I love a good foreign film. I get taken away to another place and inevitably find myself submerged in someone elses life. So, last Saturday, I rushed to the Creative Alliance Theater in Baltimore, ready to get swept away into the film, Difficult Love.
But that didn’t happen. In fact, it was the opposite.
Difficult Love is a film about native South African photographer, Zanele Muholi, who takes nude and controversial pictures of LGBT people. The furthest thing from pornography, her art shows love, vulnerbility, gentleness and strength.
The reason I couldn’t be swept away was because I was taking frantic notes, in the dark, all over my day planner; engrossed in an effort to record names of other LGBT activists. Muholi, her subjects and the community who supports her are working to reduce the amount of ignorance in today’s brainwashed and homophobic society.
If I hadn’t already heard stories of torture and seen bloody bruised images of gay women who’ve been raped and killed in South Africa, the movie would have made me cry. But, to my surprise, I was not sad, I was hopeful. And I was proud. 
This is a message for my sisters in South Africa:
Dance African Womyn
You make music and take pictures
You teach and you work
You did good girl, you did good
You cry and hold each other
You remain daughter and son
You clean and you cook
You visit family and bring love
But do you dance?
In a club with liquor and smoke
you tell your story with art
You dance a little – or a lot
But do you tribal dance?
Holy ghost filled
spinning
flinging
back breaking to the beat
Dance
I can’t hear you
I think you love me
Your words of hatred are not for me
Dance Dance Dance
Dance
under the moon
with me tonight
Dance
free in the field
with me tonight
Dance
under the bridge
in the sunlight
Dance
in the street
back breaking to the beat
Until you don’t feel the ground
or notice me watching you
Live In Color – Shannon
This time last year when I could barely see my toes (one of benefits of being 8 months pregnant), wedge sneakers were ubiquitous. Peeping back at me from magazines and street corners. Everyone fabulous and fly, from celebrities to the edgy girl in the office, proudly rocked them. Well, now that my feet and I are reunited (and yes, it feels so good), I am madly in love with wedge sneakers.
Make no mistake, this girl loves stilettos, but oh these sneakers! Effortlessly stylish and funky. Check out a few of our favorites.
Selena Gomez rocks her wedge sneakers
Jeremy Scott for Adidas
Designer Jeremy Scott creates cool sneakers for Adidas. We are feeling these!
Chris Jury for Adidas
Did you forget it’s Black Music Month? We didn’t! What better way to celebrate on a Friday evening than attending jazz soul singer and songwriter Maysa‘s CD release party for her latest offering, Blue Velvet Soul. The Baltimore native and Morgan State alumna has collaborated with such musical luminaries as Stevie Wonder and Will Downing. She is well known by fans of smooth jazz both for solo CDs, and work with the British band Incognito.
Have we convinced you to attend? I thought so. The festivities take place at Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center from 8pm-12 midnight. Tickets are $40 in advance and $45 at the door (includes CD, lite fare, soft drinks, signature drink and showcase performance by Maysa to be used in her next video).
Feeling like you need the VIP treatment? We thought you might. Well that’s $55 in advance and $60 at the door (includes everything mentioned above, and a ticket to the Saturday, June 29th concert at Baltimore Sound Stage). Enjoy!
Live In Color – Emelda
Live jazz; summer nights; and dinner with friends at Gertrude’s. If this all sounds marvelous, you cannot miss Jazz in the Sculpture Garden at the Baltimore Museum of Art! The first is on Saturday, July 6 at 7pm, and features Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Legacy Band, with Vincent Herring & Jeremy Pelt. This classic band’s performing days go back to the 1960s.
Every year I promise myself I’ll go, and something always gets in my way.
Resist the urge to be deterred! The series sells out fast. Check out the full schedule. Laundry can wait, jazz and being surrounded by breathtaking sculptures, not so much.
Live In Color – Emelda
Photo Credit: Yoga blog on Tumblr
God has a sense of humor. I’m convinced! Here I am contemplating the notion of reclaiming space as a new Mom, with a full time career, graduate school and weekly blogging schedule. Who told me I should I even consider space? What? She gets a moment to herself?
Yet space is critical to personal growth, peace and joy. If we allow those around us to obliterate our physical, mental and spiritual space with their demands, eventually bitterness and resentment arise within us.
