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

My mother, me and Mummy Hildred - Brooklyn, 2009 When you live 6000 miles away from the place you refer to as home, it's important to have folks who you can count on to stay connected. I've been away for 17 years now, and I'm thankful that there are a few friends who are tried and true. One of them is fellow Brooklyn writer Deborah Cowell . Debbie and I met in the mid-90s when we both worked in NYC publishing. As Marie Brown's assistant, I met an array of artists and writers in Marie's office. At that time we were located in downtown Manhattan- 625 Broadway to be exact. Debbie used to be an editor at Doubleday until she left to travel and write.  This is a picture that Debbie took on that day in 2009 when she and I walked from downtown Manhattan over the Brooklyn bridge to Forte Green, Brooklyn. We visited her childhood home and then to my mother's who lives just a few blocks away. As Brooklyn girls, Debbie and I always offered each other a mutual unders...

Gerald French with Blackgirl on Mars I had the distinct pleasure of moderating an Artist Talk with the extraordinary Gerald French tonight, at Copenhagen's Main Library. Gerald French is a New Orleans original - a living continuation of the Black Indian legacy and a passionate masker.  Drummer Gerald French is the descendent of one of the original New Orleans Jazz families. Throughout the years he has played with a variety of musicians, among legends such as Dr. John, Leroy Jones and Harry Connick Jr. His unique style has made him a legend in his own right among musicians. We talked post-Katrina, his sneaking playing on his uncle's drums as a kid and how he got into the exquisite art of masking. The ancestors were present tonight and I truly feel blessed having crossed paths with this wonderful soul. French is currently the 5th bandleader in the oldest Jazz band in the world (105 years old) The Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, which was once led by his uncle Bob Fren...

photo by Bente Jaeger Blackgirl on Mars wishes you the very best for 2016.  I would like to thank you all for your loyalty and support.  It's amazing to me how many visitors I continue to receive and letters of support!  Stay tuned for more adventures from Mars!  Reporting from Mars,  Lesley-Ann Brown

"The world was made to be explored and Trinidadian expats lived everywhere." And so there is  Dérivé: A Trini Expat Comes Home by  Jennylynd (Lindy) James, Ph.D. which is perhaps the perfect cure for any Trinidadian expat who  grew up during that almost idyllic period in Trinidad (the early to late 80s)  when it seemed as though the avalanche of social ills  that now seem to season the headline of our newspapers,  were still managed to be held at bay.  On Amazon, where the book can be purchased it reads:   " Dérivé (pronounced Dreevay) is French for drift, go off course, or gallivant. At nineteen, Jennylynd James drifted for the first time from her home in Trinidad and Tobago, to attend university abroad. It was the start of a lifelong passion for travel and adventure. This expatriate’s quest to find balance between the need for adventure and the desire to return home is described in a witty collection of stories of nostal...