Spare a line?

Because our two favorite “ivities” are collectivity and creativity, we wanted to invite you to a special gathering…

A potluck poem is a poem that is created collectively by a group of people who take turns sharing words. We would be so honored to have you join us by sparing a line or two and posting it in the comments section below this post as Miriam and I have.

The theme is freedom–so share whatever line you think speaks to this. Most importantly, you should feel free when you write. Don’t worry about what someone else wrote or think too much about what you should say–just share and we will love you. =)

We will post the poem, in its entirety, on Monday, March 8th as one document to be downloaded from this site. The final collective piece will be read and recorded by one of our contributors and posted as a video blog the following week.

Happy writing!

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The next part is a creative opportunity for our contributors with a poetic spirit and access to YouTube or Vimeo. Learn more at our contests page.

We wonder…

The Diversity Within Us

Yaye Marie Ba has a passion for sharing the beauty, style and cultures of African people. On her blog she speaks with African women on many topics ranging from art to life. Her blog truly shows the diversity of Africa and the importance of learning from each other. We are pleased to have interviewed her and to share her thoughts with you.

Can you tell us about yourself?

My name is Yaye Marie Ba, I am half Senegalese and Guinean on my father’s side, and Malian on my maman’s side. I moved back to the capital of Senegal, Dakar, after having spent 10 years in the United States.

Can you describe your blog at www.yayemarieba.blogspot.com to us?  Why did you create this blog?  What do you hope to accomplish with this blog?

I started my blog close to four years ago out of curiosity and hunger for knowledge about my African culture. I wanted to know more about the youth of Africa, wanted to discover what we are all about. I wanted to find out what a Tunisian or Togolese young woman, for example, was all about. I know what we came from, but I didn’t know enough about where we are today in terms of social development, self confidence and entrepreneurship.

It started slowly, but today I’m proud to say that through this blog, I know that we’ve learned, and are still learning, how to keep our traditions and develop ourselves with Western ideas. Finding the right balance between the two can be hard sometimes, but I think that we’ll get there.

The Haiti I love, the Haiti I hope for

Haiti has captured the attention of the United States in this extreme moment of grief and loss.  Weeks since the initial event, assistance to organizations and efforts for Haitian relief have begun to decrease.  As Haiti is still recovering, we must keep our Haitian family in our thoughts and prayers. If you do not know who you would like to contribute to, we recommend Yéle.

For Haiti we feel saddened, but not defeated.  We know that hope in times like this is not naïve, but bold.  A nation founded by enslaved African revolutionaries, boldness is literally, what Haiti was built on.

In this entry, two friends of Haitian descent, Mirline Labissiere and Johann Richard share their reflections on the earthquake, media representations of Haiti and their heritage.

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Mirline Labissiere

January 12, 2010 I sat there watching CNN not fully digesting the “Breaking News” that Haiti had just experienced a 7.0 earthquake. Thirty minutes