Serafemme 2005
This was a historic event for Black lesbians. Sistahs
performed for sistahs and the event was organized and arranged by Sistahs,
Marquita Thomas of Out & About
and Hanifah Walidah, a sistah from
New York who has several CD’s out now, quite a body of work, and she is an
equally talented visual artist. Just an aside, check out her site and visit
her blog because sistah is doing some serious vlogging or video blogging and
is getting the word out about other artists along with the work she’s doing.
Her blog is also educational—nuff said.
Getting back to Serafemme, if you were not able to attend do make plans for
next year because I came away from the event more excited about something
than I’ve been in a long time. The reason for my excitement had to do with
the wealth of talent we have in our community and the aforementioned women
making something happen without prior experience or knowledge on how to do
something like this. These women made this thing happen and it was
wonderfully done.
The event was held at the One Gay & Lesbian National Archives in Los Angeles
near the University of Southern California. Around the festival grounds were
vendors selling their wares and services. I did some shopping and bought a
wonderful rainbow set complete with an ashtray, incense holder, and other
items I am now proudly displaying in my home office.
The first artist to take the stage, Angie
Evans, is a woman we used to call back the day a “blue-eyed soul
sistah.” A lusty soulful voice complimented an equally soulful acoustic
guitar. From Long Beach California to Serafemme, Angie Evans started her set
with a revolutionary song entitled “A Call To Action.” From there,
the mood was set for poetry and the poet was Damnyo.
Damnyo, a local poet who is credited for starting and maintaining a number
of spoken word events throughout the city performed a poem during her set
that got my attention. The piece, Suicide Song starts with the
phrase, “if Sade’s crying everyone’s tears then I must be singing
everyone’s blues.” Yeah, that got my attention. A powerful opening to
an equally powerful poem.
Next was the group Myriad and I stood stunned for a moment because these
sisters packed some tremendous talent which set me up for more to come. My
favorite was that “funky” little something they did on perception. I
loved it and have played it repeatedly since.
Jessica Knox hit the stage
with a sultry little song from her CD entitled "Surrender."
That was just what the doctor ordered to take my mind off the hot day and
think about hot nights—but I won’t go there. You’ve got to get the CD.
For a little comic relief, or release, came the “little fellas,”
Butchlalis de Panochtitlan who gave us a rundown on the various moans out
there. You had to be there to thoroughly enjoy their performance. They were
unapologetic and good.
Ganessa James from NYC followed the “little fellas” and gave quite a
performance. She and her twin sister comprise a group called the
Onliest. I would love to see the two
of them perform. As Hanifah stated in her introduction, one is butch and the
other is femme—can you imagine?
During intermission we all had a chance to listen to Hanifah’s CD
The Blue State, from her
label Trust Life. The CD features artists Hanifah Walidah, Mrk DrkFthr and
Tim'm West. Sistah’s got skills and I’ll explain later.
Next to the stage was Kamala, a sister from Belgium born in Bombay and
rapping in both English and French. Unfortunately, she was a little under
the weather but she still pulled out on a good performance in spite of it,
particularly when she cut the music and went full force with a French rap.
When Sphear hit the stage, I found myself standing there like a proud mother
I was so amazed at this young sistah’s talent and I discovered she is also a
filmmaker who has a DVD out entitled “County General.” Sphear has
such a stage presence and can she mix some words? I won’t go into detail
about a box brought onto the stage but suffice it to say, I’m seriously
reconsidering my thoughts on eating meat—nuff said.
Now, I’ll be honest. I’m not one for rap but Ricoshade jazzed me so I
actually bought one of her CD’s. Even I could not believe I did what I did.
The sistah is hot and she delivers—effortlessly—she delivers. She definitely
“came at the audience” and she did not need the wireless mic. Wow!
I interviewed Nayahri Suhalia last year in Lemert Park and Nayahri, along
with Hanifah Walidah are Leaders here on FemmeNoir. When I saw her perform
poetry during a Burst of Light reading last year, I knew from her presence
and her ability to mix old school with new school while pouring in a little
hip hop in the mix, this sistah is going places. She can drop wisdom right
in front of you and you’ll hear it when it hits the floor, take a good
bounce, before finally hitting your head. All I can say about Nayahri is
watch out, you could get hurt cause that star is about to rise hot and
heavy.
After Nayahri, I had to hit the road and go to work. Two and one-half hours
of video and memories is all I have from a wonderful day with
entrepreneurial sistahs, talented sistahs, sistahs working for and in the
community—Lisa Powell from ULOAH was there along with Katina Parker
representing GLADD, one of the sponsors for Serafemme—it was empowering and
I felt proud to be a Black lesbian.
Unfortunately, leaving early meant I missed Hanifah Walidah’s performance
but I did catch some of it from her blog entitled “Serafemme
5: I Delivered.” She does what I call my kind of music because
she makes music talk and it be hurt’n you while it be talk’n. She adds
vocals to compliment the beat. It’s "thanking" music and you gotta be
there to get it—or maybe not—but being there is preferable. After reminding
myself over and over to pick up her CD The Blue State, I still forgot
because I was having issues with myself so I gotta get it. Sistah is deep.
Did I say that already? Yeah, she deep.
Leaving early also meant I missed other very talented artists and I sure
wanted to see Mi$$ Money who I hear blew up the crowd. That’s another sistah
doing some stuff.
Hanifah and Marquita are working on a video compilation of the event which
should be out soon and it is certainly something you will not want to miss.
Be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s Black Pride and get your
tickets for Serafemme 2006. It was hot this year, next year it will surely
be smoking.
Serafemme Highlights Part I -- Quicktime Stream (LAN/DSL/Cable). Approximately 50 Minutes. Video highlights artists Angie Evans, Damnyo, Myriad, Jessica Knox, Butchlalis de Panochtitlan, and Ganessa James.
Serafemme Highlights Part II -- Quicktime Stream (LAN/DSL/Cable). Approximately 54 Minutes. Video highlights artists Kamala, Sphear, Ricoshade, Naya'hri Suhalia, and closing credits.
Windows Media Player (Dialup):
Serafemme Highlights Part I -- Serafemme Highlights Part II
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