The language beneath the language

Movin' and Shakin'

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:29:00 +0000

The pages have turned and I'm on to a new chapter. This forever remains the place it began, but the story continues here...
love, love, love

Beaten but never broken...

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:45:00 +0000

Here's the poem I performed at Ribbon Rouge!

It
is where our
dreams were
first conceived
birthed over
rhythm and melody
spoken around
drum circles
echoing the stories
of our
ancestors

Where our mouths
First gave voice to
language
The foundation of all
that we are
was laid
in every corner of
this land
you call
Africa
but I call her

Mother

So,
Let me tell you
about my mother
she
like poetry
is endless
and she wears the smile
of a thousand rising suns
she is lush green
and vibrant red
sugar cane
sweet

beaten but never
broken
let me tell you
about her spirit
worth more than
the price of
oil
or sugar
sparkles brighter than
stolen diamonds
more than
bodies broken
with disease
or mouths silenced
by hunger

She is
a hope that
never dies
A heart
that breaks
and bleeds
love
beautifully flawed

So
When you ask me
why I stand
tall and proud
I’ll tell you
It is because
I exist
one “amen”
to a billion
quiet prayers

I'll tell you
it is because
my name was
chosen with purpose
and declared
sacred

It is
because
I am
My mother’s
daughter

Ribbon Rouge 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 01:33:00 +0000

I'll be performing at an AIDS fundraiser this Friday called Ribbon Rouge. This is it's 4th year running and it's a great night of fashion and entertainment. Click here for details!!!

It do what it do...

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:47:00 +0000

I've been absent for some time, but I'm still here.
Rouge nights have been amazing!! It actually surprises me everytime people walk through the doors on tuesday nights. I'm seeing a lot of the same faces coming back every week, it's really turning into a little family. I love it!
And the poetry as always is awesome...Writing something new every week is definitely a challenge, but it's so so great cause I'm getting to expand my body of work, and also experiment in front of a really safe audience. My confidence is definitely growing...I'm just so glad that I've been able to get this going..only up from here :)

I recently attended Legacies '09...fantastic show and it will only continue to get better every year! This year I performed "The Battle" ...as always I did the poem (with excessive arm gestures lol!) and then bolted from the stage..I need to stop that. But people seemed to genuinely like it.

I signed up for the Edmonton Poetry Festival again. I'm doing the Killer Blinks (30 second poetry) and the Cafe Readings. After I signed up, Alice Major, one of the organizers...contacted me and asked me to do an opening spot in the LitCrawl. I'm so excited about it! Check it out here.

More updates later!!!

Love, Love, Love!
Titi

The Battle

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:24:00 +0000

There's a distant call
that has fallen on deaf ears
a beckoning
that us
who proclaim ourselves
"woman"
fertile with potential
yet delivering stillborn dreams
can no longer ignore

It is time
to reclaim our purpose
To set bars high and far
so that we may know
the joy of
reaching and surpassing
We cannot
accept mediocrity
any longer

Because our daughters
will pay the price
for our complacency
for allowing our
womanhood to be
sold to the highest bidder
our legacy will be branded
by the burn of denial
heavy on their scalps
pressed straight
to conceal crocked lies

they will deny their mother tongue
accept instead the bend and curl
of another man's language
measure their self worth
on the notches
of belts
too quickly loosened
sit silently
as self hate
is smeared across their faces
lips painted bloody red
to curse their skin
black
and unforgiving
substitute intellect
for blatant disrespect

And this battle began before us
it was written
and proclaimed
through the voices of
faceless
but not forgotten
women who refused
silence

And you can't
run for covergirl
to conceal it
can't pencil in the missing lines
This cannot be glossed over
pinched or plucked to perfection
the ugly reflection
is what we have created

So
It is time for sacrifice
substitute temporary pleasure
for that which is
everlasting
It is time for courage
to accept this challenge
on fearless faith

And we will have
our children
as priceless proof
that the battle
was not in vain

Rouge Poetry!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:13:00 +0000

It's finally here! It's been forever in the making, but I've teamed up with Rouge Lounge here in Edmonton for a night of awesome awesome spoken word every Tuesday night! If you live in Edmonton you must come!!!

