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

Getty Museum, LA  Getty Museum, LA Getty Museum, LA First stop: Los Angeles! Thank you for coming out & making my first North American stop a.m.a.z.i.n.g. It's been raining almost everyday since I arrived last Friday, but Venice is still beautiful.  It's been raining almost everyday since I arrived last Friday, but Venice is still beautiful.  It's been almost a week since I've arrived to Los Angeles. The last time I was in Los Angeles, like for real, for real, was in the late 90s when I came out to interview Coolio for OneWorld magazine. That seems like a lifetime ago, and like everything else in the U.S. Los Angeles is so big that it was impossible for me to see it in its entirety back then. This time however, I stayed in Echo Park which I loved and now I'm in Venice which is pretty gorgeous and has such a laid-back vibe. I would definitely visit again. My book event was awesome. Kelli Curry from The Electric Smoothie L...

Jason Smalls and I getting ready to walk into Mexico! photo: Jason Smalls  On the way home from Mexico - we walked and saw this breathtaking sunset photo: Jason Smalls We found the most amazing bookstore in Carlsbad, CA !  It's early Monday morning, and as I type this I can hear the rain outside my window which looks out into a cascade of various plants. I'm staying in Echo Park and although I've only been here about three days, can safely say that I love the vibe of this neighborhood.  First of all, the abundance of trees and plants that surround me, hold me in love.  A simple walk down the street to Sunset Blvd reveals so many plants - I am surrounded by a myriad of succulents, cacti and other tropical plants that remind me of the Caribbean and so, home. The rolling hills and surrounding mountains are also familiar to me, as I lived in a valley in Trinidad, called Diamond Vale. The local cafe has a sign that reads "Resist Hate." Sunset Blvd is ju...

This is Alanna Lockward this past summer in Berlin. It was the last evening of BE.BOP 2018: Coalitions facing White Innocence.  today I received the very sad news that my friend and mentor, Alanna Lockward passed -  I did not know that grief could make you feel nauseated. I was just in touch with her this past weekend and over the holidays. I was about to apply for a fellowship and she was one of the first people I thought a bout for a letter of recommendation, and in true Alanna style, she did not hesitate with a yes. I decided in the end not to apply, but we continued to chat over WhatsApp - with her last message to me telling me that she was in Haiti and how excited she was for this new year.  Alanna was the brainchild behind Be.Bop -  Black Body politics that met every other year. These meetings were radical in the very fact that they were happening at all. Alanna was able to bring together decolonial thinkers and artists - Walter Mignolo, Tanja Ostojic, A...