December 1, 2024 • 46 mins
Check out Amanda's conversation with LaTasha Diggs!
A writer, vocalist and performance/sound artist, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs is the author of Village (Coffee House Press 2023), TwERK (Belladonna, 2013) as well as the co-editor of Coon Bidness. Diggs has presented and performed at California Institute of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, The Museum of Modern Art, and Walker Art Center and at festivals including: Explore the North Festival, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Hekayeh Festival, Abu Dhabi; International Poetry Festival of Copenhagen; Ocean Space, Venice; International Poetry Festival of Romania; Question of Will, Slovakia; Poesiefestival, Berlin; and the 2015 Venice Biennale. As an independent curator, artistic director, and producer, Diggs has presented events for BAMCafé, Black Rock Coalition, El Museo del Barrio, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and the David Rubenstein Atrium. Diggs has received a 2020 C.D. Wright Award for Poetry from the Foundation of Contemporary Art, a Whiting Award (2016) and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship (2015), as well as grants and fellowships from Cave Canem, Creative Capital, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, among others. She lives in Harlem and teaches part-time at Brooklyn College.
LaTasha's Links: @latasha.diggs
CHECK OUT AMANDA'S NEW TV SHOW: The Poet Speaks with Amanda Eke! Now airing on the Archaeology Channel and Roku!
SUBSCRIBE AND STREAM HERE:
https://heritagetac.org/programs/the-poet-speaks-with-amanda-eke-i28z2vn9bsc?category_id=65263
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
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Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
A writer, vocalist and performance/sound artist, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs is the author of Village (Coffee House Press 2023), TwERK (Belladonna, 2013) as well as the co-editor of Coon Bidness. Diggs has presented and performed at California Institute of the Arts, El Museo del Barrio, The Museum of Modern Art, and Walker Art Center and at festivals including: Explore the North Festival, Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Hekayeh Festival, Abu Dhabi; International Poetry Festival of Copenhagen; Ocean Space, Venice; International Poetry Festival of Romania; Question of Will, Slovakia; Poesiefestival, Berlin; and the 2015 Venice Biennale. As an independent curator, artistic director, and producer, Diggs has presented events for BAMCafé, Black Rock Coalition, El Museo del Barrio, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, and the David Rubenstein Atrium. Diggs has received a 2020 C.D. Wright Award for Poetry from the Foundation of Contemporary Art, a Whiting Award (2016) and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship (2015), as well as grants and fellowships from Cave Canem, Creative Capital, New York Foundation for the Arts, and the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, among others. She lives in Harlem and teaches part-time at Brooklyn College.
LaTasha's Links: @latasha.diggs
CHECK OUT AMANDA'S NEW TV SHOW: The Poet Speaks with Amanda Eke! Now airing on the Archaeology Channel and Roku!
SUBSCRIBE AND STREAM HERE:
https://heritagetac.org/programs/the-poet-speaks-with-amanda-eke-i28z2vn9bsc?category_id=65263
Be sure to check out The Poet Speaks Podcast on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/thepoetspeakspodcast/
And listen to,The Poet Speaks Podcast, on the go on ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS WORLDWIDE!
Apple:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/1cM1rdF...
Did you know The Poet Speaks is also Amanda's touring global workshop? She teaches people all about how to make, create and the history of Spoken Word and Indigenous oral traditions! To make a booking for The Poet Speaks Workshop with your organization, apply for mentorships with Amanda, book interviews, as well as writing consultations, please use this link: https://www.amandaeke.com/services
Music by: Buzu Buzu
https://www.instagram.com/bbuzu/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello everyone, it's your host, Amanda Eka and I have
some amazing news. Starting this fall, the post Speaks is
coming to your TV screens. Yes, that's right. After eight
amazing seasons as a podcast, The pote Speaks with Amanda
Aka is now a TV show erin are the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming service, Heritage. Everyone, get ready for a
(00:26):
visual feast, spoken, more performances and deep dives into the minds.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Of pods from all over the world.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now something extraordinary is coming and you want want to
miss a single moment.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the poet Speaks podcast,
the number one poetry podcast in the world. Now, our
next guest is a writer, vocalist, and performance and sound artists.
The author of Village as well as twerk All as
the co editor of Coom Business. She has presented and
performed all over the world, as well as had grants
and fellowships from kaev Kanam, Creative Capital, New York Foundation
(00:59):
for the Arts, and the US Japan Friendship Commission, among others.
She lives in Harlem and teaches part time at Brooklyn College.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Everyone.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Welcome to the podcast. Latasha Diggs, Latasha how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm doing good. I'm doing well.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Absolutely nice to see nice to see your face. Now,
before we get into all that we've done so far
together and all of our meetings in real life, I
want you to tell everyone where your location is and
where you're speaking to out of us speaking out of
what location you are, what city you are speaking out
of us?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Today?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I am located in Planet Harlem, in the neighborhood of
El Barrio akaa East Tarlem for old school folks Spanish
Harlem and yeah, New York City.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Absolutely so I know you are a proud Harlem resident
and everything. Now I don't think I knew or did
not know you. Are you born and raised, born, bred
and raised in Harlem, New York.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Born, bred and raised in Harlem. I grew here?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, yeah, I grew here. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Now, tell us a little bit about you know, your
childhood and uh, kind of where did you find now?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I'm so intrigued by You're.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Such a multi multi hyphen it yourself in terms of
everything you do.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Like I said, you're a.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Writer, vocalist, performance artists in and of itself as well
as a sound artist. Tell us kind of, let's kind
of hone in though on poetry. Did you where did
you end up finding poetry? Was it in your childhood
growing up in Harlem or did poetry find you amongst
your many travels? Where did poetry find you? Or did
(02:50):
you find it?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It found me much later in my early adulthood. Like
I said, born and raised in Harlem, there were aspirations
to become a visual artist. That's what I wanted to
be when I was a kid, and I actually attended
(03:13):
LaGuardia High School of the Arts. I was a visual
arts major. Prior to that, I drew, I painted, I
also played the violin. I played the violin to the
(03:34):
degree that I was in the Manhattan Borrow Wide Orchestra
second violin. When I went to Laguadia, I kind of
put down the violin and focused on visual arts and
long story short, I ended up not graduating from Laguadia,
(03:58):
so I did not get my high school dipoma that way.
