Musings Magazine

This issue: Legacy... What will be left in your stead?

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Winter/Spring Issue

Contents Welcome to Musings...

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From Winter to Spring 5 Contributors

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An Open Letter

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Eco - Legacy

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What Will Your Legacy Be? Legacy?

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When the Sun Rises for Love (A Legacy) Legacy of a Single Black Female

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AfroNaijaBindi: The Making of Me

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A Legacy of Love... of Self

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What will be your financial legacy? 26 What I want my legacy to be Release

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Connect the dots with us Musingszine@gmail.com

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Check us out at www.myspace.com/musingszine Cover Photo - Eric Hudson, Photographer ,Washington, DC - www.myspace.com/e2800

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elcome to the premiere issue of Musings!

We are so excited to bring you this issue and hope you enjoy our first official offering.

The brainchild of co-publishers Risikat “Kat” Okedeyi and Kimberly C. Gaines, Musings is an introspective quarterly magazine that sees everyone as humanly artistic. Our goal is to reveal those random thoughts that lead to inspired action. A look

WELCOME TO MUSINGS...

at a Sunday morning ritual, the importance of a daily walk, or even the necessity of a daily cup of coffee are just the sort of things that the magazine will showcase. Focusing on themes that are relevant to our community – locally and globally, we want to empower and inspire writers and readers to think and act from a more communal perspective where the “I” and the “we” peacefully co-exist. Introspection, self–reflection and brainstorming, Musings will serve as the incubator and catalyst to do just that.

This first issue focuses on legacy and how it manifests in different forms. Whether the concern is for the planet, recognizing the ancestors or doing the best for our children, legacy is an important element of human existence. It is why people marry, have children, grow businesses and change the world. What does the dash between the years of birth and death signify? How do we want to be remembered? What inspires you daily?

Welcome to Musings where we ask the questions and allow you the space to share the answers.

Enjoy.

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FROM WINTER TO SPRING With onset of flowers more sunlight, and fresh air comes the bursting goodness of Spring. This spring instead of seeking everything from an external source (i.e. weather, events, etc), use this magical time of year to really grow yourself, not just your daffodils. The new budding garden is you and you are full of new and unseen blossoms.

What are the gifts Spring has for us and how do we use them?

Below are messages from the four elemental rulers; Earth-Rooted Fire-Passion Air-Mental Clarity Water-Flowing Change Take these messages, read, interpret, use and share all the goodness there is for you this time of year. The true beauty that spring promises is, we all have a new form if we are willing to embrace and digest it.

Earth Messages Spring is full of moments of gain Tap my strengths of the past Trust my knowing Fire Messages Always elevate and uphold the sacred feminine (men and women) Holding back sacredness is not an option Appreciate the beauty of everything around and within me Air Messages See my home as a place, but also as a field of energy I have created Be open to change in my space Water Messages Life, energy, and feelings all exist in cycles Push me to accept, celebrate, and appreciate life’s evolutions Knowing my cycles prepares me to grow from each cycle www.daughterofwaters.blogspot.com

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CONTRIBUTORS Andrea Thompson – SW, China

Angel Baker – Norfolk, VA

Nina Ligon – Hampton, Va

Nina Mercer – Brooklyn, NY

Kuroji Ntu – Washington, DC

Tracey Rose – Broolyn, NY

Will S - Cheltanham, MD

Spring Quarter:

The Market Woman

Are you a Modern Day Market Woman? Have you elected to leave the regular 9 to 5 to sell your wares the best way you know how? Tell us how you do it! Send your submissions to musingszine@gmail.com by May 30th with the subject heading Market Woman!

CO–PUBLISHERS

Kimberly C. Gaines and Risikat I. Okedeyi COPY EDITOR

Andrea R. Thompson AD COORDINATOR

Carla L. Thorpe

CONTRIBUTORS CONT’D

Rhome Anderson - Washington, DC

jade foster - Washington, DC

Not Pictured Eric Hudson - Washington, DC Kobie Nichols - Washington, DC

Photo credits...

Kimberly C. Gaines pgs. 3, 10, 14 Robert E. Gaines pg. 16 Kateryna Govorushchenko pg. 18

(Look for Random Thoughts in red parenthesis)

Pop tirade...

AN OPEN LETTER from Tracey D. Rose

D

ear X,

What will remain of us after we’re gone? How are we preparing for the one thing we know for sure will inevitably come? We’ve always talked about this need to earn our oxygen, to put things out into the world that would be worth the space we’ve taken up, the damage we’ve caused, or the waste we’ve made, but our generation is not big on legacies. It’s understandable, growing up in the age of immediacy, that not much is believed in past its launch or expiration date.

I’m learning more and more these days it’s less about the thinking and more about the doing. So much of this we won’t know until after it’s all said and done and maybe it’s better that way. I think about our heroes, Lorraine (Hansberry) and Mal8 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

colm (X), Martin (Luther King) and Angela (Davis), stripped of their complexity after death or once they’ve faded from public view. How did we let this happen? Who is to blame for the way people are remembered and memorialized in the larger sphere?

