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Celebrating Fem 2.0’s New Work/Life in Our Communities Radio Series & Fem 2.0 inspired poem from Ananda’s new book
Happy Monday!
Today Fem 2.0, one of my favorite online groups, launched its Work/Life in Our Communities radio series on Talkshoe.com in support of its 2010 Wake Up! campaign –www.fem2pt0.com/2010-wake-up-campaign . The series of discussions ends on February 5. Click here to listen to the show (recordings are available if you miss the live shows): www.talkshoe.com/tc/74229. For more information, about Fem 2.0, visit www.fem2pt0.com and www.twitter.com/fem2pt0.
Last year I attended Fem 2.0’s conference and was inspired to write a poem. See below. It is included in my new book That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (available on Amazon.com –http://tiny.cc/7uFsg ). That Which Awakens Me also includes a chapter about my reflections on feminism and womanism. Enjoy!
At A Crossroads of Awakening
Copyright 2009 by Madelyn C. Leeke
Inspired by the Fem 2.0 Conference held at George Washington
University on February 2, 2009, and African American artist
Meta Warwick Fuller’s sculpture, Ethiopia (1921)
We are at a crossroads.
It is off ering us a grand opportunity filled with great
awakening.
One that can bring us into a new day that gracefully unfolds
into a new tomorrow and future.
It is happening everywhere.
Can you see it?
Can you feel it?
Do you want to be a part of it?
Whether we know it or not, we are manifesting the words
of our very own American artist sistalove Meta Vaux Warrick
Fuller: “awakening, gradually unwinding the bandages of [our]
past and looking out on life again, expectant but unafraid.”
The bandages we are unwinding are complex layers of identities
that include our ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes,
educational backgrounds, professions, places of residence,
sexual orientation, religious affiliation, and political beliefs.
Many of us wear an array of t-shirts that mark us as feminists,
womanists, pro-choicers, right to lifers, democrats, republicans,
green party members, socialists, communists, independents,
conservatives, progressives, and middle of the roaders.
Our labels of identity have often created barriers to our
growth, coalition-building, understanding, and affirmation as
women.
Despite the differences, our identities make us who we are.
They give us individual and collective meaning.
They must be valued, understood, respected, and affirmed.
With all that said, I am left with a question:
How do we awaken and unwind the bandages from the barriers
of the past that created exclusion and misunderstanding?
The answers for those of us who are connecting online reveal
themselves a little each day as we interact with social media
tools that have the capacity to expand our quilt of sisterhood.
When we tell and document our stories, seek support and
advice, educate and train, create and share content, advocate
for common causes, launch businesses and nonprofit
organizations, market and sell products and services, express
our creativity, and engage in dialogue on our blogs, Twitter,
Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, and other social networking
and bookmarking sites, we give ourselves the opportunity to
learn more about each other.
Our learning efforts can open the door to ways we can honor,
promote, and practice diversity, tolerance for a difference
of opinion, self-care, compassion, patience, acceptance,
mindfulness, loving kindness, and forgiveness.
It all begins with our choice.
If we choose to do the work of understanding whowe are
and what we believe and want, and seek out common interests
without imposing our own strong wills, agendas, beliefs, and
branding strategies, we can usher in a much-needed paradigm
shift that creates space for our right brain to jump the broom
and marry our left brain so that our power, passion, and
purpose as women are aligned in strategic ways that give birth
to new ways of being, communicating, and working together.
Are we ready to awaken and fully unwind the bandages of our
past?
Are we ready to look out on life again, expectant but unafraid
of manifesting a shared destiny of common interests while
affirming and maintaining our separate identities and causes?
These questions are rhetorical.
We already know the answer.
We are smart, capable, and talented women.
So let’s walk past the crossroads and make what we know a
reality.
Won’t you come?
Won’t you come?
Won’t you come?
Did you miss Ananda’s Yoga Day USA online yoga class? Watch the 24 min. video.
Hi Everyone!
This morning I taught a relaxing online yoga class at 9:00 a.m. on http://stickam.com/anandaleeke. If you missed the class, click here to watch the video (24 minutes): http://stickam.com/anandaleeke.
I hope my class makes you smile OMs inside and teaches you something you can do to take better care of yourself. If you like my class, please consider making a donation to Doctors Without Borders (www.doctorswithoutborders.org) or another organization working to make the lives of Haitians better. Merci beaucoup! Gracias! Thanks so much!