Later on, I eventually got a ged and at the
encouragement of an old friend, I actually started writing music
reviews and he encouraged me to write music reviews based
(04:24):
on how I just free verse wrote these poems, these
ideas of poems in my notebook, and so there was
a number of derailments before I actually saw myself as
(04:48):
a poet. Nonetheless becoming a music reviewer freelance writer of course,
writing for The Source and Vibe and Ego Trip and
a West Coast magazine. That's not that's that I can't
(05:11):
remember right now. Going that route eventually get me back
to writing poems, and so that's how it came. Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Wow, So so this was so you kind of found
poetry after already having that career as a.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, having a brief career as a as a music reviewer,
it actually felt like something that I wanted to pursue
more to become that type of music journalist. It's what
prompted me to return to school. Uh, it's what prompted
(05:56):
me to go get my ged and eventually enter two
year college to uh focus on my writing to become
a better writer. Yeah, it happened that way.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Mm hmmm. Wow, Well, tell me a little bit about
that process.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
I'm curious because LaGuardia is that a school where someone would.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Have to audition to join to be a part LaGuardia.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
High School is one of these. Uh, it is a
public school, so for folks who think are ever assumed
LaGuardia High School to be a private school. It is
not a private school. It had always been a specialized
public school. Uh, just like arts are, art and design
(06:48):
are maybe some of the more academic intensive schools like
Bronx Science and yes, you did have you did have
to go to audition. LaGuardia High School also, really briefly,
is the merging of the High School for the Performing Arts,
(07:09):
high School for Music and the Arts, both founded by
Filorello H. LaGuardia with the goal to always have them
in the same building. But when they were founded, they
(07:30):
were separated into two different buildings, two different locations. And
I was part of that first class of the actual
merge of the two schools together. So that was a trip.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, so it's obviously the school holds such a wait
and prestige. I'm curious dropping out, what were your what
was your family like?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Were they? You know?
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I think to really in many cases to support a
young person to kind of pursue a school like that,
pursue a career. Clearly you're very talented. What were they
like when you said, Hey, I'm dropping out.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I would suspect that my mom was not happy. She
did not offer much protests from what I remember, and
the response will if you're not going to school, you
(08:35):
got to get a job because you're not living under
my house not doing anything.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
M yeah, oh wow, okay, So it just kind of
honing in on there too. What was the kind of
ultimate decision for you where you were like, I'm just leaving.
What was the kind of decision for you that made
you just drop out?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
At that point You're like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So much, so much. I'm high school. The high school
years were not fun years, you know, they're not fun years.
And so you have to have a steady and firm
(09:22):
support system I would assume at home to keep you grounded, right,
like your grounding needs to be steady. If that's not there,
you know, that's what happens. Part of the decision to
(09:46):
finally leave was in part actually encouraged, if you want
to say it nicely, but for only pushed on by
the vice principal of that time. From my recollect recollection,
(10:08):
I was shy of six credits.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Wow, but just was.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Not together because there's just so much happening outside of
the classroom, within the household. No, And like I said,
if you don't have a grounding you kind of you're
a teenager.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, yeah, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah, and the vice principle was really like, why don't
you just drop out? Because technically there was nothing, There
was no reason to expel me, right and I think
legally a school can't expel you. Not at that time.
(10:55):
I don't know about it now, but yeah, I was
just a student who is what's not all the way together? Yeah,
and without the grounding at home and then with the
kind of like pushing nudging at the behest the prince
(11:17):
vice principal, you know, I just eventually left.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Wow, okay for sure, for sure. So now kind of
moving fast forwarding. You know, like I said, you know
you're a very multifaceted artist. Now now you went from
there obviously born bred in Harlem, New York, but you
know you've now performed globally right in Berlin, Venice, just
(11:44):
to name a few. Was the recipient, as I said
in your biou the National Endowment for the Art led
or Fellowship Granton Fellowships, creat Capital US Japan Friendship Commission.
Where I mean, like when we kind of take that
journey from there to now where you like you had
like you had uh led led kind of spoke a
(12:07):
little bit, you know, that instability as a teenager to
now this grand life as an artist you've been able
to create for yourself. I mean, what is the kind
of connecting factor to you? What kind of brought you
now to this place and space to where you've been
able to share your art, share you know your you know,
(12:29):
share your share who you are in these different places.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What is really kind of brought you?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
What do you think has been the kind of connector
for you where you've gone from there to now where
you are today.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Well, I think a couple of things. One luck, one
is luck. Two I guess some talent right. Three having support,
having having having those entities right that see you and
(13:06):
recognize your capabilities and want to push you forward, right,
pushing forward in the direction of becoming a better artist,
a better human being. Right. Also being at the right
place at the right time. It's it's it means you know,
(13:30):
yeah a lot. And also I mean I I speak
a lot about those those forces right that are outside
of your control that actually make things happen for you
or make things for you. Right. Then there's also what
(13:53):
a former high school student told me many many years ago,
having to fear it out on your own too. I mean,
as difficult, encumbersome that can be, that plays a part
in it, right, So I don't think I think there's
(14:14):
a work ethic that is attached to not only the
actual work, creative work you're doing, but then the self
work you have to do, you know, the me work,
the the emotional work, the mental work, and that that
(14:38):
constantly is churning and and and somehow eventually you get
to this place, right. You get you get lucky, you
get a little reward here and there, you get these
opportunities to travel abroad. So it all, it all plays in.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, absolutely, tell me a little bit about you know,
it's so interesting you said, just like that support and
obviously said, look what what you know? So many people
I think, and just even looking at my own life
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I mean that's support.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It comes in a marrior It comes in a marriad
of ways, right. It's not just maybe friends and family,
you be shocked. I mean so many people. Some of
the most support of people in terms of my career
right have been people I've never even met in real life.
I mean it's been people that just knew my work
and just recommended it, right, you know, just finding those opportunities,
(15:40):
and those opportunities beget more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
You know, once you have something.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
It's easier to now get more, right if you will,
And then how important do you think and I guess
I want to ask how lacking do you think that
is though in the kind of general consensus of maybe
and just in life, Like you said, you have this
idea the mental emotional building of yourself is key to
(16:10):
where you've considered your success, right, being able to share
your art and your authentic self in all these places.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Around the globe that we live on.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
How important do you think it is for people to
really understand that that reckoning of self getting things on
your own, you know, standing on your.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Own two feet.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
How important do you think that is to most people
to really understand that that plays such a big part
of your success as well?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
It plays a big part. I want to make sure
that what I'm saying is it plays a big part
also the commune unity, right, the community of those you
know and those who don't know. Like you said, you know,
(17:08):
some of the opportunities you were offered in your career, right,
has been from folks who you didn't even personally know.
So there's someone lurking there right in the atmosphere checking
on you, saying I see you, right, and you have
no control over that, right. I think all of that
(17:32):
balances together. I think all of that works together in
terms of the self right, getting yourself together. You know,
that's the probably the biggest thing I find myself having
to do that that's solely on my own, right, Like,
that's that's me. You know. I could have my confidence,
(17:57):
I could have my therapist, I can have my elders, right,
and all of that plays in shaping how you're going
to do what you need to do for yourself. Right.
But yeah, uh yeah, there's the stuff that you do
on the own, on your own, and then there's the
(18:18):
stuff that you do in conversation.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Sure sure, sure absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Now moving on a little bit, I do want to
talk about the amazing works that you have. Please tell
us a little bit. You're off the author of Village
as well as Twerk. Let's start off with Twerk. Tell
us a little bit about that you are the author of.