Free write...

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:30:00 +0000

I don't know exactly when it happened, there was no big bang to mark it...no sudden change in the wind...no bright light to warn me...but somewhere along the way, something that seemed so perfect and so right began to come undone at the seams.

Every year I try to convince myself that I'm just a little bit wiser, a little bit better than the last...but I've also learned that as much as I think I know...there is infinitely more that I don't know, and may never understand. But not for lack of trying. The last few weeks I've been high and low...asking myself the same question..trying to quantify what it is that makes me truly happy...my need to control and categorize has me spinning at the thought of not being able to find a neatly defined answer. It's like trying to hit a moving target...

So this is about new beginnings...always moving, always pushing forward, getting better, trying harder..
There are no tears because this isn't about sadness...if there's something I do well, it's accepting the lesson...so I'm trying. I'm being vague..I know. There has been some new poetry which I'll be putting up as soon as the dust settles...and I'm really going to try to be better at this blogging thing in 2009.

So all the best in the New Year! I pray you nothing but love and laughter..

p.s. I didn't get my grant. I haven't given up though...there are other ways.

Live and Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 20:01:00 +0000

I meant to put up the second part of my trip...there's just too much life going on right now. There've been some major changes and I need to allow myself time to adjust and regroup. I'll be back with new poetry and hopefully a new outlook...

love, love, love...and mean it.

Sugar colored girl

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:14:00 +0000

I'm back! And my trip was amaaaazing! I don't even know where to start. The beginning maybe? okay...

Day 1 - Nov 23

I left Edmonton at about 9 am, met up with my sister in Calgary...then flew Calgary to new york. I've actually never been to New York...picture Hiro Nakamura after he time travels to Time Square...okay not quite :) But just so excited! We had just enough time for dinner at Bubba Gump and drinks at the W and straight to bed..early flight the next day.

Day 2 - Nov 24

4 hour flight from JFK to Puerto Plata...The plane lands and people start applauding..like Naija style lol! Actually the entire airport experience was a lot like the Nigerian experience. The first thing I notice once we got out was how BEAUTIFUL these people are. I kid you not...I have not ever been surrounded by so many good looking people! So we waited for the other 2 girls to arrive..2 more would arrive the next day. Got a cab to the Ocean Manor Resort where we stayed. Beautiful place..did i mention beautiful! Everyone there was so friendly..we were welcome with a tray of great looking punch..um..with ice..of course I politely declined..I didn't get my shots remember? Hepatitis?! yeah. lol
So we get settled into our beautiful pool side room and then went to dinner at the resort restaurant...

YUMM!
Spent the rest of the evening by the pool.

Day 3 - Nov 25
There's nothing better than waking up knowing that you can spend the rest of the day doing nothing!

Had breakfast at the resort restaurant, and then walked along the beach into town for a little shopping.

Though the resort was beautiful, it is difficult to ignore the kind of poverty that people are actually living in...but even through all of it, people seemed genuinely happy and extremely welcoming to us.

Shopping is a lot like the naija experience

Buyer: How much is this?
Seller: 500 pesos
Buyer: 200!
Seller: 300 pesos last price
Buyer: I saw it for cheaper down the street
Seller: Okay 250
Buyer: 220
Seller: okay

Battering is something I've never really been good at..especially when someone in need is trying to sell something to me. Like this guy...who somehow convinced me to buy a bracelet I didn't want or need. How could you say no to this face? He also threw in a cute little anklet..I haven't taken either off since.

We spent a couple of hours laying on the beach with cold drinks. My sister and friend got massages, I really just wanted to relax and read my book (The Kite Runner! why am I just reading this book...so good! More on it later)

We met up with the last 2 girls to arrive back at the resort. The "sugar colored girls" were born :) That's what we were christened by the guys at the hotel...like brown sugar. I guess seeing 6 black females vacationing is a rarity at this resort, cause everyone seemed quite taken by us all.
We went out for dinner, drinks and dancing!

More later!!

