Black Love Project x The Baton Rouge Youth Coalition

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griot I was recently asked to be the Poetry Slam Coach for the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, a non-profit that works with high achieving, low-income high school students, preparing them to succeed in their collegiate careers. I will be working with local young poets and coaching them on their writing and performance, at the end of the season our goal is to compete in All City, a nationwide poetry slam for teen poets.Out of this opportunity also comes something I've envisioned for a while and I'm pleased to announce that  Black Love Project will be working with the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition in facilitating Griot, a creative writing workshop.  The workshop is a safe space for the kids to learn and discuss music, artists and socio-political statements of the African Diaspora. They will also be able to explore and express themselves creatively. Since a goal of Black Love Project is to gather black stories from black storytellers, these workshops will be filmed in order to give light and a voice to the young, gifted and black students of Baton Rouge.Griot will be held every Saturday morning at 460 North 11th Street. Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70816If you'd like more information or know of any youth who may benefit from the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition or Griot, please contact me directly: blackloveprjct@gmail.com

love poems: gold dust

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my body is Africamen want to discover their rootsthrough my watersso they tell me,'girl, i'll make you weep for me.''girl, i'll make you wet for me.'they want to colonize my bodybut my flesh is my ownmy soul belongs to memy mouth is full of diamondsuse your hands to dig into my earthyour hands were meant to dig into my earthyou will fight to say you belong to mewear me on fingers and necks and teethcannot lick lips without tasting mei make these niggas remember they're kings(i make these boys remember they're kings)i burn incense at night when i praydance myself cleanbreasts and thighs tremble like thunderthat calls out to me in lucid dreamsmy hair grows wild and freelike the heart of memy people have seen some crazy shitLiberia's refugeesso pardon me and my iniquitiesit seems i have inherited the family geneof women who carry wounds that are heavier than weso i call myself strong and not breakingbut my God am i breakingi am crumblingthis is how gold dust is mademy life has been a graveyardmy family tree a weeping willowblack menfathers and brothers and lovers of mesit beneath these leavestake cover from my lightshade themselves from my needsmy hips bend and curve like river streamthey all want to drink from memy cup runneth over, they are quenchedi bring lifei have given them lifethey are birthed of me

Let's Discuss: On Buju Banton and Demanding the Love You Deserve

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bujuSong: Wanna Be LovedArtist: Buju BantonAlbum: 'Til ShilohReleased: July 18, 1995. Loose Cannon Records, Island RecordsWriter(s): Browne, Haldane Way. Kelly, Dave. Lindo, Hopeton St. Aubin.  Myrie, Mark Anthony[audio mp3="https://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/buju-banton-wanna-be-loved.mp3"][/audio]