It’s too easy to blast the pop culture machine, to ridicule the 24-hour news cycle that gives us our Britneys and Brangelinas.

We all know what pop culture does, how it strips everything down into digestible, consumable pieces. Put Ché (Guevara) on a t-shirt. Turn Malcolm into a symbol.

Make them palatable and cool and singular, without all the pesky politics getting in the way.

I admit the question of legacy is a difficult one, dare I say, an almost dangerous one for the vulnerable artist psyche. It’s a question of commitment,

about the work you’re doing that will stand when this particular moment has passed. Is your work human enough to withstand our disposable times?

I think about Lewis Hyde and his explanation of the relationship between art and gift exchange based on early gift economies throughout the world. He explains that one of the primary obligations of a gift is movement. Within these societies, the gift must be circulated among the community, where everyone will share and utilize that which has been given. As artists, we acknowledge the gifts we’ve been given, but don’t recognize that they need air and circulation in order to be fully realized. We hoard too often, playing our gifts too close to the chest because our focus is on aspiration instead of inspiration. Of course, it goes without saying, Hyde’s idea of the gift only applies to art, not commodities or products, and the distinction is clearly made by the presence of the gift itself, i.e. intuition, the Muse, the spirit, invocation, conjure, or other worldly forces, that makes the work, in turn, move us.

So, the question becomes are we in service of the gift or are we in service of product?

X, I live this question daily. I read Toni Cade (Bambara) and understand what it’s supposed to be about--love, plain and simple. And Toni understood that way before it took bell (hooks) three books to get it down. Toni’s work is sustenance, clearly about the act of nurturing and nourishing a community. Even a hardcore activist like Thich Nhat Hanh will tell you that’s what resistance is really about—“creating spaces for people to be whole.” That’s easy to forget in

a time where so little work is nourishing, where so little really feeds people.

Perhaps that’s the most dangerous thing about our time, the cacophony of filler and the dearth of material that really satisfies. Without those things, we cease to be who we could be.

It’s like asking who would you be if you never found (Ayi Kwei) Armah or Bessie Head. Who would you be without your blues or calypso, without photography or film, or whatever was the first thing that reached in and made you see the possibility of who you were? Those are the things that rise no matter what canon they cease to fit into, or what popular moment excludes them. And maybe that’s when we need to remember legacy the most, the work that penetrates through all the muck and mire and helps us to meet ourselves in a way we never could before. By nature of the gift, our obligation is to reciprocate. If we do nothing else, let’s choose to live in service to that which has saved us from our lesser selves, in hopes that we’ll be lucky enough to be that gentle awakening for someone else.

-Y

Tracey Rose is a writer/media-maker residing in BK,NY. Check her out at www.traceyrose.net 9

Eco - Legacy

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y fiancee and I are working toward building a sustainable living environment small village where we can create a synergistic environment with the land and wildlife. We are interested in demonstrating how people can live with our environment instead of just on top of it. The atmosphere we are slowly but surely developing is a magical one where experiments in dynamic imagination are used to develope and enrich the human experience through art and technical development.The idea is to encourage self-exploration, synergistic thinking,viewing problems from a multi-level perspective,to grow throughout the global community. All will be taken from an experientially proven position without flakey dogmatism.

â–ş

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The village or villages are designed to welcome visitors as an entertaining tourist destination that will further expose this way of living. We will also have representatives touring key festival circuits nurturing this cause.

More and more people are coming to this conclusion as a goal. How can we best put it into action?

We Could All Be Living Debt-Free In an Ecological Paradise Of Our Own Creation We Could Be Creating A Beautiful Life on Earth...

This is the legacy I would like to leave behind.Thanks for caring about people’s dreams.

In light & love& life,

Will S. Cheltenham, MD Temp Worker lifeartunited@yahoo.com

Let’s Make an Earthship!

Earthship n. 1. passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization. 3. renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.

Earthships are buildings that...

• Heat and cool themselves naturally through a combination of passive solar design and thermal dynamics • Collect their own power from the sun and wind

• Harvest their own water from rain and snow melt • Have sewage containment and treatment on site • Produce food in significant quantities • Utilize materials that are byproducts of modern society like cans, bottles and tires Check out this Sustainable Living environment website www.earthship.net

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WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE?

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by Trina Soumare

n my lifetime, have been very fortunate to have met, studied with and performed with some of the world’s most respected teachers, performers and managers of African cultural arts. I have also been fortunate to have met some of the most resilient, beautiful, creative young people that the universe could have created.

Through a lifetime of active arts involvement (as student, performer, choreographer and producer) both domestically and internationally, and over 15 years of experience in the mental health profession, I have come to believe that art heals.

