SO((U))LHERVERSE
Greetings Beautiful People!
I begin this piece inspired by the words of the poet June Jordan who in her “Poem for South African Women” powerfully articulated the words: “We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For.” From the moment I heard those words they became cemented in my mind as a personal call-to-action, a mantra, they were words I knew I needed to hear. I began to recognize that these were the words that would guide my activism – because in my own expectations for a world clouded by so much bad shit I had to believe in and see opportunity, hope and possibility and I somehow knew I had a part to play. Since I first heard those words and at night as I look to the stars for guidance, or first thing in the morning as I watch the Sun prepare to shine her healing energy on the world, when I am out of my comfort zone, when I am plagued with feelings of self-doubt and fear I hear June whispering softly and sometimes reverberating loudly in my head saying:
You Are The One You’ve Been Waiting For.
I should also say from the beginning that this piece is also inspired by another project I’ve been working on called - SO((U))LHERVERSE. By definition (my own), the SO((U))LHERVERSE is a fused socio-political-musical space that exists somewhere in the universe in a place outside the solar system where our voices, women’s voices, are free and loud and echo strength and confidence – and where they are heard. Where HER VERSE is HER’d.
SO((U))LHEVERSE is the first in a series of mixtapes that am I co-creating with a sister friend DJ Afifa Aza Sol. Developed from a shared love of music and a response to the false claims that women’s voices in music are absent in the mainstream and that the only voices we do hear are former destiny’s children, hidden under umbrella-ella-ella sounds played loudly on “pink friday’s.” Certainly these are loud voices BUT there are whole host of women folk whose rebellious sounds dissent loudly; These women whose efforts are aligned with my own political vision and position in the world. As globally women “occupy” streets and squares from Las Gidi to Tahrir, as we organize as the 99%, as the 44% , shouting y’en a marre! and as feminists and social justice activists operating to challenge inequality and fight awful shit like patriarchy, I felt that there had to be a way to connect our organizing and our big picture politics to the everyday realties of our lives. That reality in my world includes being influenced by music. I am part of a generation raised on hip-hop and R&B, reggae, a generation that is being reintroduced to highlife and jazz and soul music in truly fascinating ways. I am excited to be collecting and putting together the emerging voices of folks like D’bi Young, Nneka, Akua Naru and others like Tanya Stephens, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lauryn Hill who for me have consistently pushed the bar – and shaken shit up. Artists who we’ve all sung along to mouthing words of revolution and love and peace and purpose – and purpose (even before that shit made sense). As music lovers and as women we honor the sounds of other women who have also inspired us and helped move us – Whitney (may you rest in powHER), Tracy (come back to us!), Billie and others that are an incredible part of this project. Women whose voices reflect so many of our personal and political struggles. It is also not by accident that we begin with the sounds of sisters like India.Arie reminding us that “this is in remembrance of our ancestors”, we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. Afifa and I have tried to integrate a broad range of voices that we feel reflect out vision of this SO((U)LHERVERSE.
We share with you all the sounds of sistrens in our SO((U))LHERVERSE. We hope you enjoy this first mix – our hope is that if anything at all it encourages you to think about some of the critical issues I think the sistrens featured implore us to think about. Listen to the mix on your ipod (or walkman – fistpump if you’ve got one!), on your way to work, in the shower, at your desk, in your classroom, bring together a group of friends, start a sister circle, twitter chat or link to it on facebook and have the conversation. Think about: Who/What came before us? Who are your feminist icons? Which women’s voices would you like to see in this project? What issues are women singing about? Question what “revolution” means to you, interrogate questions of racial and economic justice, respect, sexual liberation, revolution as love, love as revolution (Love Warriors, Love Spaces), What does it mean to be weapons of mass construction? What does genuine solidarity look like? …Connect the dots. Be Curious. Ask Questions…or just listen and appreciate. The nerd in me wants to describe this project as an attempt to fashion an alternative vernacular that speaks to a new frontier of feminism by acknowledging the power of pop culture – but Ima shut down the nerd and just say I hope this project offers you a sample of cool “message music” and something that provides a user-friendly space to discuss some of the issues we face daily.
“We need a Revolution of the Mind, We need a Revolution of the Heart. We need a Revolution of The Spirit. The Power of People is stronger than any weapon…We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass Love. It’s not enough just to change the system we need to change ourselves. We have got to make this world user-friendly.” ~ D’bi Young
‘Where in history do we have an example where silence changed anything? We don’t have that example. Silence doesn’t change anything. It is just makes us silent.Yaba Blay
We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For.
Welcome to the SO((U))LHERVERSE. Happy International Women’s Day!
In Love & Light and Love,
Amina ♥
Download the mix here: http://www.mediafire.com/?3w3b75wuplg7sy0
