ROLL CALL!! Who are U People?!

[Hanifah Walidah]

Hey beautiful people,

As I skim through some of your profiles I am curious to who you are. And the best question to ask to get to the root of that answer is simply...

What do you love to do? What drives you to do more of it? What takes up your time in a beautiful way. What do you do that when you do it there is no sense of time? There is no wrong answers but no answer is the same.

That could be your occupation, but in some cases not. What is your passion and why? If you haven't locked down your passion, dream up an answer and the real thing will find its way to you. Come on, let's see what we are all made of.

I'll start.

My lifetime love affair with music has taken on many layers/lovers over the years. I am an artist in many regards (theater, film, dance, etc. ) but music is where I talk one on one with whoever is the God of the week, know what I mean? These past two years have been wonderful but hard because I have not made or performed as much music as I would have like and it is just now hitting me how starved I've become. There are 3 layers of love with music.

Layer 1: Making beats or producing/DJ. This is where I get to play with the music. Its like excavating gold our of thin air. It is the blank canvas and an infinite number of possibilities. I just have to grab at one.

The next layer is writing and recording a song. This stage is like taking hits of spiritual crack. Writing songs come easy to me because I've learned to not take the process so seriously and just free fall into it. The words, melody flow freely from that point on. Finetuning that word or that note or that expression is like remolding myself with the song. Its a cool way to reinvent yourself and your thoughts. I've gotten over lovers, stumbled upon epiphanies and tripped over things I didn't knew existed.

The last and most beautiful stage is the stage itself. To perform. There is no religion like performing. When I'm on stage I have an inexhaustible amount of energy, my language expands beyond just English and when needed speaks in tongues, my body vibrates at a rate that allows my to float then fly and I am clueless to what will transpire from one motion to the next. One note to the next. On stage I am and can become whatever the universe so pleases. And ain't none of that no lie.

[Ladie Fire]

I honestly believe from the depths of my soul I was created to be an artist, specifically an actress. As stage fright as I get, I absolutely love doing live theater. It's one hell of a rush when it's realized the audience is in the palm of your hand and it's your responsibility to move them. At that critical moment when a connection with the audience is made, a true understanding to the words being presented and/or an emotional connection to movement can literally be felt.

I don't just like occasionally being the center of attention, but I find it interesting the way words affect others, which is one of the reasons I greatly enjoy writing poetry. It's remarkable the different ways a simple phrase can be interpreted. I love toying with the mental and getting people to think.

[diane]

hi my name is diane and i would to read some your poetry RIGHT now im having problems with telling my mother that im a lesbian i need some encouragement SO please send me some your poetry . maybe it wont be so hard to tell her the truth

[Mia]

Chelloo..

I love music and words, but I do not possess talents that allow me to label myself as a musician, artist, writer, or poet, so instead I spend time seeking out those musicians, artists, writers and poets.

I enjoy being an activist. I enjoy protesting. I enjoy making people uncomfortable in their comfortable ignorant spaces. That is when I feel the most fulfilled.

[Chaulai]

I am an artist at heart. I write, dance, and do some acting....none of which I do professionally. My passion is writing............when I write, it is like begin wrapped is silk sheets cradled by Mother Nature herself. Writing is my release and my encouragement. I am able to rant and rave, repent and save. Poetry and short stories are what I love to do. I like to write in all genres.

I started writing in Jr High. Middle school for me was not so great (this was my awkward stage), writing helped me find my voice. I began to understand who I was by letting my soul speak to me on paper....or what ever I could find. At first I was shy about letting others hear or read what my soul was saying, until I realized if I wanted people to really know me this was the best way.

I have kept every piece I have ever done since then.......It is fun to look back and read things from younger years. To read how my spirit and soul has matured and how the issues of life have changed, from writing about how the world affects me to expressing how I affect the world. It is almost like a poetic autobiography. I get read the stages of my growth page by page.

For the last few years gifts from family members have been journals, journals, and more journals. Which I love because that lets me know my passion is shared and embraced.

[redstar]

I like tying knots and then untying them. My best knots have been the knots I've tied in my Jack Purcells (best sneakers in the world). I like digging through boxes of junk and finding treasures like marbles, broken crayons or goofy snapshots. Laughing out loud at inappropriate moments is another thing on my top ten list. I like it even better if someone else starts laughing too. Mostly I like not taking myself too seriously (serious stuff gives me a headache.)

[Ira]

I love music. I love creating. I love people. These bring me warmth, inspiration, and joy. Everything in my lyfe is rooted in my desire to help others, especially music. Music has a healing quality and as such, I believe that music was meant to be shared. I love performing and spreading the good word to anyone who wants to hear it.
...Very impressed with so many of the people here.. We all have such wonderful talents and skills! I am honored to be apart of this community of beautiful womyn creatives.

Great question!

[ONELOVETKO,(NEVADA), COPMYSHIT!!]

My passion is writing... poetry, stories, music. If someone challenges me to try a new area of writing I take them up on it. I love learning about things that bring me closer to a greater spiritual awareness. I'm at this time in my life where I'm soul searching, in desperate need to find out my purpose and meaning of existing.

