Spring is coming. So are the cherry blossoms in DC. March 20 marks the beginning of Spring. For me, Spring is a season of rebirth. How are you preparing for it?
Tazima Davis
Yesterday, I started my pre-Spring preparation with an intense one-on-one yoga class taught by yoga teacher and life purpose coach Tazima Davis in my home. I love one-on-one yoga sessions. That’s how I learn best!
Tazima is founder of Compassionate Renegade (http://compassionaterenegade.wordpress.com). She is helping me strenghten my core and upper body, open up my hips, and create more flexibility in my legs and hips. She is also helping me release several yoga fears I have been holding onto. Yes I have some yoga fears as a yoga teacher of four years and yogini of 15 years. Tazima’s teaching style pushes me past my comfort zone. Her grace, humor, ease, and yoga expertise makes her a fabulous teacher. WOW is all I can say! To learn more about my yoga class with Tazima, listen to my audio blog below. Enjoy!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for yoga and teachers like Tazima,
My book talk and signing for my poetic memoir That Which Awakens Me was held yesterday at the Historical Society of Washington, DC. It was a lot of fun and a HUGE success!!!! Many thanks to my sistalove Karen Sallis for organizing the event with Rosemary Reed and the Society’s staff! Big thanks to everyone who attended the event!!!!
If you missed the event, watch the videos below. More videos will be posted in the coming days.
A free creative coaching session on March 25 from 9:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. EST that explores the nine blocks to women’s creativity. I will use creative coaching exercises in my new book That Which Awaken’s Me to guide the session. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ananda-leeke-live
A free kind and gentle yoga Meetup on March 28 from 11:30 a.m. to 12 noon at Malcolm X-Meridian Hill Park in DC. The class will be dedicated to National Women’s History Month, National Women and Girls HIV/AID Day, and National Nutrition Month. http://yoga.meetup.com/584.
Here’s a sneak preview of my new and improved logo for my web site. My graphic designer Gwonghung Ng developed the design with my original artwork. Gwonghung did an amazing job. She is also working on my business card template and new Twitter graphic design. You can connect with Gwonghung on Twitter – http://twitter.com/gwong_GnG and Facebook – www.facebook.com/pages/Gwonghung-Ng/383682464568. My new logo will be included in the relaunch of my web site – www.anandaleeke.com in late March and April.
Enjoy your weekend!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for Artistic Support,
All Photos – Credit: Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
Greetings All,
Well, it’s been a great week. I spent Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday morning in New York City. I came to Gotham City to attend the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute’s opening reception for the “Wearing Spirit: Aesthetically Personifying the Feminine in African Sacred Traditions” exhibit.
“Wearing Spirit” is a multi-media exhibition of paintings, sculpture, photography, textile art, video and installations honoring the power of the sacred feminine in African spiritual traditions. When I walked into the gallery, I felt a powerful energy wash over my spirit and ‘heart as I took in the beauty of each piece of artwork. AMAZING! Each artist”s work touched me deeply. I felt the presence of my ancestors in their work.
Attending the opening reception for “Wearing Spirit” was a HUGE moment for me because my mixed media wire sculpture “Erzulie’s Black Heart” was included in the exhibition. Below is my artist statement for the exhibition.
Artist Statement
Ananda Leeke’s passion for African goddesses began while she was studying Kemetian and Yoruba religions and writing My Soul Speaks, her first chap book of poetry, in 1992. In 1995, Leeke began using coat hangers, an assortment of wire, found objects, vintage jewelry, fabric, and amulets to sculpt images of African goddesses including Oshun, Yemanya, Oya, Maat, Auset, and Het Heru. Over the past fifteen years, she has explored these goddesses in her artwork, writing, and travels to Cuba, Egypt, Ghana, Louisiana, and Senegal. She discovered Erzulie, the Haitian goddess of love, while writing her debut novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One. Erzulie influenced the lives of many characters in Love’s Troubadours. Erzulie’s veve is incorporated in Love’s Troubadours logo and artwork on the book cover.
Erzulie’s Black Heart is a goddess of love and healing who was born out of the middle passage experience of enslaved Africans in Haiti. She is a Petwo spirit. Her love and healing energy are hot, aggressive, and quick to act when the children of Haiti need her. Her black heart represents a sanctuary for Haitians when they are faced with life’s hardships including poverty, illness, violence, and natural disasters such as hurricanes and the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that occurred on January 12. Erzulie’s Black Heart heals the pain and suffering of Haiti’s sons and daughters. She protects them with the fierce love of a Black warrior woman. Her intention is to bring the children of Haiti to higher ground.
