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

                                Call in!                    11pm EST                  (347) 989-0774                  and weigh-in on the topics!    join  Lesley-Ann Brown  Writer & founder of Bandit Queen Press ,   Pastor Arthur Barnes Tiwana Barnes Law student extraordinaire Brother Mike Harper Entrepreneur, activist Everlene Sam Harper, RN founder of the Claudine Foundation Dominique Paramore actress, ceo of VesselVibe magazine... make your talk matter!  

hat, scarf & wrist-warmers for a kick-a$$ colleague my first dress prototype fingerless gloves for the guitar players of the world... i'm not sure if it's in my genes, is a human disposition or a peculiar predicament of this time in my life. but  i want to make everything. and when i say everything, i mean, everything. i want to build my own house. make my own bread, grow my own wheat, grow my own vegetables, make my own clothes, knit my own sweaters, write my own stories, sing my own songs, oh, the list goes on & that's as bandit as my life gets right now. i'll be writing somewhere else on the web for now. until then, peace within and without! creativity is an unalienable right!

WHEREAS, the Occupy Wall Street movement is a non-violent, people powered movement for direct democracy that began in the United States on September 17, 2011 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City; and WHEREAS. the Occupy Wall Street movement and its offshoot movements around the world, including here in Pittsburgh, exemplify a new and exciting surge of popular resistance to the dominance of multi-national banks and corporations over the lives of millions of working families, WHEREAS, solidified by a march and rally on October 15, 2011, from Freedom Corner to Market Square, and continuing through the ongoing encampment at Grant Street and Sixth Avenue, Occupy Pittsburgh represents our local contribution, and has become one of the more sophisticated organizations in this worldwide movement; and WHEREAS, the Allegheny County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and other organizations, in addition to many cities and other municipalities, have gone on record in s...

We're airing our show tonight! 11pm EST call in (347) 989-0774 We're bombarded by conflicting images of what female sexuality is all about: from sexually-explicit, scantily-clad rappers and artists who parade their "femininity" to career-driven professionals who decry that our sexuality should be the last means by which we define ourselves, to enlightened, artistic "women warriors' who inspire us to re-claim 'us'.  But what does it all mean? Sexually, can we play the same game as men or are the stakes higher for us?  Call in and let us know! 

video & music by Motrack; text by the lab Last week I had the pleasure of participating in a podcast for Inspirit Radio Talk Radio on the subject of marriage.  " Marriage is a hot-button topic for Black women.  According to the statistics, over 40% of Black women today can expect to never marry.  Yet Black women are raising families and having love lives.  What do the statistics really mean?  Has marriage truly become obsolete or are we facing the biggest crisis of the Black family yet?"  Entitled  Black Women and Marriage: Is Marriage Becoming Obsolete?   the show featured four panelists, Donella Martin Braddix the host and me included. I first met Donella years ago, when I began my blog and although we never met in person, maintained an online-correspondence that I know continues to sustain us both. At the time of our first meeting, Donella was a Brooklyn girl living all the way over in Japan!  Her new radio show is described ...

   

Aloha  earthquaking  remaking reshaping.  Aloha!

Chemistry is the science of reacting bodies.  Bodies react when an activation energy [1] threshold is reached. It is known as Collision Theory [2] . For a collision to occur bodies must first meet. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, with inclinations and trajectories all of their own, ranging from free radicals [3] through catalysts [4] to inert gases [5] . Upon meeting the chemistry happens and either a reaction takes place and subsequent products [6] are formed, or it does not, in which case bodies continue their trajectory, though directions may alter as a result of the encounter. Blackgirlonmars is an account of one body’s experiences as it attempts to navigate it’s own trajectory, from heterogeneous equilibria [7] to homogeny and of the collisions, successful or otherwise that occur along the way. Lesley-Ann Brown, abroad in every sense of the word, from Brooklyn NY to Nørrebro DK, making her own group [8] – finding her own period [9] , establishing bonds [10]...

1. cafes that have books 2. flowers that blossom unexpectedly 3. Yarn!  4. encouraging my child to create. 5. celebrating the completion of a draft 6. connecting with nature 7. listening to others creations. 8. Preparing to dive into journals chock full of stories and reflections.   9. Finding Art in the most unusual of places 10. creating prototypes  It has now been six months since I completed my first draft of my latest novel. Life never ceases to interest me. If I'm creating, I am on fire. When the inspiration is low, I don't want to get out of bed. Winter is coming, moving in with the cold: the leaves litter the streets and sidewalks and the sunrise paints the sky a magnetic fuschia (only to be seen on pre-dawn bike rides through the city). I look at the world around me and wonder Huh?!? All I can do is to continue creating as long as I breathe. All I can do is hold on to the idea that I a...

Words flow from around 3min-4. Listen. Contemplate. Do.

photo courtesy the lab  This just in: Bandit Queen Press Obtains Satellite Workspace! The book is not dead: it has returned to the art of itself! Bandit Queen Press says create your own reality! 

