Empower Ourselves: Now booking workshops for your school or organization



I wrote this poem while sitting in a cubicle job that was killing my creative spirit. Through that experience, I became committed to focusing on my art as full time employment. Check out the video and book me for your classroom. I have worked for over 10 years as a teaching artist and program coordinator for Chicago Public Schools. I have extensive experience in arts integration, literacy, poetry, theater and social justice. Email me at ladyterroreducation@gmail.com for rates and dates for your unique and collaborative workshops that will awaken your students to the beauty of words and their own creative power.

Speaking what you want Mondays!

Transitions in life, whether smooth or bumpy, always are a good thing. Nothing is constant but change. The last month has really turned my world upside down. Do you remember the oppressive cubicle job that cried and worried over? The one that attempted to drain all my creativity? The one that sent out a snarky memo instructing us to only get up from our seats twice in an 8 hour day? Well, they ended my employment, along with two other ladies two weeks ago. *cue the dance music*

While, I am a bit stressed about some bills, I am truly happy and relieved that I now have the space and time to find new ways of income that are aligned with my love of writing, performing and education. I have this strong, deep down feeling that things will be fine and that I will soon be very successful doing my art. Ever since I moved from Chicago to Atlanta last year I have had this strong vibe that I am about to blow up real, real big with my Lady Terror work. I have vivid dreams and visions of standing in a very large theatre on stage. I can picture every detail down to the carvings in the wood on the seats in audience. I see the light sequences on the stage as I perform, I see my outfit and I get this tingly feeling in my heart when I perform and write. I know that my purpose in life is to write, perform, educate and empower others to live creatively.

For months now, I have been not focusing on what I want, instead on what I don't want. I meditate for 20 seconds each day on what I want my life to be. I have been creating little snapshots of the end result in my mind. I wrote down all the key qualities I want in a career on a sheet of paper and taped it to my box of Wisdom Meditation Cards. The list reads:
-creative
-flexible
-employee centered
-relaxed
-artistic
-flexible
-empowering
-ability to travel
-humane and fair
-outside of the box
-unique
-involves writing and teaching
-social justice is important
-great pay with ability to help others make money too
-visionary
-innovative
-stable
-honest

One of the main concepts of my Lady Terror Performance Art is Ranting. I am so passionate about ranting and believe in the power it holds to create change and empower. The act of ranting puts your concerns and wishes out into the universe in a way that's so intense it creates this ripple effect and rhythm which is necessary for movement. You have no choice but to hustle and hustle hard(shouts out to Ace Hood). I see graduate school, radio shows, books, teaching, producing and performing theater pieces in my future. I see large checks being deposited into my mailbox and bank account. I see grants, scholarships, fellowships and blessings. I will not take anything less. I'm screaming into the sky and holding my hands out and up to receive. It starts now.

WHAT ARE YOU CLAIMING TODAY? WHAT INTUITIVE BELIEFS DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR FUTURE?

Lady Terror Re - Imagined

I have been in a re- invention period in my artistic life since I created the character "Lady Terror." Almost three years ago, while attempting to write through a huge case of writer's block, Lady Terror came through. I believe it was a culmination of years of rage and a super pissed off attitude about injustice and oppression that molded Lady Terror. Soon, I was ranting and screaming poetry through a real bullhorn and on a soapbox built just for me. Ranting became the means to solve social problems. The bullhorn became the desperate symbol of voice and empowerment.

I have been writing and performing poetry for over 10 years in the traditional sense. Write poem on paper. Read it on a mic. Sit down. Repeat. I love the simplicity of poetry and pride myself on my ability to express myself through words. But, as I grew as an artist the above ritual became to neat, clean and predictable. I longed for messy and surprising. I really longed for performance, spectacle and theater. I wanted to shake up the day and shine a bright light onto the issues truly destroying my community. To date I have installed the following art spectacles into the community:

1. Poetry reading marathon at Chicago's Largest Parade, Bud Biliken. I read the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks on a bullhorn for hundreds of passerby's. The lady Terror mission believes that reading and writing poetry is a healing tool that can spark imagination and change. Check some video footage:

2. Created a one night only poetry show i front of liquor stores all over the South Side of Chicago. The South Side, like other inner city communities, are lacking in creative resources. I brought the art to us by setting up small performance venues outside on sidewalks.

3. As part of damali ayo's project "National Day of Panhandling for Reparations" I begged for change for reparations downtown Chicago on State Street. For an entire afternoon I begged for the money due us after 400 years of slavery.

4. Yoga in the hood was one of my favorite stunts. As a protest against the inequalities that exist between white and black communities, I created mini yoga studios in the lobby of fast food establishments.

As I move into the New Year. I am excited about the opportunities for Lady Terror. I'm planning a stunt in honor on MLK, Jr. Birthday Celebration, developing my current one woman show "I Will Not Calm Down" and writing a new one, participating in a Experimental Puppetry Festival, submitting a proposal for a Street Festival with Flux Projects and creating volunteer opportunities to start back collaborating with young people. More soapboxes will be built and more bullhorns screamed through. I'm ranting in 2011. What about you? What are your creative and artistic hopes for the New Year?

Tree Pose in the Hood

Last Friday, I was able to go out with Ashley from Blame it on Ashley Productions and Aaron, from One Shot Photography to began filming for the "Lady Terror Show." The show will be footage from the spectacles I perform in the community, poetry and social commentary. Lady Terror deals with very serious issues in her work but the concept of her character is meant to be comedic and ironic. What better way to really get attention and encourage involvement but to create a character that loves to rant and believes the best way to solve social issues is to scream like a fucking lunatic until someone listens? She is a reaction to the apathy and disconnection in our communities. A desperate but empowered woman that doesn't want to calm down because she already tried that and it didn't work. Poverty is still killing her people. People usually pay attention to someone causing a scene. Someone who likes to curse and be out of control. The unexpected. There is nothing more dangerous than a person who gives a damn. When you get in touch with your rage you can make space for joy.

The guerilla art spectacles include:
Yoga classes in fried food spots
Turning liquor stores into performance spaces
Poetry therapy marathons at parades, on off ramps of expressways, on street corners, etc.

Social Justice starts early!

I just finished a 13 week arts residency at Crown Community Academy. I was collaborating with my favorite poet friend, Amanda Lichtenstein and Luke Albrecht, the 8th grade math teacher. During this arts integration program, we collaborated to create curriculum that blends math and writing. The 8th graders studied the math concept of statistics, averages and graphing while writing rants and exploring the concept of social justice. I had the opportunity to present the questions, "What are you mad about? What is worth getting mad at? What is civil rights?"

The young poets wrote about violence, single parent homes, Haiti, guns, family and used a bullhorn and soapbox to perform rants. The final class was filled with a poetry performance filled with poems that included statistics and percentages to fuel the rant. Our final performance project was a poetry marathon on report card pick up day. While the school was filled with parents, students and guests, the 8th graders took over the hallway and read poetry on a bullhorn for 2 hours straight. The concept: poetry is therapy and the very act of hearing poetry read aloud can be healing to the listener. The Westside community where the school is located needs healing. Chicago youth need healing from the violence. So we will bring the words to them. We read selected poems from Ruth Forman, Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, Tupac Shakur, Lucille Clifton, Maya Angelou and they also read their own original rants.

The principal and two teachers also got involved and caught the poetry spirit. Dr. Jackson, the principal, read a powerful piece about black men after hearing us read. The students were so proud, fearless and amazing. They read for the whole two hours and probably would have read for 2 more hours if asked. Social justice can start very early. You don't need to wait until they are in senior year of high school to introduce the concept of community service and social justice work. We must start early.