"So, there is no ME but...DANCE, my VOICE, my WORDS, my STORY."

Hot summer days and warm nights pass by so quickly. You stop for a second and realize how much time has passed and wonder what you have done. What have you changed? What has changed in you? As the days roll by and the nights come and go in a flash, we dance, we write, we raise our voices, we act out our dreams and put pen to paper to conquer our deepest fears. We have been busy creating and recreating ourselves. But…sometimes it gets hard when you can’t find the words or your body won’t move the way you want it to. Sometimes it gets even harder when we can’t communicate with each other but want so desperately to be heard. Do you feel us? Do you know what we mean? Perhaps you have been there before? But, we keep pushing forward. Step into our world for a minute...



Hidden in Plain Sight

I notice a lot of people never notice me
I’m too silent and reserved
I don’t talk loud enough
I don’t walk slow enough
I don’t
I don’t
That’s all I hear
You don’t try, you don’t kiss, you won’t have sex, you won’t hold my hand
I always felt like an outcast
I never did anything right
I never kept my hair up
I never kept my nails done
I bit my nails
I can’t do my own hair
I’m not materialistic
I never knew to cross my legs when I sat
Hey, I didn’t even know that you were only supposed to wear black panties under white
All of these things were supposed to take away from my womanhood
But it didn’t
I am a woman
-Giselle



If not dance, then what?
If not me, then who?
Why would I smile?
When would I live?
Where would I shine?
If not me then who? who? who?

Searching for that forgotten feeling
that lost memory
that promise of forever
the chance to fill that bliss that love brings
white, blue, green
something borrowed: my body
something blue: the color of love
reaching a mutual understanding of life
something old: my soul
something new: me
--Br-yee




A young lady looking for dance trying to keep it near her heart
Trying to graduate from a young lady into a proud woman of happiness
Hoping to shy away from shyness and speak out so I can be heard
Keeping me and my family proud of me seems to be my main goal
And knowing that I will exceed it makes me feel good
To know that all that aside
I am just a girl trying to be a good woman
--Rijke

Web Aesthetics

We are working with our unbelievably talented web designer, Korey, (big ups!) putting our site together. It is taking longer than we expected, but it is all good because: 1) Korey is pushing us to learn from him so we can maintain the site and update it on our own 2) We are creating a “not your average site” type site that is really stretching our creativity and understanding of what is possible (both technologically and artistically). 3) We want our site to have our distinctive, unique, unable to be copied or replicated flavor all over it.

As Korey says, “The BlackLight aesthetic can’t be rushed.”

Never Enuf

ever since i realized there waz someone callt
a colored girl an evil woman a bitch or a nag
i been tryin not to be that & leave bitterness
in somebody else's cup/ come to somebody to love me
without deep & nasty smellin scald from lye or bein
left screamin in a street fulla lunatics/ whisperin
slut bitch bitch nigga/ get outta here wit alla that/
i didn't have any of that for you/i brought you what joy
i found & i found joy/

lady in orange, Ntozake Shange

Last Friday we saw Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf".

We have been transported, inspired and touched -- divinely. Words whispered in our ears, hit us in the face, snuck around our backs and sat defiantly on our shoulders. Shange's words, brought to life by the seven mesmerizing women who were the ladies in brown, orange, yellow, red, blue, green and purple, held us hostage and demanded we respond. The set was minimal, streamlined lighting and spare costumes. Shange's words and the women's emotion didn't need to be embellished. The stories carried themselves. It took us a minute to come back to our every day public selves when the play ended. When an artist moves you to places in yourself you have forgotten about or been denying for so long, it can sometimes take a minute to come to. If you have not seen or heard of this play or Ntozake Shange you must find out who she is and read something she's written. NOW!


I really enjoyed the play and the actresses were beyond what I ever expected. I was inspired. I wanted to dance. I thought of spoken word. I thought of art. It was educational and still relevant to black females today. I would definitely see it again. The lady in green seemed to be me when I closed my eyes -- her voice and her style.
--Giselle

**************************


The play was not what I expected but I wouldn't change it. It was the best play I've EVER seen and I wish more people had the chance to see it. Words really can't sum up how I felt.

I could feel the woman in red's pain. The actor really brought her character to life and made you feel like you were sitting there when the tragedy happened. I also liked the fact that everything else was kept simple to make you focus on the story and actors. The music interludes came at just the right time and set just the right tone. What I would take from this in creating my own play would be that things don't have to always be flashy and fake happy for it to be a good or entertaining show. It is also important to be committed to your character and the story you are telling.