Tell us a little bit about Twerk titled name and
what the inspiration was, and.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Well Twerk is my first collection of poetry. It came
out in twenty thirteen. I was invited by the publisher
and writer Rachel Levinski, who found the Belladonna Collaborative, which
is a feminist press for experimental writing, innovative writing, and
(19:10):
she invited me to submit a manuscript. At the time
she asked me, I was a bit jaded, and I
like to tell the story, I was a bit jaded
because I had recently graduated from grad school and I
had the mindset that my thesis was going to be
(19:35):
the first book. And you learn that that is not
the case. Right, Your thesis is simply your thesis. What
it becomes later on, maybe a manuscript, and even then
to move it from manuscript to actual book, that's a
whole other process, right, Yes.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
And.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
I wasn't getting bites per se, Right, I was submitting it.
Nobody was biting, you know, biting, you know. I was like,
I'm fishing and I'm getting no bites. So I'm a
bit salty. And so when she invites me to submit something,
I said, well, I don't I don't know what you want.
(20:20):
And I got a couple of things. How about I
send you twenty pages of this twenty pages of that,
twenty pages of that explaining this situation. This is not
a conventional way of submitting anything to any publisher, right,
Like the gods. The gods were just looking after me, right,
(20:44):
because they were just like, oh Lord, this child. Right.
And of the three that I submitted, there were a
couple of poems from what would eventually become Village. There
were a couple of homes of another project that is
(21:05):
to be completed whenever it gets completed. And then there
were these poems that eventually became Tork And she picked those,
and I'm fortunate she picked those because that was, in
fact the book that introduced me to an even broader audience.
(21:30):
It was the book that allowed me to travel as
a poet. Yeah, it was the book that allowed that
opened doors that I could not have imagined. It was
the book that you know, I will say now, even
though some people may raise their brow, might have opened
(21:52):
too many doors at the same time, right, And I
say that because the thing is, when you got that
many doors opening up, you need to be ready.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Mm hmm. That's interesting.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Wow, you know, are you ready? You know, do you
have the stanama stamina?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
It's your time management skills together, right, And I think
those are real questions. I think those are realistic questions.
I think those are practical questions. I don't take back
anything that what that that was blessed on me at
(22:32):
that time, but I also recognize that you have to
be ready. Nonetheless, Pork was the one. Pork was the
one that got that, that got the readership. It's sold
out of his first, Prince, It's it's sold out of
his second, it's third, it's fourth, it's fifth. Right, it
(22:54):
is a book that is still being taught, uh, to
my surprise, right, It it surprise me how much the
book has been celebrated and taught. And I'm very grateful
for that. And then a ten year gap happened, not
(23:15):
by design, but more so just where my life was
going and if I was ready, And I was approached
again by an editor, Erica Stevens, who formerly worked at
Coffeehouse Press, of the prospects of submitting a manuscript to her.
(23:40):
I did the same spill with her, which was the site, Latasha,
what are you doing? You know? She picked what would
become village, and village village is more personal twerk. A
lot of heavy lifting, but nonetheless a very fun book
because it's about me and my interests with identity, my
(24:06):
interests in languages, foreign languages, my interest in sound and
pop culture and anime and black culture and all types
of stuff. Right Village is the one that I'm still,
(24:26):
shall we say, recuperating from. This is the most it's
the most personal and and and it is the one
that has to do with mother daughter relationships. Again. It
explores identity, the question of identity, the mythology, mythology surrounding identity.
(24:56):
It it it it it. It talks about Harlem. It
doves into a Harlem that many would rather not talk about,
you know, a Harlem that is post Black Panther Party
(25:18):
and now in the Lurks of co Intel pro It's
a Harlem that is.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That is.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Been inflicted by not just poverty, but also drug addiction
and alcoholism.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
It is.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
It is a Harlem of characters that are both beloved
and also predatorial. It's it's it's not an easy book.
And in the midst of writing it, I started going
through a housing battle.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And which.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Delayed the finishing of the book a gazillion times. And
I'm very much grateful that my editor did not drop
me oh together, and so that starts to soak into
the pores of the book too. So it's layered, it's complex.
(26:34):
It's also questioning form, questioning poetic form. It's also looking
at documents. It's a bunch of things. So I would
encourage readership of.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That absolutely everyone.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I know many people across the glove that listened to
this podcast are well aware of work as well as Billy.
But yeah, everyone go check out those phenomenal pieces. I
want to kind of go back. You had said something
that really touched me. You had said you got to
be ready for like we were talking about Torque and
how it exploded, you said, you have to be ready
(27:14):
for what that explosion is of your life, especially when
you do like a great piece of work.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Right, kind of go back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
What were you did you feel like you weren't ready
for what came of that the attention you said, the stamina,
you know, the other stamina.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
What were you kind of not ready for at.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That point in your life when that book, you know,
when that collection really took off and blew up.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
To be real practical time management? Yeah, you know. Also,
the other thing is.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
How do I.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Articulate what I'm doing in Twerk. I wrote it. I
didn't think about what would have to be argued about
the book in a manner. Right. I also felt that
some things I just simply didn't have the skills for,
(28:22):
like and I mean it really and I mean I can,
I can blah blah blah it, but it's really time
management and practical skills and also being able. Okay, I
get this grant, I get this grant, I get this
grant following Twerk, But every grant is for a different project, right,
(28:48):
I think as an artist of creative person, I think
you've probably experienced this too. When you're writing a proposal
for something, right, Oftentimes you writing a different proposal for
different things, right, Yeah, with maybe the expectation you make
(29:10):
it one. But what happens if you get all of them?
Yeah you get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
So you felt like that kind of being able to
like juggling.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Alive juggling Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it's just and
I mean and I like I said, I don't take
any of them back. But also what what I've now accumulated, right,
which is what now I'm working towards or all of
the projects that I started that I need to finish, right,
(29:56):
some people can easily walk away and say, ah, I'll
never finish it. Not me, right, It's kind of like,
uh uh, you know I started writing this. I might
have started writing this ten years ago during this residency.
But guess what, it is going to be completed? M right.
(30:17):
It just may not be you know, it probably didn't
get completed the year I started it are the year after,
but it's going to be completed. But and and that's
what I kind of feel. I think maybe young artists
will probably listen to this and go, what the hell
is she talking about? Like like, if you get if
(30:39):
you get all of them, like, get up. And yes,
I absolutely agree, yeah, if you get if you get
it like that, get it, get it, getty, get it.
But also keep in mind, you know your capability, Yeah yeah,
what are what you are capable of doing? You know?
(31:01):
To see it through ye right, and let it be
something just that's just amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Yeah, it makes it. That makes such a good point
because it is something too. It is something I do
kind of try to reconcile with too. You know, there's
certain points as an artist where you're just like.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
It's like a dust ball.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Rolling through the desert and then out of nowhere, like
fifteen great things could happen all at once.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
And then you know, I.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Remember, I remember recently just being in the space where
I was like, dang, I used to pray for toms
like these. Why was I while I knowing about that?