When we speak of awareness, what do we mean? The word itself means to be wary, to be awake, to recognize what may easily be overlooked. It implies a state of heightened consciousness in which we respond to individual sights and sounds and more, more importantly, to the meanings of our perceptions, our feelings, our thoughts, our actions, and our resolutions. In short, to be aware is to be alive to ourselves, to our personal being. In literature awareness goes by other names. A writer is said to be aware when he or she responds to experience with understanding, imagination, sympathy. All these terms imply that the writer has seen vividly, has felt intensely, has recorded exactly memorable impressions, that, by virtue of his or her literary skill, come into our possession. Henry James summed up his advice to young writer in two principles. The first was: "Write from experience only." But then James hastened to add: "Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!...

Today. Rådhuspladsen, Copenhagen. 15:00 Watch live streaming video from occupydenmark at livestream.com

Thanks to UrbAlt for this. Yesterday evening I had a discussion with someone who used the word "professionalism". She discussed what she thought was "professional" and "unprofessional". This is someone, who, by the way, has had no corporate experience. Let's talk about "professionalism" and the way it is used in corporations, businesses and the function it has. From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary pro·fes·sion·al·ism noun \prə-ˈfesh-nə-ˌli-zəm, -ˈfe-shə-nə-ˌli-\ Definition of PROFESSIONALISM 1 : the conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional person(see 1professional) 2 : the following of a profession (as athletics) for gain or livelihood I, on the other hand have worked in many corporations, until at the tender age of around 24, I had had enough. I have worked at large multi-nationals such as banks and publishing companies. I have donned the dress of corporations, squeezed my toes...

This past year and a half of my life has been packed with eye-opening realizations. The funny thing about writing, or at least having the compulsion to write, is that so much of it has to do with contemplation. I remember in college learning how to compose poetry in my head, not relying on paper, much like our early ancestors once did. Composing poetry or prose in my head is a very integral part of my process. I need just as much time, if not more, thinking, as I do for writing. That said, I had a literary breakthrough this summer. I managed to write a draft of a novel I intuitively knew I had to write, even before coming to Denmark. Throughout the years I have had many people contact me asking me what life is like for a Black woman in Denmark. Well, first of all, the identity of my being Black is one that is constructed under the very colonialist mentality and one of the things you learn moving here is that, well, there are many places in the world where the folks are just not fam...

brown unboxing bureau 39, a series of 50 handcrafted books made in copenhagen, dk Chances are you have held a BQP publication in your hand. If so, you have experienced the power of each books' individuality, uniqueness. These books are not massed produced, but each a work of art, a performance piece, a statement of the book . I am a Brooklyn-based writer/artist who currently live in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 2007 I founded Bandit Queen Press. Using nothing but the words from my heart, paper pleasing to the touch, a stapler and photocopier machine, I produced 100 handmade, individually unique copies of my first collection of poetry entitled The Organist's Daughter . Four years later and three more titles under its belt, Bandit Queen Press is about living beyond survival mode and the power inherent in creative sovereignty. Bandit Queen Press's last creation, Bureau 39 , is a limited edition literary zine featuring the works of New York-based poets such as Willi...

A few months ago I noticed this book around Christiania. I haven't written anything about Christiania before, and that giant omission hasn't been by accident. The free state of Christiania is this bit of former military land that was taken over by a group of citizens. There are only two laws in Christiania. The first is no hard drugs and the second is do what makes you happy. Throughout Christiania is a combination of makeshift houses and nature that reflects the creativity and alternative thinking that its known for. When I first arrived, Christiania was the place to go if you wanted something alternative to Copenhagen life. It housed one of the city's first vegetarian restaurants, and let's not forget, Pusher Street. Pusher Street is this short stretch of road where well, pushers hang out displaying their wares. The variety of hash and marijuana that is sold there is impressive. Throughout the years many things have happened in and to Christiania. There's a b...

Sean Waterman is a decent surprise. Oh, and he's from Brooklyn.

The other day at work, a colleague’s wife visited with their newborn daughter. The little girl, just 14 weeks old, reminded me of the preciousness of life anew. The new mother held her daughter lovingly in her arms and all exclaimed how truly beautiful this baby is. The mother, from Gambia, was that deep dark perfection of black. “When she grows up,” the new mother said, “she will look like you. Her hair will be long like yours, and her skin just as light. She’s a mulat, just like you.” After I recovered from my immediate cringe at the term still in use here in Denmark for biracial children, I realized that there was yet one more aspect of this conversation that I needed to wrap my head around. I immediately corrected her on my racial background: I am not biracial. I felt I had to say something because I have experienced, one too many times, for example, being targeted by a group of African girls, who jeered at me, calling me mulat , or white Danes who assumed the same, but u...

Congratulations! There has been a winner for the Black Girl On Mars’ Bandit Queen Press – the story behind the press and your chance to win a book by B.W.I.E™ ! BGOM, Bandit Queen Press wishes you again, congratulations! Your BQP publication is on the way! Here is the winning answer to the following question: Has poetry changed your life? If so, how? Poetry has changed my life in simple ways, but it has been reflected in my entire life. Poetry makes you think as you try to figure out what exactly the author is referring to and how you judge and evaluate the words are often an expression of your life experiences. Poetry makes you think of others and gives you an insight into yourself. As a child I was selected to read a poem in front of my school and from then I was often selected to read at various functions, till I read a poem in front of the president of my island country. I had always loved reading from young. By the time I was 10, I had even read my Mom's Complete Works of Shak...