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we here ain't we?
edition xx of The Brown Pages. that is 20, for those, who like me, ain't so swift with the translation and may or may not have to look up roman numerals. lol
it has been far too long.
i was gonna say, i can't seem to get these pages published on a regular basis.
BUT
that simply ain't true.
i hope, avid brown page reader, that by now you have come to count on me to have something for one of my favorite times of the year.
the blackest of the seasons
black history month.
this it'll be our third black history month edition.
creating edition xx has been a reminder to myself of my own resilience as an artmaker. sometimes (for me) the act of creating/ being a full time artist can feel like infinite darkness, like i'm always late, tired, just getting by, waiting for a paycheck or worrying about the next. it can feel like a plateau in a snowstorm.
and in those moments i've come (thanks to therapy) to measure my consistency in breaths. returning to gratitude. remembering i live a charmed life with peaks and valleys.
my growth, nose dive failures, ambitions, and rigor can be measured or simply observed... here. on The Brown Pages. i dare you to return to the first edition (there is a butterfly to get you back here) and or even this messy ass one, to see just what i mean. lol. oh the progress.
i am proud of the two volumes of newsletters that span just over three years. we've come a long way and i am grateful for all 247 of ya'll who have joined me. thank you.
now i'ma get out the way...
as always the juice is in the details. don't just scroll. pause for a breath.
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break away from the scroll and get your flutter on. soar around this edition on your own volition. the flutter menu will get you to each section and the butterflies will bring you back here.
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This new year brought NEW classes in a NEW location. Aye. Been thoroughly enjoying pushing and evolving my teaching practice at the lusciously green Eco. Located in Pilsen. I launched a new ongoing class, Uses of the Erotic: Burlesque as Power that merges burlesque, Audre Lorde and self love. This next session I’ll be adding another new class, Po's Choice’. A movement class all about working up a sweat and getting down. The next session starts March 16!
# 1
NEW 6 WEEK SESSION | MONDAYS 6-9 PM
MARCH 16- April 20
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“Running from myself, I come undone”
True story:
The very first time i heard Jamila Woods’ music. It was 4 years ago. My friend, Andy, sent me her song Blk Girl Solider. i cried the first time i heard it and immediately looked up an email address for her and sent her an email that said “thank you.”
Jamila Woods’ music touches a tender part of me. It is a feeling that is similar to when i discovered Audre Lorde’s work. It feels as if a part of myself, i c ouldn’t place into words had been seen by outside eyes and manifested as a poem/essay/song. i feel seen among darkness.
3 years later and Jamila Woods is one of my favorite artists who continues to inspire and envision me within the context of her music.
Featured below is a video shot, edited + directed by VAM Studio as apart of a series of projections used in Jamila's live show Legacy! Legacy! Unfolded (in Nov. 2019). One take and wholly improvised to the opening track, Betty. Another song of Jam’s that I, unabashedly play on repeat. Betty was also apart of my piece For Jackie, created as a part of The People's Church of the G.H.E.T.T.O. to uplift and explore Jackie Orme's cartoon character Torchy Brown.
Enjoy and major shout out and gratitude to Jamila + VAM for allowing me to house this video hurr on The Brown Pages!
Torchy here to remind you that (in the words of Jamila Woods) "I am not your typical girl. Throw away that picture in your head."
BETTY(Po)
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