blackgirl on mars: notes on a life in copenhagen (or how my alienation brings me closer to people).

I am sitting here, in a hospital room, holding my dying father’s hand. There was a time when I feared it. It could, his hands, reign terror on any of his children or, when its fingers played across the keys of the Hammond, belt out the most profound array of molasses-like notes any person would glow to. His face is round like the moon, and sprinkled with the minutest moles across his face. His nose is round at the end, without a bridge in that space between his eyes and the tip of his nose. His eyes are small: chinky we called them and as he slept, with his hand in mine, I could not help but ponder, How did he conceive me when he could never, I think, in his wildest dreams ever conceive of me? His snoring becomes a bit more pronounced and I rub my thumb against the skin of his hand. He flinches a bit. When was the last time someone touched him with the taste of love on her fingertips? I try to envision my father as a little boy. “Dolly” his mother called him, because sh...

Claudius Pratt & Justin Moses Gunn from Shine came by for a visit on Thursday. We ate some curry, talked about New York/Expat Life and most of all: Creativity! Stay tuned...

Dr. Roi Ankhara Kwabena passed on January 10th, 2008. Dr. Roi Ankhkara Kwabena was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad. He was a cultural anthropologist who has worked with all age ranges in Europe, Africa, Latin-America and the Caribbean for over thirty years. His positive cultural advocacy has ensured his suitability for a variety of specialist projects addressing wide ranging issues such as functional and Cultural literacy, therapeutic harvesting of Memories by elders and young people (including cross generational dialogue) Anti-Racism, Community Cohesion, Social Inclusion, Cultural Diversity , redefining the Heritages of Indigenous peoples plus confidence building for prisoners, excluded and traumatized students, Refugees, etc. Dr. Kwabena was renown for using critical analysis to examine the historical roots of racism and to assess the direct relevance this has on our lives today. He was the 6th Poet Laureate of Birmingham, U.K. and appointed Writer in Residence at the Trinid...

She met him, of all places, at a bar. She never thought she would meet anyone worth becoming friends with at a place like that until her girlfriend Margaret said, “If you can be there, so can he.” He dj’d and she had seen him before, always acknowledging the warm brown face that never failed to smile at her. But back then, she was married, and had dismissed him rather quickly. She knew, even back then, the dangers of allowing thoughts of him to linger in her mind. But that night at the bar, dressed in too big jeans and a large sweater, her path had crossed his. She wasn’t particularly interested in meeting anyone—thus the clothes. He was casual too—jeans, red sneakers and a fleece. He said he was trying to avoid black clothing—she was too as well. He was tall and thin and what she liked most about him was the upbeat air he seemed to wear about him. He seemed to always be on the positive side of things, so unlike her, who truth be told, probably wouldn’t even get out of bed in t...

If this rose can bloom in winter... So can I!!!!

Oh well, the weekend is almost over which means that so is my holiday! Back to REALITY! I had an amazing, chill holiday. Stayed in Denmark and hung out with my MAIN MAN (boy) Kai-Kai. I schooled him good in staying in his pajamas all day and SHUTTING the world out. Sometimes you gotta chill like that. I did have bouts of guilt though (uh oh--there goes that Catholic upbringing roaring its ugly head AGAIN--I mean, I guess in some ways I should teach him about getting outta bed, dressing and taking a walk to get some fresh air EVERY day--especially since I was lecturing big sis Shelley about it this morning. But in the end I think a nice balance is in order here: Every once in a while it's ok to say no to the world and shut it out. We read, watched movies, t.v., cooked...visited cafes, received great packages from home. My sis sent Kai an amazing box of goodies chock full of pens, pencils (he got that Brown stationery/pen fetish!) and even knitting goodies for me. Nothing beats getti...