My goals as an artist and instructor (which are a natural outcome of these experiences) are to: 1. Through the arts, foster in my students an understanding and awareness of African cultures throughout the Diaspora.

2. Use my art form as a means for helping people to discover the function and usefulness of African arts and culture. Beyond being a fun thing to do, African arts have incredible cathartic properties for the mind body and spirit.

3. To keep people connected. I believe that it is important for all people, but especially those of African descent, to maintain a close identification with the positive aspects of African culture (i.e. family and community values, sense of oneness with the community, etc.).

4. To continue to grow as an innovator within the African tradition. When I am sharing, creating and observing my art-form, I am at my most content state of being. I want to continue to grow into that power and to teach others how to tap into theirs.

5. To move the African-centered arts from being primarily visual and to help it to receive more (evident) structure so that they will gain more respect from a broader range of the population.

6. To tell my story in my way and to help others to tell theirs.

Within the next five years, I would like to have successfully developed the first all youth professional African dance theater company in the state of Florida and to have directed and performed in a musical/theatrical production of a play I authored entitled UNDER THE BAOBAB TREE.

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Trina Soumare African-Centered Teaching Artist Fort Lauderdale, FL www.balletbrika.com

Photos of the Vonn Lilly Dance Troupe courtesy of Kuroji Ntu

LEGACY? The older I get the more I’m aware of how vast creation really is and in the grand scheme of things how minute my place is within it. This understanding is coupled with another one that is hard to accept but ultimately humbling in a positive way, which is that our time on this earth is so incredibly finite that even the longest human lifespan is only a micro-blip in history. So once you realize that it’s not all about you, then what?

If I believed in past lives I’d guess that I once walked the earth as a griot. I think a lot of my subconscious motivation comes from a deep-seated need to fill that role. I feel that my identity has been shaped primarily by the collective creative energy of my ancestors. That

implies responsibility. I hope that my legacy is a contribution that adds to the creative history of black folk and passes it on in better shape to generations to follow.

As a confirmed cynic, it looks a bit sappy laid out on a page rather than the vague form in which it dwells in my gut but I’m still working on the details for this game plan. It’s a tough row to hoe these days, our culture is simultaneously failing and flourishing in ways that are confusing to reconcile.

Rhome Anderson aka DJ Stylus lives in th DC Metro area check him out at www.vibeconductor.com

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When the Sun Rises for Love (A Legacy)

By Nina Angela Mercer

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LEGACY Legacy is a stick fallen from a tree and dressed with nine ribbons, all different colors, and bells, a mask, a cup of coffee, a glass of water, because where the sun rises for the ancestors, it also rises for me.

I

can remember the day I made the conscious commitment to nurture legacy in my home and heart. I was thirty years old and a recently separated single mother to two daughters. But truth be told, the journey began long before that. My first breath outside my mother’s womb marked an affirmative moment in time, a choice, a resilient truth, though new-born and fresh-skinned. In that moment, as a baby girl child, I claimed a legacy simply by getting here to the other side, willfully making my way into this world. Growing into this place and space in time, however, has its memory lapses. There are love affairs with the dangers of life that can leave one numb to such grand notions as an inheritance, a charge, a tradition. There are bill collectors and baby daddies and mamas; there are fears and fallings that dull the senses ‘til one cannot hear the whispers of legacy. But somehow, I made the commitment. It was my own personal rebellion against society’s often deafening rally cry against black girls who become women determined to make love out of life, and it all began on a cold January day in 2004 at Rock Creek Park in the Chocolate City some know as this nation’s capitol, Washington, D.C. On that day, I walked through heavily wooded land with my cousin, Ernesto, as my guide, and I found a stick among so many others just beyond the creek in a place that was once a plantation dependent upon the bodies and souls of enslaved people. I walked through cold rain without an umbrella that day and recovered what was already and always mine – a lineage of a people who had the strength of spirit to conjure healing and passion for life out of blood, bone, and the most intensely back breaking labor pains. And it is not my legacy. It belongs to all of us. And it is not deep and mysterious; it is as ordinary as block parties and sweet potato pie, as life-sustaining as the rhythmic boom bap blasting from the speakers, as necessary to our well-being as water. And yet, we must recover that lineage, re-member it, caring for this sacred and ever-present force so that our children and their children do not forget: There is great power in our history of blackness here in the Americas, and that history matters in the here and now.

On that cold and rainy afternoon in January, I chose to do my part by taking a small step, and that step moved me on the inside ‘til my daily troubles in the world as a single mama battling the broken family blues became less daunting, because Continue on page 23 15

Legacy of a Single Black Female

by Kimberly C. Gaines

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echnically, I was born a statistic my mother gave birth to me at the age of 19 and my father denied the claim. Another little illegitimate girl child left to seek validation in the world, but like many, I made it. I made it through high school without an unwanted pregnancy, a drug dealer boyfriend or any gang related violence. I have been breaking and making my own statistics. I live in the year 2008, a 32 year old single black female, no children, a homeowner, part time entrepreneur, part time boutique manager, visual artist and secret worry – wort (well maybe that is not a secret).