FYI – I will be teaching a series of online yoga classes on February 5, 12, 19, and 26 to honor women’s heart health month and the people of Haiti. Each class will be held from 7:00 a.m. to 7:15 a.m. EST. If you miss the classes, you can watch the videos. They are all free! Click here to watch them: http://stickam.com/anandaleeke.
Enjoy your day and weekend!
Peace and Yoga OMs,
Ananda
Another Yoga Day USA Treat: Listen to an excerpt about yoga in the life of Ananda’s main character Karma Francois in Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One
Greetings All,
Here’s another Yoga Day USA (www.yogadayusa.org and www.yogaalliance.org) treat! Click on the Cinchcast button below and listen to me read an excerpt from my yoga-inspired novel, Love’s Troubadours-Karma: Book One – http://www.lovestroubadours.com. It is available on Amazon.com – http://tinyurl.com/yfxtqyq. Enjoy!
to me read an excerpt from my yoga-inspired novel, Love’s Troubadours-Karma: Book One – 
Peace and Yoga OMs,
Ananda
Celebrate Yoga Day USA by listening to Ananda share a yoga breathing exercise and yoga-inspired poem “Present Moment Awareness” from her new book That Which Awakens Me
Happy Yoga Day USA!
Listen to me celebrate Yoga Day USA (www.yogadayusa.org and www.yogaalliance.org) with a yoga breathing exercise and yoga-inspired poem “Present Moment Awareness” from my new book That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (available on Amazon.com – http://tiny.cc/7uFsg).
Enjoy!
Peace and Yoga OMs,
Ananda
What were your favorite moments during President Obama’s first year in office?
Hi Everybody!
Today we are celebrating President Obama’s first year in office. What were your favorite moments during President Obama’s first year? I really loved watching President Obama sign legislation that gives workers more time to take their pay discrimination cases to court. I remember him saying “equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue, it’s a family issue.” See photo below.
Enjoy your day!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, Gratitude and Hope for President Obama’s Next Seven Years,
Ananda
Ananda’s research on Morehouse College for her next novel Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two — Morehouse School of Medicine presents WOMEN’S HEALTHY HEART WEEK – February 1-5, 2010
Greetings All,
I am in the midst of doing some research on my next novel Love’s Troubadours – Symon: Book Two. It tells the story of Symon Allure, an African American man who spends his freshman year of college at Morehouse College (www.morehouse.edu) and later transfers to Howard University (www.howard.edu). During one of my recent online research sessions, I discovered a wonderful series of women’s heart health events that Morehouse School of Medicine (www.msm.edu) is sponsoring in February. See the information below.
If you would like more information about The Heart Truth, a national awareness and prevention campaign about heart disease in women, visit www.womenshealth.gov/hearttruth. Remember to wear red on National Wear Red Day which is February 5 to show support for women’s heart disease awareness. Click here to learn more: www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/materials/wear-red-toolkit.htm.
Friendly Reminder – Celebrate Yoga Day USA with Ananda by taking her 2 free online yoga classes on January 20 and 23.
Happy Wednesday!
Happy First Year Anniversary to President BarackObama and First Lady Michelle Obama!
Last year I was standing on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial watching President Obama get sworn in. That day was filled with so much hope and joy. I shared it with my brother Mark and sisters Lu and Sylvia, and folks from all over America. My prayer is that we work together as a country to make America what it can be under the leadership of President Obama. We have got seven more years to make things happen. I say seven because I am affirming President Obama’s re-election in 2012!
Today I am sharing information about two free online yoga classes I am teaching to celebrate Yoga Day USA (www.yogadayusa.org), an annual campaign created by the Yoga Alliance (www.yogaalliance.org) that strives to make yoga more accessible. My class schedule is below.
January 20, 8-8:30pm EST – kg yoga life practices (every 3rd Wednesday of each month) on MomTV – http://www.momtv.com/kgyogalife.html
January 23, 9-9:15am EST – http://stickam.com/anandaleeke
The classes will focus on the practice of karuna (Sanskrit word that means compassion). They will also honor the people of Haiti and everyone affected by the January 12th earthquake. If you like the classes and learn something that helps you, please consider adopting the Charter for Compassion (http://charterforcompassion.org) in your daily life and making a donation to Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian organization that is working to make the lives of Haitians better. Visit www.doctorswithoutborders.org to learn more and make a donation.