Sun, Sand, Sea

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 06:28:00 +0000

I leave for the Dominican Republic tomorrow! So excited. I didn't do my 40 sit ups a day as promised, nor did I go to spa lady once this week!! Sad..sad..sad. I did find a fantastic bathing suit that keeps the wobbly bits from spilling over, so I'm quite pleased about that...plus I should just really accept myself and not try to live up to the unrealistic standards of beauty that plague young black women today *power to the love handles!* haha.
So, the whole time I've been planning this trip, it didn't once occur to me to..maaaybe get some shots before I go..I decided my naija blood can handle ANYTHING! I keep having flashbacks to that Hepatitis commercial..the one with the ice cubes...yeah. So I'll just drink bottled water and avoid ice cubes... I should be fine...right?....right?
Really looking forward to New York also...hopefully when I return I'll have lots to say about my Nuyorican experience.

Till then,
Love, love, love!!!

Common and I

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:21:00 +0000

So, I met one of my idols a little while back...you might know him..his name is Common, he does a little rapping...yeah
Soon as I heard he was coming to Canada, I got online and booked a plane ticket almost immediately! I flew to Vancouver BC to see him perform. N.E.R.D opened for him..yeah..about that. I don't know what it is but I have NEVER gotten into N.E.R.D. I don't really get their music...I mean I like Pharell (Pharrell? who cares!) when he's all "beautifuuuul" with snoop dogg. But anything after that, my eyes glaze over and I just go blank...couple that with him being the only thing standing between me and Common...I was just not having it. And who are the other N.E.R.D guys anyway??
So Common finally came out on stage and I just about fell over. He's just as ammmaaazing live as he is on his CD...on repeat..at an unsafe volume..with my face pressed against the cd player...*ahem* I digress.
I went to the concert with my sister and a some friends, and she managed to get me a backstage pass. How? It's a long story...it involves two 14 year old girls, an ugly bouncer, and their "not very mom looking" mom...I've said too much already. So anyway, the show ends...and we are led back stage by someone named Moses...I kid you not! okay I'm lying...I don't know dudes name. At this point I can barely see straight. I'm about to see someone that I have literally idolized for years. No time to check a mirror to make sure I didn't look like a deranged fan...well I did..and I am...so anyway, we're led back stage to where he's taking pictures with other crazy fans. The following is a reenactment of how I met Common.

Deranged fan (DF) approaches Common and is blinded by a ray of majestic light surrounding a tall handsome figure in white

Common: Hi
DF: *mumble mumble high pitched squeal* hiii
Common: *pointing* I saw you in the crowd
DF: *did he just point at me* eeeee! *mumble mumble, squeal squeal*

DF hands camera to random bystander and stands next to Common
DF: *oh my God, he just put his arm around me* *shake shake faint*

Yes that's exactly how it happened. Minus the dramatic fainting part. Did I have something insightful and profound to say to him?? NO! I just stood there shaking....shameful.

Still waiting to hear back about the grant that I applied for. I intend on starting the process of making the album next month, so hopefully I get a response back soon. In the mean time, I've been writing like crazy...got a little more inspired after my trip to Calgary. I really just can't wait to just start.

Also, I'm going on a trip to the Dominican Republic with my sister and some friends. Yay! I leave on sunday. We'll be going through New York, so the plan is to go to the Nuyorican while we're there. Possible open mic performance? We'll see...we'll see. So yes, in lieu of my upcoming trip, I've sentenced myself to 40 situps a day! I'll be at spa lady all week, running my ass off. I need to be in tip top, bikini wearing shape come Sunday. Wish me luck!