I have worried about money since high school. I attended Camden Catholic High School and tuition cost more than enough, so anything that involved money beyond tuition I tended to keep to myself. I didn’t tell my mother or grandparents about costly extra curricular activities like drivers education.

When I left Camden, NJ to go to school in the Nation’s Capital, the youngest had left the nest. My grandparents treated me like their youngest daughter so I was the “baby girl” of the family. While I was at school and well beyond graduation they would put money in my bank account for food, rent, and miscellaneous things. In addition to that, I had my own stipends from school activities and eventually temp jobs to cover other expenses and mishaps that I created in my life. I have always been very frugal with other people’s money.

When my grandfather passed in 2001 my worrying increased. Not only did I lose my best buddy, I lost his knowledge of recipes. He could doctor up any of my 16 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

favorites dishes. I could call him talk about dinner and what to cook and get the scoop on my mom and uncles.

With his passing I also no longer had a financial cushion. I always paid my bills with the money he put in my account but I would have to figure out how to stretch the little bit of money I made to cover EVERYTHING!

I could speak publicly... if necessary and two, that giving was to be apart of my legacy.

Though I have come a really long way if I were to look at my legacy right now it would include debt, some really cool photographs, and a beautiful collection of shoes. It is hard to think about legacy while you are in the trenches battling everyday stuff like a mortgage and water bills. One things for sure, I do not want to be remembered for leaving a forwarding number for bill collectors to harass someone else.

I recall having a speech class in college where our first major assignment was to eulogize ourselves. I was nervous as hell because public speaking scared the shit out of me. None-the-less I was ready! I had my index cards and had color coded the text so I wouldn’t lose my place, I had a photo of my mother (folks always called me little Kathy so it was fitting) and Stevie Wonder’s “Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer”. My mother’s photo, that song and one of my main “accomplishments before my death” stand out most from that day. I talked about how I would give back. The way I saw it, I died as a philanthropist. By the time I got to Stevie the room was really heavy. I could see the faces of my classmates and they were almost in tears. I had to crack a joke so that I wouldn’t cry for myself. And that is it.

That project helped me realize that one,

Life is really beautiful. I am not a philanthropist yet and the bill collectors are at my door but as it stands I do have a legacy to leave behind. So what do I want to leave in my stead?

I have always been a generous person, whether it is an extra helping of potatoes or a pro bono photo or design somewhere. So in giving my legacy is revealed.

My Legacy Survival Kit •1 pen •1 blank Moleskine large ruled journal •1 digital camera with accessories •2 film cameras with lens and flash (use flash only if necessary)

•The Legacy issue of Musings and others to follow •Photographs of friends and family •Several journals full of my life and times •Love •Integrity •Honesty •Generosity and •a ledger in the BLACK, not the red!

Kimberly C. Gaines Washington, DC photographer & designer www.myspace.com/sondaiexpressions www.sondaiexpressions.com 17

from the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce

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n dimly lit corners of sound-proof restaurants, lobbyists and politicians lunch on petits-plats while strategizing the direction of our country.

Outside those walls artists, musicians, educators, and activists collectively espouse theories and observations on social issues both global and local.

They are all in motion – propelling us into the future.

Not lost among these groups are the creative professionals in the independent fashion industry.

Fashion is more than just a “scene” in D.C. It is a thriving, underground economy that has long been overlooked by government officials and fashion-industry decision makers alike. Fashion as an industry is not just about clothes, shoes and accessories. Fashion, as an industry, is also about economic and community development, entrepreneurship, small business ownership, and increased sales tax revenue that benefits the government and the citizens that they serve.

To cultivate the attention the local fashion community deserves, the founder of the D.C. Fashion Council, Christine Brooks-Cropper, recruited a team of fashion professionals to create D.C.’s very own fashion chamber of commerce.

The Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce (GWFCC), a 501 © 6 membershipbased corporation, serves as the lead organization to successfully market and improve the business 18 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

LEGACY conditions of the fashion industry in the Greater Washington, D.C. area and brand it as a premier global fashion destination.

necessarily its own but in tandem with local creative professionals. How long before something can be called a legacy?

Empires were built over centuries, The chamber’s main influence is the Rockefellers’ legacy is still being year-long lobbying efforts to create accrued. For the GWFCC, its legacy a commission on fashion arts. The began the day it started. You can see commission would be charged to it occurring on the streets – fewer nonpromote D.C. as a fashion destination descriptive suits donned by legislative – putting it on the map along with other aides, boutiques increasingly claiming fashion-friendly cities like Los Angeles, old rowhouses throughout the city and/ Miami, New York City, Paris and or keeping its doors open beyond its first London. In addition, it would develop year, fashion shows becoming the status educational and financial opportunities quo for fund-raisers, and local fashion for aspiring designers as incentives to and jewelry designers establishing build and maintain successful careers. studios accessible to their clients – a recreation of the salon experience. These The art of persuasion prevailed as city examples demonstrate the power of council officials respond favorably collective and creative progress where to Brooks-Cropper and the fashion everyone benefits. And people listen community’s case for an appointed when the fashion industry says either commission. In April 2007, three you are out or in. council members introduced Bill 17-0173 and earlier this month, For more information on becoming it left the hands of the Economic a member or to contact the Fashion Development Committee and was Chamber, please visit us at www.gwfcc. presented to the Mayor for his position. org or email us at info@gwfcc.org.