I wanna be loved, not for who you think I am, not what you want me to be, could you love me for me?Because I am a woman who feels things deeply, a lot of my love stories begin with a feeling. An immense feeling of connection with another. It usually starts in the pit of my stomach and travels through my body, a warm heat that forces itself out of my mouth in the form of the words, "I love you." My most recent connection ended almost as quickly as it began and  was comprised of two lost people who had an idea of what love is, but never tasted nor witnessed it develop. People we love come into our lives as lessons or chances at growth, so I thank him for allowing me to understand a more pragmatic approach when it comes to matters of the heart. I thank him for teaching me to follow both head and heart.  Through this, I am examining how I need to be loved. For a very long time, I accepted the love given to me. There was always the hesitancy to demand more affection or communication for fear of pushing them away. I am also learning to not let resentment build until my needs fall out of my mouth in hurt masked as anger.I tend to attract creative men and with that comes the burden of becoming their muse.  They often do not take the time to know the real me, but rather the parts of me that enhance their artistic endeavors. Allowing myself to become a muse overshadowed my ability to know myself independently and outside of who I was in relation to men. My first loves were creative men, so I've had to do some slight work to untangle myself from the experience of loving men who are more in love with the idea of you than the real you.As women, we are often taught to keep our emotions stifled so as to not run men away; do not nag, do not complain. But staying silent while you are being loved incorrectly is damaging to yourself.  As I grow in my womanhood, I understand that it is important to demand the love you need. If a person cannot learn to love you the way you need, then they are not the lover meant for you. It is better to be by yourself, you are the only person who can love yourself wholly.  There is nothing lonelier than being in a relationship with someone who does not rise to the occasion to love you. There is nothing lonelier than to love a selfish person. I Buju Banton need it desperately.'Til Shiloh is perhaps one of the greatest albums to exist. What strikes me the most about the album is the writing and raw delivery of Buju Banton's poetry. Buju's writing is simple and it is through this simplicity that he is able to get across very important messages of knowing oneself in order to survive. When we discuss matters of love, the topic of surviving love often arises.   Wanna Be Loved is something of a guideline on self respect while on a quest for true companionship.  The visual for the song follows a young dread who walks through various scenes where he is rejected and finally comes across a place where he is met with acceptance. The song and visual are telling us that in order to find your tribe, to find the people with whom you belong, you must first love and know yourself. We all want to belong and it is a beautiful thing to be accepted, but this song enforces the necessity of belonging to those who love you for all that you are. If they are not able to, let them be. Buju writes, "Woman, if it means contention, I'd rather be alone." and this is perhaps the greatest lesson I've taken from the song.  So often, we barter ourselves for what people choose to give us and this is what we call love. We would rather be with someone who has their foot half in, because it is better than being alone; but this is only true if we are not comfortable with our own company. Buju's writing says a lot about the power in knowing oneself and how that aides us in successfully loving others. Show me you care upfront and boldly, don't shun my feelings. Learning to be comfortable with yourself means to be open with your flaws and your better traits. Forgiving yourself for the things you believe to be negative and working to improve those things, meanwhile maintaining humility in your positive traits. This means understanding yourself holistically and how your strengths and weakness relate in matters of love and relationships. Loving yourself means understanding how you need to be loved, to receive the love you deserve and shun the love that does not deserve you. Wanna Be Loved reads as a checklist of things Buju needs in order to feel a complete love, which led me to consider the things I need in companionship.  I need a partner who will be open to my emotions, because I have many. I need a partner who is spiritual and has a deep connection to God.  I need a partner who is able to teach me things that I've yet to discover and who is open to learning from me. Communication, loyalty, honesty and tenderness; these are the things I need in order to be a better partner to someone. These are the things that I've often forfeited for the sake of maintaining some kind of connection and things that are no longer negotiable at the sake of my emotional health and self-respect. Let's Discuss: How do you want to be loved and how do you request that love from your partner?

