Good Sista/Bad Sista as part of the
Lane Community College Peace Conference

Saturday May 30th, 2009
at the Cosmic Pizza
199 W 8th Ave; Eugene, OR

1:45-3:15 PM Walidah Imarisha & Turiya Autrya of Good Sista, Bad Sista – Arts and Activism workshop

5:00 - 6:00 PM Walidah Imarisha & Turiya Autrya of Good Sista, Bad Sista – “Performance Poetry for Social Change”

Conference general admission
Saturday General Admission $20.00
Saturday Student Admission $10.00

FRIDAY FREE TO All STUDENTS

SCHOLARSHIPS BASED UPON NEED, AVAILABLE TO ALL

FOR COMPLETE CONFERENCE INFORMATION, TICKET PURCHASE & REGISTRATION GO TO: www.lanecc.edu/peacecenter

Walidah Imarisha www.walidah.com www.goodsistabadsista.com

I will be teaching two summer classes at PSU this summer, Race and the History of Incarceration, and Hip Hop Literature.

Race and the History of Incarceration
Summer Term/ 8 weeks
CRN 82989 BST 410 005
Wednesdays 5:30 - 9:10 pm
We will look at the history of incarceration in this country, through the lens of race and racism, starting with the beginnings of the prison system and police force and the connections between slavery and the Reconstruction period. We will come up through the years, focusing on prison as a means of social control for people of color and poor people, from Civil Rights to Black Power to the Reagan era. We will end by exploring grassroots responses and alternatives to the prison industrial complex, locally and globally.

Hip Hop Literature
Summer Term/ 8 weeks
CRN 82192 BST 410 004
Tues/Thurs 2:15 - 4:30 pm
This class will explore several novels and short stories of hip hop literature, including Paul Beatty’s White Boy Shuffle and Adam Mansbach’s Angry Black White Boy . We will analyze and examine the work through the lens of hip hop aesthetics, as well as through the lens of the history of hip hop, gender relations and the history of racial realities in the United States.

This event is so important to me, not just because I get to perform with my sista Turiya, but because I get to perform with the youth I have been working with for two years at De La Salle High School. I have been facilitating a spoken word and environmental justice workshop with them. Almost all of them are seniors and are graduating, so this is a time to honor what we've done and help send them forward with support.

I hope that folks will be able to make it to support the youth, the organization and damnit, support me too!

Lovethrustruggle
Walidah
The Bad Sista

Organizing People Activating Leaders (OPAL) Fundraiser
Location:
The Laurelhurst Club
3721 Southeast Ankeny St.
Portland, OR 97214 US

When:
Thursday, May 21, 6:00PM

Please join us for an evening of celebration in support of OPAL programs and organizing work in the community!

The evening's festivities feature:
* spoken word performances from De La Salle High School students involved in the OPAL Voice For Empowerment program
* Performance poetry dynamic duo: Good Sista Bad Sista
http://www.goodsistabadsista.com/
* Yummy food and beverages, brew and excellent company!


Suggested donation is $5-$10 at the door.

We are looking forward to seeing you all there!

www.opalpdx.org

I hope folks are able to come out for this protest in support of Mumia in Portland. If you are not in Portland, there are protests happening all over the country, so attend one near you. Obviously laws and legality are disregarded when it is convenient. The only way Mumia is coming home is through the pressure the work of the people.



Protest for Mumia
Saturday, April 11, 2009
10 am
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Downtown Portland
more information at http://mumia.justfree.com

Award winning journalist/radio commentary/ political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeal to the US Supreme Court for a new guilt phase trial was denied April 6, 2009.

Abu-Jamal's appeal was based primarily on the US Supreme Court's 1986 "Batson v Kentucky" ruling which stated that a defendant deserves a new trial if it can be shown that the prosecutor used peremptory strikes to remove otherwise qualified jurors simply because of their race. At Abu-Jamal's 1982 trial, prosecutor Joseph McGill used 10 or 11 of his 15 strikes to remove otherwise acceptable black jurors.

Please come out to protest this gross miscarriage of justice, an injustice which is based in part on race and on Mumia’s unwavering and eloquent challenging of injustice around the world.

Saturday, April 11, 2009
10 am
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Downtown Portland
(flyer attached)

The US Supreme Court has not yet decided whether it will further consider the Philadelphia DA's appeal of the 2001/2008 rulings of two lower courts, which ruled that Abu-Jamal deserves a new sentencing hearing if the death penalty is to be re-instated. If the US Supreme Court rules in favor of the DA, Abu-Jamal can then be executed WITHOUT a new sentencing hearing.

