 She's founded West Oakland to West Africa Poetry Exchange, which facilitates cross-cultural exchange between Oakland and West African ports. Dr. Allison E. Francis. Last year, Allison published a volume of collaborative, Rensha Poetry Mulata, Not So Tragic with Oakland-based poet activist Carla Marista Taylor Darko's short story, the proud peacock, was selected for an anthology in Story, Story, Story Come, published in East, West, and Southern Africa. And another short story, Escapade, was featured in the anthology Resilience. And lastly, but not least, Shana Sherman's non-fiction writing has appeared in USA. Today, the sun and libraries, culture, history, and society in 2021, she was named a library journal mover and shaker. And she is a voices of our nation's arts foundation writing fellow. Queens, welcome to Sister Power. Aloha, welcome, ladies. Are we here? Aloha. Now let's get this party started. This is exciting. This is back by popular demand. And, you know, Sisters Across Oceans has been on two other times, and the book is absolutely phenomenal. And we're going to start our questions with Allison. Allison is in Italy, and she's with us at 2 a.m. in the morning. So this is just absolute thank you. Mahalo, Nui, Loa, thank you very much. Aloha. Allison, what inspires you to write poetry? Thank you so much, Sharon, for allowing me to be on this amazing show with these fellow poets, writers, and activists. Poetry for me is one of those kind of passionate endeavors that is kind of breathing or drinking water. So for me, sometimes poetry can be inspired by just listening to two people having a conversation in a cafe or hearing one lyric on the radio and suddenly being inspired to develop an entire concept around that phrase, that lyric, our memory. And sometimes I'm even inspired by a nostalgic taste or smell. So I find that most people think that poets or any writers have to sit in front of a screen or have their notebook with them all the time. And that is something that definitely happens for the majority of us. But it can just be as easy as walking down the street. And suddenly I think I've got the germ of a poet, a poem, and I'm going to write this down quickly and then go back later and develop this into something more substantial. You know, I always make this comment, I admire writers and poets because you have to start with a blank sheet of paper. And that to me is just absolutely, absolutely amazing. Shana, the librarian and poet, how have women helped support you in your career and helped meet your goals? Thank you for that question, Sharon. And thank you for having me on Think Tech Hawaii. You know, I'm a Hawaii native, born and raised in Anahu, shout out to all my Kaneohe peeps. That's a great question because, you know, it was sort of hard, you know, when in popular culture, you don't really hear much about how women support each other. But in all my career, whether it was trying to be a journalist or whether it was being a librarian, I've always depended on the support of women to help me through it, whether that was mentors in journalism school like Ernest Smith or Eva Martinez, or in programs like West Oakland to West Africa, where I got a chance to meet other women who had the same goals, writing goals as I did, and was able to share poetry and be inspired by their poems in this project. So it's a lot of ways that women have inspired me, and I'm just so grateful for the support I've gotten through from women throughout my career. Oh, yeah, sisters and partners of IE, this is what we're all about, motivate, educate, and empower all women. Mariska. Yes. Yay, there she is from Ghana with that pretty smile. Welcome back. We missed you for those two seconds. All right. Yeah. You mentioned in your profile that you write a lot for children. Does it include poetry? And what do you aim to achieve with that? Yeah, I do do a lot of poetry for children, and I go around the schools reading to them. I'm bringing out two books that are poems that are being fully illustrated in color. What it does is it makes the children listen because the sentences are very short, and then I use a lot of imagery. So they and then in between reading the poems, I ask them questions on what they think I meant or can they describe in their own words what I've just read. It makes them relax because we've had a lot of bad training here where we learn on roads. I think the old system and you don't talk when a teacher speaks and you don't question and all that. So this way, we're trying to get children to open up and to be able to question, discuss and all that sort of like a Montessori thing, but bringing it more down to the local schools, not the international schools. So I really go to deprived areas, deprived schools, and then I sort of have chats with the children, you know, and then sometimes I ask them to write a starter poem, a sort of the wrenchy style, start a poem, and then I ask them to give me a few lines to continue the poem. And sometimes amazing things come out from that. Yeah, they say kids can say the darndest things, right? Yes. Carla, Carla, Carla, Carla, the brainchild behind this with your mother, Pacific Raven Press, right? Yes, Pacific Raven Press. Okay, so tell our sister power viewers about the partnership between Pacific Raven Press and West Oakland to West Africa. Thank you. Thank you, Sharon. I feel so honored to be here. This whole experience of West Oakland to West Africa has really taught me a lot about collaborating. And I think the most wonderful thing about it is it did start as West Oakland to West Africa. And our first exchange