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PHOTO: Karla Brundage, founder of poetry exchange program, West Oakland 2 West Africa
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PHOTO: Karla Brundage & cast perform ‘Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking’.jpg
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by Kia Shaun Walton
Bay Area poet, activist and educator Karla Brundage introduces “Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking,” a mold breaking, interactive multimedia performance set in Oakland’s beloved Lake Merritt. On Aug. 9-10, audiences can experience Brundage’s latest work at the Black Arts Movement House (BAM House) in Oakland. The work is based on the third anthology of poems generated by the Bay Area based international poetry exchange program, West Oakland to West Africa (WO2WA), Black Rootedness: 54 Poets from Africa to America, published by Elyssar Press. The new experimental performance piece centers the voices of Ghanaian, Nigerian and Oakland poets, affirming, “It’s not taboo to go back for what you left behind”.
A combination of poetry, dance and live music, Brundage describes “Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking” as a “choreopoem,” pieces of which are accompanied by live dancing and djembe drumming. “Heavily influenced” by her favorite poet, Ntozake Shange’s most notable work, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enough,” this latest piece is the “evolution” of Brundage’s cross-cultural poetry exchange program, West Oakland to West Africa (WO2WA). First imagined in 2013, after Brundage spent a year in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, teaching English, Brundage was deeply impacted by the spoken word scene in Ghana and dreamt of connecting Black American youth to their African roots.
Established in 2016 after securing the Mills College Community Engagement Fellowship while attending Mills College for her MFA in poetry, Brundage describes the program’s initial challenges and ultimate success as “a lot of no’s, a lot of force and [having] a great partner.” That partner was Sir Black, renowned Ghanaian poet, artist, activist who Brundage admiringly parallels as leading the “Youth Speaks of Ghana,” and co-founder of Ehalakasa, “the Ghanaian initiative aimed at a poetic exchange, [drawing] from griot tradition and hip-hop to educate youth on their African heritage.”
Brundage and her group collectively raised funds to send 10 poets (four students from Mills College and six community members) to Ghana where they met their partner poets in person after weeks of internet exchanges. After humbling poetry slam, which Brundage amicably remembers the Ghanaian poets winning, WO2WA had completed the blueprint for future iterations, reaching hundreds of East and West African poets and scores Americans.
Brundage shares, “WO2WA has been a calling for me. Every time I tried to quit, someone would reach out and tell me how this connection saved their life or created a significant change in their perspective.” Perspective changing is a central component undergirding the spirit of “Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking.” Specifically, in this latest work, Brundage seeks to decenter the experiences of individuals in the United States to instead foster what she calls “a pan-African sensibility”.
Brundage’s piece is thoughtfully designed to provide both a dynamic experience for audience members as well as a demonstration of what inclusive, Pan-African, equitable art can look like – this intention clearly evidenced by the manner of performance, featuring video recordings from African poets who are integral to the work but unable to contribute their art live. This commitment to varied voices is long standing, Brundage explaining, when speaking with the US based poetry exchange participants, “I’m really super clear about what’s happening. This is about art and equity and … sharing stories and making a real connection.”
Though Brundage admits she “can’t say it’s always been a hundred percent,” the integrity of that intention is present down to the formatting of the books of poetry on which “Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking” is based. Borrowing the Japanese technique, renshi, first popularized in the 1980s, one poet uses the exact text of the last line of their partner poet’s poem to begin their own. Employing this linking technique since the first exchange, Brundage shares, “I love the metaphor of it being chained poetry …,” a method that, in this international context, conjures both the dehumanizing legacy of the Atlantic Slave Trade as well as the strength and persistence of ancestral connection throughout the diaspora.
Brundage finishes, “Art/poetry is a safe healing space. A bridging of the past and present is needed for a compassionate future or a unified Black future. Poetry allows for honest sharing; linking poetry creates a conversation in this sharing. For me, that is equity.”
‘Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking’ performances
Tickets are available at: https://tinyurl.com/LakeWalking
Show times:
Aug. 9 | 7:00 pm | EVENING SHOW
Aug. 10 | 11:00 am | MATINEE with talk back
Aug 10 | 7:00 pm | EVENING SHOW
Duration: 90 mins with intermission
Location: BAM House Theater in Oakland, 1540 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612
Cast: Ayodele Nzinga, Karla Brundage, David Odiase, Sir Black, Rameses Setekh, Kevin Dublin, Wanda Sabir, Gemini, Amos White, Godfrey-Elvis Odianose, Zakiyyah G.E. Capehart, Prince Joey, Ifeanyichukwu Onwughalu, Val Serrant on percussion.
Kia Shaun Walton (she/he) is a freelance journalist and educator working in the Bay Area. Kia is committed to justice, integrity and community. Please direct any inquiries to kia@sfbayview.com.