Back in the Day: Before the War Came: Nostalgia and Liberian Independence

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[embed]https://youtu.be/TRCMJCx7o6I[/embed] Song: Comin' HomeArtist: Tecumsay RobertsAlbum: Comin' HomeWriter: Tecumsay Roberts, Anthony James, Boni BoyerReleased: Bamboo Records, Year UnknownAll Hail Liberia, Hail:Liberia, West Africa was colonized by freed slaves from the United States of America, through the sponsorship of the American Colonization Society. It was their belief that freed blacks would have more opportunity for success in Africa, and more than five-thousand black Americans were sent to Liberia. These Americo-Liberians or "Congo People" as my mother references them, created a socio-political caste system that mirrored that of the United States; a minority ruling class maintaining complete control of the country's socio-economic and political endeavors. This imbalance of power lasted for more than one-hundred years and erupted into a twenty year civil war. Liberia, a country of almost three-million lost close to one million of its population.History tends to sterilize the effects of imperialism and neocolonialism; as a Liberian I am both politically and personally aware of how brutal the effects can be. I often see the word revolution and war thrown around loosely during these times of activism in the United States and I remain silent at the casual manner of it all. It is important to understand that revolution is not fancy, it is bloody and brutal and becomes entangled with politics and greed; civilians always paying the price. So when the term revolution is spoken, it is important to understand the total implications and how much it changes everything in an instant. My family's history and so many Liberian's histories are indicative of how swiftly life changes.It All Began on July 26, 1990:I recently read a letter that described the death of my grandmother during the First Liberian Civil War (1989-1997). The fourth line read, "It all began on July 26, 1990. . ." and went on to describe the events that led to the passing of my grandmother, Mary Jumah Stevens. The letter read like something out of a book on human rights I may have read in college; however what is simple political literary fodder for many is a part of my family history. For many Liberians, this mixture of personal tragedy and political history is not uncommon. Liberians were given the fate of knowing how bitter war can be. Yet, in all the bitterness  we continue to be resilient and happy with what life we are blessed to have; we are a prime example of black strength and survival.My mother is from Gardnersville, Liberia and my introduction to Liberian culture was from the source of the children of Liberia's Golden Age. An era before the twenty year long civil  that ravaged the country between 1989-2003. My parents met and married during the Presidency of William R. Tolbert, an Americo-Liberian who ruled under the True Whig Party, which ruled the country for more than one-hundred years under the hand of the minority Americo-Liberians.From their memories, I know of a Liberia that thrived economically and socially, my father worked for the government and my parents enjoyed a life of privilege, until the war came. There are always two memories I am given about Liberia; life before and after the war came. When the war came, my parents fled to the United States in the early 80s and my mother has not returned since. Her story is not unlike many others, which both saddens and inspires me. What strength refugees carry to make a life when their old life has been buried in political and literal mass graves.But Liberia Will Always Be My Home:I grew up in a house hold that always smelled of clean linen and red palm oil. Where we ate rice every day and cassava leaf was my favorite. Where at any time a revolving door of aunts and uncles and cousins visited and we would sit down to eat rice with them. I grew up attending weddings where I always wanted to have a partner as the grand march wrapped around the reception hall, eating rice bread and watching men discuss politics and drink Heineken, the women discussed the men. Everyone discussed the war. I grew up experiencing early morning phone calls, having to speak loudly because of poor connections and relatives asking for help because "eh nah easy." I grew up always scared when the phone rang, because more often than not news from home was not  good news. I grew up not knowing half of my bloodlines because civil war tends to split families apart and mine was no exception. Despite these things, I also grew up surrounded by a people who laughed and danced and ate and joked their way through trauma. I grew up part Liberian.Growing up, the word "home" always meant Africa. For my mother and various aunts, uncles, and cousins (usually not blood related), "home" always meant Liberia. In retrospect, everyone I grew up with was a refugee. So the idea of going home meant returning to a land that purged itself of its native sons and daughters. Even I, who was born in the States, have a heavy longing to return to Liberia, in order to know the part of myself I've never met. All of us yearn to see the faces of people who are no longer, to return to the places that are burned down. Going home for a lot of Liberians means to return to a place that no longer exists. This is the aching nostalgia so many Liberians experience; the longing of a time and space that was violently taken and the only thing left to hold on to are memories of people and places and things gone by.  