Now I'm like, y'all'm super duper busy, and it's like, yeah,
like I get, I do understand that concept where it's like,
you know, you really do have to also, And I
(31:56):
guess this comes from somewhat of a that comes from
a privileged space because you are achieving a lot. You
are receiving a lot of rewards and awards from what
is obviously very hard work from years, right, But in
the same breath it is you know, it's like this
idea I say all the time. You know, it's one
(32:18):
thing to hope and work towards your dreams. What we
don't talk enough about is what happens when you finally
achieve your dreams. What it takes to maintain those dreams
is a whole another avalanche of hiking, right, and a
lot of us kind of we don't really contemplate or
recognize that until we're there and you realize, do I
(32:39):
even have the capability? Is my mind in the right place?
You know, I mean the time and effort, I mean
all those things to maintain what is a business, a dream,
an artistic project.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
It's no joke.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
M h no, So you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, I
mean it's it's it's real. I mean, I think I
think also looking back at the things that I that
I applied for, right, and how fortunate I was to
(33:20):
get them, and how fortunate I was to have friends
and colleagues who could be second readers, right, which I
think some people think that the application process is a
soul is a solitary thing that you do on your own, right.
(33:45):
That's that's maybe about fifty percent of it. About twenty
five percent of it is you having your tribe of
folks who who can read them and be those those
those extra payers of eyes, right, because yeah, like you
(34:09):
can't do like, no one does this by themselves, right, No,
not at all. The creation that's one thing. But this this,
this this whole administrated thing. You know, you need some
assistance and yeah, and uh you gotta be ready. Yeah.
(34:31):
I And also I mean, I'm pausing because I'm thinking
about this. Work ethic was also something that I didn't
witness or model from another writer. I actually witness visual
artists doing this, and it's impressive, I mean deeply impressive.
(34:58):
I I knew. I was familiar with one visual artist
who basically obligated three hours a day, three hours a
day to administrative work, and of those three hours involved applications,
(35:19):
so basically writing applications. So three hours a day. This
artist was actively seeking and drafting applications every fucking day.
And that's crazy. But I tried it, and it does
(35:43):
have its benefits, right, But again, okay, you get all
of them? Can you do them? Can you do all
of them at the same time?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, you know, but yeah, I mean so the thing
is that I, you know, I borrowed that work ethic
a couple of years for a couple of years, and
I mean, you do see the rewards of having a
work ethic like that. Again, it's like, now can you finish?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's it's a it's so many things everywhere, everything all
at once, with what goes into creating maintaining so many of.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
These multifaceted levels of artistry.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, No, it's such a new it's such a new
space that I'm in now as a as kind of
as this next project that I've created has.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Come to fold on TV. So, Latasha, you were part
of the Poet.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Speaks with Amanda Aka, which is now streaming when this
episode comes out. It is now streaming on the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming site in service called Heritage. So we
did a very special episode with you and another amazing individual,
Mama Rashida in the in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
It was a very uh you did you did so much?
You did?
Speaker 1 (37:06):
You talk such gems that I still remember the poem
that I asked you a specific question, A little sneak
peek for those listening to the podcast as you watched
the episode coming out either this week or next week.
You know, you had made a one last poem to Harlem,
and I still remember what you said. Tell me a
bit about your experience filming that, and you know, speaking
(37:28):
so affectionately, speaking so deeply about Harlem and revisiting the
Harlem renaissance.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Hmm, oh, it was wonderful. It was, it was wonderful.
I I I thought about it, and I I wish
there was an opportunity for y'all to film far more,
(37:56):
because I felt that there was so many gems, are
so many interesting conversations me and Mama Rashida were having
off camera, right that had to do with Harlem and
had to do with the renaissance of you know, Harlem's
(38:17):
history and you know what she sees at heart as
Harlem now compared to how I see it Harlem and
just processing. You know, there's the generational differences in our
loved for this neighborhood. Right, I'm trying to remember. I
(38:41):
think I said something. What did I say? Harlem is
a tor is a lover that torments me?
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (38:49):
You did say that, Yeah, yeah, it is, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
It is. It's I you know, like, no, I do
not go immediately go to Harlem being a mother.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
It's it's the It's the it's the crush. It's the
sweet sweet sixteen crush in Marcus Garvey Park, breaking night,
sneaking into the pool.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
It is the it is the crush on the Ferris
Wheel somewhere around one hundred and eleventh Street and maybe
Fifth Avenue.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Mm hmm. It's the.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
It's the crush.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
That's it's the relationship that's never.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Meant to be. It's never meant to extend beyond that night.
It's the it's the lover that you want them to
let you go, but you don't want to be let
go of, but you want to be let go of
(40:12):
and they won't let you go. And it's a back
and forth thing. It's a do I stay, do I go? Harlem? No?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Yeah, no, thank you for that. Yeah, for those when
y'all watched the episode on Heritage Streaming, you know, you
really do get a good sense. Latasha.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, you have a very.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Interesting Probably I think I've never heard someone describe their
relationship to their city or especially a place like Harlem
like that, But I think you provide a lot of
understanding of how Harlem has become your muse over over
your time living there, and of how that muse that
relationship it's always ever changing, but ever present. You know,
we also have the amazing opportunity to go to the
(41:00):
Langston Hughes House go talk to some of the amazing
poets there as well. So, like Aatasha had mentioned, you
know that generational divide between the new, the old, and
what is the future. So everyone go check out Harlem
Renaissance revisited The Poet Speaks with Amanda eck Now on
TV Go check it out on Heritage Streaming. All right, Latasha,
(41:21):
you know you've been such an amazing guest, such for
so far, and we really learned a lot about your
your musings. You know, the inner working of your mind.
How why and you know your poetry, but your artistry. Really,
we have one last question for you on The Poet
Speaks podcast today, Latasha, why do you need to get
your words out?
Speaker 3 (41:42):
Because I don't hear anybody with my experience, I don't
hear or see an interest or curiosity in a time,
a community, people, a cipher that I come from, not
(42:08):
just Harlem, New York. I don't hear an interest in
the convergence of sounds, of music, of bodies dancing up
(42:30):
against each other, that represent me, that represent the folks
that shaped me, the folks that molded me. So it's
it's on me to write those down, to document them
(42:53):
as best as I can, to also create eight or
propose something outside of the normal and the expected.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Absolutely, and that is why she needs to get her
words out. All right, Thank you so much, Latasha. We
really enjoyed having this conversation with you today. Now before
we wrap up, wrap up, please tell us what's next
for you in twenty and twenty four. Tell us what's
where we can find your amazing work, where people can
purchase your collections as well any social media handles or
(43:34):
websites that you have available.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Sure Thing, you can follow me on Instagram, Latasha that
Digs Latasha Digs are on Twitter x Malcolm X for
the Black Twitter Verse at Lodig Report. For the remainder
(44:03):
of twenty twenty four, I am participating in a couple
of events. One is a tribute to my dear friend
and brother, the late Greg Tate that's going to be
happening sometime next week in Harlem. Will be with Brunch
Sugar orchestra of the band that he co founded. I'll
(44:28):
be reading, along with Nelson George and Carl Hancock Rutz,
excerpts from his first collection of essays, fly Boy and
the Buttermilk. I'll also be participating in an event that
is being produced by PTP Gang, a hip hop producer.