I wish I had more resources available to me so I could explore my music writing alot more. I bought a guitar recently and I've been teaching myself to play and I think I play pretty good to just be starting. I get lost in practicing for hours. Like, sometimes 5 hours go by and I'm like, "oh shit! I'm acting like I don't have things to do." I can only do that when I'm not working though.

Most of the time I am working. Boooooo! At Holiday Inn Express as a desk clerk. Again I say, "Booooooooooooo!"

I'm random and I love to make people smile, that's my favorite. When I make someone smile and laugh, I don't know, I just dig the energy.

I love being different, I've been known to be refered to as, "Weird, but in a good way". Whatever the hell that means. I just figure that means I'm different from what they're used to and the only box they can fit that into is the "weird" box.

I love weed! Talking about it more than smoking it. Watching movies with people smoking it, writing stories where at least one or more of the characters are major stoners, listening to music about smoking it.

Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix.... Love them need I say more.

Love People from the Islands and learning their culture and gaining and understand because I think they're as a majority very misunderstood and the majority of them are black like me.

I think I was a rapper named reese's pieces in a former life. I love to pretend I can rapp.

In another former Life I think I was a pimp named Snuggles.

I believe in reincarnation and that's where I think Deja Vous comes from. (I don't know French) I'm sure that is derived from the French language.

I'm a college drop out so I don't know "your" million dollar words.

I know very little Spanish.

I probably, told you way more than you wanted to know and that's because I like to ramble and I find it hard to stay on subject sometimes.

I love the simple things and life. I don't like to spend extra money on expensive things.

An outfit for me consist of: Jeans $7, Shirt $5, Shoes $8- $40, Hat $5, no jewelry except earrings, eyebrow and tongue ring. (Metals break my neck out/ All metals) I just don't fancy rings, watches, or bracelets at all. I will wear shell neacklaces though.

Love fedoras.

OK, I'm done. I'm not saying anything else. I talk too damn much.

[Hailstonez]

I LOVE U PEOPLE...It has been a true inspiration finding U People as everyone is so ‘real’. It’s a reflection of myself - maybe? It is great to see positive representations of women of colour. I would love to follow the U People practice– being positive, OUT, and proud to be ‘U’. It is so refreshing and enlightening to have U People as a role model – to inspire our communities.

What takes up my time in a beautiful way is simple reading a great book, or listening to some amazing music -preferably on vinyl because of the raw-ness and the nostalgic qualities...

[thru'Ntrue]

I lo...ve music. Music has always been my mistress, literally. I don't get into lyrical music thou, just the instrumental aspects. I use to play violin in the Jr. symphony of Indiana years ago and play drums and trumpet, but that's in the past. My love for modern Jazz and House is strong in my life; totally opposite of each other and loving it. I'm presently writing: something I've always wanted to do (in my head) but never sat down to do. I have an over active imagination at times and a lot of life experiences. Some of the novels I read (avid reader too), I can put some of these characters to shame. Hopefully I can come up with an interesting book that people will enjoy. I like being a tomboi at times and be a lady at others. I read poetry, but I must admit, I just don't understand it (I guess I'm odd). I love to talk, with intelligent people and I love to camp in the rugged outdoors.

I just got turned on to U PEOPLE; LOVE IT, LOVE IT, SIMPLY LOVE IT.
It's nice seeing young lesbians of colour doing there thang in a positive way. I love the stoop: which we had something like that in my city, it seems like fun. But unfortunately, most of the women of colour are closet cases. SAD!!

But, would like to see you branch out to the older lesbian crowd (U PEOPLE) for their input. The middle age folk, like myself
Ok, I think I said enough before I wear out my welcome!!!

[Locd Psyience]

i love being outside...soaking up sun for that super bronze chocolate complexion i've been dreamin of ever since i was young enough to have thoughts stick with me....i'm a music fanatic...i don't care what the genre..if i sway, i'm with it....i'm a creative mind appreciater...cause i tend to think way too analytically...reasonably...very seldom in 'flowers and rainbows', u dig...so i try to surround myself with souls that do..hoping one day they'll rub off on me ....i'm driven to be happy...content...comfortable...whatever takes me there, i continue along that path...sure, i may have to fill a hole here...repatch one there...i may even trip over a crack or two..but the lights continues to get brighter, so....life..reality takes up the most time...it's all beautiful as long as i get to be all up in it...and i am..no sense of time brings about alot of lounging about...wafting around like smoke in the air...cycling through many ciphers...smiling and laughing and crying and conversing and just being me....bangin' bones on wooden and glass tables...being silly and actin insane...creating boxes to see how far we can jump outside of them...over them...shyt, sometimes we go right thru them..*lol*...

'Life is a parade' i dream to be just as colorful and melodious....

[Kia]

Hello All,
My name is Nakia. I always knew from a very young age that my life work would be helping children. I'm an elementary school teacher. I get lost in the children's words, their visions and their wide-eyed wonderment. They make me laugh, make me want to cry, frustrate me, but at the end of the day, I cant see myself doing anything else. I need them just as much as they need me.

[keena]

u guys are awsome!! imspirational and loving i was at rehab this past saturday and u ladies made me feel like uve known me forever so happy that i found a place to fit in and be accepted