Just as progressive operate, the outcome is expected to be positive.

The GWFCC not only calls the politicians to action but the arts and entertainment community to rally behind the fashion community as well.

The connection is drawn through a shared appreciation for the senses. The GWFCC has hosted events to stimulate conversation by bringing the world of design, music, and speech to raise awareness and garner support.

Even in its infancy, the GWFCC has envisioned a grand legacy. Not 19

LEGACY

AFRONAIJABINDI: THE MAKING OF ME

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by Risikat “Kat” Okedeyi

ashidat Aina Olufuwa Okedeyi was born on December 25, 1948 in Ibadan, Nigeria. Even as a child she was powerful and often admired for her beauty (although extremely understated) and ferocity. She was the tallest of five sisters and was known for her keen ability for beating boys’ asses when they got out of line. As she grew into a young woman, she knew that her destiny would take her far away from home. She came to the U.S. in the late 1960s to be with the “rude boy” from back home whom she loved best of all. Giving up the opportunity to marry rich and comfortable, she followed her heart and began a life as an immigrant in a foreign land. In 1972, five days before her 25th birthday, she gave birth to her first child--a girl. As custom dictated, the child was named to remember the mother that had died that same year. Risikat Iyabo (which means “mother’s return”) Okedeyi was the name whispered in my ear on the seventh day after my birth. I am my mother’s legacy.

We often think of legacy as something we leave behind. However, as the offspring of our parents, we are also legacy incarnate. We continue where they left off and sometimes, even bring things full circle. My mother died in October of 1992, unexpectedly after being in Nigeria for about three months. As a child, my mother always seemed to glow. I was constantly in awe of her ability to make things alright, even when they weren’t. She was the prettiest and always out-dressed everyone at the Nigerian parties. While custom dictated that the host change

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several time througout the night as a sign of prosperity, mom always had a spare outfit in the trunk just in case there was need to step up her game.

Needless to say she never did and her signature style was just one of the many things that made “Mrs. Okedeyi” somewhat of a celebrity in our Miamibased Nigerian community. As I got older, I noticed the light that had always so clearly shone, was dying. I think years of struggle in a country that didn’t understand her accent, made her fearful for her children’s cultural well being and saw her marriage slowly falling apart, left her haggard. She wasn’t happy and the eventual move back to Maryland from Miami, proved stressful in the end. Constantly working, there was very little time for parties in Maryland. In fact, the last time I saw her, home for a week in June of 1992, we spent a total of maybe a few hours together, in between her working two jobs and preparing for her trip home.

I had met my first love and we had a beautiful moment together as we talked about intimacy and relationships.

My mother was a market woman and I am a modern version of that. She sold wares from Nigeria every weekend while we lived in Miami, while I now sell services to artists and those in need of wellness counseling. We are one in the same and I am proof of her existence and her love. Everything I am is a direct result of her numerous, but “indirect” teachings. I learned how to love myself because she didn’t love herself enough.

The importance of trusting your gut, was an important lesson along with the constant reminder that, “you can’t expect everyone to be like you.” I learned the importance of sanctuary

and ritual, watching her keep a “prayer room” when we lived in Miami. I saw how it fortified her and know that the lack of ritual in her later years, contributed greatly to her sadness and dimming light. In continuing where she left off, I am renewing her spirit and the spirit of my grandmother, whom my aunt has said I am most like. There are still days when my heart hurts, because she is physically not here, but the stark realization is that in her death, my life was renewed and my purpose made clear. I walk with that understanding and live every day giving thanks and doing for myself, the things I could not do for her.

We are the best parts of our parents.

Their hopes and dreams for us manifest in how we live our lives. We are not wedded to them, but are a part of them and thus a legacy in constant revision.

So, instead of working from a place of what I want to leave behind, I work from a place of what my mother and my sister Sofiyat, left behind. I pick up where they left off and when I am gone someone, maybe my child, maybe a niece or a nephew, will do the same.

Risikat I. Okedeyi Washington, DC Modern Day Market Woman www.lilsoso.com iyaagba.blogspot.com 21

A LEGACY OF LOVE... OF SELF

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orking with teenagers and young adults daily I have countless opportunities to instill in them values, moral strength and confidence needed to succeed as young adults, having hopes that they will continue to grow to be the best parents, spouses and even adult children that they can be.

