Animate Earth, How Then Shall I live? A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness is my Original Instructions on Entering the Healing Ground: Ritual, Grief, and the Soul of the World. Indigenizing the Academy? A Global HIstory of Indigenous Peoples? Yes. Always Coming Home. Shamans and Priests knows The World Behind the Word. Because of this I am not Bright Sided. I am a Mystic Wanderer in the Land of Perpetual Departure, one of the Masses who Are Messiah Contemplating the Filipino Soul. My Pedagogies of Crossing searches my Fate and Destiny about Race and the Cosmos. They All Want Magic, you see.
As I scanned the stack of books next to my bed, I realized there's a story being told. Can you see it?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Grace Nono, 2012
I hope this finds you all shining! I have good news to share.
Grace Nono's new book, BABAYLAN VOICES, will be published by the Institute of Spirituality in Asia in Spring 2012. Grace is currently preparing to defend her dissertation proposal in January and then she will be leaving New York end of January to return to the Philippines. She plans to return to the US around April 9 and will be available for about 4 weeks to share this new work via performances, book talks, or collaborative projects in the US (California, New York, and where there is interest).
Those of us who have been part of Grace's sojourn in the US know what a gift she is to our diasporic community. In her keynote lecture at the Babaylan conference and through her first book, The Shared Voice, we were introduced to primary babaylans, chanters, and oralists. Through her performances of our indigenous sacred chants, we created ceremony that brought us closer to one another and most of all, closer to the source of our indigeneity.
Would you be interested in being part of planning events with Grace Nono in the given window of time mentioned above? I also want to invite you to think of your own creativity and how you could create collaboration with Grace. Please, let's use this forum to talk amongst ourselves on how we can make beautiful things happen. We are all so resourceful, creative, and abundantly blessed by Kapwa and Loob. I hope to hear from you soon.
Sending you warm rays of the sun and the crisp air of autumn,
Leny
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Ang Grupong Pendong
Last night, I attended a Grupong Pendong concert in American Canyon with Venus, Frances, Lizae, Kriya, Ron, Alexis, Grace, Junice.
I didn't realize how much American Canyon has "grown up"...their high school theater was mah-velous!
The theater was almost full and the audience was enthusiastic and high spirited. I didn't realize that AGP had a huge following in American Canyon and Vallejo (or maybe folks drove up from the Bay Area).
It was good to be reintroduced to their folk and indigenous Filipino music fused with a bit of rock. Their songs stir the audience to appreciate their cultural roots, become aware of environmental issues, and heed the call for political awareness. They provided English sub-titles to their songs so the non-Filipino speakers in the audience understood what the songs were about.
They also introduced indigenous instruments to the audience: kulintang, kubing, gongs, faglong (two-stringed lute from B'laan tribe). A medley of folksongs was appreciated as the audience was asked to identify with the regional origins.
Frances danced to the Apo Sandawa song and it was palpable that the audience was deeply moved. A very young girl even came up to Frances after the concert to share her admiration for Frances' dance and her parents quickly took photos of both of them.
At some point, when Frances was back in the audience, she couldn't resist the temptation to dance and she pulled Lizae and Alexis to dance with her. The body just needs to dance....
What a great service AGP is doing to promote our indigenous cultures through their music!
I look forward to hearing more...
I didn't realize how much American Canyon has "grown up"...their high school theater was mah-velous!
The theater was almost full and the audience was enthusiastic and high spirited. I didn't realize that AGP had a huge following in American Canyon and Vallejo (or maybe folks drove up from the Bay Area).
It was good to be reintroduced to their folk and indigenous Filipino music fused with a bit of rock. Their songs stir the audience to appreciate their cultural roots, become aware of environmental issues, and heed the call for political awareness. They provided English sub-titles to their songs so the non-Filipino speakers in the audience understood what the songs were about.
They also introduced indigenous instruments to the audience: kulintang, kubing, gongs, faglong (two-stringed lute from B'laan tribe). A medley of folksongs was appreciated as the audience was asked to identify with the regional origins.