Allow Me To Introduce Myself!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:52:00 +0000

It's been forever! And everyday I get on my computer and see my blog sitting on the bookmark...and then I procrastinate a little more :)
There's so much to say, I don't even know where to start! So i'll try the beginning...
So I've been going on with this blog under a veil of semi anonymity for quite some time, not for any particular reason...but I guess it's a little bit of that fear of being a little too open and exposed. I don't talk to people about my blog or where to find it, which I've realized makes no sense. This is about sharing my art, and talking about the progress I've made in the last little while. So the veil is lifted, because I need to share who I am, so that I can really share my poetry. So I.. Titi Sonuga, officially welcome you :)

So what have I been to the last little while...plenty! I've been seeking out avenues to perform every chance I get. I was recently in Calgary for the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word...and people! There is so much great talent here. I have never felt so completely enraptured and inadequate at the same time. I'm talking heavy hitters. One poet that touched me the most was Dwayne Morgan. Not only for what this man is capable of on stage, but because of how incredibly intelligent he is off stage. As part of the festival, he held a workshop called "Living to Create" in which he talked about how to do what you love and still make a living. He's been living off poetry for 15 years! 15 years! He had so many insightful things to say, and I honestly feel so much better equipped to continue on with this thing.
Since Edmonton didn't have a slam team (boooooo!!) I signed up to do 2 open mic slots while I was there. Both went really well!
I have a friend who also writes amazing poetry (in secret!). She had never performed her poems in public till the open mic that weekend....she was sooo great! She's honest and authentic...the two things that to me, make a great poet! So keep it up friend! (I know you're reading this! lol)

Here are a couple of poets from that night Marcus Jameel and Poetic Speed.

Me doing "I AM" at the Cafe Beano open mic..i'll put up the other videos later.

I'll be back soon to talk about how I met Common..yes..Common :)

Still here

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 17:08:00 +0000

Yeah it's been a long while. I'm still here though, I just have a lot of things going on right now. Good things...definitely making lots of progress with poetry. I'll have a detailed update soon.

love love love!

Feature Poet: Jill Scott

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Yes! I know it's been a while, but the feature poet is back! This week it is none other than Jill Scott. This powerhouse of a woman! One of the few musicians that forces me to just close my eyes and sway at whatever she says! She is bold and beautiful, and completely unapologetic about being a strong black woman. Needless to say, I LOVE her! So much that I couldn't decide which of these to post...Here are 2 of my favorites. Yes, I realize the Mighty Mos Def is featured, but he deserves his very own post...so for today...Jill Scott

Killer Blinks!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 22:16:00 +0000

I did the killer blinks yesterday, and just loved it! There were probably about 70 poets there...the place was just buzzing. My poem was really well received...I even won a prize! So good night all around. I have another show lined up for tomorrow, this time I get 5 minutes...which when compared to 30 seconds feels like forever. Not too much to update. My grant application went in on the first of this month, I'm getting set to put together another application, more on the marketing front this time...so if they both come through I'll be set and ready to make this album happen. More later!

Edmonton Poetry Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:27:00 +0000

I'm doing the edmonton poetry festival this week. It runs from Sept 11 - 13. The first show i'm doing is called Revenge of the Killer Blinks. It's basically 60+ poets with 30 seconds at the mic. "Rapid Fire Poetry" indeed. So at first I was going to do an old piece edited down to 30 seconds. Then I decided to do a piece that played around with the idea of 30 seconds at the mic. And this is what I came up with (Which kinda sounds like a mixture of old poems i've written...but I like it). My second show is on the 13th at the edmonton public library...should be way more relaxed. Check out the schedule here

30 seconds for
War child
To become man
Another skirt
Torn away
Two angry hands
Grabbing and touching
Reveal shame and guilt
Little girl tears stain the earth

20 Seconds
Another child born
To AIDS infected mother
One last breath escapes
Battered body
One more orphan
Joins 50 million

10 Seconds
Tired infant body
Hungry heart stops beating
Malnutrition, Mumps, Malaria

1
billion cries across Africa
For hope,
For peace
For love

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:05:00 +0000

There's this thing that sits solid and heavy on my spirit. Like something that needs saying...but I don't know what it is. I have been too much disorder these past few weeks, and not enough of the steady and silence that I need to write. I need to write. I'm a mess of words swirling, and something that feels like a memory that needs recalling. I am too good at shutting people out. Too good at getting by alone. I am that friend that suddenly stops returning phone calls, would sometimes rather stay home and read a book, than be around people. And in the next instance, I am that friend that rallies the girls together, dances wildly at the club...vodka cran..big smile. I am too much hot and cold sometimes. And I find it hard to forgive, harder to forget. I can end a friendship clean and completely, over one act of dishonestly. I hate being lied to. It insults my intelligence. Anyone who thinks I'll believe a lie, must believe I'm too stupid to figure out the truth.