was all Oakland poets, and that's where I got to meet Mariska and the other poets from Ahalakasa in Ghana. And at that time, Pacific Raven Press became the publisher of our first anthology called Our Spirits Carry Our Voices. And it was really thankful to the owner, Catherine Takara, who is also my mom, who made publication possible in that first book. Since then, we've grown and we did an exchange which included, which partnered partly with the links in Honolulu. And we had Hawaii to West Africa, Hiva. And the book coming from there was Sisters Across Oceans. And again, what's been just incredible has just been when we put these books together, what you learn about the other women, the experiences that people have had and can share. And most importantly, I think, how we continue to collaborate. And again, thank you even to Think Tech Hawaii and to Sharon, how we continue to come together and learn more about each other. So it's just been wonderful. That's good. You know, Sharon, I want to ask you, what inspires you to write poetry? Thanks, Sharon. The same as what Allison said, you know, anything can inspire me. But like, I work at a library here in the San Francisco, San Francisco Public Library as the African American Center Librarian. And sometimes a lot of the books that we have in the center inspire me to write poetry. Right now, I'm working on a project that looks at books that have runaway slave advertisements from the colonial period. And I'm trying to work on a project of poems inspired by that. So I mean, it really can come from anywhere. But I, one of my, and I heard a poet talk about this on verses today, one of my big goals is to, you know, just try to, you know, bring more good in the world, I suppose. And, you know, so that inspires me to write poetry. All right. You know, Mariska and Carla, we have an event coming up Sunday, December the 18th, the Honolulu African American Association is putting on a free event. And so, Mariska, you are participating in it. Just tell us a little bit about what you're going to speak about on December the 18th. I'm basically reading two of my poems from the Sisters Across Ocean. And I was partnered with Paula, major. And the poems actually flowed so much together. It didn't seem like we were from different continents, you know, when she wrote her poem and then I read mine and wrote mine as well. So we're going to discuss our poems. There are two other poets as well who are going to join us. And we look forward to that because we had the exchange in writing, but we're going to have the visuals now meeting those partners for the first time. Yeah, that's going to be wonderful. At the Doors Duke Theater. Carla, talk about, you know, elaborate a little more about the upcoming event and the collaboration with the Honolulu Museum. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks to another one of our Link Sisters, Daphne Barbie-Wooten and all the other people who helped organize this, Sarah Fang, who's at the Honolulu Museum. We're going to do a reading in which we will have nine poets. It's on family day. It's completely free. It starts at two o'clock. And it'll be an interactive reading in which we will be sharing our work from Sisters Across Oceans as well as inviting through video three of our African partner poets, our Ghanaian poets, Mariska, Brittany Taichi, and Pia Cor. Yeah. And we have entertainment. We have Moussa. Moussa will be performing and Elvira. And they'll be playing drums. They're with Siwa Farah. And also there's going to be a book signing. The books are going to be on sale. Carla, where can people purchase the oceans, Sisters Across Oceans? Sisters Across Oceans is available from Pacific Raven Press. We have a website PacificRavenPress.co. Also, please do come to the reading. You can get them there at the library. It's already there in the bookstore in the Honolulu Museum. And Pacific Raven Press actually is located right in Ka'ava, Hawaii. So you can also order books online. You know, we're going to do a little switch-up. Because Allison has a point for us. And I want our Sister Power viewers to hear this poem. What is the title of your poem, Allison? The poem is entitled Margarit. It's about my grandmother. So this poem was inspired by the one of the first workshops that Carla ran. Ran with all of us who ended up becoming participants and submitters to the anthology. So I'm very, very grateful and thankful for Carla and for everyone else involved in this project. Margarit. I'm sure you'll hear my message. Neither praise song nor condemnation. Harsh woman with mottled skin and raspy breath. Wrapped in frayed florals. Thick-soled slippers. Clare all hair color number 44. A laugh like brittle-grab glass. Unlike mine, your lips thinned, always parted, always pink. Did you just smile? Such grim humor while stirring vats of Quaker oats and grits in your postage stamp of a kitchen. Did you see me stealing pats of your salted butter melting on my midnight tongue? Oh, you smell like warm buttermilk. Tastes like a tablespoon of castor oil. Saying like that green parakeet cage in your tiny front window. Mother of my mother. Do I wish to be like you? Hard, pink, plastic brush on my hair. Your touch, brief, stiff, perfunctory. Your hazel stare long and steady. Suddenly you launch at me like a vulture drawing blood like a mature mosquito. Margarit, you is no daisy. No tropical drink serving your men blue ribbon beer and veined Swiss colony cheese. But I think you cried silently behind the canopy of hot California nights. Tortured yet strong. Deep wells of family secrets stored in your eyes. Despite your spite, you lived your life completely. You loved your people. Fiercely. And there we have it. We have four, hey, five fierce women here on Sister Power. I gotta include myself on that for sure. Hello. