Hey, I still do poems! I'll be dusting some of my very best off on Wednesday night at The World Stage in Leimert Park at 8:30 pm to share. I hope you're able to stop by! And the night isn't just all about mywork -- you can come early for the Anansi Writer's Workshop (perfect if you have some poetry or prose your working on and want to get feedback about) and/or stay later for the open mic (if you want to share a completed work or are just hungry to hear more).

There is the request of a $5 donation at the door.

The World Stage, in case you didn't know is a cultural institution in Los Angeles and a haven for black art, located in "The Harlem of L.A.", Leimert Park. It's an important place that has fostered some important work and it is always an honor for me to read there. I look forward to hopefully seeing you there.

4321 Degnan Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90008
7:30 pm - 10 pm

For details on future performances, events, and other fun stuff, be sure to check in at the home of all things Nikki Blak,  blakisbeautiful.comand follow me on all the social medias! You can also subscribe to me on Patreonand get your learn and burn [it down] on. I'll see you there.

Let's Go Steady

Something that I've had in the works for quite some time is figuring out how we can see more of each other. By "see more of each other" I mean, I share what I'm passionate about and well versed in, namely, facilitating social change through education that is radically womanist, intersectionally feminist, and anti-global white supremacist in nature. I've wanted the interactions to be meaningful and valuable. I wanted them to be edifying for you, but I didn't want them to deplete me. I struggled with how to make this possible.

Finally, after much consideration and brainstorming lots of ideas, I decided to create a subscription service through Patreon (which houses  a ton of subscription programs from many amazing makers, educators, and creatives). Thanks to Patreon's internet magic, you can get a monthly dose of yours truly for as little as $5. At the moment, subscription tiers are available for up to a nominal cost of $25 and give you access to reading lists, my essays, and lectures. In case you weren't already well aware, I'm pretty colorful, so these are anything but your typical, tedious, dry readings and talks. I like to laugh, I've been told I have good taste, and I'm quite the smart ass. You and I are gonna get along, fine.

More content and benefits are soon to come and that will mean more levels at which to subscribe in the coming months, so stay tuned! If you're on a tight budget and can't subscribe but would like to support the important work that I'm doing to facilitate social change, create tools to disrupt and dismantle systems of oppression, and teach liberation through common sense and ethics, then you can subscribe at a $1 level or simply send any one time contribution in the amount that you choose to paypal.me/BlakBirdPublishing. All contributions no matter how lavish or modest are always greatly appreciated and simply ensure that I, a black woman, am not constantly producing knowledge and art from which others are benefiting and ultimately laboring for free. The more that I am able to be supported in my work with more than just applause and kind words (which are welcomed and valued), the more work I am able to produce. Issa win-win, friends.

If a radical womanist, intersectional feminist, anti-global white supremacist, sociological, critical race theorist subscription is not your jam, per se and you're not in the position to just throw money at me because you think I'm great, you can always purchase one, a couple, or all of my books. They make great gifts for yourself or someone you don't hate, all year long. Actually, they're perfect for people you hate, too.

I think that ultimately, the takeaways for this particular entry are: 

(1) Don't have black women and other marginalized people laboring for free. It's not right. Even if they love the work they're committed to doing, it is not equitable to benefit from it without some form of compensation, because it does cost them something, whether it be time, money for materials, physical exertion, sleep, attention diverted away from other endeavors and relationships, and energy in general to provide, produce, and create. My lived experience was hard earned. My formal education is something that I'll be paying lots of real American dollars for for for many, many years. None of what I possess and feel compelled to share is actually free, so let's value it in a way that doesn't foster feelings of exploitation and allows me to keep sharing it. 

(2) Put your money where your heart is. As always, I want to encourage you to invest in the things that nurture you and those around you and to strive to make your bank statement a reflection of your values and priorities. If you don't provide financial backing for the things you say that we individually and collectively need, then it won't exist. 

This is important. May we all prosper. 

Hi, Stranger.

It sort of looked like I fell off of the planet, but I didn't.