I felt the lie even before you said it, that quick flicker in your eye gave it away before you pursed your lips to insult me. I had already moved you from that space reserved for best kept secrets, inside jokes, and "remember that time?" into the space labeled DO NOT TRUST. And even after the apology that I knew would come, even after the acknowledgement, that I was really just "something to talk about", a little bit of gossip to pass the time, I knew that you could never re-enter that space. It's the forgetting that I can't do. And I have tried. Because we have been at this friendship for too long. You were the one that knew to enjoy those nights of wild dancing, savour the days when I was open and carefree. Knew to give me time when I needed quiet, and knew when to call me up and say "Enough now, we're going out". We had this... no need to finish sentences type friendship...you already knew. Would cut you a look that could tell a whole story. We had too many stories. So there's this memory that needs revisiting...I'm not sure why or what exactly, but this need to set myself aside from you, this swirling of words that settles on your name for just a moment...makes me think it might be you. Three years after the apology and the "lets start over", I'm still struggling with the forgetting. I just need to write.

Too late we learn, a man must hold his friend, unjudged, accepted, trusted to the end - John Boyle O'Reilly

Sky high gele, bold and beautiful!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:45:00 +0000

Finally...a moment. This weekend was super busy. My sister got married, and it was just so beautiful. Lots of prayers, dancing, singing, EATING! I almost overdosed on Jollof rice and chicken this weekend! This was the first marriage in my family, so it was all brand new to all of us. Everything went well though...well other than the part were I sat on something and stained my dress just before we walked into the church. I'm walking down the isle thinking "please don't notice, pleaaase don't notice!" And no one did, or they were just lying...who knows. We changed into traditional for the reception, pink ankara dresses with gele . Lets talk about me in my "sky high gele!" What was gele created for, if not to punish women!?? For the engagement ceremony, two nights before the church wedding, I attempted to tie my gele by myself. Many offered to help me, but I, in my stubbornness decided that it was a mountain that I had to climb on my own. Well, I eventually managed to tie it, but not without suffering temporary hearing loss, and severe headaches!! Good times though.

I went into the studio yesterday to record "Mama", the second piece for my grant application. This piece actually got me kinda choked up during recording. This has never happened before. But something about it sounded so organic that I didn't re-record. So let me tell you how I love Oozeela! I am sooo happy that I've chosen him as my producer for this album. He listened to the piece, and literally stole a melody out of my heart and played it on his keyboard! Like that wasn't enough, he decided to add in some of his vocals as well! I'm just so excited to start working on this album! Grant or no grant, I'm doing this thing.

Feature Poet - Gil Scott Heron ...and more

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:54:00 +0000

So I've finally finished the grant application! I'll be submitting 2 sample pieces one of which is "I am" and the other will be "Mama". I need to to go into the studio this week to record "Mama" and then I'll be sending off the application and praying and hoping for the best. I heard back from the Edmonton Poetry Festival, they'll be putting up a schedule shortly and then I'll know when and where I'll be performing! yay! I've got so much on the fly with my sister's wedding coming up this weekend. I haven't had a chance to read or write much lately, but hopefully when the dust settles I'll be able to get back into the swing of things.

So the feature poet for this week is Gil Scott Heron, who has been described as the mouthpiece for the black person in America in the 70s and 80s. He is an amazing poet, who was never afraid to stand up and be heard! This is definitely one of his more popular pieces and definitely one of my favorites.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

Having my cake and eating it too!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:35:00 +0000

Happy birthday to me! So it's been another year full of life and growth and love...I am so thankful! I also realized that I missed the 1 year anniversary of my blog which was actually on August 2nd, so happy anniversary blog!

I continue to learn that you can always start over. Fall and stand up, fall and stand up, again and again and again and again!!