Read more at: http://www.phillyimc.org/en/us-supreme-court-rejects-mumia-abu-jamals-appeal-new-guilt-phase-trial


Radio interview with Mumia in response to ruling:
http://www.prisonradio.org/mumia_interview_4_6_09.htm

www.freemumia.org

Last night I went to see the play 12 Angry Jurors, put on at the high school that I teach environmental justice and spoken word. 5 of the students that are in the workshop I facilitate are in the play, so of course I had to go. It was so amazing! They were all so good, and it was just exciting to get to be in the audience and get to cheer them on. It was great to see them in other contexts. I've seen many of them perform their poems and obviously write them in the workshops, but it was just a whole nother way of getting to see them in the world, and yet another reaffirmation how dope they all are!

It was really funny for me to be back in a high school auditorium too, watching a play. I haven't done that since I was in high school. Visions of Arsenic and Old Lace, which is the play I remember them putting on, filled my head, as my ass was flattened by the hard wooden seat. And that too was familiar. It was nice to go and know some of the teachers and some of the other students in the audience as well, just to be part of that community.

Tonight I had my last final, in the Race and Gender in Science Fiction Film class I teach with Turiya. Last night was the final for the Race and the History of Incarceration class. And today was the last time I'll see the fourth graders I work with until after spring break, which apparently to them stretches forth like an eternity, whereas for me, it feels like barely enough time to catch a breath.

This has been one of the busiest terms I can remember, but definitely one of the most fulfilling. I realized that from now until June, there are so many culminations coming together for me. It's the culmination of my graduate degree (I just sent a rough draft of my completed manuscript to my advisor - fingers crossed for me that he won't make me do too much editing!), my teaching at the college level.

It's so strange to me that I am moving close to two years back in Portland. It doesn't feel like that long since I left Philly, and yet Philly seems so very far away. I just spoke on the phone with my good friend Sham from Philly, and we realized it had been at least a year since we had spoken in the flesh... A year... I remember when I was 11, a year was forever. It really does seem like the years move more quickly. I guess because I've lived more, they start to pour by - a year isn't so very much compared to 30 other years.

But this was a very good term, in terms of classes. The students I was able to work with, at the college, elementary school and the high school, are just phenomenal, really engaged and interested and committed, at all the different levels.

Now I am preparing for the class I teach in spring, Hurricane Katrina, just organizing my readings and reviewing, and getting ready. I hope it is a powerful class - I know it will be a heavy one. We ended in the prison class with students doing presentations about alternatives to incarceration, researching community programs and organizations. It seemed a positive way to end, a hopeful way. In the sci fi class, we had the students rewrite the end to the film Children of Men. They wrote such brilliant and insightful and thoughtful worlds, worlds that see more than just a lone white man as the hero. I hope to be able to end on a hopeful note with the Hurricane Katrina class, though I have to admit right now, I am not seeing so much of the hope myself...

This is a powerful and incredible as always audio commentary by political prisoner and award winning journalist Mumia Abu Jamal, tying together abuse in prisons with Obama's election. He shows the racialized realities of this nation, where hate groups have risen exponentially since the election of the first black president. Clearly change is not so easy to come by, and it behooves all of us to realize that serious work continues ahead of us.

Mumia also mentions the Human Rights Coalition, Fed-Up chapter, an amazing organization with several chapters in Pennsylvania that I was honored to be a member of when I was in Philly.

I got to perform at one of the best events I've been to in my life this weekend! Me, Umar bin Hassan from The Last Poets and Boots Riley from the Coup! (photos in My Photos section here)

It was down in Eugene, Oregon, at the University of Oregon. Steve Morozumi who is the coordinator of the Multicultural Center there (big big ole props to Steve for holding it down so hard and so well for folks of color in Oregon!) hit Turiya and I up a little over a week ago and asked us if we wanted to perform on this bill. Of course we said hells yeah -- the funny thing was, I was already planning on being in Eugene this weekend to see my friends down that way, so it was definitely meant to be.

Unfortunately, Turiya got hella sick and so we couldn't do our Good Sista/Bad Sista thang but I rolled down on my own, got to hang out with my beautiful friends there (much love, Bay, Joy, Nik and Alicia!) and did the show. It was so incredible! I performed first of course. I always get nervous before a performance, I think it keeps a performer honest. But I was hella nervous, cause it's been a minute since I performed a full set for myself, and cause I knew that Umar and Boots were there.