I'm still here. Still ain't got no hair. Still swarthy. Still surly. I moved bunch of times, aged, but didn't look like it, kept on raising my kids, sent one to college and the other to kindergarten, and finally got my degree. I still write, but they are rarely poems, nowadays. I hope to be a conduit for that type of thing again one of these days and other forms of art but in the meantime, my focus is the social sciences, radical womanism, intersectional feminism, reproductive justice, anti-violent parenting, and disrupting and dismantling systems of oppression. My favorite color was pretty much always blue, but it went to green, then back to blue, and now, I'm fond of purple. My favorite flowers are stargazer lilies. I love apple pie and ice cream. One of my pet peeves is people that don't read. Oh, and anti-intellectualism. Sometimes I like animals more than people but I think a part of the problem with people is that we often treat animals better than we treat each other. So, I just try to treat people right and we'll see where that takes me.

I'll be back here in this space, sharing randomness on a fairly consistent basis.

If you feel like you want to observe my shenanigans pretty much day in and day out or interact with me, I'm on the Twitter, the book of faces, and the Instagram. If you want love notes from me, sporadically appearing in your email inbox as if by magic, I have a mailing list that you can sign up for. If you want to know where I "reside" on the interwebs, there of course, is a website, blakisbeautiful.com. And finally, if you would like to learn from and with me as I create tools to disrupt and dismantle systems of oppression, you can subscribe to me. You can donate to me. You can buy books written by me. You can wish me well, send me good energy, praise the creator for allowing us to live in community with each other, and thank my ancestors for their good DNA and protection as I'm on my journey.

I appreciate it all. Be well.

New Interrupting Racism Workshop: I Own Myself

There's a new Interrupting Racism workshop coming up Sunday, October 2, 2016 at 1pm PST/4pm EST. Ebony Janice of The Free People Project​ and I will be discussing black women's body ownership and providing some language for discussing ways we give and take ownership of ourselves to others. Sensuality, esteem, religion, patriarchy, media... All of these topics will be addressed. We hope that you will join us then and tell a friend. RSVP at thefreepeopleproject@gmail.com.

I'm Actually Gonna Leave My House This Weekend! And Next Week, Too!

I've got the nerve to have things to do this weekend! Apparently, I think I'm grown. You can have the nerve to have some things to do, too! Let's do them together.

On Saturday (that's tomorrow) I'll be reading in the 1:15 pm Poets and Allies set at LitFest Pasadena in the Zona Rosa alley. There will be other amazing poets there as well. If you're in the area, come and see us! Come and say, "Hi". The entire day is FREE and takes place all over the Pasadena Playhouse District. There's even a Octavia Butler  & Afro Futerism presentation at 11 am that sadly I won't be able to go to because my 2 year old has dance class. Bring yourselves out and enjoy!

Also, if you're free on Monday night, I'll be a featured poet at Poets and Allies, which is a reading that also takes place in the lovely city of Pasadena. It starts at 7 pm and is also FREE. It will be taking place at the Sidewalk Cafe which is located at 2057 N. Los Robles, Pasadena CA 91104. I'd love to see your face!

In other, not necessarily poetry related goings ons, you may or may not have heard that Black Lives Matters Activist Jasmine Richards was tried and found guilty of felony lynching. Yeah, you read that right... FELONY LYNCHING. So, here we have a clear case of the criminal justice system being used as a weapon against activists. This is not a new phenomenon, however Jasmine has become the first political prisoner of the Black Lives Matters movement. In an effort to support her and send a clear message to the powers that be regarding the mishandling of the law and false imprisonment of Jasmine Richards, I encourage you to sign this petition and if you're able, attend her sentencing on Tuesday, June 7th in Pasadena (damn, Pasadena is lit!). The hearing will take place at 8 am at 300 E. Walnut Street. The objective is to pack the courthouse.

Also, Tuesday is the Primary, so if you're in California and registered to vote, do yo' thang.

I think that's about it for right now. If I don't see you in the next few days, I certainly hope to in the future. As always, keep up with me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. If you haven't already gotten your copy of All My Exes Want Me Back, Uppity Negress, or the classic Five Three and Rising, you can fix that situation at blakisbeautiful.com. Oh, and did you know that you can sign up for my email list? Yeah, shawty! Do the damn thang, right 'chea:

Enter your email address


powered by TinyLetter

Alright, be good and take care of yourself!