If You Feel It…
“Asgard is not a place. It’s a people.”
As I am writing this, the sun is setting over the Pacific in a starring role against a Tropical Punch sky backdrop. I have deep concern for anyone who only ever sees the sky as just “blue.”
8 years ago (the specific date is not relevant to the story), Black Xpression became a thing from a group of people with broken parts that fit together imperfectly enough to become something special. At the time, Caribbean Pleasures was located in Bonita, California, about an hour plus drive against traffic from UC San Diego. Every Friday though, I made that mission. Just to be there early enough to move a chair or two, and help contribute to the vibe. These were some of real people I had been searching all over San Diego for.
I came across some of those people through a leap of faith preceded by a series of coincidences that I am forever grateful for. Cambria and I host Flexin My Expression at UCSD, the feature, Shelley Bruce, brings her friend Amen Ra, and my my friend Sabrina was in attendance with her best friend Kai. Amen Ra performed one of the first spoken word pieces I had ever heard live and in person. I was inspired and talked to Kai about other places to hear poetry in San Diego. That brought me to Lyrical (Exchange!) where I performed The Introvert for the first time, which introduced me to people like Sakea, Kovu, Ebony, Jeff, and Ronnie.
As the universe had it, not too long after, every Friday night was dedicated to Black Xpression. It introduced me to so many artists that have grown to levels that I could only imagine, but would never surprise me. You walked into Black Xpression under the assumption you probably would witness a life changing performance from someone just trying to find their place in the world. My favorite thing though, there was space for every type of Black person to be whatever version of themselves was comfortable in that space.
If you are Black in San Diego long enough, someone will ask you “Where the Black people at???” Black Xpression introduced me to a lot of the true Black San Diego natives and culture. Is it going to be a perfect fit for everyone? Absolutely not; however, once you have experienced the space, you are no longer allowed to say you never see Black people in San Diego. Through Black Xpression, I have met Black people from so many different walks of life, and to date, only a very small percentage have been on the podcast thus far. I have so so so many more stories to come.