I finished and felt good, the audience was giving a lot of beautiful energy. I walked off, and Umar was up next, but he said he wasn't going until we got another poem from me! Having one of the progenitors of hip hop and someone who I have listened to since i was 14 say that they wanted to hear another one of my poems was such an honor.

And of course Umar's set was incredible, it was so powerful to see this voice that I have known for a decade manifested in a person, spitting some beautiful poetry and some realness. Then Boots got up and did an acoustic set with an amazing guitarist Steve. I have seen a lot of Coup shows, and each one is different: dj, band, at a rally, and now acoustic. It was fun and beautiful.

Afterwards, there was a panel discussion with the three of us (and most folks stuck around for it! Crazy!) After I sat down, I looked to my left and saw Umar, who inspired me to even think of being a poet, and then on my right was Boots, who I consider one of the best lyricists in hip hop, and I was just speechless. And yall know that doesn't happen a lot!

Afterwards we all went out to dinner, the performers, the student organizers, our friends. It was amazing to be at a table with all these folks, and my friends who I have known since I was 14 or 15. Umar was asking how we all knew each other, and when we told him we met in high school, he said it was powerful that we were still all friends. And I realized how true that was, how much I have changed and how my friends have changed, and that we still find common ground and joy being with each other, and we all appreciated what an amazing incredible night it was.


Boots from the Coup, me looking so damn happy, Umar from the Last Poets, Steve from the Coup, Steve from the U of O

I work with a group of amazingly talented youth at De La Salle High School doing an environmental justice and spoken word class through a grassroots env. jus. organization OPAL (www.opalpdx.org). This past week, OPAL had a fundraiser -- one of the board members Joseph turned his birthday party into an OPAL event (now that's how you know a real organizer!) Mostly it was mingling and hanging out, but he had asked me and a couple other poets to share some words. I asked the youth to come and share their words. Because it was short notice, only two youth were able to make it, Michelle and Jacob, but they were so amazing and incredible! It was a great event, lots of people, and it was just so awesome to get to sit back (well stand back as there were no seats!) and watch them perform and get the support that they deserve.

This workshop with them is actually the kind of opportunity I have been dreaming of having for years - working with a small dedicated group of talented smart students on a consistent ongoing basis where we get to explore social issues through writing. Just had to give up the idea of getting paid for it! =) For reals though it really did remind me how lucky I am to get to do this work, and to connect with such amazing folks.

Good Sista/Bad Sista have a really exciting show coming up next week, down in Eugene, Oregon.

It's part of a freedom school series called Why We Rage, and we will be performing with Boots from the Coup and Umar bin Hassan from the Last Poets! There will be a discussion after the performance. We just found out about it but I'm so excited, I think it'll be an incredible night!


Why We Rage
SATURDAY, Feb. 28th
5 -7:30 p.m.
featuring
Boots Riley from the rap group The Coup
Umar bin Hassan from The Last Poets
Good Sista/Bad Sista (Turiya Autry and Walidah Imarisha)
discussion after the performance

Snacks/refreshments provided!

Mills International Center
University of Oregon
Eugene, Oregon

For more information, 541- 346- 4321 or stevenm@uoregon.edu

Walidah Imarisha www.walidah.com www.goodsistabadsista.com

I am back at Goddard. It’s my final residency, entering into my final semester, finishing up my thesis. Supposedly I will be done May 18 with that, and then just have the technical requirements to complete. It seems difficult to see that from here, I’m not seeing how I will get from here to there in just a few short months.

It has been interesting this time… I feel a lot less invested. Call it senioritis, but maybe it’s also that the rest of my life is really taking me where I want to go. Even though I sometimes feel overwhelmed and stressed by all I do, everything I do, from teaching at the college to teaching fourth graders to high school, to performing, to writing, are all things that I love to do. I am feeling much more settled in my real life. I feel like I have a lot of what I have been searching for, and like the protaganist from The Alchemist, it was in front of me the whole time, I just wasn’t ready to see it yet.

What I’m working on now a lot of is vulnerability in my writing. As a performance poet, I tell a lot of personal things about myself. But they are often sanitized. As we all know, autobiography is often as much a creation as a novel, because not only is memory selective, we choose what sides of ourselves we want to share and show. I think I’m really struggling with being vulnerable when every sentence is hard to write, when it is a reality or a history or a part of you you would rather not see at all. Sharing something that is messy, that you haven’t processed or made peace with, that still wakes you up screaming in the night.

