Archives for May 2008

Writing, like any other art, is a passion. Those of us who write do so because we are compelled by something within us (and often, things that are happening around us) that calls to be let out, the parts of ourselves that are powerful, wise, strong, scared, alienated, frustrated, joyful, angry, and proud. The act of writing can be a form of self-recovery, self-assertion, love, or even protest. The power of the word to transform the individual is incalculable.

For many women, writing is a way to find out who you are, to claim your identity and needs in the world. So many women, starting in their youth, are not encouraged to voice themselves, to develop their voices, to tell the world who they are and what they want.

So how can we start to address this problem? GEMMA (Girls, Empowerment, Mentoring, Mastery, Action) is trying to do just that. This new program at East Boston High School aims to support the academic and creative needs of teen girls through empowering them to speak for themselves. CNW is proud and excited to be collaborating with GEMMA by developing and facilitating a bi-weekly writing group with the girls. Janet and I went over to EBHS last week and met with some of the girls who want to be in the group (which will start in the Fall) and I have to say, they were pretty amazing. Not only were they full of personality, they were invested in the act of writing and the formation of this new group. I was asked by one girl if we could write about topics that are important to theirs lives, like teen pregnancy and body image (these topics may correspond to talks given to the GEMMA girls on the weeks that they don’t have writing group). We even talked about releasing a collection of their work! My teacher-sense (like spidey-sense only a bit more fun) tells me that I’m not going to have a problem motivating these girls.

I’ll meet with the girls next week and we’ll set a schedule for the coming school year (including topics they want to write about). I’ll keep you updated with all the things we come up with. Got an idea for us? Shoot me an email or leave it in the comments.

Posted by kl at 01:30 PM
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After months of planning (the side of things that you don’t get to see here at CNW),we executed various events, writing groups, creative workshops and, you know, that little ol’ conference known as WAM!.

Whew! I feel a little winded just thinking about all the great things that go on around the Center. And now that the Spring season has come to a close, I’m finally getting a chance to reflect on all the moments that made it a success.

Here are just a few of my fav’s:

When I read that Seven Stories Press was putting out a new volume called Live Through This: The Art of Self-Destruction I thought I couldn’t get more excited. That is until the editor, Sabrina Chapadjiev, came to CNW to give a creative workshop (geared towards folks interested in all genres of art) called Rage to the Page. Talking about self-destruction isn’t easy but Chapadjiev, a dynamic and supportive leader, shared and encouraged ways to channel self-destructive behaviors into positive energies and creative work through facilitating real conversations around experiences that many of us shared.

Just a week later I (along with a roomful of poetry afficionados!) was swimming in the soulful words of mz. hattie gossett. This legendary poet awed the crowd with her breathless immigrant suite, hitting on what it means to belong, the injustices that people face as immigrants, people of color, children, and women face everyday in this country.

Nadejda Marques put us all in a revolutionary (and reflective mood) as she told her story to a packed house at the Central Square Library. Marques talked about fleeing from Brazil after her father, a member of a student group that resisted the dictatorship there, was murdered by the government in 1973. As political refugees in the 1970s and 1980s, Marques and her mother saw social, political, and economic upheaval and injustice all over Latin America. This powerful reading brought together those in the present with those that are no longer with us, reminding us why we fight for personal and political freedoms. Check her (and her new memoir) at: www.bornsubversive.com

The next evening we were slammed by the fierce and fiery poetics of Joyce Jellison at Mouthful, our monthly open mic. Joined by old friends and new voices, Jellison waxed poetic on race, class, and love. Her new book, Black Apple, hits the streets next week and I just can’t wait!

Finally, our inspiring season culminated with a meaningful evening with Nora Pierce, a Native American writer who shared with us insights into the politics of place, the complex nature of identity, and a compelling and intense story of a young girl negotiating her way through mental illness, alcoholism, poverty, and displacement.

If you missed any of these events, never fear, dear reader, you’ll soon be able to catch Nadejda Marques and Nora Pierce on our website. And, of course, we are planning another politically charged, critically engaging, and just plain fabulous Fall season. I’ll be back with updates on what we’re working on! See you at the Center!

Posted by kl at 03:27 PM
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Jaclyn just walked into my office to ask if I heard the breaking news from California. My first reaction (as a mother of a California resident) was an earthquake - and indeed, it was news of earthquake proportion. The California Supreme Court has ruled in favor of marriage equality! Jaclyn’s announcement was immediately followed by an email in my inbox from Connecticut’s Love Makes a Family. Connecticut, neighboring CNW’s home state of marriage-equality Massachusetts, is a civil-union state awaiting its own State Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. According to Anne Stanback, the Executive Director of Love Makes a Family, the California decision directly affects 10% of the U.S. population. What a momentous moment in the struggle for equal rights and social justice! And yet so much more that needs to be done.

