Wombfulness Gathering #4

Today we had Wombfulness Gathering #4. Our presenters were Mama Kathryn Waddell Takara, Ph.D., her daughter Karla Brundage and Iya Michele E. Lee, artist, teacher, roots worker. Wanda Sabir facilitates. We had some returning wom(b)en such as Mama Makeda who presented at our last meeting; Karla's daughter Asha and a new guest, Iya Rolanda also joined us. 

Music: Della Reese's "Walk with You"
Poetry: Alice Walker's "Women" from Kevin Young, ed., African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song (2021).
Meditation: Muladhara Chakra: Oak Tree Visualization. (I first learned of this path while reading Alice Walker's book, "We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For." I used it as a textbook and my student gifted me the Chakra Meditations (52 cards) at the end of the class. Alice Walker used these meditations in her book. 
Reflection: "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" by Portia Nelson (I got this piece in "Mindfulness for Stress Reduction" @ InsightLA taught by Alex Maizuss.)
Medicinal plant: Mullein per Iya Michele E. Lee

It was as usual a wonderful gathering where we honored our ancestors, shared a wonderful meditation, danced and told stories of rich legacies, love and survival. 

Our next Wombfulness Gathering is November 20, 2021, 10-12 noon. It is a virtual get together. 

Karla Brundage is a mother and a daughter. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Fulbright teacher and author of Swallowing Watermelons. Her newest book Mulatta-Not so Tragic, was co-authored with Allison Francis and was just released last week by Fleur du Mal Press.

Kathryn Waddell Takara, PhD is the author of 9 books of poetry and 2 other scholarly books. She is an writer whose craft includes: Afro-futurist, eco-poet, travel, spiritual, and many scholarly articles.

She is also an Editor and Owner, Publisher of Pacific Raven Press, LLC since 2008 (18 titles). Recent publications: Close Casket; Our Spirits Carry Our Voices; Red Dreams Volcano Visions; Footprints Wings Phantasms; Love’s Seasons: Generations Genetics Myths. Forthcoming: An Invitation, Haiku Collection, Vol. I.

 Her awards include: The History Makers (national award), Black Futures Award, Life Time Achievement (NAACP), Knighted Orthodox Order of St. John. 

Her recent activities are many: interviews internationally, nationally and locally on Blacks in Hawaii and Alice Augusta Ball, inventor.  She also completed 2 podcasts, co-produced a jazz night in Honolulu featuring the music of Thelonius Monk, gave presentations at the UN/NGO for OOSJ (Cry Children of the World: The Work and Meaning of Knighthood), lectured on 7 contemporary black artists and the black arts movement for the Honolulu Museum, and performed in several local and national poetry readings on line, including Black Fire This Time, and Wake Up America, Martin Luther King Day, Black History and Women’s months, wrote and delivered 8 elegies, and organized a month long public library Black History month and a series of programs featuring local Black artists. 

Currently, she is an acting consultant for several projects and a film on Martin Luther King’s early visit to Hawaii.

She was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, and a Hawaii resident since 1968 and is a Retired Professor of Black Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a French Instructor.  She has been a world traveler, professor, spiritual teacher, healer, community activist, gardener, mother, wife.

Her Education is: MA French, PhD Political Science.  Studied at the University of Bordeaux.

Work history includes: Teaching French for 12 years, Ethnic Studies for 30 years and as a summer lecturer at the University of Qingdao (7x), in China and several other universities in northeastern China.

Visit: kathrynwaddelltakara.com and Pacificravenpress.co, Pacific Raven Press, LLC, PO Box  678, Kaaawa, HI   96730