Our theme for this residency is aesthetic ambition. Which I didn’t really understand what the fuck that meant. It was interesting because we had the keynote address today, given by three different faculty and they all had really different conceptions of it. My advisor Matthew Shenoda was one of them, and really gave this powerful idea of pushing ourselves to understand the context and the history of our work, and that we are not divorced from the world but rather the world speaks through us, or, more poignantly, we have the opportunity to perhaps reshape and re-envision the world through our work. It’s really powerful to see him in the context of going to school here at Goddard, which is really as somewhere here said a “post hippie” experience. It’s sort of hippie means critic, and all of it conspires to erase the politicized ramifications and realities of the world we live in. I mean, I have continually pushed the idea here that who you are and your position is the world is directly related to what you write, and also how people see you.

Matthew mentioned that in his keynote, the idea that as a writer of color, you are fundamentally seen as suspect, as not objective, of having a hidden agenda lurking behind, and if you discuss issues of power and humanity, it confirms everyone’s idea that you are not “objective.” Objectivity of course being the sole purview of white men. One of the other faculty members, Neil Landau, was talking about this screenwriter Dave Kemp, I guess whose written a lot of big blockbuster movies like Jurassic Park and Spiderman. Someone had asked a question about mainstream appeal and how do you market the marketable in essence. Neil started off his response by saying that Dave was a white heterosexual man who was married with two kids. And he didn't follow that train of thought, but I thought it was an interesting response, the idea that he would reference Dave’s identity to prove that he was “normal” and therefore accessible to the “mainstream.” Which means the rest of us are not mainstream. But honestly, how many white heterosexual middle and upper class married men with two kids are there out there? Especially when we look at a global context? And why have we let them define themselves in that way? And why do we never question the idea of what the “mainstream” wants, or even who it is? I mean, I know why, but I just think we so rarely raise those questions, and so rarely think about different alternatives and realities where these things don’t have to be a fact.

Fact is another thing I have been struggling with. Before I came to Goddard, I felt like I clearly knew the difference between fiction and nonfiction. I feel now that those definitions are a stack of cards I’ve thrown up in the air. When is telling a story fabricating a story? When is a story based on real life retelling real life? the difference between authenticity and lying, the idea that there is a greater truth beyond the facts. We had a brief discussion about Margaret Seltzer’s book Love and Consequences, in which she purported to be a white woman raised by a foster family in the middle of the hood by black folks, and then it turned out that that was complete bullshit and she was some privileged white girl raised in a cushy suburb. But that book was huge, and (white) people loved it. Because it felt true to them. It supported their truth of race relations and reality. It was a fucked up book not just because she lied, but because she was inauthentic, because the black people she created were completely unbelievable, because it didn’t speak to a larger truth. But what does it mean that so many white people were able to accept that portrayal as true, to never question it?

February 7, 2009





For Immediate Release: Hip-Hop Will Not Tolerate Racism!

A Musical Response to the Shameful Actions of “Sheriff Joe”



Contact: Jill Garvey (jill@newcomm.org)

Center for New Community

312-266-0319 or 773-787-6353 (mobile)



On Tuesday, February 10, 2009 the Hip-Hop community, represented by artists both local and national, will lift our voices to call for an end to the ongoing racist attacks on Maricopa County residents. Join us at the Stray Cat 2433 E. University Drive, Tempe, AZ at 8pm for “Stop the Circus! (Fight for Tolerance, Stop Arpaio)”. The event will feature renowned musical artists from Chicago, Detroit, and New York in addition to local artists (bios below). There will also be statements of support read on behalf of many national/international luminaries that are closely monitoring the situation in Maricopa County.



On Wednesday, February 4, 2009 in a shocking display of anti-immigrant racism, the man who calls himself the "Toughest Sheriff in America" publicly chained and paraded 220 immigrant detainees through a gauntlet of media cameras from the Maricopa county jail to outdoor tents. The immigrants housed in the “tent city” will be surrounded by electrified fencing and subject to different disciplinary standards than other prisoners. Disobedience of Sheriff Joe’s “tent city” rules is punishable by chain-gang labor; eerily reminiscent of totalitarian regimes.



