bryanjazz

First, I want to give thanks and praise to my ancestors (including my father), for paving the way and creating the space for me to exist in this place and time. I honor them and thank them for the many blessings I have received throughout this first 40 years.

I want to next thank and praise my mother, who not only gave birth to me 40 years ago, but also courageously did an excellent job as a single mom, successfully raising a black male child in America. Her choices, on my behalf, led to an abundance of opportunities and choices in my own life, including an excellent education grounded in an appreciation for my own African American cultural heritage, a respect for others based on a sense of self-respect, and an appreciation of joy and laughter. I love you, mom.

I also want to thank my cousins, Ursula and DJ Markey, who provided me (throughout my life and continuously) unconditional love and acceptance that has been invaluable as I've formed my own sense of self. Moreover, they also served as excellent mentors, shaping my sense of global citizenship, deepening my appreciation of jazz and world culture, and providing me with a first-hand account of the zeitgeist of the 1960's, the decade in which I entered this plane.

Indeed, I have always felt a positive connection to "the 60's", that turbulent decade which shook the world. And now, 40 years later, it appears that one of those of us born in that era is on the verge of ushering in a new generation of leadership to the position of President of the United States. To be 40, and witness someone born in the same decade and whose age is in the same range as mine is....well, more specifically...it's the fact that he represents a turn toward the highest aspirations of those of us in this age group and younger that is truly inspirational.

As my mom wrote to me and reminded me in a letter I read this morning:

...You were born the day before carnival and in a leap year. That was February 26, 1968.

That period was a time in this country when racism, segregation, and separation was a way of life in the South. Racism was not as subtle as it is now. Though the signs denoting Colored/White sections in restaurants, buses, theaters, etc. were no longer in evidence, the practice was still evident in many places.

In that year, on April 4, 1968 (my birthday) Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. That caused a lot of riots in the country but also seemed to lead to a more intense feeling of pride in our people. Slogans of "Black and Proud" were heard all over, people were wearing dashikis, men and women were wearing natural hair styles and more people started giving their children African names."

And indeed, 40 years later I have a natural hair style and have been to the motherland myself...and may witness the first African American president. Certainly socio-economic injustice (globally and nationally), gender and sexuality discrimination, and everyday racism still pervade our nation and our planet. However, my own fortune and the current political movement which Mr. Obama represents, reminds me of the famous quote from that man assassinated two months safer my birth:

When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

So it feels great to be 40. I am thankful for my good health and sound mind, and generally feel blessed at this "mid-life" point to have choices about the possibilities I want to create in my life. In my travels around the planet, I have learned first-hand about the privileges I enjoy with respect to majority of the population of the world, and what a joy it is to meet others near and far, and share what I can...especially the sharing of myself.

PEACE!

Once again I find myself posting about Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate form Kenya. In an article she wrote for Forbes.com regarding the recent Peace Prize being given to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Ms. Maathai eloquently illustrates the African context of the environmental movement, and why global warming is more than an abstract notion for the continent, which is experiencing sweeping environmental changes that real people are facing today. Maathai writes:

For me, the issue is personal--for it is in my part of the world, the continent of Africa, that the effects of global climate change are likely to be most severe. Increased drought, erratic rainfall, floods, crop failures and the consequent migration of large numbers of people will only intensify already existing tensions here and in other developing regions.

Indeed, as my own love for the continent and it's people have grown through my travels there, the issue is personal for me, too. Read her article, "An Appreciation of Al Gore", here.

BBC Profile

The Green Belt Movement

Two years ago, an American city experienced the costliest and one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S. history. As a native of that city, New Orleans, Louisiana, it is deeply troubling to note that the devastating effects on the city of Hurricane Katrina still remain largely unaddressed. Those in power in the current American oligarchy continue to channel billions and billions of dollars toward their self-serving imperialist enterprise, while New Orleans and its inhabitants continue to be neglected, largely due to issues of class and race.

And so it goes...

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Personally, I have been to New Orleans about 5 times since the storm hit. Each visit is bittersweet; a chance to return home (or revisit the question of home), to see family (though my mom has relocated/been displaced to Houston), and to experience the culture...or what's left of it. JAZZFEST still happens, and, as noted here before, it is an anticipated, joyful reunion time for close friends and family. It's still that, yet many discussions about things to do, see or experience in the city end in a brief silence after an acknowledgment of what's "not there anymore." Driving around the city, seeing all the abandoned homes and businesses, only confirms the absences present in the conversations. I didn't drive around the city on my last visit.

So on this second anniversary after the storm, I am wondering about the future of the city that was.

See also:

How to Destroy an African American City in 33 Steps - Lessons from Katrina
Beyond Katrina
New Orleans Independent Media Center

(*listening to John Coltrane's "Lonnie's Lamment)

Greetings.

Below is information on the latest production in which I am involved here in New York City. The performance follows six characters whose personal struggles reflect the “color complex” in communities of African descent in America. I am happy to be working with a talented group of creative individuals who will deliver what promises to be a moving and thought-provoking theatrical experience, blending dramatic monologues, spoken word, and dance with film and photography. Be sure to bring a friend as you'll want to have someone with whom to discuss afterwards. Spread the word!

It Goes Unsaid
A dramatic performance piece on the color complex.

Written by Rhonney Greene, Teresa Michelle Lasley and Derek Lee McPhatter
Directed by Ain Rashida Sykes
Bryan E Glover, Producer

June 29 & 30 at 8:00 PM, July 1 at 2:00 PM

The Poet's Den
309 East 108th Street (between 1st & 2nd Avenues)
New York, New York

E-mail ticket reservations to utsboxoffice@gmail.com

Along with her famous husband John, who died in 1967, and the still living legend, Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane helped shape in an essential way my understanding of the relationship between music and spirituality. I know this to be true for many people. We will miss her presence on this plane, but know that her spirit will continue to move us through her music, writings and the rich example that was her life of Spirit. Love and light to her family, and the ashram for which she served as spiritual leader.

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  Alice Coltrane, 69; Performer, Composer of Jazz and New Age Music; Spiritual Leader

Alice Coltrane, the jazz performer and composer who was inextricably linked with the adventurous musical improvisations of her late husband, legendary saxophonist John Coltrane, has died. She was 69. (more)

*(Listening to Alice Coltrane's, "Translinear Light")