Octavia McBride-Ahebee

Friday, March 21, 2025

Moving Through the World-The African Migration Report; An Anthology of Poetry

I am so proud to be part of this project which is organized by Forced Migration and The Arts in collaboration with indie publisher CivicLeicester and migrant collective Regularise. The overall theme for this project is African Migration.

"Forced Migration and The Arts is a global network that brings together people with lived experience of forced migration, refugee and non-refugee artists, academics and activists from around the world. The provisional title of the anthology, Africa Migration Report: an Anthology of Poems, is inspired by the second edition of the Africa Migration Report published by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

People on the African continent have a long history of experience with migration, whether this includes individuals or communities moving from one place to another in search of pasture for their livestock or in search of prospects such as education, employment, escape from climate change, refuge from war, conflict, persecution, etc. These movements have been taking place over time and within and across countries, on the continent and beyond, and are driven by many reasons.

Many of the people who have made these journeys have had certain experiences and encounters before deciding to move, while on the move, and when they arrive at their destinations. Families and communities also have stories about relatives, friends and community members who moved and then returned or did not return.

The Africa Migration Report: an Anthology of Poems is inviting poets exploring these themes and related ones to submit their work . Poems that explore the personal, familial, communal, national, continental, intercontinental, transnational, past, present and possible futures of African migration across time and space, in and around this world and beyond."

*Forced Migration and the Arts

Click here if you would like to submit your work on this theme. Here is the link for more information.The deadline has been extended.

https://forcedmigrationandthearts.blogspot.com/2024/03/call-for-submissions-africa-migration.html

*Here is a link where you can see and listen to writers involved with this project.

https://www.youtube.com/@CivicLeicester/videos

Monday, December 9, 2024

Nikki Giovanni ( 1943-2024) : A Guiding Voice for All Times

Nikki Giovanni

How wonderful to have grown old with a writer who had inspired me since childhood ( … thank you Teacher Rose Martin/ Overbrook Elementary School) and to have passed this love, like a literary baton, to my daughter, and she would go on to meet and work with Nikki Giovanni.

Sojourner and Nikki Giovanni

And just last Friday, I was a guest teacher for a first grade class and I shared two poems with students; one being Giovanni’s “Winter Poem “. These little darlings had fun illustrating the poem, but they had more fun singing Nikki Giovanni’s name. The baton has been passed, again!!! Rest in this great legacy!

*Do click the link to listen to Giovanni read her poem, "Quilts" ...so moving.

https://youtu.be/ukONEOnGDOo?si=zR04d2Nh9iE0JW3_

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Seasoned Poets Come Together for a Holiday Celebration in Spoken Word

I had such a moving , inspiring afternoon with so many of my fellow “seasoned “ poets this past Thursday, at the Center in the Park, in Germantown. As part of a pre-Thanksgiving celebration, these senior poets, including myself, participated in an open mic . And there were fantastic musicians accompanying the poets, who also meet weekly, as part of the “Poetry and Discussion “ group at this center. A huge, special thanks to Patricia Middleton, poet extraordinaire and dear family friend, for informing me of this special reading. I shall return!

Poets Patricia Middleton and Octavia McBride-Ahebee

Poets, including Victoria Peurifoy, from the
Drexel Writers Room (3rd from the left) shared
their poems for this event. Patricia hosts a radio
program, Let's Talk About Poetry, on Thursdays, at
11:50 a.m. on 800 AM WTMR.

Musicians were on hand to provide the soundtrack
for the day's events.

Poets brought their "A" game when sharing
their work

Mr. Norm, from the Drexel Writers Room, is also
a member of this senior group of poets at the Center
in the Park, in Germantown.

The MC of the event.

Fly, senior poets!!!!

These seasoned poets meet weekly to
share and critique each other's work.

Patricia's delivery is always electrifying !

Friday, September 27, 2024

Philly Honors Larry Robin

Larry Robin and Writer/Scholar Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon

Poets Molly Gross and Sojourner Ahebee

Pat McLean Smith, Deborah Wright and fellow poet.

