I recorded the following spoken word pieces in late summer 2008. Ester Ikoro and Adam Levin were Chicago Public School students in the Young Chicago Authors program who have since graduated from high school.
ayana Vocalo.org host/producer
Favorite Music
Curtis Mayfield, Black Merda, Rotary Connection, Fear Itself, Donald Byrd, Van Hunt, Windy City, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Dells, Dorothy Ashby, Johnny Nash, Tokyo Police Club, The New Birth, Willie Hutch, Junk Science, Janelle Monae, The Movement
Favorite Movies
Wattstax 1 & 2, Godfathers & Sons, Malcolm X, Gene Kelly & Rita Hayworth in "Cover Girl", Dead Presidents, anything Kurasawa, Spaghetti Westerns, Set it Off, Blaxploitation flicks (if only for the soundtracks), Charly, The Landlord, The Inkwell, Love Jones, Enter the Dragon, Killer of Sheep, Bonnie & Clyde, Black Girl
Favorite Books
"The Book of Disquiet"--Fernando Pessoa, "Divided Soul"--David Ritz, "Right On: From Blues to Soul in Black America"- Michael Halalambos, "Sweet Flypaper of Life"--Roy DeCarava & Langston Hughes, "The Bluest Eye"--Toni Morrison, "The Wretched of the Earth"--Franz Fanon, "Nervous Conditions"--Tsitsi Dangarembga, "The God of Small Things"--Arundhati Roy
favorite Websites (other than vocalo.org!!)
"Everyone
as an Artist"
--Joseph Beuys, 1979
