Moon Mami Writes

I will be at the store ArtSpring on Saturday, October 31 to sign copies of the book Liberated Muse Volume I: How I Freed My Soul (June 2009) and hosting the afternoon which will feature performers Ne'a Posey, Gary Young, Sadie Flick and Quineice Clarkson. This is on Halloween, so I have fingers crossed that folks will come out. We have some things planned for the kids. Trying now to see what artists want to help with the arts and crafts table. I'm thinking teaching the kiddies how to make witch dolls. Hopefully artist Sherry Burton-Ways, an incredible doll artist can lead this project, but, if not, I'll have to pull out the rolodex. It should be a great afternoon.

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So, what a wonderful surprise to wake up with word from Jessica Solomon, the founder of the Saartjie Project, that we have been featured in the Washington Post. The article mentions the Saartjie Project show "Deconstructing the Myth of the Booty" which will be in this year's Capital Fringe Fest. The photo above is the only featured photo in the article. ( I am standing far right ). Capital Fringe strives to provide outlets and opportunities for artists to self-produce in a nurturing and supportive environment while exposing their work to patrons and the local, national and international media that they would never be able to garner on their own. Capital Fringe is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in the summer of 2005 with the purpose of infusing energy into performing arts in the Washington DC region. As part of the Fringe movement that began in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947 and continues today, Capital Fringe joins a host of counterparts around the world. The Saar...

I'm looking forward to performing with the Saartjie Project this summer in the Capital Fringe Fest. Tickets are on sale now. You can visit http://www.thesaartjieproject.org/ to purchase your tickets and get the dates. The photo shoot to create the photo above was fun as I got to participate with my kids. My photo is deconstructing the myth of the "perfect" mother when today's mom is usually working hard for the money and lucky to see her kids as often as likes.

The book is finally available for purchase at http://www.outskirtspress.com/LiberatedMuse Muse We had so many great things happen this past weekend. How fitting that our celebrations for the book kicked off on June 19-- known as Juneteenth! A book about freedom kicking off on Juneteenth. Deep. Check out some of the photos and video from this past weekend. Special thanks to all o f the artists who performed: Gary Young, Quineice Clarkson, Anonamas and Infinite Soul Music, Dee Stone and Teisha Marie. Props to the writers from the book who performed their pieces: Farah Lawal, Margaux Delotte-Bennett and Maureen Mulima. You were smashing! None of the weekend's festivities would have been possible without our volunteers who worked as servers during our gig at the Potter's House in DC: Susan, Le'Nia, Stephan and Lindsey! We appreciate you immensley! Below is some footage, but more is to come: Gary Young and Quineice Clarkson @ the Artomatic show Our wonderful audience @ the Ar...

A big thank you to writer Hadassah Ayodele (formerly known as Deidre Gantt) for the wonderful piece she wrote about arts east of the river in DC. She included word about Liberated Muse Productions and our work with the Capital Hip Hop Soul Fest and she included a quote from me. Check out the article at http://www.capitalcommunitynews.com/publications/eotr/2009_June/34-35_EOR_0609.pdf

I particpated in really refreshing conversation with Ananda Leeke and guest Moya Bailey on Ananda's show BAP Living Radio found HERE on June 7. The topic was Black Women Online Community Builders and this show was one in a series on Black Women and Social Media. I was honored to be asked again to be interviewed on this show-- first appearing on the show last year around the same time. Moya is creator of Quirky Black Girls, a wonderful safe space for those who don't so easily fit into a box and she also oversees an ezine and events that further expand the community borne from the site. Check out the site here: http://quirkyblackgirls.ning.com/ Ananda Leeke is a dear friend and creative mentor and her show is a wonderful treat. BAP Living Radio is a monthly Internet program that airs on the first Sunday of each month from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (eastern standard time).

...a cyber-stalker! Yup. It's pretty sad really. I was on one of my favorite sites-- www.Sojournals.com -- last year, made a comment to a public blog posted on there and, apparantly, a war was launched. This joker-- who goes by several aliases, one of two of them being First Scribe and the other being Djehuti Wa Kamau-- felt so offended that I commented on his public blog as being overly naive and offensive that he felt the need to make a personal attack. Later, still angry, he began to post things on other websites about me, evident when I began to get Google alerts that my name was being used in posts without my consent. A recycled pdf s/he/it has fun posting is a rant about how I'm all of these terms-- a negro, nigger, ho, etc.-- and how he is a better writer than me. He represents the classic example of the cyber personas exemplified on so many websites that define this new type of online personality. This experience has been a very useful example I share when I do workshop...

The above photo and three others by Khadijah Ali-Coleman were featured in an article by Virginia Spatz found HERE in East of the River newspaper. Visit HERE to view the Shopping Guide featured in the 2008 Dec issue of East of the River newspaper. The guide features hand-crafted items by residents of Washington DC's east of the river communities.

All Photos by Khadijah Ali-Coleman (All Rights Reserved)