Poets Sean Hanrahan & Octavia McBride-Ahebee

Philadelphia’s literary luminaries and cultural leaders came out this past Wednesday to celebrate the incomparable Larry Robin of Robin’s Bookstore and Moonstone Arts Center. Hosted at the Free Library of Philadelphia Skyline Room, poets

Poet Eleanor Wilner

paid tribute to Larry Robin’s longstanding generosity in curating spaces for them to grow , congregate and support each other.

Shoutout especially to Aaren Perry , Eileen D'Angelo Sean Hanrahan , Elijah B Pringle III, who did an absolutely awesome job as MC of this event, Karen Smith and Elliott Levin who brought their musical prowess to spread joy,Molly Gross, Rose Gaby, Sojourner Ahébée, Eleanor Wilner, Adriann JustthePen Bautista , Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon ,Deborah Wright ,Pat McLean-Smith , Sonia Sanchez, Major Jackson and Michelle Myers, Pheralyn Dove , Ray Garman , Lamont B. Steptoe , Charles Carr,Linda Goss, Courtney K. Bambrick ,Peter M. Baroth and Nathalie Anderson to name just a few of the many poets who came out to salute Larry Robin!

Musicians/poets Karen Smith and Elliot Levin.

Philadelphia poets gather to honor Larry Robin.

Poets Elijah Pringle, Aaren Perry, and Sean Hanrahan

Poets Eileen D'Angelo and Pat McLean

Monday, September 2, 2024

Philadelphia's Poets Gather to Celebrate Sonia Sanchez's 90th Birthday

We showed out at the Barnes, for the 90th birthday celebration of Sonia Sanchez and her work. A remarkable number of Philly poets turned out yesterday! It was a lively, literary reunion.

Philly is such a poetry-infused city.

Poets Christopher KP Brown & LindoYes

The formidable Aziza Zenzile Kebbe and Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon

Poets Kirwyn Sutherland & KP

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"You and I" by Malak Mattar

Sowing Desire: Our Mural Poem- Read On/Photo Credit Steve Weinik

At the recommendation of curator Noah Smalls, the Fresh Grocer Market decided to create an Ode to West Philadelphia, which honors the women artists who live, work, and shop there; the long history of community gardens; and the importance of fresh food in our lives. Using shared contacts in West Philly, Mural Arts enlisted three artists from Women Holler to create Sowing Desire, a mural that describes their experiences growing up and living in West Philadelphia. The three visual artists were Wanda Payne as the lead and Sheena Garcia and Pauline Houston McCall as collaborators. The poets were a mother and daughter team – Octavia McBride-Ahebee and her daughter Sojourner Ahebee. The mural was celebrated at the dedication, August 2022, with music, drumming, and live poetry by Sistahs Laying Down Hands Collective. *Located on Market St, between 56th and 57th Streets.

April-A Philly Gem-The Southeast Asian Market, in FDR Park, opens for the season, on April 5th.

March 21, 2025- Love in The Time of Migration by Chelsea Abbas and Erin Kökdil

(USA/Guatemala, 2024, 21 minutes, Spanish with English subtitles) 1. Love in the Time of Migration is a documentary short that follows the love story of Ronny and Suly, a Guatemalan couple from a rural town deeply impacted by migration. They quickly fell in love despite Ronny being in the US and Suly in Guatemala. Set amidst the backdrop of the U.S. immigration system, this film asks the question: can love conquer all? 2. Second Film: Since You Arrived, My Heart Stopped Belonging to Me by Erin Semine Kökdil (USA, 2021, 21 minutes, Spanish with English subtitles) This film follows the journey of a group of Central American mothers traveling through Mexico in search of their children who disappeared while migrating to the United States. *Scribe Video Center 3908 Lancaster Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19104 215-222-4201, * Click link to learn more.

Nov.-March 2025Actress CCH Pounder’s art collection comes to the African American Museum

* Painting below by Nigerian artist Luke Agada ...Acting powerhouse CCH Pounder teams up with the African American Museum in Philadelphia for an exciting and exclusive look at her personal art collection. Shared Vision: Portraits from the CCH Pounder-Koné Collection, running through March 2025, features work that subverts old-school portraiture techniques that objectified the female subject or subjugated the Black one. Every portrait within this collection portrays Black female figures as socially significant—rather than looking down, each woman looks out and up. *Click image to learn more.

