, […]

Thoughts on Columbus Day….

Burning Spear– Christopher Columbus Is a Damned Blasted Liar… My dad, who is from Dominica, has always sung that song to me when we discuss Christopher Columbus. It is amazing to him how someone can discover somewhere that was already inhabited by people. This man had a huge effect on history, but not as the […]

History of Racism

Yesterday I watched this BBC documentary on racism. It included information on the Transatlantic Slave Trade, Imperialism, Colonialism, Scientific racism, Social Dawinism, Eugenics, genocides (as one of the speakers called it, “bureaucratization of killing”), racist experiments (ex. mass sterilization), fear of immigration, different ethnicities and lower classes, and economic, cultural and political disenfranchisement, and how […]

African Heat

DJ Voodoo Funk posted a mix of some great Funk/Afro-beat music from Ghana and Nigeria. Here is the link to the music and the track listing: 00:00 The Uppers -dankasa 03:30 Roy Hamilton -jack jones 06:40 Gyadu Blay Ambolley -sikape 12:14 De Frank -waiting for my baby 16:33 The Cutlass Band -obiara wondo 19:08 The Strangers […]

Lecture Time

Do you live in New York City? Are you interested in going to a few conferences on Afrofuturism? First, Parsons School of Design, part of The New School, is hosting several lectures over the next few months in Manhattan. Some of the speakers include Alondra Nelson (that one was one Sept. 20), Julie Mehretu (Oct. 4), […]

Modern Griot Reviews: Sanabria and Camero, Drum Virtuosos

I call it the Pew Problem: the feeling of wanting to move around but you cannot because you are constricted by the rows of seats around you. That is how I felt Saturday night at the Afro-Cuban Bobby Sanabria Band’s performance at York College with special guest, legendary percussionist Candido Camero. But that is a […]