Frances danced to the Apo Sandawa song and it was palpable that the audience was deeply moved. A very young girl even came up to Frances after the concert to share her admiration for Frances' dance and her parents quickly took photos of both of them.
At some point, when Frances was back in the audience, she couldn't resist the temptation to dance and she pulled Lizae and Alexis to dance with her. The body just needs to dance....
What a great service AGP is doing to promote our indigenous cultures through their music!
I look forward to hearing more...
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
About A Book of Her Own
A Book of Her Own is not only a book for Filipinas, nor is it only for women. By charting one woman’s journey through decolonization and toward reclaiming voice, indigeneity and wholeness, this book offers a map for anyone interested in personal and cultural healing, racial justice and the quest for beloved community. It is rich in resources, artistry and poetry, and unflinchingly authentic in marrying the political with the personal and spiritual.
---Nina Simons, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, BIONEERS,
and this, too, from Nina Simons:
Ms. Strobel’s A Book of Her Own offers a multi-dimensional and intriguing journey through her own process of finding her indigenous soul, connecting with her own authentic calling and sense of purpose, and reshaping her identity around her self, her roots and her community. The book’s design liberated me to consider new forms, as it weaves together many styles of poetic and political communications that collectively inform the author’s and readers’ learning. I have returned to my highlighted copy again and again, as it’s rich with references and great ideas to help inform the return to indigeneity that calls us all.
---Nina Simons, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, BIONEERS,
and this, too, from Nina Simons:
Ms. Strobel’s A Book of Her Own offers a multi-dimensional and intriguing journey through her own process of finding her indigenous soul, connecting with her own authentic calling and sense of purpose, and reshaping her identity around her self, her roots and her community. The book’s design liberated me to consider new forms, as it weaves together many styles of poetic and political communications that collectively inform the author’s and readers’ learning. I have returned to my highlighted copy again and again, as it’s rich with references and great ideas to help inform the return to indigeneity that calls us all.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The Learning on POV
The Learning is a must-see if you want to see the impact of economic globalization on the lives of four Filipina women. In my course on globalization and race, we just finished mapping the general trajectory of 500 years -- from colonialism to the developmental model which is known today as economic globalization. Economic hypergrowth, based on flawed assumptions about limits to development as imposed by the planet's ability to sustain free trade, paints the macro perspective. In this film, this economic process shows the impact on the micro level of personal experience of four women.
The film is powerful and should generate a lot of dialogue in our families and communities.
The students in my class are wondering why courses like the one they're in is not a mandatory course for all students. Yes, why not?
The film is powerful and should generate a lot of dialogue in our families and communities.
The students in my class are wondering why courses like the one they're in is not a mandatory course for all students. Yes, why not?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
59 thank yous
2. Noah's Dad
3. Noah's Lolo
4. siblings
5. garden
6. teaching
7. books
8. music
9. ocean trips
10. redwood walks11. spring lake
12. friends
13. solitude
14. sudoku
15. world social forum
16. grace lee boggs
17. book projects
18. retreats
19. hilot therapy20. invitations
21. birthday greetings
22. reunions
23. memories
24. surprises
25. summer by the lake
26. summer by the lake with Noah and dragonflies
27. sister surviving cancer
28, sister meeting tenor
29. sister meeting prechtel30. Cal on bike
31. Nina and CWL
32. booksigning at Bioneers
33. Bi Kidude and Shailja Patel
34. stories as medicine
35. Haines Makes Noise
36. ethnoautobiographies
37. mentors - dead and alive
38. dreams
39. spirit of ancestors40. scenic drive to work
41. indie films
42. popcorn
43. cooking
44. making kale chips
45. new friends
46. pile of books by the bed
47. lavender sachets i made
48. bamboo oracle
49. ghostly blog visitor50. sister mountain climbing
51. Noah loses baby teeth
52. monarch butterfly in the garden
53. hummingbird in the garden
54. eating off blueberry bush
55. basil pesto from the garden
56. oregano pesto from the garden
57. kalamansi from the garden
58. sari
59. ultimate experience at spa
Friday, September 2, 2011
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