Oh September!
photo credit: edward yim 
As sung by the musician Mirah and visual artist Ginger Brooks Takahashi, “Doo wop doo wop doo wop . . . Tomatoes ripe, we eat them all/Tangly vines around our shoes/We conquer everything we do . . . Oh! September, where did you go?”
Okay, so I haven’t tangled my shoes in any tomato vines recently, but as leaves fall and the air grows chill, nature’s cycle does tug at my sentiments, making me nostalgic, and reminds us of change beyond wardrobe. For instance, the anniversary of September 11th allowed us to reflect on how much our political landscape has shifted since eight years ago and on how resilient and powerful community can be. As children and teachers begin a new school year and college students move away to relocate somewhere different, emotions and spirits whirl in the transience that pervades the month. But this time of year also reminds me of warmth, as we bundle up, drink tea, turn inwards, and seek the company of those willing to sort through the changes and bear the sometimes moody weather to be near each other.
September’s East Meets Words Open Mic featuring Adeeba Rana was no exception to the effects of the new season. The feeling of “community” that night was strikingly evident for a variety of reasons, starting with the turnout. The East Meets West bookstore was packed with a handful of new and familiar faces, all with enthusiastic voices. Some gathered comfortably in the audience with friends while others came to sign up for the Open Mic and to support their fellow performers. Additionally, the collective spirit shined when a few long-time Boston Progress volunteers/participants helped host the event, as Beat Collective’s Victor Chien welcomed everyone with a genuine, heartfelt introduction to the Open Mic series and BPRLive’s Eugene Shih introduced the night’s first performers. July’s featured artist Brownstar duo Pushkar Sharma and Sathya Sridharan individually performed poems that night. And past featured artist Pen Khek Chear performed a very personal “peace/piece” about changes in his life while Charles Kim and Nate Bae Kupel provided him with musical accompaniment. The recitations that night ranged from entertaining and humorous to empowering and rectifying to heartwrenching and spiritual. After Maanav Thakore warmly introduced his dear friend, the range of subject, style and emotion of performed art broadened only more with the poems amazing activist/artist Adeeba Rana chose to share that night.
If you did not happen to catch a glimpse of Adeeba’s awesomeness that night or if you perhaps want to “relive” the event, take a listen to the below recording of her set, courtesy of sudo.
[Note: volume of the recording may vary widely; the level of the intense applause has been lowered, but the audio has otherwise not been normalized]
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Tags: Open Mic.
2 comments
Nice recap. I couldn’t stay for the whole event, but I feel like I was there. Fall days mean summer is gone, but bundling up together with a cup of tea is just what the season needs!
didn’t see this write up — and didn’t know it was recorded! what a nice surprise