In May 09 I joined creative forces with sister-enviro, Kendra Sandoval and her “protoge-of-sorts” Emily Andrews in the launch of Blue and Yellow Logic, a social enterprise powered by woman of color to help expand, deepen, and re-develop conversations and social change actions in the new green economy.  We are “green” consultants who work in our own Black and Brown communities to help folks understand what “green jobs” are and help folks to re-member that this is a revolution and more than one group of people is going to have be engaged to save the planet.

CLICK the Pic to Check out this short article (written by Joel Warner) in Denver’s WESTWORD Newspaper on our work in connecting communities of color to the mainstream environmental justice movement one organic bite at a time!

Ashara, Emily & Kendra @ Blue and Yellow Logic

FriendsWeLove.com - art & social change vids

My sister-friend DJ Moni (Ubiquita NYC) co-produces this dope ass website, www.FriendsWeLove.com and I peeped this vid on a guerrila artist outa NY.  You when u see something and think u recognize it, but then u aren’t sure?  Well, I THINK I have seen Poster Boy’s work, but then again, I thought it was just random marketing in the train….hmmm…anyway check it!

{Friends We Love is a compelling video series which follows artists and creators from a diverse panorama of modern life as they move from inspiration to expression.}

http://friendswelove.com/friendswelove/VIDEOS_-_POSTER_BOY.html

Organizing the 1st “Soul’d Roots: Food & Media Justice Institute“ (yes, I named it) required that we had to be each others teacher and often each others parent, throughout this process. Although “original” people’s indigenous knowledge of “organic and green” was, and continues to be a part of our collective psyche, the new language of the environmental justice movement as well as the new players in the game are not. As I learned more about people of color and groups who are playing a major part in actualizing green healing in the urban communities, I found out that successful models are replicable in Denver and that we have the space and connections to manifest projects where Black, Brown and Red folks can come together and reclaim the media and our health through of food, and that WE are READY to have these conversations with each other in our own backyards (pun intended.)

Black + Brown = GREEN!
~Ashara

Here’s a couple of links on how it went down!

http://www.soul-droots.org

http://www.denverurbanspectrum.com/f/Unsolicited

http://www.utterli.com/u/utt/u-ODIzMTQ3MQ

food justice image co-produced by Bryant Terry & Favianna Rodriguez

Favianna Rodriguez's latest book w/ Josh MacPhee

In honor of this new passion, I started writing a short column in Denver’s monthly newspaper, the Urban Spectrum – check out new column at #1 at http://www.denverurbanspectrum.com/f/Article/ladArticletArticlec0/158/4ze4df47b8453b24f95d5276add392d36a/3117

WHO IS MAJORA CARTER & WHY IS ASHARA FOLLOWING HER MOVEMENTS?

Asa’s Website –

here’s a taste -

JANUARY 2009

5 - SlamNuba {We Cut Headz!}
Crossroads Theater, 26th & Washington St. Denver
Themed & Open Slams + Featured Guests!
All-Ages ~ 7:30pm door – 8:30 slam
$5 entry $2 for slammers
www.myspace.com/slamnuba_team

9 – Cafe Cultura (Brown & Red Unity)
Spoken-Word Open Mic w/ Featured Artists!
@ LaAcademia, 9th & Galepegos (near Auraria, downtown)
7:30 pm doors, Hosted by Ara Cruz & Bobby LeFebre
All-Ages, Free! www.myspace.com/CafeCultura

What’s The Big Idea? Colorado’s movers and shakers have plenty

It’s a new year, with new leadership in Washington, and lots of big ideas. Those forward-thinking plans don’t always originate inside the Beltway. Most truly progressive plans come from creative people all around the globe, those who can synthesize ideas, communicate them effectively, and energize others. And the best plans come not from those who think outside the box, but rather from thinkers who recognize that there isn’t a box at all.

In Colorado, we have more than our share. We’ve chosen to call them “forward thinkers,” and we’ve had the privilege of profiling seven of them for you in this issue. Some of our forward thinkers you’ve heard of; others, maybe not. The common thread: they’re all thinking about the big issues that will define our future–energy, health, politics, media and arts, civil and human rights, and peace at all levels. Some of these issues may define if we even have a future.

To find these folks, Nexus asked experts in their fields to tell us who they admire, and why. From the four dozen names that surfaced, we chose those who we thought Nexus readers would most like to hear about: people with an alternative viewpoint, an eye on the seventh generation, and a cross-disciplinary, holistic mindset. Now we’d like to hear from you, too; who do you think the forward thinkers are? We’ll be keeping a file and report back what we learn. Meanwhile, enjoy this inspiring roundup.

Dreams into actions
Ashara Ekundayo: educator, businesswoman, indie arts evangelist, media activist

Ashara Ekundayo will talk plenty about “Cafe Nuba,” Denver’s premier monthly spoken-word and music showcase rooted in black cultural traditions and held in the historic Five Points neighborhood. She launched it ten years ago, and is justifiably proud of it (and the KGNU radio segment of the same name). But there is more on her mind than that.

If you probe deeper, you might learn about the Pan African Arts Society—the non-profit organization for social change that she founded in 1999,: and one of its many projects, the Pan African Film Festival, a week of international black film, workshops, panels and more in April, or her weekly Freespeech TV, on which Ekundayo interviews peace and social justice activists. Whatever the topic, her spoken words will come out fast, funny, and sometimes furious.

The key word defining Ekundayo is multi, as in multi-cultural, multi-tasking, multi-faceted arts personality. She’s a curator and a catalyst, a self-proclaimed cultural Jedi within the urban arts scene. And she knows how to get things done.

Often she does it by helping other “creatives” transform their dreams into actions. She has a marketing consulting business, BluBlak Media. With it, she develops cultural festivals and conferences, produces guerrilla-marketing plans, executes new media campaigns, or does whatever else it takes. It’s about getting the word out, especially the words of people who may have felt voiceless before.

“I love being an aware African woman who understands that many things we love about U.S. culture are rooted in African-American creativity: hip-hop culture, jazz, and soulfood. I’m a cultural worker cultivating an identity beyond the ‘isms’ society puts us in. I’m working through, and with, spirit.”

read up on the flock of us at…..

http://www.nexuspub.com/articles/2009/jan_feb2009/feature_jf2009_bigthinkers.htm

wanna see some OLD (2003, 2004, 2006) “Cafe Nuba” episodes shown nationally that I grabbed from Freespeech TV? GO HERE…

http://www.freespeech.org/videodb/index.php?search=Cafe+Nuba&action=search

Ashara hosting "Cafe Nuba" 2004