Saying no is liberating, particularly in an age of frequent communication from social media, email and text messages; everything, it seems, demands our full attention; instant responses to questions and concerns are not only desired, they are expected. “Didn’t you see my text from two minutes ago?” “Are you upset with me?” “I didn’t hear back?” Sound familiar?
Yes is infinitely easier because many of us are addicted to people pleasing, convinced our self worth is linked with other’s perceptions. How often do you check to see if someone liked your status on Facebook or is following you on Twitter? Increasingly, our culture fosters a constant need of approval from others. Yet small step by small step, day by day, we must reaffirm our worth by embracing the courage to say no.
Unplug it all from time to time! Turn off your cell phone, step away from the computer, and breath. Begin to become clear about your priorities. Does your family take precedence in this moment? Return your friend’s call after tending to your own household matters.
My recent conversation with a friend reiterated this lesson of self love. Reclaiming space is not selfish, it’s a necessary element to evolving into a whole and free human being. Our responsibilities no longer control us, we prioritize, and again begin by saying one word: NO.
Live In Color – Emelda
Many farmers markets will allow just about anyone to rent a table and sell just about anything. You don’t have to be a farmer to look like one. So, in the sea of produce and products, there are sure to be scammers swimming around.
Recently, I was OUTRAGED, while emptying my reusable bag of produce from a highly populated seller. WHAAAAT!! My onions, had grocery store stickers on them! To make matters worse, the sticker code was 4159. A code for onions which are commercially grown.
After a few days, all of the potatoes I bought from the stand were soft and rotting.
So, this is my attempt to re-channel my PISSED-OFF-TIVITY into positivity.
Don’t be fooled at Farmers Markets …
ALWAYS ask the seller, “Did YOU grow this food?”
If the answer is yes, ask a few follow up questions like, “Where do you get your seeds” and “Do you spray the plants or treat the soil with anything?”
By this point you will be able to feel whether or not you trust the farmer or seller. Even if you don’t speak farming, your gut will tell you if you should shop there or move on to the next!
What better way to celebrate peace than with a free event? The annual Seeds of Peace Community Festival is on Sunday, June 9 from 12-5pm at One Wisdom Fellowship.
It’s the kind of happening we love – laid back, intimate, and chock full of eclectic live music (jazz, conscious hip-hop, rock and more), delicious food, exhibitors, and insightful presentations by folks such as keynote speaker Mia Jones, an educator and community organizer who has worked with American Friends Service Committee and heads an arts collective. If you arrive at 10:45am, you can hear this inspiring young woman’s message.
Okay, you get the point. Pick up your flip flops, grab those keys, and make your way there! Remember, this is fun for a great cause – peace!
Dynamic films, like novels, transport us to other worlds beyond our own. It’s good to free yourself from those familiar bubbles. This is why we’re especially thrilled about about the 2nd annual Charm City LGBT Film Festival at Creative Alliance from Thursday, June 6 to Sunday, June 9. It even kicks off with a fantastic party, Celluloid Closet LGBT Film Fest Gayla!
The seven films offer insights into a myriad of LGBT experiences from lesbians in Great Britain (Stud Life) to the compelling documentary (I Am Divine!) about Baltimore’s own Harris Glenn Milstead, a.k.a. Divine (1945-1988), an iconic underground star featured in numerous John Waters films.
This is definitely cinema worth watching. Check out the full schedule.
Live In Color – Emelda
Does thrift store shopping throw you into a panic? I know it’s a lot to sort through. Fear not, fellow fashionistas! We’ve figured it out with four easy steps.
1. Quality over Quantity!
Grab everything you like, but only buy the things you LOVE. Really? Do you need more clothes you kinda like?
2. Try on EVERYTHING.
The necklace you crave may not have any clasps. Keep searching. Patience pays off in this game. You are one step away from the next phenomenal piece.
3. Snatch it when you see it!
While you’re thinking about whether or not to try on the shirt you’re holding, so is the lady next to you! DON’T LET HER GET YOUR SHIRT!
4. Get what you can.
Don’t try and find a complete outfit. If you end up with one, that’s great. The point is to purchase pieces you love, then take them home. Eventually, you’ll create a wearable fashion collage!
Live In Color – Shannon-Eli Braxton
Photo Credit: Keston
De Coteau
Photo Credit: Keston
De Coteau