Here's to another year of living, loving and learning

Love, love, love!

Feature Poet: Saul Williams

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 00:45:00 +0000

So I fully intended on doing this feature poet thing on the same day every week, but I was too busy Cariwesting this weekend! Don't get me started on how my heels were aching so bad last night that I couldn't sleep. But yes, the feature poet this week is none other than Saul Williams. In my opinion, one of the great poets of our time. I cannot say enough about this man! He has been such an inspiration to me. This particular poem is one of my favorites, I get chills each and every time I hear it.

Jump and wave!

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:37:00 +0000

This weekend is the Cariwest festival! It's an annual weekend of food, dancing and all round festival fun...aka an excuse to dress scantily and act wild. This is my 8th year in the parade, playing with the Trincan Steel Orchestra. The parade starts at 12:30 pm and goes for hours and hours in the BLAZING sun! Not always the best when you're standing behind reflective steel pans in 31 degree heat! Lord help me. I love it though, next to poetry...it is music...music. I've felt such an emotional connection to a melody, that I'm almost brought to tears..perhaps I should've kept that to myself.

So if you're in the downtown Edmonton area this weekend, come to Cariwest, and bring your dancing shoes! Also a friend of mine is involved in putting on the Afrikadey Festival this year, so if you're in Calgary, go check that out!

I'm still writing and trying to get the poetry thing going...no I have not forgotten that the deadline is creeping up.

Go out and enjoy the sun this weekend!
Love, love, love!

On and on...

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:36:00 +0000

So...nothing new lately. Had another grant meeting on saturday and finally finished the write-up for the grant! Just a bit of editing and formatting left to be done and it should be good and ready for the September 1st deadline. Still waiting to hear back about the poetry festival, the sign-up deadline for that is August 15th (my birthday!), so likely sometime after that I'll know if i'm in or *gasp* out. In the meantime I'm writing like crazy, trying to pull inspiration from everywhere.

I went with my parents to a car dealership last friday. (My mom is shopping around for a new whip). Now my parents are very well educated people, speak perfect English in fact, but often times people are too focused on the fact that they're a) black and b) have a Nigerian accent to be bothered to listen properly when they speak. It is extremely frustrating to me when my mom turns to me for help when the very English I speak, I learnt from her. She speaks 3 languages!! My parents gave up so much for us to be in this country, so that we could actually have a fighting chance in this crazy world. Anyways..that's a whole other blog entry. So i'm watching my parents talking to the dude at the car dealership, and I'm hit (almost literally hit in the face) by a poem I just had to write. Just got my iphone this week, and it has a neat little "notes" application on it. So right then and there I started writing...I have this new piece about my parents that I'll be posting just as soon as I'm satisfied that it's "finished". It will likely be on my upcoming album (you like how I slipped that in there ;))

So yeah...nothing new, but lots in the making. My sister's getting married in a couple of weeks!! eeee! oh and it's my birthday soon :)

love love love!

Feature Poet: Lauryn Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:24:00 +0000

Alright, so I've decided to have a post with a feature poet every week. It'll be a chance to showcase people and lyrics that inspire me. I'll start this off with one of my favorite singer/rapper/poet/wonder woman lol. Even though she has checked out a little bit as of late. Lauryn Hill is a master lyricist!! She'll probably be featured a lot here cause almost everything she spits is FIRE!

