Welcome to Love's Troubadours, a
Lorraine Hansberry-inspired novel series about people learning and living as they love.Ananda
Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke (www.anandaleeke.com) is the author of the series. Click here to find out how it was made: www.lovestroubadours.com/id7.html.
The first book in the Love's Troubadours'
series is entitled Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One (iUniverse,
Inc. - August 2007). It tells the story of Karma Francois, a thirtysomething Oakland-born BoHo B.A.P.
(Bohemian Black American Princess) with Louisiana roots and urban debutante flair. The novel begins with Karma's
life in an uproar. Her relationships and the museum curator career that she struggled to form in New York City have crumbled,
leaving no viable options to rebuild. Relocating to Washington, DC, Karma struggles with denial, depression, and debt.
A lack of full-time employment opportunities forces her to craft a gypsy existence as a Jill of Many Trades: yoga teacher,
art consultant, and freelance curator at Howard University Gallery of Art. Unable and unwilling to appreciate these jobs as
gifts, she wallows in a pool of lost identity-and doesn't see a way to keep from drowning. When she looks in the mirror, Karma sees a woman whose choices have dishonored her true character.
Now, for the first time in her life, Karma must learn to see herself for who she really is.
Love's
Troubadours - Karma: Book One is available on Amazon.com for $20.95. To purchase a copy, click on the link below.
As you may know, we have 40 days left until President Barack Obama is elected. Tomorrow is the debate that
Barack has agreed to participate in. McCain
has said he won't be attending. This makes no sense. So I am asking that you Barack the debate by signing
a petition to demand the debate. Pass it on to your network. Click here to sign the petition: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5583/t/3369/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=131.
Remember to wear blue on OBAMA BLUE
DAY - September 30 and spread the word about registering to vote!
Enjoy your weekend!
Peace, Love, and Obama Positive Energy and Victory,
Register to Vote. Barack the Vote! Celebrate Obama Blue Day!
Love's Troubadours Supports Barack Obama for
U.S. President
Next Tuesday is September 30. It marks Obama Blue Day. Join Yoga Teacher/Author Ananda Leeke
and celebrate Obama Blue Day by wearing blue and registering at least 2 people to vote. Reach out to people in your professional
and personal networks via one-on-one/group conversations, telephone, and email. Find out if they have registered to vote.
If they haven’t help them to register online. Visit http://www.registertovote.org. Remember to Barack the Vote
on November 4th! For more information about America's next President Barack Obama, visit http://www.barackobama.com.
On
November 4th, please remember not to wear Obama shirts, pins, or hats to the polls because it is against the law. It is considered
campaigning. Wearing Obama paraphanelia will be grounds to have polling officials turn you away.
Happy 82nd Birthday to Jazz Musician John Coltrane - His Connection to Love's Troubadours
Blessings All,
Today marks the 82nd birthday of jazz musician Ohnedaruth
John William Coltrane.He was born on September 23, 1926, and died on July 17, 1967.
Ohnedaruth is the Sanskrit spiritual name that Coltrane adopted. It means compassion. For more information, visit www.johcoltrane.com. Coltrane's A Love Supreme CD, creative spirit, marriage to Alice Coltrane (www.alicecoltrane.org), and spirituality play a major role in my debut novel Love's
Troubadours - Karma: Book One (http://www.lovestroubabdours.com). Karma, Love's Troubadours' main
character, spends time listening to John and Alice Coltrane's music. Her father Eugene adored Coltrane's music and
spiritual practice. He made certain that Karma attended the Saint JohnWill-I-AMColtraneChurch in San Francisco. The novel contains scenes from Karma's church attendance. For more information about Saint JohnWill-I-AMColtraneChurch, visit http://www.coltranechurch.org. Karma's father also named his son after Coltrane. The son's name is Ohnedaruth. He plays a major role
in Karma's healing journey.
I wrote a poem during the month of April
– Jazz Appreciation Month that includes my reflection on Coltrane’s First Meditations CD. See below.
Enjoy your day and week!
