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

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...

One of the perks of living life is that sometimes you experience the delight of being proven wrong. I had one such experience on my recent visit to London. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it didn't even come close to the overwhelmingly positive experience I did end up having. Woman breaking down on the underground, crying, screaming into the phone to her ex/lover, "But how could you sleep with her? , how everyone tried to ignore the phone call, but by the end, someone asking her if she's ok, and the fact that she is allowed to break down so completely and totally OUT IN PUBLIC...hmmmm....I thought that was cool. The brown hands reading The Heart is A Lonely Hunter and as I hitchhike a read, I find she is in the midst of reading that brutal rape scene... Discovering bookmark-- the socialist bookshop right on the same street as my hotel!), buying a copy of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita and so knowing that McKinley was there, winking down at m...

Chillin is... listening to Beastie Boys and watching your son break dance. Chillin is... Sipping a good glass 'o wine...(it makes mommy smarter!) Chillin is... thumbing through your brand new copy of Sable that just came through the mail, and reading all about Nawal El Saadawi & Gwendolyn Brooks (Thanks Kadija!!!) Chillin is... blogging while your son gets inspired to write a song. Chillin is... thumbing through the new books you just bought: (while L.L. Cool J's I'm the Type Guy plays)... C.L.R. James "Letters from London", which you discover was written while at Bloomsbury which is coincidentally, the neighborhood you will be staying at...and Samuel Selvon's The Lonely Londoners...cause you know what? Chillin is living and seeing the world Brooklyn, Trini style...In other words, I jus' limin... I'm out, the lab