I pray that when I leave this earth, I leave a legacy of self-love and that every person that I come into contact with, and even every person that may hear or read about my life, will know that I lived out my life’s purpose and that I strove to live according to God’s will for my life. I want generations to come to gain full understanding of God through the way that I lived my life. I pray that they learn to love one another regardless of their differences…in the way they talk, in where they’re from 22 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

and even religious views. Even though I want all who know me to come into the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ, I believe that one of the greatest tools of ministry to “non-believers” is love. Pure, Godly love. This is difficult in an age when people are “lovers of self…” In this day and age, we often fail to meet the needs of others even on a small, local scale because our inability to see how our lives play into a bigger picture. Now that we have technology to take us to the other side of the world in a matter of seconds, our ability to see that far has been clouded because of our failure to see outside of ourselves.

Again, I pray that I am able to help others to not only see the potential in themselves on a personal level, but to also see their potential to create change that will affect the whole world.

Nina C. Lignon Youth Advocate Northern Virginia ninacinspires@gmail.com

continued from page 15

that stick became my foundation for a space in my home dedicated to the lives and spiritual presence of my ancestors, their stories, and their strengths.

Where the sun rises for the ancestors, it also rises for me. I listen, and the elders tell me: ‘Ana was born on the Middle Passage. So, they called her Ocean Ana. That is how we remember her name. It was a whole people born on that water. They carried Africa with them, but they made America, too.’

Love . . . a love so strong that the fear of the unknown and the violent way it could come down on a body cease to matter, because life calls. That’s the kind of love I want to claim, because I have known some times where I could not call upon love, even for myself. At least I could not call upon it strong enough to pull myself out of anger. Separation and divorce left me determined to pout my way through the rest of my life, resigning to the failure of a dream. I almost left my sanity in some dusty corner of my mind all because the man I married chose another life rich with women and parties and the elusive feel good all

of that could bring. I had the nerve to find that worthy of self pity and tried staring at walls, hoping to fall into one, finally releasing the responsibility of raising my girls alone. There were eviction notices, dangerous walks past midnight…alone and searching for what might kill me, unpaid phone bills, and children crying for someone I could never be. And I would not dare suggest that I was a pioneer in this. We all have our hurts – those places we can go to and close down to the world.

Sure, you get up in the morning, throw some breakfast together, get dressed and breathe through another day on the job, but it’s more habitual than a testimony to strength. I craved meaning, a passion thick enough to make the seeming loss into a truth my daughters could remember in their own life journeys. And it was only acknowledging the stories and beating hearts of those who came before me that got me there. What is divorce but a parting of ways, a departure from the old and a new path beckoning when you still have breath, they told me. What was your choice to birth these children but a marker of your life in God’s hands and an opportunity for you to grow into that existence more fierce for the scars, they whispered. How could I not choose that kind of love?

To read this article in it’s entirety go to the web at www.myspace.com/musingszine

Nina Angela Mercer Bronx, New York Playwright and Artist www.windowsdoorsclosetsanddrawers.blogspot.com www.oceananarisinginc.org 23

Passions’ keep sake… (an ode to sustained inspiration) what ignites the flame? is it pain sharp cringes in the pulse of ones belly…the fevered feeling of thick sweat across a forehead…when wiped yields the dryest residue… if any… what inspires the flame to grow? again the idea of pain is plausible…love seems too selfish an emotion…who wouldn’t want loves tight grasp of their senses…who wouldn’t ask for at least one look…a moist warm tear of joy that within a blink would drench ones soul… so it must be pain…right… only pain has enough free time…while being avoided…being black balled into our subconscious…of the two it is pain who has the kinda space in its schedule to indulge selfless acts of sparking creative juices that will end up on the tip of some pen, paintbrush or dribbling down the lips of any patriot of life before sliding through the bones causing the body to convulse into movement in time with or without music being captured in lenses point aim and shoot…click… pain even finds time to want for love…exposing the softer side of its cruel reputation…would love do the same… would love willingly open a window and witness its random acts of selfish insecurities…placing no blame… what sustains the flame… is pain enough…is love our stead fast warrior…could indifference be the soldier of fortune… if pain bore any burden of resilience it would more than likely be a handle adorned with thorns… razor sharp thorns of freezing metal that easily twists into breaking fearful of the strong willed hand. who dares to turn it… love…maybe…but envision the kindest words spoken…sweetly tasting each syllable while they run deep throbbing patterns on your temples between your thighs slowly passing your navel…inhale deeply…words, thoughts, love, freedom and while in that place of pure pleasure and orgasm do you forego this surreal state and allow your flames habit into spreading…distorting its density, physically expanding inside you around you…are you willing to advocate its sweetening or its becoming sour…will you squirm while your ears repeatedly receive increased volume…does love remain while it grows…without knowledge of its effects…while being strung by the neck…will love hold on or will she exhale…

Kobie Nichols To read this article in it’s entirety go to the web Screenwriter at www.myspace.com/musingszine Washington, DC www.myspace.com/fpeg

24 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

Carla Thorpe Organizational Strategist

www.barbaragrose.com

What will be your FINANCIAL legacy?

