Moving on the Wires: Afrofuturism Talk, The United States of Hoodoo, MUV’s Sankofa, Buli…

*For those who will be in Missouri, one of my supporters, Reynaldo Anderson will be having a talk at Missouri History Museum on February 1st, called Afrofuturism: Race, Art and Politics in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Hopefully, the conversation will be recorded and the rest of us can listen to it later. *The filmmakers […]

Modern Griots Spotlight: Crown Royalties

This artwork immediately caught my eye on facebook. I liked the blend between ancient wise queen and futuristic superwoman looks (and one of my favorite colors is purple). Created by comic book artist Luis Guerrero, the artwork is for the jewelry and organic body and skin product company, Crown Royalties, of Amonyet Enterprises. Amonyet Enterprises’ […]

Modern Griots Recap: The Rite Path

“Aiye Aiye Ft. Eli Efi, V.I., Amma Whatt, For Something & Oloriwaa!” From the Egbe Iwa Odo Kunrin/Brinrin group I have written before on expanding what we think of as time travel in terms of mental and spiritual time travel. One way that I did not think of until last night’s program at Schomburg Center […]

Happy 12/12/12!

As we approach another year, some believe it is the end of the world — the apocalypse — but “apocalypse” means “a revealing,” so I choose to see it only as a state of transformation. Today’s date is triple digit number and the last one for a while, so let’s celebrate this moment in time […]

Modern Griots Recap: The Outsider in Science Fiction Panel

I am one who likes to believe in synchronicity and having watched a National Geographic documentary a few days ago called, “When Aliens Attack,” this panel at the Museum of the Moving Image happened at the right time. What does our encounters and representations of the outsider or “alien” reveal about our psyches? On Sunday, […]

Modern Griots Review: Zetwal (Twinkl)

Can poetry be fuel for a spaceship? One man, Robert Saint-Rose, from the Caribbean island of Martinique believed so. The inspiring documentary film, Zetwal, which means “stars,” or “twinkl” from the film, in creole, follows the journey of the Caribbean folk hero who builds a spaceship in 1974 on a mission to be the first […]

Modern Griots Recap: A Is For Anansi

“Why do I love children? I think it is because the child in each of us is our most precious part” – Walter Dean Myers’ Brown Angel: An Album of Picture and Verse Despite the destruction of two storms in New York City, the A Is For Anansi conference carried on last weekend, and despite […]

Modern Griots Review: Oya and Anyanwu — The Faces of Change

Without stories, we are nothing but shells, only giving others the physical form of ourselves. Stories ground the spirits and forces around us and make them real. Oya priestess Isoke Nia expressed this sentiment last night at the Schomburg Center in Harlem at the enlightening tribute to the Yoruba orisha, Oya, and writer Octavia Butler. […]

Moving on the Wires: Kindle, Raw Space, CCCADI, A Is for Anansi, Kindred Reading Series

*My blog is on Kindle. If you have a Kindle or anyone you know has one, you can access my blog for $0.99 each month. Here is some places and upcoming events to head to in New York City: *ImageNation, who is one of the major supporters of Middle of Nowhere film, opened a gallery […]

Modern Griots Review: Calling the Names of the Ancestors and Elders…

Last Saturday was a packed day for me. I attended three events — Moving with MUV (Movement for the Urban Village) dance workshop, the screening of My Nappy Roots: A Journey Through Black Hairitage at The Brothers Speak On Natural Beauty and URB ALT Festival with Muthawit and Leon Ware. Moving with MUV involved an […]