One of Philadelphia’s brightest culinary treasures, the Southeast Asian Market at FDR Park

June 19, 2024 Collage as a Form of Resistance-At the Bok Bar /Philadelphia Celebrates Juneteenth

During this workshop, we will experiment with visuals to help curate our ideologies around pride, Black history, culture, and music. Through discussion and art making students will leave this course confident in the methods of collaging as a form of resistance. All materials will be provided but feel free to bring any of your own collaging materials as well (mats, exacto knives, scrap materials, photos, etc...) This class will be hosted by Doriana Diaz. Doriana Diaz is a multidimensional artist, archivist, and memory worker rooted in Philadelphia's soulful rhythms. She has hosted a wide array of collage and bookmaking workshops around the city in spaces like The African American Museum, Brandywine Museum of Art, United States Botanical Gardens, Mural Arts, and Fleisher Art Memorial, a variety of schools including Penn Charter, Delaware Valley Friends School, and Green Street Friends, along with places such as Express Newark, Ipade, and Bok Bar. Her work explores loss, memory, fantasy, utopia, formation, and identity through the archival documentation of visual imagery. Click the image to register for this event.

Now until July 14, 2024 /Joyce J. Scott-50-Year Retrospective at BAM

Don’t miss the Baltimore Museum of Art ‘s(BMA) 50-year career retrospective of artist Joyce J. Scott (b. 1948, Baltimore, MD), encompassing the full range and depth of her prolific and genre-defying practice. Joyce J. Scott: Walk a Mile in My Dreams features nearly 140 works from the 1970s to the present—including sculpture, jewelry, textiles, artwear garments, performance compilations, prints, mixed-media installations, and a new large-scale commission. The exhibition closes July 14, 2024. Click image to learn more.

A 106-year-old from the Philippines is Vogue's oldest ever cover model

Still Dancing by Johnathan Labillois

Mr. Labillois' Artist Statement: I donated this to the Montreal Native Women's Shelter to raise awareness of missing and murdered Native women in Canada. I hoped sharing it with others would bring this issue to the minds of many people, and hope that many of our sisters, mothers, aunts or daughters will never be forgotten. The idea for the title came from my little sister who said, "Dancers dance for those who cannot, the sick, the elders, and those who are gone. It's like all those women are still dancing thru her." * 2020 Collective vision.us - Postcards for Political Action; Click image to learn more.

March 9, 2020 7:30 p.m./ Maira Kalman | The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas Illustrated

Free Library of Phila./Central Branch-An illustrator, writer, artist, and designer, Maira Kalman is the author of a dozen children’s books, has designed fabric and accessories for Isaac Mizrahi and Kate Spade, created sets for stage productions, shown her work in nearly two dozen galleries, and, with her late husband, made accessories for the Museum of Modern Art. She has also designed several New Yorker covers, including the famed “Newyorkistan” absurdist map cover. Written by Gertrude Stein in the voice of her partner, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas is one of literary history’s cheekiest and most loved biographies. In this new illustrated edition, Kalman brings to life the shimmering lights and intellectual luminaries of Paris in the 1920s and ’30s. Click image to learn more.

Wed, March 11, 2020 7:30 p.m.- James McBride Free Library/Central Branch

“Boisterous, highly entertaining,” and “altogether original” (Washington Post), James McBride is the author of the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird, in which a young boy born into slavery joins abolitionist John Brown’s doomed crusade. His nonfiction books include the New York Times bestselling memoir The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother and Kill ’Em and Leave: Searching for James Brown and the American Soul. His other fiction includes the novels Miracle at St. Anna and Song Yet Sung, and the short-story collection Five-Carat Soul. Also an award-winning composer, screenwriter, and saxophonist, he received the National Humanities Medal from President Obama in 2016. Deacon King Kong is a novel about a very public shooting in a 1960s Brooklyn housing project. To learn more, click photo.