Now if I could just learn to believe in the institution of marriage…

Posted by Janet at 01:52 PM
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This just in: the California Supreme Court has overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. No word yet on how soon folks can get hitched.

The fight’s not over yet, as anti-equality forces are working on a ballot initiative similar to the one that was tried here in MA, but it’s a huge step toward justice from a fairly conservative court. Hooray!

Posted by Jaclyn at 01:37 PM
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So here it is! The promised report-back from the 2008 Roxbury Literary Annual Reception Reception last week.

As Jaclyn and I walked in the Boston Globe’s very swanky offices in Dorchester I was reminded of just how nerve-wracking and exciting it must be to be fifteen and have your work recognized by your community (something that many writers only get to dream about).

And let me tell you, the kids were kickin’—their stage presence, their confidence, their WORDS (full of anger, sorrow, love, and hope) were a sight to behold. One thing’s for sure, these young artists did not hold anything back. When asked about their experiences writing and working with the established poets, fiction writers, performance experts, editors, and all of the other folks that put the 2008 Roxbury Literary Annual together and ran the 2008 Roxbury Literary Annual Creative Camp (an extension of the Literary Annual that takes 25 youth from public, private, charter, and METCO schools around Boston and helps them refine and explore their writing skills), the young writers responses were grateful but real. One young woman said that it was great to get so much attention from adults for her writing but she wished that people were doing more than just listening. She wished more adults were actually asking youth what support they need to succeed while helping them to figure out how to get that support. Instead, she said, people just focus on what youth are doing wrong. This point was made even more powerful when someone in the audience pointed out that we see youth violence in the headlines everyday and yet no one from the media (not even from the Boston Globe, the hosting institution) was present to cover an event that celebrated the accomplishments of youth who choose words over weapons.

Afterwards, I chatted up the young writers and invited them to our hot open mic, Mouthful (tonight! sign up to read at 7:15 and start at 7:30). I hope they show up!

Posted by kl at 05:34 PM
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Soooo excited to have just registered for UNITY in Chicago this summer!

For those not in the know, the UNITY ‘08 Convention will be the largest gathering of journalists of color ever. Nearly 10,000 journalists and media executives will meet to discuss timely issues affecting journalism and the media industry, and I’ll be there learning about media & race issues and encouraging folks to present and attend WAM!2009.

There are SO MANY good conferences coming up: Michelle is going to Q-Me this weekend, Janet is attending Free Press in June, and word is that Anna will be at AMC. What conferences are you checking out this summer?

Posted by Jaclyn at 04:40 PM
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Tonight’s the night that folks from all over the Boston Metro area are getting together with ACT Roxbury and local teens to celebrate the Roxbury Literary Annual 2008, an awesome publication that features poems, short stories and essays written by teens from the Greater Boston area who work, attend school or have ties to Roxbury.

Jaclyn and I are going and we are psyched! As a writer and teacher, I’m always excited to hear new voices, especially when those voices come from youth (a population that is way marginalized in our culture). Youth have so much insight into the world that’s just not recognized. And I hear that the voices in the anthologies are slammin’! It’s pretty tough to get into this publication so I’m looking forward to hearing what these young writers have to say. And I promise to report back to you! In the meantime, check out the the Roxbury Literary Annual Archives!

Posted by kl at 03:57 PM
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[tap tap] Is this thing on?

Just kidding. I know it’s on because Anna’s been doing such a lovely job with these amazing interviews. But we here at CNW feel bad about leaving her all on her own, and have recommitted to making this a vibrat, multi-voiced blog that gives you a real sense of what goes on here behind the scenes and what we’re concerned with in the larger world.

To kick things off, I want to point everyone to WAM!mer Latoya Peterson’s powerful writing about feminism & racism over at Racialicious. There are numerous posts worth spending some real time with, but the one that I can’t shake (even though it’s over three days old, which is at least a year in blogtime), asks a very simple question: Does Feminism Have to Address Race?

The question itself breaks my heart, because it’s not a question I can imagine a feminist answering “no” to, and yet there’s ample evidence all over the feminist blogosphere lately that so many feminists do just that. To which I say: how is that possible? How can we fight for the rights of all women without addressing race when so many women are oppressed and attacked on the basis of their race?

I see more and more how naiive this question is, and I personally have begun replacing it with a couple of more practical ones: how can we help race-blind feminists see that our movement has no hope without the leadership of women of color and a meaningful committment to the work of undoing racism? And how can CNW do better at contributing to this work?

Posted by Jaclyn at 01:15 PM
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