BGC Discussion tonight at Grace African Restaurant

The restaurant is BYOB (wine only) so we'll have a few bottles of wine instead of a signature cocktail . Come join us!

"A Taste of Salt" Book Discussion Today

Don't forget about the cocktail:
"Cleveland"
1 1/2 oz pineapple rum

1 1/2 oz banana liqueur
grenadine syrup
pineapple juice
cherries

Art Is Bonfire: The official plugger

Graphics by B.O.B.O.

Art Is Bonfire #4: Sunday October 7, 2012

Around a fire pit in a popular, yet peaceful park on the South Side of Chicago, with the skyline as a backdrop, singers, poets, dancers, musicians and their friends come together to create, perform, and share energy without boundaries. We call it Art Is Bonfire.

All are welcome. This is a free event. Donations accepted.

BGC discussion tomorrow at Zocalo

We're planning to meet this Thursday to discuss "Like Water for Chocolate" ~ Laura Esquivel

The meeting will be at Zocalo Restaurant at 7:00pm. Hope to see everyone there!

Drink: "Tita -Sunrise (Tequila Sunrise)"

Tequila, orange juice, grenadine syrup

Think It Over

I know Love.
I know it hurts when exerted

by imperfect persons; inserted
into darkness, rough and hard just like
life into virgins. Stretches skin. Sheds light
through burning curtains.
I know Love. She's not a person.
She is a God. So goddamn it
if she ain't worth it.

Tiff Beatty
8/20/12

BGC July Book (better late than never...)

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

Great show last night

Just want to thank the whole Earth Pearl Collective, their patrons and my fellow performers for an amazing experience last night! Check them out every first Monday at Hamburger Mary's :-)

Things Tiff Likes #324

Sex-positive movement

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The sex-positive movement is an ideology which promotes and embraces open sexuality with few limits. 
Sex positivity is "an attitude towards human sexuality that regards all consensual sexual activities as fundamentally 
healthy and pleasurable, and encourages sexual pleasure and experimentation. The sex-positive movement is a social
and philosophical movement that advocates these attitudes.

Not A Game

My latest piece... Still working on memorizing it. Let me know what you think!

Art Is Bonfire Sunday July 15, 2012

Poets, performance artists and our friends from all over the city are coming together once again at Promontory Point, where for one night Art Is Bonfire and THE FIRE IS THE CYPHER.

The event is completely free and open to the public.

Hosted by Yours Truly! 

Questions? Email tiffb.clarity@gmail.com

BOOKS.GIRLS.COCKTAILS. - JUNE BOOK

Song of the day

I Can't #icant (spoken word poem)

Have you ever been as high as the sun? Like chased the fire

But the fire didn’t run?  You know like freeze, you’re IT fire…

But the fire didn’t freeze? Wanna hit this blunt?

I froze and got burnt like California trees. And California love feels like wildfire to me. So at 16
I'm feeling California free. Cause I been sitting around the fire with my sibblings
singing “because I got high” Though we forgot the chorus. And forgot
what DARE stands for, so of course we forgot our chores. Little sister
speaks  ageless wisdom from behind a fat swisher sweet
From the front porch to hot boxing in the bathroom and rolling on the floor laughing
in back room. Mommy must be back from work, I heard somebody say
I don't hear that vacuum. Now she's coming up the stairs. She hears our laughter, smells
her fears--automatic response was tears. She pokes her head in, her eyes pierce.
"It's just weed mom." sounds like something I might have said. But if I could said anything
you can bet it would be, I mean you can bet I would beg, you can bet I would plead, 

Please don’t give me that look.  Don’t make your eyes so hard,

Your lips so tight. Don’t make your nose wrinkled. Don’t

Make your tongue into a knife.

Like you don't know that suicide is high  
Under these cloudy skies and 

I was stuck on this block, with nothin but smoke and
Rain in my eyes before I decided to

To fly. I mean abondon my wings for the chance to see a 
Christian concept of Heaven fade and enter another stage,

where Kool-Aid and Doritos taste heaven made or

heaven sent to me. Or heaven sent for me like God said
Can somebody please go get Tiffanie?
Hear I come!

Oh don't give me that look.

I know you're lonley and you're vulnerable and you're scared. But this is not you're story.
This is not the scratchy voice of an aging alcoholic, yeah I drink but i'm saying 
you started at 8— 8am, 8 years old. You were 8 years old when you had your first sip.
Addicted by 11 and I was 7 when our home was raided by narcs. They put an AK 47 in my
baby brothers face. His daddy caught a case and they took us all away.
But these eyes have never shut all day 
just to tweak in the dark. And hese hands have never had the shakes or begged 
For meds from a hospital bed. This mouth has never lied 
about going to buy ice cream, and getting high instead.

So please before you shut that door... don’t make your eyes so hard, 
your lips so tight. Don’t make your nose wrinkled. 
Don’t make your tongue into a knife. Because  
it's not your fault, nor mine that

We share soil and blood and history but this..
This shit right here.
We can't share this.

Tiff Beatty

6/8/12

Thoughts?!?!