I also had a chance to reconnect with Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, the founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center, and my dear sistalove Shantrelle Lewis, the curator of ‘Wearing Spirit.” Shantrelle also serves as Director of Programs & Exhibitions for the Center. Dr. Vega and Shantrelle agreed to share their thoughts about “Wearing Spirit” with Ananda Leeke TV. See their videos below.
My NYC play dad Fred Mays and sistalove friends Jill Barrett, Toni Blackman, and Zahava came to the event to show their support. In addition, I met artist Michael Cummings and filmmaker Spike Lee (love his movies She’s Gotta Have It, Mo Betta Blues, Malcolm X, School Dayz, and Bamboozled). Click here to see the Center’s photos from the opening reception.
My NYC play dad Fred Mays and I
Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for the Sacred Feminine,
I have been working with my creativity coaching client Xina Eiland since January. Xina is an amazing publicist. I know because she serves as my publicist!
On Friday, we had an interactive coaching session that gave Xina an opportunity to practice her audio and video blogging skills. Click here to listen to Xina’s first audio blog on Cinchcast.
Watch Xina’s first video blog below.
What do you think about Xina’s audio and video blogs?
This weekend, I went to see an exhibit featuring the work of Elizabeth Catlett at the Mexican Cultural Institute on 16th Street in northwest DC. Click here to learn more about the Catlett exhibit. It closes on May 29. If you are in DC, consider attending Professor David Driscoll’s lecture about Catlett’s work on March 27 at 3:00 p.m. at the Mexican Cultural Institute. It’s free!
Catlett is one of my favorite artists. She was born in DC in 1915 and is a graduate of Howard University (like me!). Click here to learn more about Catlett.
I have given the world my songs by Elizabeth Catlett
Yesterday, I spent time with my sistalove Bianca Alexander. We met for afternoon tea and lunch at Sala Thai on U Street in DC. Thanks to the sunny weather we were able to sit outside and enjoy tasty Thai cuisine.
FYI – Bianca is a lawyer turned healthy living advocate who serves as co-CEO and host of Conscious Living TV, a green living news magazine show. Bianca also hosts The Soul of Green, a TV program that features untold stories about people of color in the green and environmental justice movements. In addition, she is a broadcast journalism fellow of University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications and an ethnic media fellow of the Association of Health Journalists. Bianca is also a yoga teacher and Reiki Master practitioner. For more information, visit www.biancaalexander.com.
Check out my interview with Bianca on U Street in northwest DC (recorded on March 7) below.
I consider Bianca one of my digital diva sheroes. Digital diva sheroes are women who use the Internet to do great work online and offline. They are also women who will be featured in my next book Sisterhood, the Blog: Soundbytes from the 21st Century Women’s Online Revolution.
Who are your digital diva or green living sheroes?
Enjoy your day and week!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Green Living Gratitude,
Today is really special for me. International Women’s Day always reminds me of my trip to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women held in September 1995 in Beijing, China. My trip to Beijing was one of the most powerful experiences in my life. This morning, I discussed my trip during my author talk on BlogTalkRadio. I also shared woman-centered poetry including two poems I wrote while attending the conference in China. Click on the link to listen to a recording of my show (12 minutes): www.blogtalkradio.com/anandaleeke/2010/03/08/author-chat-with-ananda-leeke.
Who are your favorite women poets?
How are you celebrating International Women’s Day?
Enjoy your day and week!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for women’s power, passion, and progress,
I have a confession to make. I LOVE doing research for my next novel Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two. YES YES YES I LOVE RESEARCH especially with the Internet …. blogs, YouTube, Twitter, podcasts, Facebook, Myspace, and web sites.
Today, my love-fest for research took me to NPR’s Tell Me More with Michel Martin (I listen to the show five days a week! Love it!). While listening to today’s show via podcast, I was introduced to Dr. L’Heureux Dumi Lewis who talked about Black male privilege. After listening to the show, I visited Dr. Lewis’ blog and watched a YouTube video featuring his keynote address on Black male privilege at his alma mater Morehouse College (the same school my main character Symon Allure attended during his freshmen year) in February. See video above. That keynote address convinced me to include a discussion about Black male privilege in my novel.
What do you think about Black male privilege?
Enjoy your day!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Gratitude for the Internet,
Photo ©National Cherry Blossom Festival
Ananda Leeke 