Peace, Creativity,
and A Love Supreme positive vibes,
Ananda
POEM
wake up call #9 by ananda kiamsha madelyn leeke copyright 2008 by madelyn c. leeke. all rights reserved.
john coltrane's first meditations cd is
keeping me company as i settle into day nine of national poetry month. the first track entitled "love" is playing. mcoy tyner is backing trane up on tenor sax. they meet and marry the drum playing of elvin jones and bass playing of
jimmy garrison. together they offer me space to contemplate the flow of love in my life. i close my eyes and allow
the energy of their music to carry me back to a quiet place. i rest in this sanctuary, breathing in and out. the
next track "compassion" gracefully enters. my head slowly moves back and forth to the hypnotizing beat of piano,
bass, sax, and drums. what a combination! my head circles around slowly. thoughts of the buddhist metta prayer
appear. i recite it:
"may all beings be peaceful. may all beings be happy. may all beings be free of
suffering. may all beings be filled with loving kindness and compassion."
the word compassion sticks with
me. it pierces the veil of my morning mask that i put on to go to work each day and leaves me with a series of questions:
why do you put on the mask when you know it hides your authenticity?
do you realize that when you wear
the mask you create a barrier between yourself and the flow of love and compassion?
when you recite the metta prayer,
do you understand its power to create love and compassion in the universe?
i step back from myself and take off
my morning mask. vulnerabilities appear. my ego tries to exit. the whole of me surrenders. i accept my
feelings as they are. i release the need to resist. my breath carries me into myself. i sit with compassion
as my vulnerabilities increase and the questions remain unanswered. tension builds and builds and builds. it finally
exhausts itself with no place to go but out. i release it and continue to sit. track 3 "joy" introduces
herself with an upbeat vigor. it matches my mood as i sit without knowing when the answers will come. instead my
focus moves into a state of being. the word being plays with me. it separates itself into be-in-g. with the
new spelling its meaning multiplies. my imagination offers explanations.
be in God/Goddess.
be
in your higher self.
be in a state of divine joy.
a smile colors itself bright and sunny upon my face. my jovial expression moves through me with tingles as mccoy's piano fingers tease me. trane's sax coaxes me
to move my body from side to side. elvin's constant drum beat encourages my spine to rock forward. jimmy's
bass strumming gets my legs wiggling. before i know it my body is moving to a collective of jazzy beats. the sounds
build to a crescendo and bit by bit they soften. i follow their lead. as the composition ends, i land in pure sweetness....
a place i long to wake up to every morning.
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by learning
more about Latino art, music, culture, and history featured in Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One. For
example, readers will learn about Mexican painters Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Maria Izquierdo. They will also
witness the way the mother of the main character Karma Francois wears an exciting outfit created by Cuban-American fashion
designer Narciso Rodriguez (www.narcisorodriguez.com).
In addition, readers will receive a crash course in the contributions made by Afro-Latinos to culture, history,
music, and dance in the Americas. Love's Troubadours features characters with Afro-Cuban, Afro-Mexican,
and Afro-Peruvian roots. These characters offer rich dialogue peppered with references to Afro-Latino culture and history.
They also work with and maintain positive relationships with African Americans. Their work and relationships celebrate
Black and Brown solidarity.
Readers will learn about Yanga, an African who ran away from his slave
master in 1609 and founded the first free African township near Veracruz, Mexico. They will obtain an interesting
history lesson about American-born African slaves who fled to Mexico in the mid 1800s. Readers will also visit museums such
as El Museo del Barrio in New York City and National Museum of Mexican Art (formerly known as the Mexican Fine Arts
Center Museum) in Chicago that have a history showcasing Afro-Latino art. In addition, they will have
a chance to fall in love with the music of Afro-Cuban jazz musicians Mongo Santamaria and Omar Sosa, Afro-Puerto Rican jazz
musician Willie Bobo, and Afro-Peruvian singer Susana Baca. By the end of Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One,
readers may find themselves dancing salsa just like the main character Karma!
For more information about Afro-Latino art, culture, history, and music, visit the web sites listed
below.
