Laptop confidential with Janelle Monae @ Afropunk 2009

Well... Good morning everyone!! So I just experienced my first weekend at Afropunk in Brooklyn and actually I'm kinda speechless... Ya RIGHT!! That ish was off the hook!! There were soo many people out, all day everday! Brooklyn YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!
Of course the last day I went out to see Saul Williams and Janelle Monae... The hard working woman that I am I brought my laptop with me and was made to endure all of the snickers of my peers as I raised my ~$2000 17-inch MacBook Pro into the air to capture all the goings on of that day... Little did they know, I would be lucky enough to meet Janelle Monae later that day and challenge her to a dance-off!!!! Mwahahahahaha!
So without further adieu, please enjoy my unedited interview with Janelle Monae... (please ya'll be patient - I know you want to see yourselves on camera, but you have to give me time to put the whole thing together and do it up right! Ya heard!! So stay tuned for the full length edited version of all the goings on of Afropunk 2009!!)

And for all those of you who filmed me while I was filming Janelle, please feel free to send me that footage and I will put it in the finished piece... LOVE YOU BROOKLYN!!!

Whispering

Soft whispers in my ear.
Blowing gently, my heart racing,
My body tingling, I laugh quietly.

Soft whispers in my ear.
Speaking slowly, my heart racing,
My body tingling,
I inhale deeply and exhale slowly.

Soft whispers in my ear.
Slow speak becomes irregular,
My heart racing,
My body tingling,
I feel the tremble in your voice.

Speaking in my ear,
You tell me you love me but...
My heart races,
My body tingles,
My body numbs.

Soft whispers in my ear.
You love me but...
Not enough, not enough for forever.
My heart racing,
My body tingling,
My eyes watering.

Soft whispers in my ear.
You tell me you're sorry...
My heart breaking,
My body shivering,
Tears dripping from my chin.

Breathe Him

I breathe in the air as it relaxes me and makes me think of you,
Your sweet scent, the slightest hint of sweat enveloped in the musk of your cologne.
Your perfume soothes my senses, eases my fears and lures me to dream.
I exhale and embrace the thought of you,
Beautiful and carefree
Like a child walking, talking doing for the first time...
I breathe in the air and feel you,
Touching me and loving me,
In moments of innocence
When sleep is the only thing calling you.
Dreams of past days and past thoughts
Succumbing to present times and present thoughts.
I exhale and satisfied,
I wrap my arms around you,
Drawing your body - warm - to mine
Passionately enrapturing all of you,
As if to make you a part of me.
I breathe in the air and stop -
Stop breathing, trapping time,
Freezing the moment that we share
Together and without restraint,
Without prejudice.
A time without boundaries,
Forever to encapsulate our moment,
Unique to no one but one another.
Loving so much...
So much, that our respiration,
The heaving of our bodies moves in sync,
Abolishes our surroundings,
Blurrs our consciousness
And forces us to become one in the moment...
Forgetting, inhaling, exhaling, embracing - loving...

Laptop confidential - People in my neighbourhood

Well, here we go... As we speak, I am in Toronto, my home town, visiting family and friends. I haven't been here for over a year, and Toronto is changing soooo much. Everyone is doing well and loving life!

I decided that I would document all the goings on during my visit with my laptop (no I don't have a digital camcorder or a digital camera - so I'm makin due with what I got). I walked the streets of downtown Toronto for 2 days with my MacBook in hand and iMovie ready and waiting and recorded all the people I met and the places I went. Over the next few weeks you'll see all of my intimate one-on-one interviews of up and coming artists and entrepreneurs in Toronto and New York. Some people you may know, some you need to know - Zaki Ibrahim, MindBender, Sonja Den Elzen, Elicser, Francesca Nocera, Ravi Soup, Saidah Baba Talibah, Kamplex Seen, Lelani Dee, Jamila Malika and Mz. Chawles - my Toronto arsenal and beloved friends, you all made this so much fun. Thank you for your time and for sharing with me... Peace and blessings fam!!

And now an excerpt from...

Laptop Confidential
Lelani Dee (singing) with host Sandra Amarie (aka MissAmarie)

It all started with MovementCulture

So, it's been about 2 years... 2 years of learning, growing and rebuilding. I've now been in the great NYC for just over a year, and things are going just as planned. For those of you who don't know my story, here it is...


Many years ago I decided that I wanted to stop dreaming and start making my dreams reality. A young artist (singer, poet, actor, writer) struggling in Toronto, I carried not only my burden but all the burdens of my fellow artists. There is this thing that happens when we decide that we want others to see the artists we have always been. Somehow we forget that there is a business involved in what we do and that we are worth not what others think they should pay for art but much much more. So I did something about it and MovementCulture was born. An organization created to empower artists by connecting them with other artists and providing them a real platform to display their art.





Artists that many New Yorkers on the art scene know were a part of our debut event...

Fly Lady Di

Taha Clayton

Geology

Graph Nobel

and of course all of our Toronto Artists still doin it!!

They were great parties with food, music, peotry and of course some of the greatest Dj's always rolled through and made special guest appearances.

Eventually I was evicted from our amazing loft space that we had renovated and had created so many amazing memories in over the year. It was a tough time, court and such. But as we all know there is always silver lining if we are just patient.

I went out and furiously tried to find another space that we could keep doing what we had already started. It was tough but the space that we did find became something that I had been dreaming of since I was a child. A place to meet, eat and feel good... And so began Moja Tea Gallery. A small retail space in downtown Toronto where artists showed work and where I began making my epic fresh squeezed iced tea. Apple-Basil-Ginger Sencha Green Tea anyone?


TO BE CONTINUED...

who cares...

who cares about the mother with no home, no hope, no help.
who cares that our brothers have no role models to turn them from boys to men.
who cares that we can't stop sending our sons to war
and that with all we have achieved
that there is no control, moderation or concern
for all that we still have a grip on.
who cares about our daughters
who find their self-esteem in men who consider them
bitches, scanks and...
who cares that we all need role models and guidance
that we need to tear down this hierarchy of suffrance, greed and need.
who cares that the only person I can rely on is me
who cares that with all the money in the world
no one has to go starving,
that we can have everything that we need, want and can conceive.
who cares that the rich stay rich and the poor
well, they never get rich.
who cares that we all know that with all that we have, if we just shared the
wealth, education and freedom we could extend better lives to all people throughout the world.
who cares...

Fever of Love

I am humming all over
My heart beats two times just to keep up.
My mouth is dry
And the anticipation of you builds
With every memory of your smile.
The mirror of me only reflects you.
Our journey together conssumated in the silences.

When you left you took a piece of me. i felt it go...