Women Voices Rising (written for the Op Ed Project blog)

This blog was originally published at http://theopedproject.wordpress.com/

On April 28, I attended The OpEd Project’s “Write to Change the World” seminar, led by Deborah Siegel and Michele Weldon in Chicago.  In May, I implemented a program called Women Voices Rising–along with my colleagues Nancy Marin, Gema Rodriguez, and Gloria Coc–to serve as forum for discussion and development of female leadership in Belize and Nicaragua. I created about half of the content, pulling from my background and training in poetry, performance, and leadership development. The other half was adapted from The Op Ed Project’s “I am an expert” exercise. Overall, the workshops educated women on the importance of voice and diversity of representation in public discourse and challenged participants to explore and express their own creativity, knowledge and opinions.

Currently, the Women Voices Rising team is developing and sharing information and related opportunities with participants and other stakeholders. In Nicaragua, we are working through the volunteer coordinator office at Universidad Centroamericana to continue the work we began with emerging leaders there. In Belize Nancy Marin, who is developing a women’s resource center in her community in San Ignacio, is integrating this program into its mission. Also in Belize, we made a promising connection with Ann-Marie Williams, Executive Director of the National Women’s Commission, who attended a presentation and responded with a lot of excitement about the importance and potential of the project.

Beatty with the young women who participated in the seminar in Nicaragua.

A young woman fills in the blanks to The OpEd Project’s “I am an expert” exercise.

Tiff Beatty and Nancy Marin 

Beatty with participants in San Ignacio Belize.

The work our team is doing in Belize and Nicaragua is a just one product of a larger program coordinated by a Chicago nonprofit called Heartland International which promotes the development of civil society in emerging democracies around the world. In partnership with Casa Alianza, Nicaragua and the Women’s Issue Network (WIN), Belize and funding from the U.S. State Department Heartland implemented Developing Grassroots Organizations for Women: An Exchange Program for Emerging Grassroots Leaders in Belize, Nicaragua and the U.S. In this program, young leaders from each country collaborate on projects to implement in Belize and Nicaragua to promote the development of women and women’s organizations. The grant period for these projects will be wrapping up this summer, however, my colleagues and I are determined to see the work of Women Voices Rising continue and grow across the Americas. We also look forward to more collaborations with our friends at OpEd

For more information, please email womenvoicesrising@gmial.com or visit www.womenvoicesrising.com.

Women Voices Rising (a collage)

I am participating in an exchange program between the U.S., Nicaragua and Belize and our group's project is called Women Voices Rising. For some inspiration, I did a Google image search of "women's voices" and these were some of my favorite results:

National Poetry Month at Chicago State

I'm featuring with two of my favorite Chicago poets on April 30th! (click pic to make it bigger)

CHICAGO: WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT!?!?!

"WHEN DID WE DECIDE IT WAS OK FOR

OUR CHILDREN TO KILL EACH OTHER?"

AND WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

April 5 Mary Mitchell/Chicago Sun-Times      April 12 Kendall Moore/WVON 

April 19 Fr Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina

  

Join eta at"TALK BACK THURSDAYS," a Speakers' Series

featuring well known thought leaders who will engage audiences in d

iscussion following Thursday night performances of "TANGLED,"

a play by Nicole Anderson Cobb examining the impact of gun violence in

Chicago from the unique perspectives of a family of African American  

female funeral directors.  

  

Speakers will dialog with the audience about the play and ways for

the community to curb violence and take back its power.

  

 COMING IN MAY  

• AMEENA MATTHEWS, CEASEFIRE ILL       -- MAY 3
• DIANE LATIKER, KIDS OFF THE BLOCK     -- MAY 17 

Bring a group of young people so that they can participate in the discussion. 

Group rates are available. General admission only $20 on Thursdays!

 

eta Square 

7558 S. South Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60619-2644
773-752-3955 

www.etacreativearts.org

BGC is reading a male author this month (March)

After over a year of reading books by female authors, we are switching it up just once... Should be an interesting discussion! Anyone have a drink suggestion?!

Tapping into my "other" side

Shout out to my Anglo friends for putting me on! We're going to this guy's concert at the Aragon in Chicago next month.

"Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People"

By Maria P.P. Root

I HAVE THE RIGHT...
Not to justify my existence in this world.
Not to keep the races separate within me.
Not to be responsible for people's discomfort with my physical ambiguity.
Not to justify my ethnic legitimacy.

I HAVE THE RIGHT...
To identify myself differently than strangers expect me to identify.
To identify myself differently from how my parents identify me.
To identify myself differently from my brothers and sisters.
To identify myself differently in different situations.

I HAVE THE RIGHT...
To create a vocabulary to communicate about being multiracial.
To change my identity over my lifetime -- and more than once.
To have loyalties and identification with more than one group of people.
To freely choose whom I befriend and love.

Blogterest

Some of my fav pics of friends and fam

Blogterest

I don't use my Pinterest much but I like these photos :-)

February BOOKS.GIRLS.COCKTAILS

January BOOKS.GIRLS.COCKTAILS

February is our 1 Year Anniversary!!! Celebrate with us by reading "Fear of Flying."