Mystery of Iniquity

Ya'll can't handle the truth in a courtroom of lies
Perjures the jurors
Witness despised
Crooked lawyers
False Indictments publicized
Its entertainment...the arraignments
The subpoenas
High profile gladiators in bloodthirsty arenas
Enter the Dragon
Black-robe crooked-balance
Souls bought and sold and paroled for thirty talents
Court reporter catch the surface on the paper
File it in the system not acknowledged by the Maker
Swearing by the bible blatantly blasphemous
Publicly perpetrating that "In God We Trust"
Cross-examined by a master manipulator
The faster intimidator
Receiving the judge's favor
Deceiving sabers doing injury to they neighbors
For status, gratis, apparatus and legal waivers
See the bailiff
Representing security
Holding the word of God soliciting perjury
The prosecution
Political prostitution
The more money you pay.. the further away solution
Legal actors
Babylon's benefactors
Masquerading as the agency for the clients
Hypocritical giants
Morally non-compliant
Orally armed to do bodily harm
Polluted, recruited and suited judicial charm
And the defense isn't making any sense
Faking the confidence of escaping the consequence
That a defendant is depending on the system
Totally void of judgment purposely made to twist em'
Emotional victim blackmailed by the henchmen
Framed by intentions
Inventions whereby they lynch men
Enter the false witness slandering the accused
Planting the seed openly showing he's being used
To discredit, edit, headed for the alleged
Smearing the individual fearing the unsuspected
Expert witness (the paid authority)
Made a priority to deceive the majority
Of disinterested peers
Dodging duty for years
Hating the process
waiting to be returning to their careers
Do we expect the system made for the elect
To possibly judge correct?
Properly serve and protect?
Materially corrupt
Spiritually amuck
Oblivious to the cause
Prosperously bankrupt
Blind leading the blind
Guilty never defined
Filthy as swine
A generation purin it's own mind
Legal extortion
Blown out of proportion
In vein deceit
The truth is obsolete
Only two positions:
Victimizer or Victim
Both end up in destruction trusting this crooked system
Mafia with diplomas keeping us in a coma trying to own a piece
of the "American Corona"
The Revolving Door
Insanity every floor
Skyscraping, paper chasing
What are we working for?
Empty traditions
Reaching social positions
Teaching ambition to support the family superstition?
When the Son of Podition is Commander in Chief
The standard is Thief
Brethren can we candidly speak?
Woe to the men
Trusted in the chariots dem'
Leaning on horses
They run their intellectual sources
Counterfeit wisdom creating the illusion of freedom
Confusion consumes them
Every word they speak it turns them out really white
Internally they absent of light
trapped in the night and bonded to the Cain of the night
Under the curse
Evil men waxing more worse
Faxing the first
Angelic being cast to the earth
It's time for rebirth
Burnin up the branch and the root
The empty pursuits of every tree bearing the wrong fruit
Turning me ill
Let him who stole, no longer steal
Oh it's real
Surrender for Jehovah is real
How long will you sleep
Troubled by the thoughts that YOU keep
The idols YOU heap
Causing the destruction you reap
Judgment has come
Find it and return to the One
Abandon the flesh
Self-interest: Broadway to death
Pride and the Greed
Hide and subdividing the seed
The knowledge of Good and Evil is what caused us to lie
Caused us to die
Let your emotions be crucified
Renounce all your thoughts
Repent and let your mind be re-taught
You'll find what you sought...was based on the deception you bought
A perception of naught
Where the majority remains caught

Loving a lie
Not realizing in Adam, all die

Loving a lie
Not realizing in Adam, all die

Loving a lie
Not realizing in Adam, all die

Loving a lie
Not realizing in Adam, all die

It's the mystery of Inequity
Say it's the history of Inequity
Say it's the misery of Inequity
When it all...
All falls down
I'm telling you all...
It all falls down

Another day at the office...

noreply@blogger.com (Titilope) — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:49:00 +0000

I want you to know
That I hear it
Behind the calculated smiles
When you decide at first sight
What this face is worth
And I see it
When you glance from
Long extensive resume to
Brown face in disbelief
Because my achievements don’t fit neatly
Into the little box you prepared to put me in

I feel it inside that stunned silence
In boardroom conversation
When the unexpected woman voice
Springs forth from black mouth
Speaks clear and coherent
But even though my lips are moving
You can’t seem to hear me
I have pieced together thought and logic
But you can’t bring yourself to understand it
Because I’ve denied you
The usual defenses
You will not use my so called “africanness”
To dangle success from my reach

But beneath freshly pressed pencil skirts
And crisp white collars
I carry her in my spirit even now.
That girl,
Before the
Stand up straights,
Don’t talk with your mouth full,
And color within the lines.
I am still that barefoot brown girl
Running wild on dusty roads
Carrying the dreams of an entire race