W

by Evelyn Bandoh

hat financial legacy will you leave for your heirs? How does the state of your personal finances relate to your legacy?

Have you even thought about your financial legacy or are you just trying to make it? Generating a legacy of wealth with your creativity may be a challenge, but it is not impossible.

To put it bluntly, just because you are an artist, does not mean that you have to be broke, hungry and destitute. Contrary to popular belief there does exist a happy intersection between being an artist and making money. The art in generating wealth is not so much in making the money as it in managing the money. Just as a plant needs water and light to grow, so do your finances. The simple act of becoming aware of your financial situation can be a humbling experience, encouraging you to take a proactive approach in managing your financial affairs.

Ignoring your finances is not the answer; in fact, it will only make the problems worse. Doing things like implementing a systematic plan to reduce debt, increase your savings and investing will only increase your net worth.

Here are seven things that you can do today to start to create your financial legacy: 1. Set an intention to be wealthy. Wealth is subjective to each person, and it can mean many things besides “money�. In order to achieve wealth, you must take the time to define what wealth means to you.

2. Become aware of your financial situation. How much do you have? Who do you owe? What is your minimum standard of living? Having answers to these questions is going to help you create a sustainable financial plan.

3. Become a good steward of your money. The key here is that you must learn how to work your money and not let your money work you. When you get ready to buy something, ask yourself if it will make you money in the long-run.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

Sometimes this simple act is enough to make you reconsider an unnecessary purchase in favor of doing something more fruitful with your money.

Get a copy of your credit report. You get three free credit reports per year, there are no more excuses. www.annualcreditreport.com Create a $500 emergency fund. The conventional wisdom of 36 months savings can be extremely overwhelming. Start out with a smaller amount. Start today and commit to setting aside at least $500 in an online savings account, which often boasts higher than average interest rates.

Create a spending plan. Notice that I did not say budget, I said a spending plan. The difference is that your spending plan will prioritize your spending to reflect what is important to you and/or your family.

If a monthly jaunt to the record store is a non-negotiable, that’s fine, as long as you realize that until you achieve your financial goal, you will have to adjust your spending in other areas. Just as with diets, deprivation does not work. However, by putting your financial priorities on paper- you will be empowered and encouraged to make better financial decisions that will support you and your craft.

Set one realistic financial goal for yourself. Now that you are a bit more aware of what you want money to mean in your life, set at least one financial goal for yourself. And please make it timely and realistic.

If there is one thing that will derail your progress, it is setting unrealistic goals for yourself. Be kind to yourself. Your current financial situation took years to create and it will take some time and patience to get to where you want to be.

As a financial coach for creative professionals, I am here to tell you that with a little bit of planning and a lot of savvy, you too can have bank accounts flush with cash, zero debt and something to look forward to when you retire.

Evelyn Bandoh EAB Creative Planning Services evelyn@eabplanning.com or visit my blog: fiscalfashionista.blogspot.com

WHAT I WANT MY LEGACY TO BE

By Angel Baker This may seem like an over spoken and oft heard cliché, but I want my name to be synonymous with courage and inspiration. I want to inspire everyone that I have and never met, to make steps to make their dreams come true. I want to be that hope to the little girl who looks at her dilapidated surroundings and wonders “is this all there is?” I want her to know that it’s not. I want to be the motivation to the little boy who feels like he’s stuck in a rut filled with darkness, disappointments and circumstance. I want him to know that he, too, can maneuver his way out and have the sun shine on his face. I feel especially passionate about leaving this legacy because I have lived, breathed, and survived these feelings and notions. I would feel so lost in life that I would relentlessly rebel with all sorts of negative mediums. Violence. Sex. Drugs. You name it and all before the age of 13. It wasn’t until my grandmamma looked at me one day and said “Girl, you are smart, talented, and can be anything you want to be. You are killing yourself slow and if you die, the world will suffer from that selfish act. You were born to help others with your art and your life.” I always respected my grandparents and what they said, so I decided to test her theory. I auditioned for a musical that next week and although I didn’t know it then, that was the beginning of my road towards definitive success. I was picked for the show and was invited to join the Performing Arts Repertory of Virginia. With that theater troupe, filled with other talented and troubled teens like myself, I went on to perform at Lincoln Center, study at Alvin Ailey Dance Studios, and travel all over the United States learning various aspects of acting from some of the top acting teachers America has to offer. After I graduated from high school, 6th in my class, I went to Norfolk State University, where I exercised my writing skills. My poetry was published in many publications and I finished my first book that would later be turned into an upcoming musical called “Love’s Holiday.” It was also during this time that I began working with a non-profit organization called Girls to Women, whereas I was a counselor and a head writer. This program was developed for troubled girls who needed positive outlets to keep them out of trouble. I was happy to be a part of the team who was doing something in the community to help children, especially troubled girls, of which I definitely had an affinity to. I am proud to say that 3 of the girls that I have counseled are now college graduates from Shaw, Rutgers, and Howard. Unfortunately, even the brightest lights have to reluctantly retire, meaning that Girls to Women lost funding and the program ended.

