Amoke Kubat and the Saint Paul Almanac present the Lowertown Reading Jam: “In the Spirit of Our Mothers”
Featured writers include:
Amoke Kubat ♦ Fayise Abrahim ♦ Jasmine Boudah
The Lowertown Reading Jam will be presented on Wednesday, April 25, 2018, from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Black Dog Coffee and Wine Bar, 308 Prince Street in Saint Paul. All ages, no cover, donations welcome. Food and beverages for sale.
Follow the action on Twitter with @AlmanacLive and #LRJ.
In the Spirit of Our Mothers
Amoké Kubat, joined by Fayise Abrahim and Jasmine Boudah, will bring her brilliant, urgent, and witty storytelling to an evening of collaborative narrative-making.
“In the Spirit of Our Mothers” features excerpts from Kubat’s memoir, Missing Mama: My Story of Loss, Sorrow and Healing. Jasmine Boudah will read from her work in Mothering Through Pain and Suffering in Silence: A Collection of Stories From Survivors. The evening will include poems and memoir of time travel and pilgrimage. Abrahim’s work includes retracing her mother’s refugee journey back to its source, from its origin—gathering medicine in her place of birth within the northern mountains of Ethiopia—to selling tea in alleyways in Sudan, and now working in rural meat-packing factories in the rural Midwest.
Amoke Kubat s a teacher, artist, and writer who partners with other community artists, activists, and organizations to bridge African/African American culture for healing and building sustainable families and communities. She lived in London and Heidelberg in the early ’70s. In London, using her Southern roots cooking and sensibilities, she opened up Free Café, serving BBQ, beans, and cornbread. After a variety of work that included the German National Tourist Board and the Los Angeles Olympics, Amoké returned to school to earn undergraduate degrees in feminist studies and creative writing, and a masters in special education. She is the creator of YO MAMA and the Art of Mothering Workshops.
http://amokekubat.com/
Fayise Abrahim is a time-traveling memoirist, poet, and science fiction writer. Raised in rural Minnesota by a family of East African refugees, factory workers, and farmers, she explores rural life, Ethio-futurisms, Oromo traditionalism, and Blackness in her writing. Fayise is a 2018 CURA Neighborhood Arts Initiative grantee, a 2017 Intermedia Arts VERVE Spoken Word fellow, and
a 2016 Emerging Writer with the Givens Foundation for African American Literature.
Jasmine Boudah, M.Ed, is the founder of Black Lotus Mothers and Ubuntu Minneapolis, LLC. Jasmine currently serves as the senior program associate for African American Babies Coalition’s Integrated Care for High Risk Pregnancies for African American Women. She is passionate about assisting Black wombmen on a journey to healing from trauma and connecting with their wombs. She works to eliminate disparities in education and maternal-infant health nationally but places a laser focus on North Minneapolis, where she currently resides. Among other things, she is a mother, healer, educator, parent educator, social justice and breastfeeding advocate, doula, and author of Mothering Through Pain and Suffering in Silence: A Collection of Stories From Survivors.
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WHAT: Lowertown Reading Jam: “In the Spirit of Our Mothers,”
WHERE: Black Dog Cafe, 308 East Prince Street, Lowertown (Across from Farmers Market)
WHEN: Wednesday, March 25, 2018, 7 p.m.
COST: FREE!