Enjoy your week!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Healing OMs to the people of Haiti,
Ananda
Listen to Ananda read “The Birth of Service,” a poem from her new book That Which Awakens Me.
What is your definition of service?
Greetings All,
Today I listened to NPR journalist Michel Martin’s conversation with James Braxton Peterson, assistant professor of English and Africana Studies at Bucknell University, about the meaning of service and its connection to Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.’s legacy of service. It was aired on Martin’s NPR show, Tell Me More on January 18. Click here to listen to the conversation (11 minutes): www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122626581.
I was really moved by Professor Peterson’s definition of service:
“Service has got to be not just the action but also a mind state and that’s something that’s got to be sustained over the course of the year, throughout your life. It’s a very, very important act, particularly people of color and people who come from certain circumstances understand that service is what helps folk who are underprivileged to rise above and transcend their own circumstances.”
I totally agree with the idea that service is a mind state. My mind state of service started when I was growing up in my parents’ home. They both believed in service to their family, friends, local neighborhood in P.G. County, Maryland, and St. Joseph Catholic Church.
My mother exposed me to the meaning of service through her active membership and participation in Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. Sigma’s motto is “Greater Service, Greater Progress.” It became my personal motto when I joined Sigma in 1983. It also helped me develop my personal plan on how I contribute to my community and the world.
During Martin’s radio show, Professor Peterson also shared the following remarks:
- “Remember, the idea around service is that it’s grassroots so that if everyone does a little bit, then actually that’s where the movement comes in. So, every small contribution does count. And listen, if you don’t have time contributing a few dollars to particularly service-oriented organization, it’s very, very important.”
- “Part of community service is being an outstanding, contributing citizen within your community. That’s the first step, that you actually are someone who handles their own economic business, their family business and is responsible as a citizen in the United States.”
- “So if everyone helps the elderly person to cross the street or if everyone goes into a school and tries to mentor one child even if it’s for one day, that’s going to be very, very powerful. That’s going to be extremely powerful. So, every little bit counts. We’re thinking aggregate here. And we’re thinking and hoping that everyone will rise to the challenge and the responsibility of service in our society.”
WOW! Professor Peterson’s really hit home with me. They made me go back and read my path of service discussed in my new book, That Which Awakens Me: A Creative Woman’s Poetic Memoir of Self-Discovery (available on Amazon.com – http://tiny.cc/7uFsg). I have included an excerpt below.
Excerpt from Chapter Seven: Service. Vocation. Answering Your Life’s Calling. (one of my favorite six-word memoirs – www.smithmag.net)
Copyright 2009 by Madelyn C. Leeke
The Birth of Service
A thousand thoughts ran through my mind as I tried to trace the birth of service in my life.
Three thoughts cemented themselves into my psyche.
Thought #1 – My parents taught me the more you have, the
more you are called to give through service they provided to
their neighborhood, church community, and membership
organizations.
Thought #2 – The Catholic Church reinforced this teaching by
promoting charity to others.
Thought #3 – Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority required its
members to perform community service as an extension of its
motto: Greater Service, Greater Progress.
One question followed.
How did these thoughts shape my ideas and commitments to
service?
My journal opened itself and soul searching unfolded onto its
pages.
Each page was decorated with one sentence.
I read them out loud and realized they were affi rmations I can
use to create a service creed for guidance and reminders.
I serve because I want to honor my ancestors by leaving Mother
Earth better than I found her.
I serve based on a family legacy that cherishes giving back through
volunteerism.
I serve from the center of my spirit which is rooted in sacred
teachings that promote charity, compassion, and contemplative
practices.
I serve individuals, communities, and organizations that connect
to my deepest passions: creativity, healing, yoga, meditation, Reiki,
green living, people of color, and women.
I serve because my work contributes to greater service, greater
progress.
I serve because giving creates a vacuum for receiving, completes a
cycle of abundance, and says to the universe I claim my oneness
with everyone and everything.
What is your definition of service?
How do you serve in your life?
Enjoy your day and week!
Peace, Creativity, Compassion, and Service,
Ananda
Ananda Leeke 
