Tuesday Night: Aya de Leon's Love Fest 2006 -- at La Pena (Berkeley)

BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Artist Profile
Aya de León

Daniel King

Monday, February 6, 2006

Aya de León, a spoken-word artist, will perform on Feb. 1...

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Black History Month

Five African American artists discuss their lives

Black History Month -- Has it outlived its usefulness?

Readers' Two Cents

All things African

Listen on Podcast: Part I | Part II

Artists' Profiles

David Huffman -- Painter

Tracy Chapman -- Singer, Songwriter

W. Allen Taylor -- Actor, Writer, Director

Juba Kalamka -- Co-founder of gay hip-hop collective

Aya de Leon -- Poet, Activist

Boots Riley -- Musician

Robert Moses -- Choreographer

Dave 'Davey D' Cook -- Radio host

Entertainment
entertainment links

For Black History Month, Datebook has interviewed 20 Bay Area African American artists about their creative processes, influences and goals. The profiles will run Monday through Friday this month.

Hip-hop activist, novelist and performer Aya de León moved to Oakland after graduating from Harvard in 1992. She grabbed national acclaim in 1996 by marrying herself in an act of self-affirmation, and she broke out further when she won the 1999 Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam. In April, she joined Mos Def in co-hosting the kickoff rally for Current TV, Al Gore's cable network. She has since held down the annual Valentine's Day Love Fest, a thumping spoken-word celebration that takes place at 8 p.m. Feb. 14 at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; (510) 849-2568. A 10 p.m. show will be added if the first show sells out in advance. http://www.ayadeleon.com.

Q: Many listeners consider you a challenge and a so-called "threat" -- a positive one -- to hip-hop's dominant gender roles. Is that your goal? Do you want that distinction?

A: The substance of it, absolutely. But that description is such a fighter metaphor, like I'm hitting the hip-hop community. My way of challenging the community is much more compassionate and gentle. I'm not interested in screaming at the hip-hop community about what's wrong with it; I'm much more interested in creating art that reveals what's wrong with it and why it's actually not working for anyone. When you look beneath the bravado of the male artists who are on top, it's clear that a lot of that is smoke and mirrors.

Q: What do you think about the concept of Black History Month?

A: Our country and culture still have not figured out how to integrate people. There were problems at the founding of this country that still haven't been solved, and I think Black History Month is a transitional step toward honoring fully the struggles and realities of people of African heritage in the United States.

Q: You married yourself in 1996, and it resonated with Essence magazine readers when you wrote about it. Why and how did you marry yourself?

A: I declared my undying love for myself and had a priest and everything. I had family members who were crying at the wedding because of the vows I made to myself. ... But then I did meet someone fabulous and we got married last year. Did I have to divorce myself before marrying someone else? No. We have a commitment to ourselves and to each other. Especially in the Bay Area, which is filled with nontraditional relationships and poly-amorous and open relationships, there's room for a monogamous couple who are also married to themselves.

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