(44:51):
I will be working with a young experimental electronic artist
by the name of YadA. Will be co raping on
something at the kitchen. That's sometime next week. I'm sorry
I'm not giving dates, but you can check the kitchens
calendar and you can also check the organization We Are
(45:14):
Still Here, which is a Harlem based organization that is
hosting the tribute to Greg and a couple other things
happening during September. And for the most part, I'm back
in the lab working on my third manuscript, which is TBA.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Awesome, awesome. All right, well everyone, Uh.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Latasha's links will be down below in the description box.
No matter what platform you are listening to this podcast day,
check out the description box down below. All right, Natasha,
thanks so much for sharing it, Thanks for being a
guest today on the pol Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Thank you for having me, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Now everyone go check out again all the Tasha's amazing
work and check out this podcast.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
No matter where you are in.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
The world, no matter what streaming service, we are available everywhere.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
Everyone, Thanks so much. Bye bye,
Hello everyone, it's your host, Amanda Eka and I have
some amazing news. Starting this fall, the post Speaks is
coming to your TV screens. Yes, that's right. After eight
amazing seasons as a podcast, The pote Speaks with Amanda
Aka is now a TV show erin are the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming service, Heritage. Everyone, get ready for a
(00:26):
visual feast, spoken, more performances and deep dives into the minds.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Of pods from all over the world.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now something extraordinary is coming and you want want to
miss a single moment.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Hello everyone, and welcome back to the poet Speaks podcast,
the number one poetry podcast in the world. Now, our
next guest is a writer, vocalist, and performance and sound artists.
The author of Village as well as twerk All as
the co editor of Coom Business. She has presented and
performed all over the world, as well as had grants
and fellowships from kaev Kanam, Creative Capital, New York Foundation
(00:59):
for the Arts, and the US Japan Friendship Commission, among others.
She lives in Harlem and teaches part time at Brooklyn College.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Everyone.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Welcome to the podcast. Latasha Diggs, Latasha how are you.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
I'm doing good. I'm doing well.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Absolutely nice to see nice to see your face. Now,
before we get into all that we've done so far
together and all of our meetings in real life, I
want you to tell everyone where your location is and
where you're speaking to out of us speaking out of
what location you are, what city you are speaking out
of us?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Today?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
I am located in Planet Harlem, in the neighborhood of
El Barrio akaa East Tarlem for old school folks Spanish
Harlem and yeah, New York City.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Absolutely so I know you are a proud Harlem resident
and everything. Now I don't think I knew or did
not know you. Are you born and raised, born, bred
and raised in Harlem, New York.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Born, bred and raised in Harlem. I grew here?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, yeah, I grew here. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Now, tell us a little bit about you know, your
childhood and uh, kind of where did you find now?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
I'm so intrigued by You're.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Such a multi multi hyphen it yourself in terms of
everything you do.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Like I said, you're a.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Writer, vocalist, performance artists in and of itself as well
as a sound artist. Tell us kind of, let's kind
of hone in though on poetry. Did you where did
you end up finding poetry? Was it in your childhood
growing up in Harlem or did poetry find you amongst
your many travels? Where did poetry find you? Or did
(02:50):
you find it?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
It found me much later in my early adulthood. Like
I said, born and raised in Harlem, there were aspirations
to become a visual artist. That's what I wanted to
be when I was a kid, and I actually attended
(03:13):
LaGuardia High School of the Arts. I was a visual
arts major. Prior to that, I drew, I painted, I
also played the violin. I played the violin to the
(03:34):
degree that I was in the Manhattan Borrow Wide Orchestra
second violin. When I went to Laguadia, I kind of
put down the violin and focused on visual arts and
long story short, I ended up not graduating from Laguadia,
(03:58):
so I did not get my high school dipoma that way.
Later on, I eventually got a ged and at the
encouragement of an old friend, I actually started writing music
reviews and he encouraged me to write music reviews based
(04:24):
on how I just free verse wrote these poems, these
ideas of poems in my notebook, and so there was
a number of derailments before I actually saw myself as
(04:48):
a poet. Nonetheless becoming a music reviewer freelance writer of course,
writing for The Source and Vibe and Ego Trip and
a West Coast magazine. That's not that's that I can't
(05:11):
remember right now. Going that route eventually get me back
to writing poems, and so that's how it came. Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Wow, So so this was so you kind of found
poetry after already having that career as a.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Yeah, having a brief career as a as a music reviewer,
it actually felt like something that I wanted to pursue
more to become that type of music journalist. It's what
prompted me to return to school. Uh, it's what prompted
(05:56):
me to go get my ged and eventually enter two
year college to uh focus on my writing to become
a better writer. Yeah, it happened that way.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Mm hmmm. Wow, Well, tell me a little bit about
that process.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
I'm curious because LaGuardia is that a school where someone would.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Have to audition to join to be a part LaGuardia.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
High School is one of these. Uh, it is a
public school, so for folks who think are ever assumed
LaGuardia High School to be a private school. It is
not a private school. It had always been a specialized
public school. Uh, just like arts are, art and design
(06:48):
are maybe some of the more academic intensive schools like
Bronx Science and yes, you did have you did have
to go to audition. LaGuardia High School also, really briefly,
is the merging of the High School for the Performing Arts,
(07:09):
high School for Music and the Arts, both founded by
Filorello H. LaGuardia with the goal to always have them
in the same building. But when they were founded, they
(07:30):
were separated into two different buildings, two different locations. And
I was part of that first class of the actual
merge of the two schools together. So that was a trip.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Yeah, so it's obviously the school holds such a wait
and prestige. I'm curious dropping out, what were your what
was your family like?
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Were they? You know?
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I think to really in many cases to support a
young person to kind of pursue a school like that,
pursue a career. Clearly you're very talented. What were they
like when you said, Hey, I'm dropping out.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
I would suspect that my mom was not happy. She
did not offer much protests from what I remember, and
the response will if you're not going to school, you
(08:35):
got to get a job because you're not living under
my house not doing anything.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
M yeah, oh wow, okay, So it just kind of
honing in on there too. What was the kind of
ultimate decision for you where you were like, I'm just leaving.
What was the kind of decision for you that made
you just drop out?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
At that point You're like, oh, yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
So much, so much. I'm high school. The high school
years were not fun years, you know, they're not fun years.