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So Mariska, what advice would you give to the young women who are going to start off writing poetry? Um, I would say they shouldn't be afraid to put down what they feel. Sometimes, especially when you live in a community that where everybody knows everybody, you're afraid to put down the truth. Or you're afraid to say things that will identify people and events in your life. But as you get older, you'll find out that it doesn't really matter. People will read it. They might say, yes, I know who she's talking about or what she's talking about. But in the end, it's just memories for them. But you would have let off that burden that is on you. Because a lot of times writing poetry is a way of speaking without speaking. You're putting down your problems for other people to understand without actually facing them to say it. Because sometimes some of the things you write about are painful. And you really can't discuss them. But you can put it on paper. So they shouldn't be afraid. They should just let it all out. Let it all hang out. Shana, what are you working on next? I am working on the project I mentioned earlier, the series of programs based on the Runaway Slave Ads. And I agree with Mariska's advice. And I just say, just start writing. It doesn't matter how good it doesn't have to be good. You just write, just write, write, write. Yeah, Carla, inspire and motivate and educate the women who are just starting out and who are feeling a little hesitant about telling their story. Yes, I agree. I think that writing is a way to not only express yourself, but to connect with others through writing, whether it's in a journal, which is usually just privately read. But I always encourage people to share their writing, which has become sort of my passion. I feel that there's real connections made. And especially during the West Oakland to West Africa, we didn't choose very difficult topics. For example, we talked about a woman who was inspirational in your life or something that was happening in the news. But you find that when people collaborate and share with each other on even things that happen every day, the most magical things can come out of those exchanges. Yeah, well, let's go back and talk about the event that's on Sunday, December the 18th. I look at this event, Queens, as a pre-Kwanzaa celebration. We're getting ready for the holidays. You can dress in your ethnic African attire. And it's free. Everyone, bring your family, it's free. So Carla, let's sum up. Let's tell us what's going to take place that day. Well, we're definitely going to have some fun. People are going to be in a great mood. It's all the work is accessible to all people, young people and people at older people. And it'll just be some dancing, hopefully some music, some poetry, and definitely some sharing. Yeah. So we have a few minutes left. Shana, Allison, and Marissa, each take a minute. Is there anything you would like to share with us starting with you, Shana? I just want to express my gratitude for being here today among these strong women and being able to participate in this project. And if you want to write, you could just start writing and find a group that you can write with because it is so fun to hear other people's writing and also share your writing. Thank you. Allison. I'm going to just go ditto with everything that Shana said and everyone else's amazing interview and also share that one of the projects I'm working on next is I've been commissioned by the Tourism Board for one of the local villages on the lake to write a series of monologues, dramatic monologues that celebrate some of the historical events that have occurred on Lake Como in Italy. So I'm very excited to be part of that project this year. That will happen in December. Congratulations, Marissa, from Ghana. Yes. I just want to say I'm also honored to be amongst all of you. And I want to thank Carla for bringing sisters across oceans, woe to war, also to us. And it's given us more exposure here. And I hope one day to come down to Hawaii. It's been my dream from when I watched South Pacific with Elvis when I was very young. I said, that is where I'm going to go. And then I also watched one program of the Bounty Hunters also who were in Hawaii. Those things, I said, no, I have to come there. White Sands, beaches, coconut water, and then the dance as well. So definitely, definitely a place I have to go to. Thank you for meeting all of you. I'm so honored. You are most welcome. I call the Hawaii our paradise. I call it the bus stop to heaven. Carla, you and I summed this up for Sundays, December the 18th. It's a free event. We've got Musa. We have drums. What else do we have? We have our poets. We have some strong women sharing their stories. We have just a wonderful time. And please come and see us, get the book, meet the poets in person and be able to also meet our African poets through video. But also, they've worked really hard to present their stories to you. And hopefully, I agree, Mariska, we got to get you there. Oh, ladies, queen. Thank you, Allison. Thank you, Carla. Thank you, Marisa and Mahalo. Shana for your time, your expertise, and your wisdom. And from all of us here at Think Tech Hawaii and sisters in part in Hawaii and sister in power. Happy holidays. I'm Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Aloha.