These detainees were singled out for public humiliation, and segregated from other inmates simply because of their race. These antics are not the exception, but rather the rule in dealing with the issue of immigration under the reign of “Sheriff Joe”. According to the Immigration Policy Center, “Over the past year and a half, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio…has transformed his police department into an immigration-enforcement agency…”, and upwards of 2,700 lawsuits have been filed against Arpaio for civil rights violations. Arpaio is quickly turning an embarrassing situation for Arizona into a national spectacle. At a time when many feel as though our nation is turning crucial corners on the issue of race relations, Joe Arpaio and the actions of his police force are keeping us chained to an era rife with racial profiling, xenophobia, and brutality.



"Any time you treat people differently for no reason, you…violate rights. We treat people equally in America…" -- Mary Rose Wilcox; Maricopa County Supervisor



"You're…giving the message that it's OK to treat them like circus animals. He didn't have to make a spectacle. He could've moved them on buses." -- Alessandra Soler Meetze; Executive Director of ACLU of Arizona



“Parading shackled detainees for public viewing is disgusting. The dire situation in Arizona is a shameful insult to the democratic freedoms of this country, and should draw cries of outrage from anyone who values the sacrifices our nation has made in the face of oppression.” –Verbal Kent; Gravel Records Recording Artist





Performers (All performers will be made available to media):



One Be Lo (Subteraneous/Fat Beats)



An excellent performer, at any given moment you might find his calendar booked with shows all over the U.S. and even overseas. He' has performed major festivals, hosted and shared the stage with artists such as Rakim, KRS-One, Wu-Tang, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, Dead Prez, and Immortal Technique, to name a few. For 3 years He's performed on the Vans Warped Tour, a mostly Rock tour, and he's performed throughout the B-Boy circuit.



Wordsworth (EMC)



Wordsworth is an underground Hip-Hop MC from Brooklyn, and a graduate of the State University of New York College at Old Westbury. Wordsworth recorded with his partner Punchline on A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement and on Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star. He was also involved in the critically acclaimed MTV comedy sketch series Lyricist Lounge. He made his solo debut in September 2004 with Mirror Music. He also featured in a Slam Bush music video where he's Hip-Hop "battling" a nervous George W. Bush. Words is a member of the supergroup eMC, alongside Masta Ace, Punchline and Strick.


Verbal Kent



Verbal Kent has been recording and performing Hip-Hop music since 1998. He has released three solo albums, "What Box" (2003), "Move With the Walls" (2006), and "Fist Shaking" (2008). He is set to release his fourth opus entitled "Brave New Rap" on April 1st, 2009. For a decade Verbal has toured and shared the stage with Hip-Hop Legend's KRS-1, Redman, GZA, The Pharcyde, Sadat X, Cypress Hill, Boot Camp Click, and De La Soul. He has also performed alongside Rap's next generation, artists such as Sean Price, Ill Bill, Little Brother, Atmosphere, Mr Lif, Akrobatik, and many more. Kent has toured the U.S. and several European countries, including the UK, France, and Germany. Over the years he has been involved in events to help the community, fundraising and lending his services to humanitarian organizations such as Chances by Choice and The Chicago Alliance to Help Homelessness. Verbal Kent is currently the coordinator of the Center for New Community's Hip Hop Project, building coalitions in Phoenix and Chicago to respond to anti-immigrant activities that threaten multiracial communities.



Also Performing:



-G-Owens, Fiyah Station, Nobuddie, Bliss-
Writers Bench: Hosted by Wild Life Refuge
+special guests



“It’s Bigger than Hip-Hop!”—dead prez



-end-

I am teaching the below class on Hurricane Katrina this spring at PSU. If you know any PSU students, please pass the information along.

Hurricane Katrina
BST 411/511 CRN 64412

Spring 2009
Portland State University
Black Studies Department


Tuesdays 5:30 – 9:10 pm

Instructor: Walidah Imarisha

This course will explore the situation in the Gulf Region in connection to Hurricane Katrina, focusing on New Orleans. Students will be challenged to explore Katrina as an “unnatural disaster,” looking through the lenses of race, class and gender inequality. A brief survey of the history of the region will explore one survivor’s statement that “It has been a state of emergency down here for about 500 years; you all are just noticing now.” We will end the class looking at local work to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Region.

I have definitely had one of the busiest weekends I've had in a while, and not the normal "busy with projects and work" weekend, but "busy with going out" weekend. The Cornel West event really set me off, and made me realize I rarely go out, running from one class to another, doing work at home, I just mostly crash out on my nights off.