-African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga
to the Present Exhibition at the the African American Museum in Philadelphia (June 25, 2008-October 25, 2008)
- The exhibition is organized by the National Museum of Mexican Art. It is groundbreaking because it highlights
Mexico’s third root, and investigates the complex relationship between African-Americans and Mexicans in the United
States, and the African legacy in Mexico and the Americas. It also serves as a catalyst for a more positive dialogue
between African Americans and Mexicans. http://www.aampmuseum.org/home/
this evening i practiced yoga in malcolm x-meridian hill
park to honor individuals impacted by the terrorist attacks of september 11th. my yoga practice of 12 sun salutations was a prayer offering of peace for the entire
universe. it reminded me of davidstewart'samerican prayer video (http://www.myamericanprayer.com/). when i came home, i looked at it again because i needed to be reminded
of how important it is to be alive, aware, and committed to peace and fulfilling the dream that my ancestors, dr.
king, and so many sacrificed for me to have. after my first viewing, i began typing my thoughts in this blog. see below.
peace, ananda
september 11th:
our american prayer by anandaleeke copyright 2008 by madelyn c. leeke
it's september 11th again.
it's hard to believe that it's been 7 years.
i can still feel the spirits of all those we lost in the world trade center,
pentagon, and on the airplane.
it's september 11th we have less than two months away before election day.
it's
time to bring my triple A game. the one that i use to inject authenticity, awareness, and action into every phase of
my life. it's time to speak and live my truth without worrying whether it is matters cuz'
it does ... without worrying what the end result will be ... without concerning myself with what i am gonna get from serving
...
i need to say it again.
yes it is september 11th.
what does it really mean?
the
answer: it's time for me to woman up... to love and live from my center...to serve with all my gifts...
to remind
myself and all of us in america that we are each other from dc to hawaii,
hawaii to alaska, alaska
to california, california to utah,
utah to iowa, iowa
to maine, maine to delaware,
delaware to north carolina, north carolina to mississippi, mississippi
to michigan, and so on and so on.
no matter where we draw the lines, we are all connected.
so there can be no lines.
no
separation.
we are one.
that's the bottom line.
that's the reality we must all see.
and because of our connection, we owe it to each other to be mindful, responsible, and honest. we owe
it to each other to register and vote with wisdom and clarity. we owe it to each other to man and woman up now by serving
where we can and with what we have.
barack and others have reminded us
this year that we can be more. we can do more. we are more. it's time that we act like it. that's
our american prayer.
Ananda Leeke at 2008 Capital Bookfest on October 4th in Largo, MD
Join Ananda at the 2008 Capital BookFest (www.capitalbookfest.org) on Saturday, October 4th from 10:00am to 10:40am for a workshop on yoga and stress relief exercises for writers. The
workshop will be held in the Lifestyle Salon (parking lot) at the Boulevard at The Capital Centre, 931A Capital Centre Blvd, Largo, MD 20774. Ananda will be using excerpts
from her debut novel, Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One in the workshop. Copies of the novel will be available
for purchase.
The 2008 Capital Bookfest will feature Nikki Giovanni, Tananarive Due, Tommie Smith, Omarosa,
Rose Rock, Warren Brown of Cake Love, and many more authors. For more information, visit www.capitalbookfest.org.
Photo Credit: Leigh Mosley Copyright 2008 by Leigh Mosley www.leighmosley.com
Hi
Everybody!
It's September again! Where did the summer go? I hope you had a great season
filled with good experiences and groovy people. I know I did.
This month Love's
Troubadours is celebrating Yoga Awareness Month (http://www.yogamonth.org). Since yoga plays a major role in my debut novel,
Love's Troubadours - Karma: Book One, I highly recommend that you purchase a copy and get your yoga on: www.lovestroubadours.com/id26.html.
Are you familiar with yoga? If not, read an excerpt about
yoga from my upcoming poetic memoir, ThatWhich Awakens Me (iUniverse, Inc. - December 2008).
"Yoga is an African science that originated in ancient Egypt. It was
codified by Pantajali, an Indian second century sage who wrote the Yoga Sutra. Yoga utilizes prayer, meditation, chanting,
breathing techniques, and physical exercises (postures) to teach one how to balance emotion, action, and intelligence. In
Sanskrit, yoga means union with Spirit in our breath, spirit, heart, mind, and body. When we unite every part of ourselves
with Spirit, we live in the present moment… the now… the only place we are supposed to be. Living in the present
moment allows us to honor, love, and accept ourselves and our bodies as they are. This is one of the greatest gifts we can
give to ourselves."
Tune into BAP Living Radio on Sunday, September
7th at 7pm to hear a great panel of Black women yoginis and healing arts practitioners. Click here to listen to the show:
www.talkshoe.com/tc/18598. If you miss the live show, you can log onto the site and
hear a recording immediately after the show.
On September 14th at 7pm, I will host the second episode of
Go Green Sangha Radio on Talkshoe.com. It will feature a panel discussion about the marriage between yoga and green living.