A passage I really related to:

& she never looked back to smile
or acknowledge a sincere 'hey mama'
or to meet the eyes of someone
purposely findin somethin to do in her direction

all girls and women can relate to this because every time you go out in the street someone is calling your name or trying to get your attention -- especially men who know they are too old for you.
--Rijke

***************************

I really liked the fact that every person in the play was a necessary part of the production. The energy was high and everyone was lost in their character. I think the ladies really brought the words to life. I read the book the day before and really FELT them during the play. I realize that even though the book was written so many years before I was born those words still serve a purpose today. I really and truly can say I connected to every story. I felt their joy, sorrow and pain. I give this two thumbs up, ten stars and a huge thank you!

this passage is me:

/especially cuz i can make the music loud enuf/ so there is no me but dance/ & when
i can dance like that/ there's nothin cd hurt me/ but i get tired & i haveta come offa the floor

--Br-yee

Thank You, Ntozake Shange!

Tell us about your favorite story, play, song, sculpture, movie, photograph, moment, person.



What moves you?
What makes you not know whether to laugh or cry?
What is your art?
What sustains and inspires you?


Strength & Love,

BlackLight

Ya Heard?

For the remaining three Tuesdays in the month of July BlackLight will be participating in (drum roll, please)...

Discussing Differences - A Dialogue for Detroit's Future

These discussions came out of a collaboration between Detroit Synergy and The Michigan Roundtable for Diversity & Inclusion (MRDI). We will be talking/working on breaking down racial and social barriers among metro Detroiters.

Of course, we'll let you know what we learn, teach, and move towards.

Oh, and a big ps...

We are up on the University of Michigan's Detroit Center website! Take a look in the Projects tab under UM Partners.

We love you, DETROIT!

Don't Miss...

If you are in the Detroit area on July 19th, hit up Cross Movement Records' HISTORY TOUR '07 hosted by ValorJam.

The concert features some amazing hip hop artists focused on the positive and uplift such as: DATRUTH, FLAME, & TADASHI. We met Shawn Williams, the executive program director of Valor Jam, a couple of weeks ago at the hip hop panel in Ypsi. He is doing great things in the community so come show your support.

You'll see BlackLight in the crowd - head bouncin'

BIG THINGS!!!

Well, big things have been happening for BlackLight! In just a short period of time, we are making our mark. Since we posted last on Monday the 18th, we have had a week full of rehearsals and classes where we have been dancing, writing and talking about the things we care about most. You may remember that we were invited to speak on a panel in Ypsilanti about hip hop and the current controversy surrounding language and the representation of black culture (see our 6/18 post if you need a refresher). As you also may remember, we were a little wary of what the panel would be like and if our voices would be heard. To our welcome surprise the panel was off the chain and very REAL. We were seated among two Dr.s, a Reverend, a very wise man from the community who knew tons on music history, and two very outspoken male high school students. Everyone had a lot to say and spoke with passion and intelligence. We felt so energized afterwards knowing that so many people care so deeply about our community and are thinking critically about solutions. We do wish, however, that there was more focus on the solutions than the problems, but it was still a great panel. The audience asked a lot of challenging questions and some good debates were started. BlackLight made some good connections with other youth trying to make change in their own special ways and adults who gave us encouragement and support. Big Ups to Ms. Eaglin for inviting us!!!


But...that is just part of what we did on Saturday. Before the panel, we took a master modern dance class with two members of the MOMIX dance company. Words can't even express how much fun we had in this class. Some things were harder than others but we worked it out! Rob and Sara, the dancers who taught the class, were encouraging the whole time and really pushed us to take risks, fall off balance, and basically dance from our hearts (like we are known to do here at BlackLight anyway). We have to give a Shout Out to ROB AND SARA and to MARTRA for telling us about this great opportunity.

You can read more about all of this and see us in action below...

The month of July will be BOOTCAMP for us. We will be dancing, running rehearsals, choreographing, working out, writing, and working on our photography and storytelling skills for upcoming classes, workshops and performances in August and September. We hope you are, like us, drinking lots of water and trying to eat healthy in this hot weather.

Keep checking for us...
If you are new to us, please take a look at some of our older posts.

Strength & Love,

BlackLight

Dancing with the Stars...