400 Years: On Confederate Flags and Black Liberation

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petertoshSong: 400 Hundred YearsArtist: The Wailers/Peter ToshAlbum: Catch a Fire/Equal RightsWriter: Peter ToshReleased: 1973/2011 Legacy Release[audio mp3="https://blackloveproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/1-09-400-years-outtake.mp3"][/audio]My experience with the 4th of July has been a bit different, as I am a first generation American. My parents were never truly invested; however for the sake of their American born children, [they] assimilated to some customs; mainly throwing barbecues or going to Stone Mountain Park to watch the laser show. This was an all day affair; the laser show would bring together thousands of families who converged upon Georgia's Stone Mountain Park. They all came to sit on blankets to eat fried chicken, hot-out-the-grease funnel cake and six dollar sticks of cotton candy that melted from the heat of a Georgian summer. The air always smelled of sunscreen and bodies secreting sticky sweat and cheap beer; God bless America.As night fell, there settled a nice breeze and thus signaled the beginning of the long awaited laser show. The entire show lasts for about an hour and a half. There is a skit with a laser personification of the lyrics to Charlie Daniels’ The Devil Went Down to Georgia and tributes to Martin Luther King, Jimmy Carter and other nationally known Georgians, Ray Charles’ Georgia playing as soundtrack. All of this historic sentiment leads to the part of the laser show that would always make the funnel cake in my mouth turn sour; the homage to the confederacy and confederate flag.For those not familiar, Stone Mountain Park has a large mound in the center of it, aptly called Stone Mountain. Etched onto the side of this so-called mountain are the figures of Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. It is atop this same mountain the Ku Klux Klan revived itself during the 1950s, popularizing the burning of crosses and throwing lynched black bodies down the mountainside.The laser show begins this homage with a dramatic scene of soldiers fatally falling and then General Lee breaks his sword in defeat and the broken pieces morph into the starred x that crosses the confederate flag; all of this occurring while Elvis Presley croons I Wish I Was in Dixie.  It is at this moment that the crowd would erupt into a great roar; a greater applause than the ones given to Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King, Jr., combined.There was a greater pride for the confederacy than for American independence and social progression. The contradictory duality of being both black and American was never more present than watching fireworks below Stone Mountain. The 4th of July only shines light on such contradictions.400 hundred years and it's the same old-time colonial and imperialistic, philosophy.There are recent conversations about the meaning and intention of the confederate flag, whether it is heritage or hate. If we are going to speak of flags as symbols of racial hatred, should the stars and stripes not also be examined?In secondary school, we were taught that the American Civil War was not about slavery, but state’s rights. What was so glaringly hidden from context was the southern state’s need to have the rights to continue to profit from slave labor. These are the rights they so valiantly fought for, under the banner of the confederate flag. During Jim Crow Era, when my alma mater, the University of Georgia, accepted Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes as its first black students, seven years after the 1954 Brown v. Board decision to desegregate schools; segregationists marched under the banner of the confederate flag. Between 1877 and 1950, in twelve southern states, there were almost four thousand lynchings of black people; six hundred of those occurred in the state of Georgia.  These lynchings were often done under the banner of the confederate flag and often went and continue to go unpunished by the stars and stripes.The confederate flag and the flag of the United States have both witnessed and allowed very dark portions of American history, all under the name of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It would be ahistorical and dangerous to forget that the confederate and American flag are symbols of oppression. Oppression can be one's heritage and supporters of the confederate flag, and those who are blindly patriotic, should remember this.But come on with me, you are black and you're proud, so you've got to be free. Peter Tosh, perhaps the most militant of The Wailers, spoke candidly about the importance of black identity and liberation. His lyrics should be examined more, as his music is a soundtrack for black liberation and revolution. The song 400 Years, a reference to black sufferance and the covenant of 400 years of oppression mentioned in the Bible, should be referenced when speaking of the independence of any colony. A country's freedom always comes from a people who fight to obtain what they believe to be their inalienable rights from an oppressive system. Tosh was highly aware of how systemic black oppression was and called on his people to free their minds in order to become physically, mentally and spiritually free from the influences of white supremacy.I am acutely aware of the privileges being American brings, I cannot deny the things this country has afforded me as its citizen. However, these are strange times living as a black woman in America and I find it hard to give my full support to a country that has not and will not fight for me. Black people in America are still fighting for something to call freedom. I don't see American socio-political abandonment of black people as something to celebrate.I do not have any strong sense of connection or extreme patriotism when it comes to America's independence. America's independence is told like a fairytale of poor settlers who fled persecution and fought valiantly for a new life in a new world. What is hidden in this narrative is the destruction of so many groups of people of color; destruction is the foundation of American independence.I do believe that for the 4th of July, black people in America should focus on finding their personal liberation any and everywhere we can find it. Find the things that liberate you mind, body and spirit. Get free. No flag can take that away from us.Let's Discuss: As a person of color in the United State of America, what does the 4th of July mean to you?Tell me below in the comments!