28 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

I later found myself working at a music store where I was an assistant manager and coordinator of the stores promotional events. I, unknowingly, was networking with some of the people that I would later formulate the most awesome and influential alliances in music marketing. I met a fellow assistant manager at another music store named Tracey Freeman and she told me about an idea she had. While working for the music store, I developed a true and sincere appreciation for underground music.

To me, underground music, has been able to still hold and capture the true essence of music itself.

You can hear and respect the reverie

that they have for music. I love that their music is unpolluted and unhindered by the boxes commercial corporations have placed on the art form. Let’s face it, a lot of music on the radio sounds exactly the same and that’s because of a “formula” that was created in order to make money, not inspire lives. Once again, I was placed in the perfect place at the perfect time to help the fruition of my destiny. Tracey told me about a promotions company she wanted to start that catered only to underground, under promoted and unsigned artists.

I agreed with this vision and we got to work. This was the birth of On the Verge.

To read this article in it’s entirety go to the web at www.myspace.com/musingszine

Angel Baker Writer Norfolk, Virginia www.onthe-verge.com

PHOTOGRAPHY IS MY ANTI-DRUG

“Capturing Life as it Happens” is my personal montra...so in my search for my four artistic submissions, I was met with the challenge of having to select ONLY FOUR PHOTOS and came to the obvious realization that: I own WAY TOO MANY PHOTOGRAPHS! Tsktsk how dare I say such a thing...”One Shot” Harris would be shaking his head at me if we compared catalogs of any one catagory (which I’m in the process of creating currently)...I liking myself to Gordon Parks only because I’d like to think that people want to 1) feel the energy of that particular moment 2) imagine being in that photo as if I were taking it across their shoulder and 3) can’twait to hear the tale that accompanies the photograph (even though it can stand alone) Kuroji Ntu 29

Release

R

elease, contract, then release again, these are my movements, my healing powers, my legacy. Like the enchanting life of the butterfly, I find it necessary to retreat and emerge in order to continue to grow. But believe me, it has been quite a journey traveling this path and also honoring the rhythmic dance that is my life.

Release.

As a beautifully bold young girl I was gifted with the sage wisdom of one purposely progressive mother, two determined grandmothers, three great grandmothers and an extended family, heavily influenced by feminine power, that reached far and wide on both sides.

Contract.

My boldness silently stepped into the background and adolescence brought about a wave of disbelief, questioning of self and an unseemingly strong urge to just make it through my teens and early twenties. It’s as if I innately knew that my time to release would come once again, and it did. Foraging out into the “real world” after college, brought about vast traveling, and not just physical. My desire to birth the inner me into the outer world took me to Africa, which was quite a daily walk of contractions and releases.

Release.

Around my return to the US, during a release period, it occurred to me that I am

30 Musings Magazine - Legacy issue

and always have been the summation of all the fiercely intuitive, amazing, and ever-transforming she–spirits that came before me. A look in the mirror brought me to the conclusion that I am at my most outwardly beautiful, when I am accepting the inward divine self.

So, from that moment on I began a journey that has brought out the beauty of me in many waves, but which manifests in me as a spiritual power, a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece, a dancer, a teacher, a lover, a healer, a friend, and a woman. My recent years have been full of life lessons, but what I believe sustains and propels me forward is that now I hold to the everchanging self. I recognize my gifts are here to stay and that they exist in everyone, only some of us refuse to see and develop them.

Release, again.

Now my legacy has wandered onto the path of sharing what I know to be true in many forms, knowing that the more I gratefully honor the divine in me and others, the more beautiful life can be for me, others and the planet. I say to all, know the rhythm of your life, learn its dance, and dance it unrelentingly.

Ashe, A cocooning Butterfly...

Andrea Thompson Dancer/Educator Southwest China daughterofwaters.blogspot.com

a stranger asked of my life.

Well for one, when I was little I wanted to have a baby at nineteen just like my mom did and her mom did and her mom did. and I hoped that my daughter would be mistaken for my sister just like I was just like my mother was and her mother before that.

My grandma went out every Friday night. She’d have me reach real high for the red heels, the ones with the gold bow.

After she left, I would go over her vanity, careful, paint my face with her colors. even though every Saturday morning, she could always tell.

I wanted men, lined outside my door buying me furniture, and mink coats like my mom’s friends who gave me gifts. and her mom’s friends— who had gray hair and candy. and her mom’s whose kids remembered my name and called me family

-lyrically i.

jade foster poet Washington, DC www.thelyrical.org 31