So I decided to be spontaneous and Friday night I drove the hour and a half up to Olympia WA after the high school class I teach, to see my family Gabriel Teodros perform at not one but two shows. Even though I got home at 2 am and was hella tired, it was so the right thing to do. Gabe sent me the sweetest text the next day, which said, "Walidah you hella make my heart sing." I feel the same way every time I get to see Gabe perform or spend time with the brother. He is one of the most thoughtful, sweetest and most talented artists I know, and his music seriously just puts a smile on my face, whether I'm in the front row at a show, or driving around in my car. And plus he was also performing with Canary Sings at both shows, who are a hip hop sista duo who know how to lay it down and who bring so much energy to their shows, it was just awesome to watch.

The first show was at Evergreen College at a fundraiser for a dope program they run in WA in a juvenile jail, so the youth can do art and writing and work on self determination. Which was powerful. But the way the fundraiser happened was a "do over prom," and it was a little freaky when I walked in. For those of you not from the northwest who don't know the reputation of Evergreen, all I can say is the room smelt overwhelmingly of patchouli and the first person I saw was wearing tinfoil and glow sticks, and nothing else... That's all I'll say. That and I was one of three brown people in the audience. And they hassled me when I came in, until they realized I knew the performers. But Gabe and Canary Sings laid it down like professionals, I was hella proud of them, cause I don't know if I coulda done it.

The second show was like night and day though. It was across town in Olympia in this warehouse space, and it was a screening of Slingshot Hip Hop, a documentary about hip hop in Palestine, and a performance form artists who had been on tour. It was packed and people were so into the message and the reason of being there, standing in solidarity with the peoples of Palestine, standind up against the genocide, apartheid and occupation that is happening. And I got to see this dope poet Mark Gonzalez, who I haven't seen in like six or seven years, since this political spoken word tour called the End-Dependence tour. It's so great to be able to make those connections, and to see the good work people do, and how it all links up.

So I bounced back to Portland after that show, and though it was late and I was sleepy, I was riding high on the energy from the shows, and from the homey Gabe, so I was wide awake. The next morning, not so much. But I chugged some coffee and made it work, cause my oldest friend Bayla came up with her amazing brilliant adorable three year old daughter to visit from Eugene. We went to the science museum here OMSI, which has a whole crazy kids' room, with shit I wanted to play with, as a grown ass person! We were there for two hours, and Bayla's daughter didn't get to even a fourth of the stuff they had there. It was really amazing. And since there was so much to do, kids were pretty chill with each other, and there was very little fighting or crying... until it came time to leave and you had to drag them out of there! But it was so amazing to get to reconnect with Bayla, who is one of my supports who keeps me going, and who I don't get to see nearly enough.

All in all, it was an incredible weekend, I mean, how could it not be, moving from Cornel West, to Palestinian hip hop to best friends? Now all I gotta do is catch up on all the work I slacked on...

So Turiya calls me today at like 4 pm, and asks if I want a ticket to go see Cornel West speak, because we have an extra ticket through the Black Studies Department, thanks to former Senator Avel Gordly who in addition to being an incredibly human being is also a professor at PSU. I say of course, because I had wanted to go, but tickets were 45 bucks, and you know a sista can't afford all that now.

And thanks to Dalton, head of the Black Studies Department, I got to go to the reception for Cornel beforehand. Now, as a bad sista, I don't mingle well, and small talk is beyond my grasp. Turiya is the person who after performing people gravitate towards, I more stand in the corner looking surly. So this was a challenge for me. But it was great, there were a ton of folks, even two people I knew from various projects around town, and it was just nice to see so many black folks in one place in Portland!

Then Dalton came over and took me to Cornel, and introduced me. Cornel shook my hand and asked what I taught, and when I said I was teaching a class called Race and the History of Incarceration, he said, "I'm going to have to shake your hand again for that sista!" He was incredibly personable, and gracious and down to earth. His energy actually reminded me of Sonia Sanchez', just the way they both take such care and pay such attention to the person they are interacting with, not at all like they are this well known figure, but as if they are looking to learn and grow from their encounter with you. It's really beautiful to see.

And an amazing surprise too, the gospel choir at the high school I teach at performed before he spoke, and I knew several of the students, including Leandra, who started the environmental justice/spoken word group that I facilitate! It was my first time seeing her sing, and she had the solo, and she was incredible and phenomenal. I actually started crying, I was just so proud and so thankful for her, and for the energy of the people I've gotten to meet teaching.

