I'm reflecting on all the places I've had the opportunity to travel to this year. To new places - including those deep in my heart and soul.
Oct. 25 2008 marked one year since the passing into spirit of my soul mate and comrade, Henry Moses III. Though no one can take his place in my life, I've been amazed at the graciousness his spirit has imparted on me since his body left this planet.
So many highlights... drumming with the young women at Kwanzaa (which was its first-ever opening of female drummers in 24 years...); forming the Bele Bele Rhythm Collective, rehearsing, and performing for July 4 Takoma with so many amazing women; studying for 2 weeks straight with Mamady Keita and falling in love with California and its people, teaching more than 20 workshops to Freedom Summer youth in Knoxville, TN on Alex Haley's farm and performing in front of thousands; building an INCREDIBLE summer enrichment program for YWDEP which resulted in so many awesome instructors, mentors, and young women learning and growing together; showcasing what was probably the best YWDEP showcase yet; recording and performing with OmegaBand; teaching and performing beside Ubaka Hill at MichFest; learning and performing with my girls at the Womyn's Catskill Mountain Drum Happen'n; meeting so many amazing people at the Hawaii gathering of Global Passageways; and working and playing with so many lovely people.
Take a walk back through my blog and find posts from my adventures on the West Coast last spring ("Left Coast Odyssey" parts I and II), at the Michigan Womyn's Music Fest this past summer ("MichFest in a Nutshell"), interspersed amongst gobs of upcoming events and performances and classes...
The next blog will cover drumming for the new beginning (OBAMA!)
But before going there - I want to acknowledge some people publicly. These are people whose support over this past year (and some many years before) has allowed me to grow as an artist, to expand my reach as an organizer, to broaden and deepen my teaching, and honestly to survive some major hard knocks which put me up against my threshold. Grief of the loss of Henry was the heaviest, hardest, saddest, most tragic event of my life thus far. I could not have pulled through it without you...
So thank you...
Patrice, Dwight, and Erin Arant
Granny Ree and Grandpa Chuck
Alexandra Silverthorne
Andrea Sterner ("Dre")
Doug Weimer
Erika Dupont
Laurie Blair
Ria Deneeve
Renee Panagos
Katy Gaughan
Laura Lee
Victoria Cunningham
Lita Dunn Grossman
Jeni Vitarello
Gay Cioffi
Linda Krakaur
Binahkaye Joy
Katie Messina
Samaa Claiborne
Catherine Ryan
Mary Anne Miles
Jacque Minton
Ricki "Alpha" Betts
Brent Woodcock
Andreas Andreou
Abasi Johnson
Shahid Buttar
Mark Nickens
James Crawford
Hawah
Folabi Olagbaju
Anovia and Kelly Craven
All of my Drum Ladies...
All my Guerrillas...
My Bele Bele's...
All of my Omegas...
My Rhythm Workers...
And all of my Flii Beat Ladiez, my Rhythm Prophets, my Goddesses of Rhythm and my She Poets of the Rizing Moon, you are my pride and joy
Please, Goddess, let me have NOT FORGOTTEN ANYONE (and if I have, please allow me to update this blog as much as possible as it's just not easy to thank so many people at once...)
I am on a path of learning to love myself.
I'm also on the drummer's path, which may seem radical, but is not nearly as radical as learning to love oneself.
Thank you for all the love, wisdom, support, encouragement, and relentless friendship through this past year. Thank you for believing in me. You have inspired me to invest in myself, so I can thank you back with the strength of all our hearts.
WITH IMMENSE LOVE AND GRATITUDE...
k