Wed, March 11, 2020 6:00 p.m. One Book, Many Voices Community Dinner

Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library Gather for a family-style dinner of dishes from the Americas. Hear thoughts from the contributing chefs on Indigenous food traditions, as participants put text on the table and discuss passages from There There by Tommy Orange. Everyone will get to know their neighbors during this special evening, and explore together what identity and community-building mean in Lenapehoking past, present, and future. Join the party for a family-style dinner with dishes from across the Americas, in partnership with One Book, One Philadelphia. Participating restaurants include: El Merkury, Poi Dog Philly, South Philly Barbacoa and Chef Chris Paul. Registration for this FREE event is encouraged but not required; seating is first-come, first-served. Click image for more information.

Curtis Institute of Music Student Recitals-Mon., Wed., & Thu/Free

The Student Recital Series provides a platform for exceptional young musicians—and more than 100 free opportunities for audiences to indulge in a season-long showcase of artistry. Since Curtis was founded in 1924, some of history’s most important musicians have appeared on the stage of Field Concert Hall, and today the Student Recital Series continues this celebrated legacy. Students perform solo and chamber works on most Mondays at 6 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday evenings at 8 p.m. Additional dates and times are added throughout the year. Student Recitals are free and open to the public. Seating is general admission and first-come, first-served. Most recitals are about two hours long, with one intermission. Click image to learn more.

U-M anthropologist uses toe tags to highlight crisis at US-Mexico border

"Hostile Terrain 94", by anthropologist Jason De Leon, confronts viewers with a giant map of Arizona. The map is populated with 3,000 toe tags — cards used in morgues to identify the dead. Each toe tag represents a person who died attempting to cross the border through the Sonoran desert. As part of the exhibition, the viewer is invited to fill out the toe tags by hand, listing the person's corresponding name, date, location of death and condition of the body. Click image to read more of this article and to learn more about this project.

ReimaginedFLP: Free Library Opened Reimagined Spaces in the Parkway Central Library!

The Robert and Eileen Kennedy Heim Center for Cultural and Civic Engagement First Floor | 7,200 square feet An active gathering space for diverse programs and civic engagement. Marie and Joseph Field Teen Center Ground Floor | 4,000 square feet Special programming and a gaming area–exclusively for teens. Business Resource and Innovation Center Ground Floor | 8,200 square feet A new hub for Philadelphia's entrepreneurs, inventors, nonprofits, and job seekers./ Click image to learn more.

Open Archive: The Poetics of Anti-Slavery Protest- New York

Join Michelle Commander, associate director and curator of the Lapidus Center, who will explore archive material capturing the use of poetry and related arts in anti-slavery efforts in the Atlantic World. The Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery at the Schomburg Center is the only facility of its kind based in a public research library. The initial collection included 400 rare items of printed material — books and documents continue to be added to the collection — making the Schomburg Center home to one of the world’s premier collections of slavery material. The Center's mission is to generate and disseminate scholarly knowledge on the slave trade, slavery, and anti-slavery pertaining to the Atlantic World. Lapidus Center engages the public with a variety of programs, an annual nonfiction prize, exhibitions, and conferences./ Click image to learn more.

Raquel Salas Rivera

Written in response the PROMESA bill (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act) bill, lo terciario/the tertiary offers a decolonial queer critique and reconsideration of Marx. The book’s titles come from Pedro Scaron’s, El Capital, the 1976 translation of Karl Marx’s classic. Published by Siglo Veintiuno Editores, this translation was commonly used by the Puerto Rican left as part of political formation programs. Lo terciario/the tertiary places this text in relation to the Puerto Rican debt crisis, forcing readers to reconsider old questions when facing colonialism’s newest horrors-Colette Arrand, author of Hold Me Gorilla Monsoon

Photos Of 1908 Japan, Before Wars And Devastation

Back in 1908, a German photographer Arnold Genthe (1869-1942) spent six months in Japan, documenting the everyday life of Japanese during the Meiji period. Genthe was known for his photo series, documenting San Francisco’s Chinatown. After his death, the Library of Congress acquired approximately 20,000 never before seen photographs from his studio, and buried in the collection were these rare photos from 1908 Japan, during the Meiji period. In these photos, you’ll see an almost idyllic everyday life that contrasts sharply with the soon-to-come destruction, brought by the wars. Click on image to learn more.