And so you have to have a steady and firm
(09:22):
support system I would assume at home to keep you grounded, right,
like your grounding needs to be steady. If that's not there,
you know, that's what happens. Part of the decision to
(09:46):
finally leave was in part actually encouraged, if you want
to say it nicely, but for only pushed on by
the vice principal of that time. From my recollect recollection,
(10:08):
I was shy of six credits.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
Wow, but just was.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Not together because there's just so much happening outside of
the classroom, within the household. No, And like I said,
if you don't have a grounding you kind of you're
a teenager.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Yeah, yeah, you know, and.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Yeah, and the vice principle was really like, why don't
you just drop out? Because technically there was nothing, There
was no reason to expel me, right and I think
legally a school can't expel you. Not at that time.
(10:55):
I don't know about it now, but yeah, I was
just a student who is what's not all the way together? Yeah,
and without the grounding at home and then with the
kind of like pushing nudging at the behest the prince
(11:17):
vice principal, you know, I just eventually left.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Wow, okay for sure, for sure. So now kind of
moving fast forwarding. You know, like I said, you know
you're a very multifaceted artist. Now now you went from
there obviously born bred in Harlem, New York, but you
know you've now performed globally right in Berlin, Venice, just
(11:44):
to name a few. Was the recipient, as I said
in your biou the National Endowment for the Art led
or Fellowship Granton Fellowships, creat Capital US Japan Friendship Commission.
Where I mean, like when we kind of take that
journey from there to now where you like you had
like you had uh led led kind of spoke a
(12:07):
little bit, you know, that instability as a teenager to
now this grand life as an artist you've been able
to create for yourself. I mean, what is the kind
of connecting factor to you? What kind of brought you
now to this place and space to where you've been
able to share your art, share you know your you know,
(12:29):
share your share who you are in these different places.
Speaker 2 (12:32):
What is really kind of brought you?
Speaker 1 (12:34):
What do you think has been the kind of connector
for you where you've gone from there to now where
you are today.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Well, I think a couple of things. One luck, one
is luck. Two I guess some talent right. Three having support,
having having having those entities right that see you and
(13:06):
recognize your capabilities and want to push you forward, right,
pushing forward in the direction of becoming a better artist,
a better human being. Right. Also being at the right
place at the right time. It's it's it means you know,
(13:30):
yeah a lot. And also I mean I I speak
a lot about those those forces right that are outside
of your control that actually make things happen for you
or make things for you. Right. Then there's also what
(13:53):
a former high school student told me many many years ago,
having to fear it out on your own too. I mean,
as difficult, encumbersome that can be, that plays a part
in it, right, So I don't think I think there's
(14:14):
a work ethic that is attached to not only the
actual work, creative work you're doing, but then the self
work you have to do, you know, the me work,
the the emotional work, the mental work, and that that
(14:38):
constantly is churning and and and somehow eventually you get
to this place, right. You get you get lucky, you
get a little reward here and there, you get these
opportunities to travel abroad. So it all, it all plays in.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Yeah, absolutely, tell me a little bit about you know,
it's so interesting you said, just like that support and
obviously said, look what what you know? So many people
I think, and just even looking at my own life
as well.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
I mean that's support.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It comes in a marrior It comes in a marriad
of ways, right. It's not just maybe friends and family,
you be shocked. I mean so many people. Some of
the most support of people in terms of my career
right have been people I've never even met in real life.
I mean it's been people that just knew my work
and just recommended it, right, you know, just finding those opportunities,
(15:40):
and those opportunities beget more opportunities.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
You know, once you have something.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
It's easier to now get more, right if you will,
And then how important do you think and I guess
I want to ask how lacking do you think that
is though in the kind of general consensus of maybe
and just in life, Like you said, you have this
idea the mental emotional building of yourself is key to
(16:10):
where you've considered your success, right, being able to share
your art and your authentic self in all these places.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Around the globe that we live on.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
How important do you think it is for people to
really understand that that reckoning of self getting things on
your own, you know, standing on your.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
Own two feet.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
How important do you think that is to most people
to really understand that that plays such a big part
of your success as well?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
It plays a big part. I want to make sure
that what I'm saying is it plays a big part
also the commune unity, right, the community of those you
know and those who don't know. Like you said, you know,
(17:08):
some of the opportunities you were offered in your career, right,
has been from folks who you didn't even personally know.
So there's someone lurking there right in the atmosphere checking
on you, saying I see you, right, and you have
no control over that, right. I think all of that
(17:32):
balances together. I think all of that works together in
terms of the self right, getting yourself together. You know,
that's the probably the biggest thing I find myself having
to do that that's solely on my own, right, Like,
that's that's me. You know. I could have my confidence,
(17:57):
I could have my therapist, I can have my elders, right,
and all of that plays in shaping how you're going
to do what you need to do for yourself. Right.
But yeah, uh yeah, there's the stuff that you do
on the own, on your own, and then there's the
(18:18):
stuff that you do in conversation.
Speaker 2 (18:21):
Sure sure, sure absolutely.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Now moving on a little bit, I do want to
talk about the amazing works that you have. Please tell
us a little bit. You're off the author of Village
as well as Twerk. Let's start off with Twerk. Tell
us a little bit about that you are the author of.
Tell us a little bit about Twerk titled name and
what the inspiration was, and.
Speaker 3 (18:44):
Well Twerk is my first collection of poetry. It came
out in twenty thirteen. I was invited by the publisher
and writer Rachel Levinski, who found the Belladonna Collaborative, which
is a feminist press for experimental writing, innovative writing, and
(19:10):
she invited me to submit a manuscript. At the time
she asked me, I was a bit jaded, and I
like to tell the story, I was a bit jaded
because I had recently graduated from grad school and I
had the mindset that my thesis was going to be
(19:35):
the first book. And you learn that that is not
the case. Right, Your thesis is simply your thesis. What
it becomes later on, maybe a manuscript, and even then
to move it from manuscript to actual book, that's a
whole other process, right, Yes.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
And.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
I wasn't getting bites per se, Right, I was submitting it.
Nobody was biting, you know, biting, you know. I was like,
I'm fishing and I'm getting no bites. So I'm a
bit salty. And so when she invites me to submit something,
I said, well, I don't I don't know what you want.
(20:20):
And I got a couple of things. How about I
send you twenty pages of this twenty pages of that,
twenty pages of that explaining this situation. This is not
a conventional way of submitting anything to any publisher, right,
Like the gods. The gods were just looking after me, right,
(20:44):
because they were just like, oh Lord, this child. Right.
And of the three that I submitted, there were a
couple of poems from what would eventually become Village. There
were a couple of homes of another project that is
(21:05):
to be completed whenever it gets completed. And then there
were these poems that eventually became Tork And she picked those,
and I'm fortunate she picked those because that was, in
fact the book that introduced me to an even broader audience.
(21:30):
It was the book that allowed me to travel as
a poet. Yeah, it was the book that allowed that
opened doors that I could not have imagined. It was
the book that you know, I will say now, even
though some people may raise their brow, might have opened
(21:52):
too many doors at the same time, right, And I
say that because the thing is, when you got that
many doors opening up, you need to be ready.