Cornel spoke for more than an hour but it didn't feel that way. He has to be one of the most incredible orators I have ever seen. His cadence, pacing, elocution were just extraordinary. Again he reminded me of Sonia Sanchez, in that when I've heard both of them speak, my first thought is, "How do yall make everything that comes out of your mouth sound like prophetic poetry?" Truly amazing, and again his genuineness seemed so sincere and so urgent. I didn't agree with everything he said, and our politics are very different, but I respect greatly the work that he is doing.

And it was just good to be out. I realized with my hectic schedule, teaching four different classes at three different places and finishing up my own school, I take what little down time I have to lay in bed and watch a movie. But I was telling my friend Raymond on the phone tonight, this was a very different and in many ways much more satisfying reinvigoration of my energy than taking a nap or watching a mindless movie. I need to push myself to do it more often, and I'm just so lucky to have been given this opportunity.

I wrote a review of the TV Show Jericho for the political website Imagine 2050:

http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/01/25/how-strong-are-the-walls-of-jericho/

Check it out and support the black rebel geek in all of us!

Greetings all,

Know that I have sent out announcements before about this event, which ended up being delayed a couple times, but it is definitely happening now, and will feature Pam Africa and Ramona Africa from Philadelphia as well!

Lovethrustruggle
Walidah

Strugglebration for Mumia Abu-Jamal
A night of celebration, struggle and knowledge

Feb. 13, 2009
6 -9 p.m. at PSU

Performances by:
Blacque Butterfly
Drew Slum
Mic Crenshaw

Hosted by Mic Crenshaw

Speakers:
Ramona Africa and Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the MOVE organization
JoAnn Bowman, Oregon Action
Professor Darrell Millner, Portland State University’s Black Studies Dept.
Ruth Kovac, KBOO’s Prison Pipeline
Jordana Sardo, Freedom Socialist Party

Screening of the film “Fighting for Mumia’s Freedom”

Feb. 13, 2009
6 – 9 p.m.
Portland State University, Rm. 238
2nd floor, Smith Memorial Union
1825 SW Broadway
Donation

December 9th marked the 27th anniversary of the wrongful arrest of journalist and political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Mumia has been on death row since his conviction but has continued his journalism and activism, and has been dubbed “the voice of the voiceless.”

Co-sponsored by the Portland Friends for the Freedom of MOVE and Mumia Abu-Jamal, KBOO, Portland State University: Students for Unity, Black Cultural Affairs Board, Black Studies Department

Donations go to International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

For more information: http://mumia.justfree.com.

So this semester is already crazy crazy busy! But in a good way. Teaching two classes at PSU, one on my own Race and the History of Incarceration, one with Turiya our Race and Gender in Sci Fi Film class. Still teaching writing at the elementary school and the high school as well. So a lot going on.

Turiya and I said we were going to take a hiatus from performing as Good Sista/Bad Sista at least till we both get through through winter and spring, and hopefully give us time to work on new pieces (ask me if that's happened yet), but we made an exception for this event Multnomah County had for MLK last week. I'm glad we did, we met a lot of cool people of color, including our co-presenter Dr. James Mason. It was for all county employees, so people from all different departments were there -- including the sheriff's department! There were two uniformed sheriffs sitting there, and rumor has it that one of them was THE sheriff for our county. We did our poem about the prison industrial complex, and I was looking right at them when I said "declining crime statistics juxtaposed with rocketing prison populations," and they both looked like someone had shoved their mouth with lemons, it was the biggest yuck face I've seen in a very long time! At least Turiya and I always entertain ourselves...

My friend Noah came down from Seattle on Saturday and him and me and DJ Ian Head hung out and kicked it, including recording a track together! Ian made a beat right there, and we each wrote our verse, laid it down, then came up with a chorus. Ian is working on putting it all together now. it was so much fun for me! It was a super outerspace beat, so we all wrote rhymes that followed, and mine was hella black rebel geek. It was a fun outlet for all the stuff I've been teaching in class. "Beyond Uhurua/ never knew her/ outer space recruiters/ cosmic manifest destiny/ Deep Space Nine Maquis get free."

Please help support Kakamia Jahad Imarisha for parole!

Kakamia Jahad Imarisha, aka Jackie Henderson, is a poet and political activist behind the walls of a California prison. He’s also my adopted brother and one of the best people I know. He is up for parole in 2010, but we are working to compile the information for him now, so that we can have it completely ready to go. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated! We hope to have all the materials collected by June 2009.

He needs three different kinds of letters of support, and any you could provide (you can of course combine them) would be:

1) A general letter of support for his parole
2) A letter offering housing
3) A letter offering employment

Samples can be found below. You can of course write your own, which is strongly encouraged.