20 Amazing Writing Residencies You Should Apply for This Year

Leeway Foundation

The Leeway Foundation's grantmaking programs honor women and trans* artists for their ability to create social change through their artistic and cultural work. The Art and Change Grants and the Leeway Transformation Awards fund women and trans artists (including those identifying as transgender, transsexual, and/or genderqueer) living in the Delaware Valley region of Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties, who engage in art and social change work and have financial need. To learn more, click image.

Hedgebrook; Women Authoring Change

Hedgebrook is a global community of women writers and people who seek extraordinary books, poetry, plays, films and music by women. A literary nonprofit, its mission is to support visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape culture now and for generations to come. Hedgebrook offers writing residencies, master classes and salons at its 25-year-old retreat on Whidbey Island, and public programs that connect writers with readers and audiences around the world. Click image to learn more.

Rethinking Schools

Coming in early 2015 Rethinking Sexism, Gender, & Sexuality, a new book from Rethinking Schools How do you respond when a child asks, “Can a girl turn into a boy?” in the middle of circle time? What if your daughter brings home schoolbooks with sexist, racist stories? What does “queering the curriculum” really mean? What does it look like? What if parents complain? Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality is filled with insightful, inspiring articles on these and dozens of other critical topics. Chapters include: creating safe and nurturing classrooms, coming out at school as a teacher or student, integrating feminist and LGBTQ content into curriculum, moving beyond the classroom to school and community teacher education Join our campaign to publish the book we wish our own teachers—and our children's teachers—had well-thumbed copies of in their classrooms.

The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship

The American Library in Paris Visiting Fellowship was created in 2013 to nurture and sustain a heritage as old as the Library itself – deepening French-American understanding. The Visiting Fellowship offer writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue a creative project in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library. The project may be a book (fiction or non-fiction), long-form journalism, film or music. The Fellowship award, a stipend of $5,000 is intended to cover travel and housing costs for the Visiting Fellow. He or she will be expected to present the work-in-progress to the public in a weekday evening talk at the Library, and to conduct one or two workshops for Library members on a subject of common interest. Click Image to learn more..

Ride a train across country and write a book. Welcome to the Amtrak Writer's Residency:

What began as a line in Alexander Chee's interview in PEN Ten and was fueled by Twitter, is now an official Amtrak program. As many of you may know by now, our test-run for Amtrak Residency was done by Manhattan-based writer Jessica Gross, whose piece, Writing The Lakeshore Limited was published in February by The Paris Review. What followed was overwhelming support on Twitter and in the media with #AmtrakResidency being featured in The Wire, The New Yorker, and Huffington Post among others. Today we are happy to announce that #AmtrakResidency will allow for up to 24 writers to take long-distance trains to work on their projects. Each writer's round-trip journey will include accommodations on board a sleeper car equipped with a bed, a desk and outlets. We hope this experience will inspire creativity and most importantly fuel your sense of adventure! Are you excited about #AmtrakResidency? Want to learn more and apply? Head over to our official entry form and good luck! Click image.

Where My Birthmark Dances is now available on Amazon

What's being said about Where My Birthmark Dances ?

The Ancient Romans used to call a person's creative spirit her "genius," and recognized the labor of setting it free as one of love and sacrifice. Octavia McBride-Ahebee's latest collection is just such a labor. Her poems depict human longing, love and dignity in the context of global inequality with fierce, uncompromising grace. As her characters speak, she creates indelible sensory images of loveliness and affection, profound misery and anger, letting each co-exist on the page. The resulting complexity of tone makes space for nuanced and compelling human voices that might otherwise be categorized as "victims" or "villains" of oppression. It takes the full use of genius to notice and capture these contradictions, and a deep social conscience to care so passionately about writing them down. This collection is one of McBride-Ahebee's "bighearted magnolia trees," its trunk scarred by the fire of sacrifice, its blossoms and branches so beautiful you don't want to leave their shade.

-Lillian Dunn, Editor of Apiary Literary Journal