The M(N)STRY: “How Can You See in the Dark? Part II”

Yesterday, I went to two online events that inspired the poem below. First, my friend Yasmine invited me to a Nichiren Buddhism conference and then I attended Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative’s black/water: The Digital Ceremony. As you know, sound, wordplay and etymology are part of my spiritual and poetic practice, so watching both, certain words […]

The M(N)STRY: Poems from Unsettling the Wor(l)d

Currently I am participating in a workshop with poet and activist Joey De Jesus, Unsettling the Wor(l)d from The Liminal Lab. I wanted to share the poems I crafted from their prompts, especially since I wrote them during this stressful week. I hope you are feeling a bit lighter today! Image Credit: dejesus2020.com Neon Arts […]

THE M(N)STRY: THOUGHTS ON THE MEANING OF WAKANDA

After the transition of Chadwick Boseman, my thoughts returned to Black Panther and previous research I did into the meaning of the name Wakanda. If you know anything about my writing process, etymology plays a big part of the work I do. Going back to that research (I came up with several theories including the […]

The M(N)STRY: Time Camp Poems

During the past two Sundays, I participated in Black Quantum Futurism’s Time Camp 004 and it was a deeply rich experience that I will continue to reflect on going into the future. In the meantime, here are four poems that I wrote during some of the workshops: (Above image credit: Space-Time Collapse I – BQF Collective) […]

The M(N)STRY: Black UniKorn & The KWhole Tree

I know I have been gone for a while but this year is calling me back here… As full of grief as this year has been, it has also laid the groundwork for new inspirations within me. One of the projects I have coming up is a Reading & Discussion series for Lewis Latimer House […]

The M(N)STRY: Activating the Archive Through Poetics

With everything happening in the news that frightens me about the future of this country and world, I turn back again to the importance of the archive, storytelling and truth-telling for marginalized communities. Last month, I went to archivist and writer Joyce LeeAnn and researcher and writer Akeema-Zane’s workshop In the Middle of Things: The […]

The M(N)STRY: The Legacy of Black Arkives

Etymology of Legacy: late 14c., legacie, “body of persons sent on a mission,” from Medieval Latin legatia, from Latin legatus“ambassador, envoy, deputy,” noun use of past participle of legare “send with a commission, appoint as deputy, appoint by a last will” (see legate). Can the archive be our arsenal and the archivist our warrior in this current war on memory and information? […]

The M(N)STRY: Phillis Wheatley and Fugitive Imagination

What happens when an enslaved person is given the tools to express her desire for freedom after being captured? When a young child taken from Senegal to Boston and renamed after the slave ship on which she was brought is then taught to read and write in not her own language and history, but in […]

The M(N)STRY: Alternative Memorial Day

It is a surreal feeling to know that you could go to war and fight for your country, survive the war and instead of coming back as a celebrated hero, be assaulted and lynched by the people whose freedom you fought for them to have. That was the reality of many black veterans who returned from […]

The M(N)STRY: The Arkive

The Arch. The Ark. The Archive. The Arcane. The Archon. The Architect. The Archangel. The ArchAndroid. The Chief Holder of a Culture’s Knowledge for Future Recollection. The Cybernetic Helms(wo)man of the Ship Sailing to a New Horizon. Last weekend, I attended Summoning the Archive at NYU. Attending it inspired me to think of the “archive” […]