Speaker 2 (22:02):
Mm hmm. That's interesting.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Wow, you know, are you ready? You know, do you
have the stanama stamina?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
It's your time management skills together, right, And I think
those are real questions. I think those are realistic questions.
I think those are practical questions. I don't take back
anything that what that that was blessed on me at
(22:32):
that time, but I also recognize that you have to
be ready. Nonetheless, Pork was the one. Pork was the
one that got that, that got the readership. It's sold
out of his first, Prince, It's it's sold out of
his second, it's third, it's fourth, it's fifth. Right, it
(22:54):
is a book that is still being taught, uh, to
my surprise, right, It it surprise me how much the
book has been celebrated and taught. And I'm very grateful
for that. And then a ten year gap happened, not
(23:15):
by design, but more so just where my life was
going and if I was ready, And I was approached
again by an editor, Erica Stevens, who formerly worked at
Coffeehouse Press, of the prospects of submitting a manuscript to her.
(23:40):
I did the same spill with her, which was the site, Latasha,
what are you doing? You know? She picked what would
become village, and village village is more personal twerk. A
lot of heavy lifting, but nonetheless a very fun book
because it's about me and my interests with identity, my
(24:06):
interests in languages, foreign languages, my interest in sound and
pop culture and anime and black culture and all types
of stuff. Right Village is the one that I'm still,
(24:26):
shall we say, recuperating from. This is the most it's
the most personal and and and it is the one
that has to do with mother daughter relationships. Again. It
explores identity, the question of identity, the mythology, mythology surrounding identity.
(24:56):
It it it it it. It talks about Harlem. It
doves into a Harlem that many would rather not talk about,
you know, a Harlem that is post Black Panther Party
(25:18):
and now in the Lurks of co Intel pro It's
a Harlem that is.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
That is.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Been inflicted by not just poverty, but also drug addiction
and alcoholism.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
It is.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
It is a Harlem of characters that are both beloved
and also predatorial. It's it's it's not an easy book.
And in the midst of writing it, I started going
through a housing battle.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And which.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Delayed the finishing of the book a gazillion times. And
I'm very much grateful that my editor did not drop
me oh together, and so that starts to soak into
the pores of the book too. So it's layered, it's complex.
(26:34):
It's also questioning form, questioning poetic form. It's also looking
at documents. It's a bunch of things. So I would
encourage readership of.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
That absolutely everyone.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
I know many people across the glove that listened to
this podcast are well aware of work as well as Billy.
But yeah, everyone go check out those phenomenal pieces. I
want to kind of go back. You had said something
that really touched me. You had said you got to
be ready for like we were talking about Torque and
how it exploded, you said, you have to be ready
(27:14):
for what that explosion is of your life, especially when
you do like a great piece of work.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Right, kind of go back a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
What were you did you feel like you weren't ready
for what came of that the attention you said, the stamina,
you know, the other stamina.
Speaker 2 (27:31):
What were you kind of not ready for at.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That point in your life when that book, you know,
when that collection really took off and blew up.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
To be real practical time management? Yeah, you know. Also,
the other thing is.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
How do I.
Speaker 3 (28:00):
Articulate what I'm doing in Twerk. I wrote it. I
didn't think about what would have to be argued about
the book in a manner. Right. I also felt that
some things I just simply didn't have the skills for,
(28:22):
like and I mean it really and I mean I can,
I can blah blah blah it, but it's really time
management and practical skills and also being able. Okay, I
get this grant, I get this grant, I get this
grant following Twerk, But every grant is for a different project, right,
(28:48):
I think as an artist of creative person, I think
you've probably experienced this too. When you're writing a proposal
for something, right, Oftentimes you writing a different proposal for
different things, right, Yeah, with maybe the expectation you make
(29:10):
it one. But what happens if you get all of them?
Yeah you get what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
So you felt like that kind of being able to
like juggling.
Speaker 3 (29:30):
Alive juggling Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean it's just and
I mean and I like I said, I don't take
any of them back. But also what what I've now accumulated, right,
which is what now I'm working towards or all of
the projects that I started that I need to finish, right,
(29:56):
some people can easily walk away and say, ah, I'll
never finish it. Not me, right, It's kind of like,
uh uh, you know I started writing this. I might
have started writing this ten years ago during this residency.
But guess what, it is going to be completed? M right.
(30:17):
It just may not be you know, it probably didn't
get completed the year I started it are the year after,
but it's going to be completed. But and and that's
what I kind of feel. I think maybe young artists
will probably listen to this and go, what the hell
is she talking about? Like like, if you get if
(30:39):
you get all of them, like, get up. And yes,
I absolutely agree, yeah, if you get if you get
it like that, get it, get it, getty, get it.
But also keep in mind, you know your capability, Yeah yeah,
what are what you are capable of doing? You know?
(31:01):
To see it through ye right, and let it be
something just that's just amazing.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Yeah, it makes it. That makes such a good point
because it is something too. It is something I do
kind of try to reconcile with too. You know, there's
certain points as an artist where you're just like.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
It's like a dust ball.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
Rolling through the desert and then out of nowhere, like
fifteen great things could happen all at once.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
And then you know, I.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Remember, I remember recently just being in the space where
I was like, dang, I used to pray for toms
like these. Why was I while I knowing about that?
Now I'm like, y'all'm super duper busy, and it's like, yeah,
like I get, I do understand that concept where it's like,
you know, you really do have to also, And I
(31:56):
guess this comes from somewhat of a that comes from
a privileged space because you are achieving a lot. You
are receiving a lot of rewards and awards from what
is obviously very hard work from years, right, But in
the same breath it is you know, it's like this
idea I say all the time. You know, it's one
(32:18):
thing to hope and work towards your dreams. What we
don't talk enough about is what happens when you finally
achieve your dreams. What it takes to maintain those dreams
is a whole another avalanche of hiking, right, and a
lot of us kind of we don't really contemplate or
recognize that until we're there and you realize, do I
(32:39):
even have the capability? Is my mind in the right place?
You know, I mean the time and effort, I mean
all those things to maintain what is a business, a dream,
an artistic project.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
It's no joke.
Speaker 3 (32:54):
M h no, So you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, I
mean it's it's it's real. I mean, I think I
think also looking back at the things that I that
I applied for, right, and how fortunate I was to
(33:20):
get them, and how fortunate I was to have friends
and colleagues who could be second readers, right, which I
think some people think that the application process is a
soul is a solitary thing that you do on your own, right.
(33:45):
That's that's maybe about fifty percent of it. About twenty
five percent of it is you having your tribe of
folks who who can read them and be those those
those extra payers of eyes, right, because yeah, like you
(34:09):
can't do like, no one does this by themselves, right, No,
not at all. The creation that's one thing. But this this,
this this whole administrated thing. You know, you need some
assistance and yeah, and uh you gotta be ready. Yeah.
(34:31):
I And also I mean, I'm pausing because I'm thinking
about this. Work ethic was also something that I didn't
witness or model from another writer. I actually witness visual
artists doing this, and it's impressive, I mean deeply impressive.
