Teri MOISE : Je serai là

Here Terri Moise again signing "Je serai là".
To my little "beast" with all my love.
Forever and never, no matter what!

Teri MOISE : Je serai là - MYTARATATA.COM
TARATATA N°162 (Tour. 12/03/97 - Dif. 01/05/97)
   
   

        Video de mytaratata   

Ismaël, The beast and the best Dream Team ever

This is a special post for our son, Ismaël. He asked me to post a picture of his first Basketball trophy. It did start this blog because of him.  So this is a perfect post to celebrate the one year anniversary of “Same Moonlight for Our Dreams”.

The beauty is that it all started with Basketball. I started to play really late. Like millions of others, I got hooked on by the Dream Team in 1992. It was my drug and my therapy. The ball and the court gave me a sense of freedom and balance. Street Ball was intoxicating and the best way to learn. The best part was that I was playing with my brother Eric. Most of the time, I was the only girl!!!

On a sunny summer afternoon, I meet a boy on a now “famous basketball court”.He was different and he did get me despite my ferocious facade. He became my best friend, then my boyfriend, my fiancé, and my husband. The beast at 6-foot-8 and basket ball, took us to the United  States of America.  We were a ferocious and resilient team.  Our dream team got blessed with a phenomenal player, Ismaël. In the midst of motherhood, parenthood, and life alone: basketball was not an active part of my life. That ball that I loved so much had lost prestige and glory. Until, the little player showed interest in the orange ball!! Seeing my favorite player and myself in him, I fell again for basketball.

His coach offered symbolic trophies to each player for a great season. The coach gave him “the beast” as nickname for his strength and resilience.

To my little beast, I love you!

Maman is so proud of you to infinity and beyond.

To my best friend, We are the best Dream Team ever...

In,Fate, Destiny and Dreams: I quoted  Paulo Coelho "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true".  We prepare our fate everyday in every actions. Let's not forget that we all are children of the universe and that our dreams are not negotiable.

Same Moonlight for Our Dreams is one year old.

Thank you to everybody...

Merci tout le monde……

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters is simply wonderful. We did read it this week end.  It is beyond politics. And it is about the real meaning of politics, children. The book sends a message of hope and unity. In my opinion, it celebrates multiculturalism and multilingualism. On which I talk about in a previous post.  

It captures the diversity of America to inspire all children to be themselves. I love the illustrations; it conveys a sense of optimism and awareness while preserving the insouciance of childhood.  It was written before his presidency and all profits go to charity for the children of disabled veterans. Again when Obama won, I won something priceless. Our son was proud to be him, in his multicultural complexity in this global community. This book is a great educational tool, and sends the message of “same moonlight for our dreams”.

Thank you to Barack Obama and Loren long

 

“La canción del bongó-Song of the Bongo Drum” by Nicolás Guillén

From a really interesting paper by Monika Kaup :"Our America" That Is Not One: Transnational Black Atlantic Disclosures in Nicolás Guillén and Langston Hughes.

La canción del bongó-Song of the Bongo Drum”, from Sóngoro consongo by  Nicolás Guillén

Esta es la canci´on del bong´o:
–Aqu´ı el que m´as fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
Unos dicen: Ahora mismo,
otros dicen: All´a voy.
Pero mi repique bronco,
pero mi profunda voz,
convoca al negro y al blanco,
que bailen el mismo son,
cueripardos y almiprietos
m´as de sangre que de sol,
pues quien por fuera no es noche,
por dentro ya oscureci´o.
Aqu´ı el que m´as fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
(Obra po´etica 104)

This is the song of the bong´o:
Here even blueblood
answers if I call.
Some answer, “Right now!”
Others say, “On my way!”
But my hoarse rejoinder,
deep bass voice,
calls both black and white
to dance the same son.
Brown of skin or brown of soul
more from blood than sun,
those who are not night outside
get darker deep within.
Here even blueblood
answers if I call.
(trans. Hughes and Carruthers, Cuba Libre 81)

Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Pérola 2009 - Ninguém Caminha Só

Enjoy this sweet melody by  Pérola. She is from Angola.

Book of the week: The Alchemist: A graphic Novel

Being in my graphic novel therapy, I am searching  the web for my next read. And here, I found  it, The Alchemist; A graphic Novel! I am ordering this one!! It will be a new project for my favorite second grader as well as a perfect educating tool. This a perfect addition to the original version and accessible to new dreamers.
Same Moonlight  for our Dreams

Pride of Baghdad written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Niko Henrichon

I finished this graphic novel this weekend. It is a great fictional story based on a true story of four African lions that escaped from the Baghdad Zoo after an American bombing in 2003. It is a captivating allegory on freedom, humanity, community and survival. The illustration is the soul of this masterpiece!  Seriously, the illustrations are breathtaking. The plot is good: Baghdad in decline during the American invasion and four African lions in quest of freedom. The plot starts slowly  then it goes into a mind blowing "fictional dystopia allegory"  like  the animal farm of Orwell. That is why I love the story. According to Wikipedia, a dystopian society is also often characterized by mass poverty and brutal political controls such as a large military-like police. I like how fiction challenge our critical thinking.  Pride of Baghdad is an allegory on domesticated wild animals escaping a zoo in an urban jungle at war. Fighters or hunters, captives or servants, we are all starving for freedom.  One of the character says  "There's an old saying, Zill. Freedom can't be given, only earned".
 Thank you to K.Vaughan and Niko Henrichon for this masterpiece.
A must read, specially in our current revolutionary climate....
Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Fat Freddy`s Drop - Hope

Enjoy this soulful song.  Simply beautiful..Hope!!!

Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Chocolate addiction is definitively global

In December, scientists unlocked the genetic code of  Theobroma cacao aka chocolate.The article from Nature genetics is fascinating. Criollo Cocoa is from Central America. Our dear chocolate went through 3000 years of domestication. From the Mayas to our supermarkets, cocoa has changed to vigorous and productive hybrids.  In this evolution, we lost the fine flavor of chocolate from the Criollo varieties. According to the article: “Fine-cocoa production is nevertheless estimated to be less than 5% of the world cocoa production due to the low productivity and disease susceptibility of the traditional fine-flavor cocoa varieties. Therefore, breeding of improved Criollo varieties is important for sustainable production of fine-flavor cocoa.”

Of course, 18 European countries did partner with CIRAD (a research agency designed to help developing countries develop their agricultural industries) for the love of cocoa. Today, Ivory Coast cocoa farmers are protesting against the UN sanctions by burning cocoa beans. Ivory Coast is the biggest cocoa producer in the world.  Farmers are losing their wages while cocoa has been at highest trading price for a year. This is done for the love of politics.

It seems that in 3000 years of domestication, nothing has changed. For the Mayas, cocoa trees were sacred and beans were used as currency.  Cocoa beans traveled from central America to Europe thanks to Christophe Colomb. The democratization of chocolate in Europe went along with chocolate slavery. The globalization of the chocolate markets goes with economic slavery. And our annual global binging of 3.7 million tons of cocoa comes with many genetics breeding and political manipulations. As a child our parents often told us to never forget that some children working in the cocoa fields never tasted chocolate. I know that fair trade is a drop in the ocean but sometimes a little is all we need to survive. Chocolate addiction is definitively global!!!

The king's speech

This is a brilliant, amazing, and inspirational movie. It was exactly what I needed!!! A speechless Prince that has to talk like a King!! The movie is about love, friendship, trust and fears.  It is about finding your own voice and talk to the world. It is not about the eloquence of grandiose orators.  It is about that inner voice, you want everybody to hear without being too vulnerable.  The movie also reminds me, how I used to change my voice to match my environment.  As a child, my dad used to call me the chameleon. I could copy accent, timbre and tone. It was my way to blend in.  The funny thing is that our son also noticed.  He said that he knows when I use my voice with my own accents or my “people” voice.  The truth is that imitating “people voice”  helps me in pronunciation.  I still easily stutter on many English words. It reminds me who I am and where I come from. So it is all good.

This movie beautifully depicts a struggle within each one of us.

A must see!

Foundation of the week: V-Day

Beyond Valentine day!!!
"The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina."!!


"V-Day is a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sex slavery.....

In Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, V-Day commits ongoing support to build movements and anti-violence networks. Working with local organizations, V-Day provided hard-won funding that helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq; sponsored annual workshops and three national campaigns in Afghanistan; convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders; and donated satellite-phones to Afghan women to keep lines of communication open and action plans moving forward. V-Day was instrumental in the founding of Karama, a program working in Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon that works to build upon and strengthen efforts to end violence against women by bringing together local women's organizations and other civil society groups in collaboration, analysis and advocacy at national, regional and international levels"

http://www.vday.org/about/more-about

http://drc.vday.org/

John Coltrane - Equinox (Original)

Happy Monday to you all!!!
Here is  John Coltrane - Equinox (Original)!!
Enjoy!

Edouard Glissant- Excerpt from Pays rêvé, pays réel

In homage to the Caribbean poet Edouard Glissant. 
Rest in peace ...

Here a beautiful poem  from  Monde en poésie.

Excerpt from Pays rêvé, pays réel

Si la nuit te dépose au plus haut de la mer

N'offense en toi la mer par échouage des anciens dieux

Seules les fleurs savent comme on gravit l'éternité

Nous t'appelons terre blessée ô combien notre temps

Sera bref, ainsi l'eau dont on ne voit le lit

Chanson d'eau empilée sur l'eau du triste soir

Tu es douce à celui que tu éloignes de ta nuit

Tel un gravier trop lourd enfoui aux grèves de minuit

J'ai mené ma rame entre les îles je t'ai nommée

loin avant que tu m'aies désigné pour asile et souffle

je t'ai nommée Insaisissable et Toute-enfuie

Ton rire a séparé les eaux bleues des eaux inconnues

My humble translation in English

If  the night leaves you above the sea
Do not offend the sea of  grounding's of the ancient gods
Only the flowers know how to climb up the eternity
We  are calling you our wounded earth oh how our time
Will be brief, like the water that we cannot see the bed
Song of water stacked on the water of the sad evening
You are sweet to the one who wanders from your night
Like a  heavy gravel buried at the midnight's strikes
I took my paddle between the islands, I have named you
far before you have chosen me for asylum and breath
I've named you, Elusive and All fled

Your laughter has separated the blue waters from unknown waters

Bridges around us

Yesterday,our son turned 8 years old!!!
He is healthy and happy!! We are blessed!
So here few pictures of bridges as metaphors of this eight years long journey.