LETTERS OF SUPPORT, HOUSING AND EMPLOYMENT CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! But if you are in or know anyone in California, and especially the Sacramento area, and can offer any leads on housing and/or employment, that would be amazing.

You can mail a hard copy of your signed letter (which is best) to me at:
Walidah Imarisha
Black Studies Department
Portland State University
PO Box 751
Portland, Oregon 97207
You can also email it to kakamia@gmail.com

Thank you for your support for me and my brother.

Lovethrustruggle,
Walidah Imarisha

BACKGROUND ON KAKAMIA:
Kakamia was sentenced to 15 years to life on murder in the second degree and attempted murder in the second degree. The circumstances of his case point to him, a young Black Puerto Rican from the hood, taking the brunt of the conviction for his two older white co-defendents.

Since his incarceration 19 years ago, Kakamia has transformed himself, using the time to study, and hone his artwork and poetry. He has completed many job and educational courses while incarcerated, and has been involved with organizing work through Critical Resistance and the prisoner family organization The Human Rights Coalition.

His artwork is part of the Contexts Art Show, which has been shown in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Kakamia’s first solo art show was held in 2006 in Philadelphia. He has had poetry published in AWOL Magazine, and in the anthology The Bandana Republic. Kakamia released his first chapbook in 2005, called Hollowpoint

His website is www.kakamiajahad.com




SAMPLE LETTERS

1) GENERAL LETTER

FILL IN DATE HERE

To the California Parole Board,

I am writing in support of parole for Jackie Henderson, H-90256.

Mr. Henderson’s artwork and writing have inspired many people. Since his incarceration 19 years ago, he has worked hard to make himself a useful and valuable asset, not just in the prison community, but in the outside community as well, through his writing, his art, sharing his story with people so they will know the realities of prison and hopefully avoid the pitfalls that sent him there. Since his incarceration, he has finished a number of educational and vocational programs, and has been involved in charity runs and drives through the prison, to better the lives of those on the outside.


Mr. Henderson is not the same man he was 19 years ago when he was sentenced for this crime. I know that if he is released, he will be a productive member of the community, and be able to continue his positive work through art and writing.

I hope you approve Mr. Henderson’s parole.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP


2) HOUSING LETTER

FILL IN THE DATE

To the California Parole Board,

I am aware that Jackie Henderson, H-90256, is up for parole. I support parole for him, and I also offer him house with me at __________ (your address and state).

I am aware what he is incarcerated for and that he has been incarcerated for 19 years on a 15 to life sentence. I am knowingly and willingly allowing him to live with me. I can be contacted via phone for verification if needed at _______ (your phone number).

I hope you approve Mr. Henderson’s parole.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
PHONE NUMBER



3) EMPLOYMENT LETTER

FILL IN THE DATE

To the California Parole Board,

I am aware that Jackie Henderson, H-90256, is up for parole. I support parole for him, and if he is granted parole, I am prepared to offer him employment at _____ (company/organization name), located at _____ (address of company and state). His work would consist of _________ (job title, type of work, short description of duties). He would be employed for ____ hours a week, at _____ an hour.

I am aware what he is incarcerated for and that he has been incarcerated for 19 years on a 15 to life sentence, and I knowingly and willingly offer employment with our company. I believe that he will be a useful member of our team.

I can be contacted via phone for verification if needed at _______ (your phone number).

I hope you approve Mr. Henderson’s parole.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME
BUSINESS NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, STATE ZIP
PHONE NUMBER

2009. As my friend Ceee said his motto is, "Let it shine in 2009." We'll see what this year brings. I'm hoping for me, it brings graduation from school, continued teaching at the college, and a completion to my first book. The wishes I have for the world are too big to mention. I'm getting ready to teach this class on the history of prisons, and mostly what I hope, ridiculously I know, is that the prison doors are opened, and everyone I know and love behind the walls finally gets to walk through those gates for the last time. It's big, but as someone once said, I have the audacity to hope, and that's what keeps me going when it gets too big.

And as an opening to the new year, my boy DJ Ian Head has come out with a January mixed tape, that I did a fairly silly drop for. Ian does a project called the Dollabin, and this mixed tape stays true to the name: All the records he used to do it he got for a dollar or less. It's really beautiful though, I'm listening to it right now. You should be too:
http://everydaybeats.net/mixtapes/january_09_djianhead.mp3

Here's to making something outta nothing in 2009.