(34:58):
I I knew. I was familiar with one visual artist
who basically obligated three hours a day, three hours a
day to administrative work, and of those three hours involved applications,
(35:19):
so basically writing applications. So three hours a day. This
artist was actively seeking and drafting applications every fucking day.
And that's crazy. But I tried it, and it does
(35:43):
have its benefits, right, But again, okay, you get all
of them? Can you do them? Can you do all
of them at the same time?
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, you know, but yeah, I mean so the thing
is that I, you know, I borrowed that work ethic
a couple of years for a couple of years, and
I mean, you do see the rewards of having a
work ethic like that. Again, it's like, now can you finish?
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
It's it's a it's so many things everywhere, everything all
at once, with what goes into creating maintaining so many of.
Speaker 2 (36:26):
These multifaceted levels of artistry.
Speaker 3 (36:30):
Right.
Speaker 1 (36:31):
Yeah, No, it's such a new it's such a new
space that I'm in now as a as kind of
as this next project that I've created has.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Come to fold on TV. So, Latasha, you were part
of the Poet.
Speaker 1 (36:44):
Speaks with Amanda Aka, which is now streaming when this
episode comes out. It is now streaming on the Archaeology
Channel's new streaming site in service called Heritage. So we
did a very special episode with you and another amazing individual,
Mama Rashida in the in Harlem.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
It was a very uh you did you did so much?
You did?
Speaker 1 (37:06):
You talk such gems that I still remember the poem
that I asked you a specific question, A little sneak
peek for those listening to the podcast as you watched
the episode coming out either this week or next week.
You know, you had made a one last poem to Harlem,
and I still remember what you said. Tell me a
bit about your experience filming that, and you know, speaking
(37:28):
so affectionately, speaking so deeply about Harlem and revisiting the
Harlem renaissance.
Speaker 3 (37:36):
Hmm, oh, it was wonderful. It was, it was wonderful.
I I I thought about it, and I I wish
there was an opportunity for y'all to film far more,
(37:56):
because I felt that there was so many gems, are
so many interesting conversations me and Mama Rashida were having
off camera, right that had to do with Harlem and
had to do with the renaissance of you know, Harlem's
(38:17):
history and you know what she sees at heart as
Harlem now compared to how I see it Harlem and
just processing. You know, there's the generational differences in our
loved for this neighborhood. Right, I'm trying to remember. I
(38:41):
think I said something. What did I say? Harlem is
a tor is a lover that torments me?
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (38:49):
You did say that, Yeah, yeah, it is, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:57):
It is. It's I you know, like, no, I do
not go immediately go to Harlem being a mother.
Speaker 4 (39:07):
It's it's the It's the it's the crush. It's the
sweet sweet sixteen crush in Marcus Garvey Park, breaking night,
sneaking into the pool.
Speaker 3 (39:27):
It is the it is the crush on the Ferris
Wheel somewhere around one hundred and eleventh Street and maybe
Fifth Avenue.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Mm hmm. It's the.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
It's the crush.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
That's it's the relationship that's never.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Meant to be. It's never meant to extend beyond that night.
It's the it's the lover that you want them to
let you go, but you don't want to be let
go of, but you want to be let go of
(40:12):
and they won't let you go. And it's a back
and forth thing. It's a do I stay, do I go? Harlem? No?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
Yeah, no, thank you for that. Yeah, for those when
y'all watched the episode on Heritage Streaming, you know, you
really do get a good sense. Latasha.
Speaker 2 (40:35):
Yeah, you have a very.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Interesting Probably I think I've never heard someone describe their
relationship to their city or especially a place like Harlem
like that, But I think you provide a lot of
understanding of how Harlem has become your muse over over
your time living there, and of how that muse that
relationship it's always ever changing, but ever present. You know,
we also have the amazing opportunity to go to the
(41:00):
Langston Hughes House go talk to some of the amazing
poets there as well. So, like Aatasha had mentioned, you
know that generational divide between the new, the old, and
what is the future. So everyone go check out Harlem
Renaissance revisited The Poet Speaks with Amanda eck Now on
TV Go check it out on Heritage Streaming. All right, Latasha,
(41:21):
you know you've been such an amazing guest, such for
so far, and we really learned a lot about your
your musings. You know, the inner working of your mind.
How why and you know your poetry, but your artistry. Really,
we have one last question for you on The Poet
Speaks podcast today, Latasha, why do you need to get
your words out?
Speaker 3 (41:42):
Because I don't hear anybody with my experience, I don't
hear or see an interest or curiosity in a time,
a community, people, a cipher that I come from, not
(42:08):
just Harlem, New York. I don't hear an interest in
the convergence of sounds, of music, of bodies dancing up
(42:30):
against each other, that represent me, that represent the folks
that shaped me, the folks that molded me. So it's
it's on me to write those down, to document them
(42:53):
as best as I can, to also create eight or
propose something outside of the normal and the expected.
Speaker 1 (43:11):
Absolutely, and that is why she needs to get her
words out. All right, Thank you so much, Latasha. We
really enjoyed having this conversation with you today. Now before
we wrap up, wrap up, please tell us what's next
for you in twenty and twenty four. Tell us what's
where we can find your amazing work, where people can
purchase your collections as well any social media handles or
(43:34):
websites that you have available.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
Sure Thing, you can follow me on Instagram, Latasha that
Digs Latasha Digs are on Twitter x Malcolm X for
the Black Twitter Verse at Lodig Report. For the remainder
(44:03):
of twenty twenty four, I am participating in a couple
of events. One is a tribute to my dear friend
and brother, the late Greg Tate that's going to be
happening sometime next week in Harlem. Will be with Brunch
Sugar orchestra of the band that he co founded. I'll
(44:28):
be reading, along with Nelson George and Carl Hancock Rutz,
excerpts from his first collection of essays, fly Boy and
the Buttermilk. I'll also be participating in an event that
is being produced by PTP Gang, a hip hop producer.
(44:51):
I will be working with a young experimental electronic artist
by the name of YadA. Will be co raping on
something at the kitchen. That's sometime next week. I'm sorry
I'm not giving dates, but you can check the kitchens
calendar and you can also check the organization We Are
(45:14):
Still Here, which is a Harlem based organization that is
hosting the tribute to Greg and a couple other things
happening during September. And for the most part, I'm back
in the lab working on my third manuscript, which is TBA.
Speaker 2 (45:38):
Awesome, awesome. All right, well everyone, Uh.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Latasha's links will be down below in the description box.
No matter what platform you are listening to this podcast day,
check out the description box down below. All right, Natasha,
thanks so much for sharing it, Thanks for being a
guest today on the pol Speaks podcast.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
Thank you for having me, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
Now everyone go check out again all the Tasha's amazing
work and check out this podcast.
Speaker 2 (46:04):
No matter where you are in.
Speaker 1 (46:05):
The world, no matter what streaming service, we are available everywhere.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
Everyone, Thanks so much. Bye bye,
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