Click here to listen to the show: www.talkshoe.com/tc/21325. If you miss the live show, you can log onto the site and hear
a recording immediately after the show.
Yoga
Events for DC Folks
Celebrate Yoga Awareness Month
by participating in kg yoga life practices' Global Mala Project activities in Malcolm X-Meridian Hill Park. Click
here to see the schedule of free yoga classes which begin on September 7th: http://yoga.meetup.com/584.
Has Artist/Author Ananda Leeke's work made a difference
in your life this year? If yes, then click on the PayPal button above
and make a donation to Kiamsha.com, LLC, Leeke's healing arts company. PayPal offers Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
secured payment options.It also offers a PayPal card that you can use for other purchases. Many thanks
in advance for your gift. It is greatly appreciated!
Kiamsha.com, LLC promotes creativity through coaching
and expressive arts, teaches contemplative practices (i.e. yoga, Reiki healing touch, meditation, breathing exercises, journaling,
affirmations, and prayer), and builds community that awakens your soul and transforms your life.
AKOMA is a Ghanaian Andinkra symbol that represents the heart and
means keep an open heart filled with compassion.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud It
is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil,
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
WHAT IS LOVE'S
TROUBADOURS?
Love's Troubadoursis a healing fiction series that features stories told by people who are learning and living as they
love. The healing fiction series is deeply rooted in the storytelling traditions of the West African griot and troubadours
of the French Middle Ages. To learn more about these traditions, read the sections below.
Senegalese Griot, 1890
WHAT IS A GRIOT?
A griot is a West African poet, storyteller, historian, advisor, arbitrator, and wandering musician
who serves as a repository of oral history tradition. Griots are walking history books who memorize traditional songs
and teachings, folktales, cultural history, and family relationships. This information is passed down through generations. Griots
also marry them with current events and chance incidents to create praise songs and stories with wisdom teachings, comic relief
and satire, political commentary, and gossip. Today, griots live in Senegal, Mali, Gambia, and Guinea. They are present among
the Wolof, Serer, Mande, Malinke, Bambara, Fula, Tukuloor, Wolof, and Mauritanian people. There are several African names
for griots including jeli (a word that means "blood in the Manika language that is derived from ; northern Mande areas),
jali (southern Mande areas), guewel (Wolof), gawlo (Pulaar, a Fula language), and igiiw (Hassaniyya, an Arabic language).
WHAT IS A TROUBADOUR?
Troubadour is derived from an Old French word "trobador" which comes
from the verb "trobar" that means to invent or compose. When you put it all together, troubadour refers to a composer
and performer of lyric poetry. The French Middle Ages (1100-1350) gave birth to the troubadour tradition in the eleventh century.
The tradition defined troubadour lyric as poetical, rhetorical, and musical fiction. They dealt mainly with themes of courtly
love, chivalry, nature, life, and death. Most troubadour lyrics were metaphysical, intellectual, and formulaic. They also
included many genres including alba (morning song - the song of a lover as dawn approaches, often with a watchman warning
of the approach of a lady's jealous husband), canso or canço (the love song, usually consisting of five or six
stanzas), dansa or balada (a dance song with a refrain) ensenhamen (a long didactic poem, usually not divided into stanzas,
teaching a moral or practical lesson), enuig (a poem expressing indignation or feelings of insult), escondig (a lover's
apology), partimen (a poetical exchange between two or more poets in which one is presented with a dilemma by another and
responds), planh (a lament, especially on the death of some important figure), salut d'amor (a love letter addressed to
another, not always one's lover), and tenso (a poetical debate which was usually an exchange between two poets, but could
be fictional).
ODO NNYEW FIE KWAN is a Ghanaian Andinkra symbol that means the power of love.
Copyright 2009-2012 by Madelyn C. Leeke. All rights
reserved.
The slogans "Love's Troubadours"; "Be love, love light, and
live as the spirit of life"; "YOGA is Your Opportunity to Graciously Accept yourself"; "Honey I'm
OM"; "OM on My Mind"; "Our Womanist Spirit"; "BAP Living;" "Black American Princess...BAP
Being At Peace;" and "Sisterhood, the Blog" are the intellectual property of Kiamsha.com, LLC. They
may not be used without the prior consent or licensing by Kiamsha.com, LLC.
