I feel more gratitude than grief right now as I consider that both Odetta and Miriam Makeba have joined the ancestors since Dia de Los Muertos, since the first Jazz on the Sacred Side. Searching for images of Odetta just now this one of her suited, seated, surrounded by heavyweights jumped out at me...because it makes me pause and remember that when these great figures die, it feels so critical to celebrate them in the context of community...as beloved community builders who would not rest until real love and real community were truly free for EVERYONE to experience.
I always write so long and I want to remember Mama Africa too....breathtaking Miriam...
As I wrote once in an essay on South Africa that I think they should remove the statue of Queen Elizabeth outside of St. Georges Cathedral (Desmond Tutu's old church in CapeTown) and replace it with one of Miriam in this dress from Come Back Africa. But before I go on and on I'd like to remind everyone that we will continue the "Come Sunday: Jazz on the Sacred Side" series this Sunday, Dec 7 with a woman so perfectly in line with the legacies of Odetta and Makeba, my beautiful sister Nailah. Regarding all three of these women I think of a line from my beautiful brother, Kamau Daaood's poem about Horace Tapscott:
"I do not fit into form, I create form"
I feel so grateful to be part of the beloved community we are building with this series, in this city, in these trouble/hallelujah times.
COME SUNDAY: JAZZ ON THE SACRED SIDE WITH NAILAH
DECEMBER 7, 2008 AT 3pm @ THE JAZZ BAKERY
The Jazz Bakery is located at 3233 Helms Ave. LA, CA 90034
(310) 271-9039 or http://jazzbakery.org/ for tickets ($25, $15 students)
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