Here is a recent experiment with words:
untitled, 09.09.09
life…a difficult slip
is pinned to illusion
and these gaps…muted and abysmal
are a furry shadow
the shape..the sheath..the shell
is wrecked
the brick does fit
and reticence gets none
slide the fat down the cliff
rest in movement
to rebound
a proper form
I revisited the website for The Fred Martinez Project, which I introduced last week (see post). I learned about two national outreach partners committed to the screening of Two Spirits and its discussion in communities: GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and PFLAG, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
GLAAD’s web page for Native American & Two-Spirit Communities lists The Fred Martinez Project as a supporting organization. (This page probably hasn’t been updated in awhile since it indicates that the film’s release was expected last year, yet Two Spirits currently is in post-production.) And PFLAG lists the project among its resources for Native American communities.
I also found out that The Fred Martinez Project was a 2008 awardee of the Monette-Horwitz Trust, which “provides annual awards to individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations who are, through their work, making significant contributions to eradicating homophobia.”
For now I continue tracking down promotion efforts for Two Spirits in my home state of Michigan. Outreach Director Tim Wilson is checking with the filmmaker, and recently I contacted staff from PFLAG and GLAAD to learn about their organizations’ outreach efforts. So news will be posted as it arrives!
Last week I heard about National Public Radio’s new project called Friday Night Lives. It’s a series about US high-school football, the hot spot for many communities during fall season. In response to the program’s solicitation for ideas, I emailed several for consideration (see below).
What interests and disturbs me about the culture of US high-school football is how it boxes gender and sexuality. Potential benefits like teamwork are twisted by an old-boys-club mentality. Quite simply gender-exclusive traditions do not inspire young men and women to become ‘anything’ they want to be. Especially not as women literally stand on the sidelines chanting in short skirts and shaking pom-poms. Continue reading
The other day I came across The Fred Martinez Project, created in memory of a Navajo teenager who was brutally killed. The information in this post is taken from the project website, which I highly recommend to check out.
The project‘s film Two Spirits documents Fred Martinez’s life and murder. Fred was transgendered, identifying as a gay man and expressing gender in feminine ways. In the Navajo tradition, Fred’s family understood him to be nádleehí – “a male-bodied person who has a feminine essence.”
As conveyed by a promise, project workers aim to make a powerful impact through sharing Fred’s story: “The Two Spirits documentary film and the education and outreach efforts of the Fred Martinez Project will play a role in deepening and expanding the ongoing national dialogue about self-identity, gender, freedom of expression, and human rights.”
I am thoroughly impressed by the aims of The Fred Martinez Project and the promising impact of Two Spirits being screened. I hope that folks back in my state of Michigan and in the greater Lansing area take interest to get the documentary in cinemas and to organize community dialogues. I’d love to see the film show where I am in northern Europe among the bustling institutions of Brussels and the arts community of Amsterdam. For I believe stories are meant to be heard, and words have wings.
With this hopeful expectation, I’ve contacted staff with The Fred Martinez Project and look forward to sharing more on the blog when details are available.
From 14 to 16 August I attended a creative writing workshop at the ABC Treehouse. One day of fiction with Amal Chatterjee and another of poetry with Jane Draycott culminated in a group reading. My bag of tricks is fatter than ever! See the “Read more” section for a smattering of my prompted writes.
A special thanks to Ruth Hopkins for giving fellow workshoppers the Am’dam experience. Especially for inviting Rashid Novaire to read in English from his Dutch books, and for giving a tour of the Red Light District based on her own research. Continue reading
Besides Sonia Sotomayor sworn in as the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, I am excited to share more good news from the States!
The very talented Chey Davis of Saginaw, Michigan, received a brilliant review for her latest poetry publication Collection.
And the extraordinary Rina Risper continues her campaign for City Council after making the August 4th primary in Lansing, Michigan.
Grlz, keep on keepin’ on!
So I’m posting a poem of mine from November 2007 to celebrate this happy occasion and honor these spectacular women: Continue reading
‘How long are you willing to wait?’ asked Jim Pym during a course on healing and meditation at Claridge House, Quaker retreat center. For me the question sounds out, ‘How long am I willing to wait in hope, open to all possibility?’ The question calls upon patience and a trust in the Divine, the Spirit, the Light, the Universe. It is a question I hear when seeking healing for others and myself. And it is an opportunity to let go of assumptions, expectations, and experiences. Continue reading
Whoo-hoo! I recently published the gallery for my website Dey of the Phoenix. This first version is simple and offers several pictures. A future version will offer audio files and video clips. This small step in building DotP is gratifying in several ways.
I learn basic contemporary code, a rewarding challenge for this former technophobe. For any geek interested, DotP uses CSS with XML and programming by a higher-order geek Tom Schouten. Yes, I truly was pleased to find start-up code for a gallery without flash or deprecated tables after several searches. This pleasure tells me that I progress in the vast domain of Geekdom!
Also, I’m satisfied that DotP readers aren’t required to register with an external party in order to access materials. Advertisements aren’t flashing as users browse pages. And neither I nor DotP visitors must agree to policies that lose most anyone in waist-high details.
So there’s a little background to the slow but certain development that Dey of the Phoenix promises. And I’m glad for readers who share the journey.
is to train
ascend the precipice
stand momentarily
and return to the valley
inspired onto
the next journey
while watched by valley dwellers
who admire the climb and
desire the dew of descent
despite the predictable
compulsion to
circle
Four new poems: Then Rather Than, Last Words, broken whole, and untitled. Continue reading
