Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This afternoon I went to a new cafe, Mo Joes,in Berkeley on Sacramento and Blake, owned my Moroccan brothers for a Maafa Commemoration Poetry Reading, hosted by Asha Brundage, a ninth grade student at Athenia High School. It was really special, special because her teacher and mother, Karla, led the Asha and her classmate Devin in a workshop just an hour earlier where they both wrote poetry, which they shared along with other work they'd written in class.

Others also read, Pooja and Danjuma read, while I videotaped and Ailene listened. I'd wanted to share a poem, but changed my mind. I was wrapped up in the anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake 20 years earlier, the deaths and displaced living. I remembered all the homeless people we had on our waiting list, people who remained homeless years after the freeway collapsed and a bridge fell. People who were still homeless when not many years later, their were the fires in the Oakland hills. People affected by the fires did better than earthquake survivors because they had insurance and so they had options--which hotel do I stay in, not which freeway overpass do I bunk under.

I left the cafe and headed up to the Oliver Art Center to see the My Life As A Super Hero exhibit, where teachers responded to children's work. It was quite moving --the college professor's work hung alongside that of the children.

I hung out there until I was kicked out. Amana Harris has done fine work with her organization, ArtEsteem and the flagship project, My Life as a Super Hero. I remember when I first saw these life-size outlines of children redrawn with capes, filled with magic power.

Some of the work which really moved me were three pieces in particular, one was a tapestry with teddy bears and sequins and stitching--the piece was for the children who'd died or been victims of violence. The piece on read felt was so lovely and so current as just this week a child was hit and killed by a car which kept going after impact.

Another was the adult artist's response to a mixed media work of a lizard and a scorpion. The artist's response was a video installation, what I liked about the installation was the sound of rain, the images melting into one another on the screen and the beauty of the process.

The final piece was one about memory. I think it is called Remember and within the canvas words covered by paint, we can see ndinkra symbols for life and longevity.

I ran into Rickey from Umbuntu who caught me up on South African History and told me about Zulu Spear's gig that evening. I knew it would be tight, given the play I was attending and the reunion for Seven Shadows after that. I ended up only able to attend the one event, the play.

I hadn't realized it was about breast cancer. KayRod Productions "A Dream Interrupted, A Life Reborn," was looked at the multiple issues confronting a family where a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, especially a family where there is a history of the disease.

There have been many plays such as Rie Shontel's Mama Juggs, recently at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco and Tough Titty, at the Magic Theatre last season, which also addresses this issue. The play runs weekends, Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through next week. Call (510) 758-7884 and visit www.divaontour.com