I thought the class was awesome. It was totally not what I expected. I thought it was going to be a boring ballet class but was really suprised at how the movement was so free and flowing. The teachers, Rob and Sara were really helpful and encouraging. I liked the fact that they wanted us to take risks with our dancing and told us that making mistakes was good. --Rijke

I was expecting the class to be really structured and boring but it turned out to be fun. I really like MOMIX and want to see one of their shows one day. The class was fun and interactive. The most challenging part for me (as always) was when it came to tendus. Shout out SARA and ROB! Shout out to all the skinny chicks in the back! They didn’t look like they enjoyed being there or like they enjoyed dancing. But at the end of class when they had the chance to do their own choreography, it looked like they finally did get into it.
I learned that my weakness is anything that requires me to do anything with my arms and feet at the same time.
I really liked what Rob had to say about dancing and committment. If you commit to something even if you aren’t doing it right, you stand out. People won't notice the person dancing next to you even if they are doing all the steps completely "right" if they are not committed. This type of committment applies to all aspects of life. --Br-yee

I really liked the class and the instructors. I expected it to be that you had to be very flexible and that everything was going to be really really hard. Overall I liked it and the instructors were helpful. I hope to see them again one day. Thought that they were going to be used to all these skinny girls and that they were going to be like, "Get Out!" to us.
My weakness is my balance. I felt self-conscious at first but got over it when I noticed that the other students looked scared. I got my energy from Br-yee. Taking a risk can relate to every aspect in life not just dance. --Giselle

OUTSPOKEN!

I liked the whole panel but especially liked the comments of Dr. Douglas (a school psychologist) and Mr. Ratcliff because they were very educational and had a lot of insight. The panel felt like it was just black people having a real discussion amongst ourselves. But, I think we could have done more to talk about the solution instead of just the problems.
--Giselle



When I came into the panel I thought that it was going to be a "me against them" conversation. I thought the older adults on the panel were going to be like, "Hip hop is wrong! It is our way or the highway!" But that wasn't the case at all. A woman in the audience started a discussion on dress codes in high schools that I disagreed with because I feel like people place too much emphasis on this and it has nothing to do with the real problems. I agree with Giselle in that we need to be more solution focused but we covered a lot of topics and the conversation was thought provoking. There were a couple of times where I felt as if I was getting angry and couldn’t articulate anymore. But then some one from BlackLight would step in and say what I wanted to say anyway. I wish there had been more kids in the audience. --Br-yee


I felt that the panel was really eye opening and a really good experience. No one was saying that hip hop was bad but that "artists" need to learn how to express themselves in a different manner and extend their vocabulary --lIke Darrell, a Willow Run High School student who wrote and performed his own rap at the end of the discussion to the beat of "This is Why I'm Hot." I think most of all I liked the realness of the panel. Nobody held back. --Rijke

Changing the Conversation?

BlackLight has been invited to speak at a Town Hall Meeting this Saturday, June 23rd in Ypsilanti, MI. The meeting is a community dialogue on hip hop, language, and identity in light of the now infamous Imus statement.

*sigh*

Well, each of us here at BlackLight has her own opionion on this topic. But, we are all kind of irritated that we need to call on Don Imus and invoke hip hop in order to have a discussion on issues in our society that go much deeper than one man's thoughtless comments or commercialized lyrics that don't necessarily represent what WE know to be hip hop. This, we suppose, is why this meeting is a good thing. It will give us an opportunity to voice the complexities of the issues at hand and, we hope, move us to more productive dialogue and action.

Before we can even begin the discussion, we think it is important to define what people are really referring to when they use the term hip hop. Everyone seems to be using different definitions and making assumptions based on misinformation and stereotypes. We may have our work cut out for us on Saturday but are looking forward to a challenging and productive dialogue.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on all of this! Feel free to post a comment.

Strength & Love,

BlackLight

Hard at Work! (but, we can't front--it's still fun)

Thought you might enjoy some of our rehearsal photos. 90 degrees, high humidity and still dancing! That's what's up!

What's Your Favorite Detroit Summer Memory?

Summer is almost here. Can't you feel it? Our memories make up who we are. Our stories become history -- behind us and moving us forward. Read our memories and add your own Detroit summer memory in the comments.

Family Fun!!

