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

Bandit Queen Press is Proud to Present: Blackgirl on Mars On Sunday November 2nd, 2pm Lesley-Ann Brown reads Selected Poems from The Organist's Daughter and her upcoming collection of poetry Blackgirl on Mars Det Poetiske Bureau Griffenfeldsgade 52

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo . Visit: Wake Up, Freak Out -- then get a grip at www.wakeupfreakout.org Watch The Story of Stuff at www.storyofstuff.com

I'm really feeling M.I.A . right now. She's building a school in Liberia folks! How cool is that? Check out her blog and her music on her site . You won't regret it. She's part of the movement. Big Time. http://www.myspace.com/mia

I tell you. It is happening. The new paradigm is here. It's been here, but now it's spreading out under various names and leaders. Let's bless it with serious love. Let us applaud one another and throw the old industry politics to the wind. What is happening in the underrepresented community now is a sign of things to come. Solidarity is the move here. The Indiestream can easily overtake the Mainstream, and imprint upon it a love model. Sure not everyone gets along all of the time, but we can agree we walk in solidarity, and spread love while letting negativity slip on by without feeding into it. In a society that has rejected the rebirth of original, underrepresented cultures, it becomes necessary to check oneself thoroughly, to be sure toxic stereotypes are not being perpetuated by our perceptions, or behaviors. It is necessary to rise up out of the shackles of criminalized/demonized caricatures, and allow ourselves to mourn the lost knowledge of our roots, while also re...

I've finally figured it out: We're the Logan's Run generation. Remember that cheesy 70s movie, where everyone over 30 got knocked off by the sandmen? Well, that's us. See, there's nobody there really, to knock us off, but we just don't mature much, over, say 16? Our parents just sort of got on with it. Us? We got so many choices--we don't know what to do with ourselves. Some of us go around still, in baggy jeans. Some go around with tight jeans. No matter which way you look at it, we're still running around like a bunch of teenagers. I remember the first time I saw Desperate Housewives. It was one of the first times they saw showed it here in Denmark, and I didn't know what it was I was watching. I described it to a friend as, "it was a show with a bunch of old people running around like teenagers." Little did I know that this show was reflecting a dementia-at-large. Think about it: Marriage doesn't have the same financial connotations ...

Originally from New York City, Claudius Pratt was inspired to come to Copenhagen in part by the countless number of artists who came here before him. It is to these circumstances that he owes his latest inspiration, a documentary about the once-glorious past of Copenhagen's Art scene. "My project is based on my journey and the journey of those before me, I am looking at the historical link between America (New York) and Denmark (Copenhagen). From the end of World War II Copenhagen has been a refuge for many who felt they did not fit into the American Dream or were merely smothered by it. Artists of all disciplines have chosen Copenhagen as a field from which to sow there creative seed. Many of those were of African decent and they were the purveyors of culture, captivating audiences with their jazz. Cecil Brown published the book "The Lives and Loves of Mr Jive Ass Nigger" in 1969. It is based on such a man traveling from America to Copenhagen to see if there is “any...

Yeah right. But I do have to say, this was one election I was really close to boycotting. I can't help but feel that I have been personally messed with throughout this whole process. I have had this strange and nagging feeling that I had been set up: The stage has been cast with characters for the best show on earth: The U.S. Election. The whole world sits riveted, in front of the television while the U.S. has it's cataclysmic show-down. The whole world watches as the U.S. answers the Million Dollar Question (or should I say 700 billion?): Can the U.S. look past Race, in it's, cough cough, U.S. Presidential Race for the cough, cough, White House? Can life get any more ironic than this? And let me tell you, I've been "good" really "good"--managing to keep my mouth shut during mundane discussions that usually begin with, "Do you really think the U.S. will elect a Black man?" Luckily, no one at my job thinks me interesting enough to ask, so I...