Women, Art & Activism (Performance & Panel) (Event Over)

Panel & performance from four amazing women in the activism & literary world.

Asha Bandele:
An award-winning author and journalist, asha bandele first attained recognition when she penned her 1999 debut book, The Prisoner’s Wife, a powerful, lyrical memoir about a young Black woman’s romance and marriage with a man who was serving a twenty-to-life sentence in prison. With the hope that they would live as a couple in the outside world, she became pregnant with a daughter. A former features editor for Essence Magazine, she returns with her latest memoir, Something Like Beautiful, the continuation of her love with Rashid and its ultimate loss, with another emotional disappointment and a serious bout of depression. She is also the author of two collections of poems and the novel, Daughter. She lives in Brooklyn with her daughter, Nisa.

Rosa Clemente:
Is a United States community organizer, independent journalist and hip-hop activist. She was the vice presidential running mate of 2008 Green Party Presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.

Clemente's academic work has focused on research of national liberation struggles within the United States, with a specific focus on the Young Lords Party and the Black Liberation Army. While a student at SUNY Albany, she was President of the Albany State University Black Alliance (ASUBA) and Director of Multicultural Affairs for the Student Association. At Cornell she was a founding member of La Voz Boriken, a social/political organization dedicated to supporting Puerto Rican political prisoners and the independence of Puerto Rico.

Clemente has written for Clamor Magazine, The Ave. magazine, The Black World Today, The Final Call and numerous websites. She has been the subject of articles[citation needed] in the Village Voice, The New York Times, Urban Latino and The Source magazines.

In 1995, she developed Know Thy Self Productions (KTSP), a full service speakers bureau, production company and media consulting service. Seeing a need for young people of color to be heard and taken seriously she began presenting workshops and lectures at colleges, universities, high schools, and prisons. In the past ten years she has presented at over 200 colleges, conferences and community centers on topics such as "African-American and Latino/a Intercultural Relations", "Hip-Hop Activism", "The History of the Young Lords Party", and "Women, Feminism and Hip Hop". KTSP now includes an expanded college speakers bureau which has produced three major Hip Hop activism tours, "Dare to Struggle, Dare to Win" with M1 of dead prez and Fred Hampton Jr.; "The ACLU College Freedom Tour" with dead prez, DJ Kuttin Kandi, Mystic and comedian Dave Chappelle; and the "Speak Truth to Power" Tour a collaborative tour of award winning youth activists.

In 2003, Clemente helped form and coordinate the first ever National Hip Hop Political Convention that drew over 3000 activists who came together to create and implement a national political agenda for the Hip-Hop generation. 10 days after Hurricane Katrina ravaged parts of the south, Clemente traveled to the areas as an independent journalist and her on-the-ground reports were broadcast on independent radio stations all over the world, including Air America, NPR, Pacifica Radio, Democracy Now, Indymedia, Hard Knock Radio and many more independent and mainstream media outlets.

Falu:
Began writing at 14 years old and by age 16 she had began reciting. Highest ranked female poet in 2006 and seventh in the nation, she is well known as a performance artist throughout NYC and is currently a member of the 2006 Nuyorican Poets Café Slam Team. She has shared stages with some of today best poets, co-produced an all women’s showcase “Lips, Hips and All That Jazz”, opened up shows for R&B sensations and countless other charitable and political events. Although much has been accomplished in her short career, Falu is best known for her teaching ability and workshop leadership. She has taught at Medgar Evers College/ College Now program at the tender age of 19 and was featured on MEC radio and broadcast. She is a member of Reaching Back, an organization for young black poets and writers based out Lafayette High School. Her current projects include mentorship, workshop leadership and performances at In Progress Group @ St. John the Baptistand weekly performances with Falu Y Su Combo, an Afro- Cuban band founded by her father. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Mahogany L. Browne
The Cave Canem Fellow is the Editor of His Rib: Stories, Poems & Essays by HER & Barbershop Chronicles, and author of several books including her latest book of poems: Destroy Rebuild & Other Reconstructions of the Human Muscle. Mahogany has released five LPs including the live album Sheroshima.As co-founder of the Off Broadway poetry production, Jam On It, and co-producer of NYC’s 1st Performance Poetry Festival: SoundBites Poetry Festival, Mahoganybridges the gap between lyrical poets and literary emcee. Her freelance journalism can befound in magazines Uptown, KING, XXL, The Source, Canada's The Word and UK's MOBO. She also facilitates performance poetry and writing workshops throughout the country, focusing on women empowerment and youth mentoring. She is the owner of PoetCD.Com, an on-line marketing and distribution company for poets and isthe host and curator at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.