My favorite memory of a summer in detroit would have to be going down to the RiverFront with my family. It was me, my little sister, my little brother and my mommy. The youngest was yet to be born. We would all play, jump,yell, and chase each other until we all caught each other and we would all fall down in laughter. A day of fun as well as love.... Mother...Kids.... her hope for the future. Giving us her love, love pure and raw. Teaching us to love each other as well as our future children. Seeing her take pride in the city where she chose to raise her children is what really keeps me here enjoying each and every memory that I make each year!!^_^ ())>-%`Br-yee`

Summer Fun

Rijke

walking over my grandmother's house with my cuzo Br-yee in the hot sun playing, having fun all night with friends.

State of Mind

"Your age or gender doesn't make you a man or a woman. But spiritual, mental and emotional maturity. Your state of mind." Giselle

First of all I am a very appreciative observer....Of nature and life. My favorite summer memory in Detroit would be sitting home on the porch after a long depressing day. I looked up at the sky and the sun was setting. I remember pink and yellows and orange... All different colors. I felt peaceful... A lot of people can't grasp certain things like that..I did... It got my creative juices flowing and I felt invincible. It was definitely a BLACKLIGHT moment for me. I thought about what I felt and where that was coming from and i wrote about it........... where the energy came from and then I danced to it......... And then I thought about the simplicity of it and then I let my imagination run wild...... I guess its just my state of mind.

GROW WITH US

Giselle


I am 18 years old. Dance is an escape for me. Dance is an escape from my everyday impoverished life and negative energy. I like writing because you can create different things away from reality. I like to read too because it deals with the imagination and you can get away from your problems.

I wanted to create BlackLight to share with other young women and help them with their self esteem. I think a lot of young women don’t have self confidence. I hope we can teach them to use creative expression as an alternative to dealing negatively with everyday life. It can be a positive thing. I want to show people how to develop a relationship with dance, develop a relationship with themselves.

People in Detroit need better resources and more positive places to go.

Br-yee

I am 21 years old. I have been writing since I was 12. I lost interest when I was 19 because someone told me I couldn’t write. So, I stopped writing for a while. I came back to it because someone else told me that if I like to write, why worry about what someone else says. Another teacher also told me I was an excellent writer but just lack focus. I’ve been dancing since I was little. Rijke keeps me dancing.

Why BlackLight?
Why is creative expression important? Because no one gets the help they need in the world. So, if they learn how to express how they feel and what is going on in their lives it will make them feel better and things will get better for all of us.

I want to see all young women develop a sense of self-respect and self-esteem and know that they can have a voice in the world.

Detroit
I want Detroit to get back to where people stop hating on us.
I want for Detroit to become more than what it is. They say it is such a bad place but there is no one here to nurture it for it to be where it should be. Everyone wants to go where they think it is going to be so much better. Why can’t we be that place where people want to go to and stay.

Core Collaborators

Rijke

I am 17 going on 18. I have been dancing since I was in the 7th grade. I am fun and outgoing but a little shy. I took some classes at the Alvin Ailey school this spring. Being open to different experiences is important to me, so this is why I wanted to create BlackLight.

I want young women to learn that they can do more with their time than talking on the phone and looking at videos all day like I used to do. BlackLight can show young women how to be more outspoken.

I am concerned about crime in Detroit and the young people who are dying. I want them to see that there is more for them to do then to just be out on the streets.

Who What When Where is BlackLight?

WE are BlackLight, a group of passionate young women inspiring positive change in Detroit, other young women and ourselves. Dance, poetry, oral history, creative writing, music, and the visual arts are the media and methodology we use to challenge, educate, transform, empower, and heal our community. BlackLight facilitates workshops for youth and adults using creative arts expression to address personal and community issues from emotional health and physical well being to unemployment, public education and apathy. We also write, choreograph and perform our own theatrical productions.

BlackLight believes that social change begins within each of us and is fueled by our capacity to create, imagine and express the world in which we want to live. We chose the name, BlackLight, because we disrupt the negative connotations and deceptive definitions associated with youth in general, (certain) young women in particular, the city of Detroit, and blackness. Since the word black has been misused as synonymous with all things bad, we are reclaiming black and "appropriately reappropriating" it to reflect the possibility, hope and LIGHT in all our lives regardless of what we look like, where we come from or who others think we should be.


TRUST! This is just the beginning
We are only getting started so...stay posted here for WHAT'S NEXT!

LATE SUMMER '07:
KICK OFF EVENT -- COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE
MOVEMENT AND WRITING WORKSHOP SERIES

FALL '07:
FALL INTENSIVE TRAINING SERIES FOR YOUNG WOMEN

Don't worry, full details coming soon!

STRENGTH & LOVE,

BlackLight