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  • Join us at next Saturday's Marketplace presented by the New Federal Theatre's Play THE WASH (Sat. June 21st)

Join us at next Saturday's Marketplace presented by the New Federal Theatre's Play THE WASH (Sat. June 21st)

Included: a ton of events & opportunities and No. 48 is here for my lovers of the PANTOUM

Author

Nzingha Hazelton
June 11, 2025

Happy Wednesday Fam,

So many things have been on my mind these days.

A short peek:

  • what to wear for an in person interview next week

  • what are some exciting and filling ways to make vegetables

  • why are we so focused on amplifying our selves

  • is that survival

  • that sounds like survival nzingha

  • how do we keep community centers alive and ongoing

  • why did a flower bloom in my dream last night

  • how long will this hair last

  • because it cost what I don't have

  • I need a new pair of shoes

  • but tip top is type racist

  • but I love their shoes

  • when will I sit down and organize

  • why do we focus on groups of people who in many respects contribute a thousand times less than say billionaires to global and state harm

  • why do I play my music on repeat so so much

  • why am I tired this week

  • is it the big pink moon

But…let's press ahead! Today we share No. 48, a poem, and we also share a few opportunities to support artists, and also to offer your own crafted items and/or books.

A heartfelt thank you to all our new members! If you're not yet part of the fam, here's how you can join:

✨ Become a ululeko Member—stay moisturized, radiant, and shea-luscious all year long!

For just $6.99/month or $80/year, your membership includes:

  • Our signature handcrafted body butter, made fresh with love

  • Perfect after a shower, post-sun, post-shave—or anytime your skin needs some extra TLC

  • Great for all skin types, especially if you’re feeling dry or sensitive

Click below to join and treat yourself (or a friend!) to some loving nourishment:

With love,

Nzingha

Upcoming events

✨ Join us on Saturday, June 21st at 2PM for THE WASH — a powerful play about Black women, sisterhood, and everyday acts of resistance, presented by New Federal Theatre at WP Theater.

🧼 After the show, enjoy a special Women’s Artisan Market featuring handmade goods by local creatives including:

🪡 Handcrafted aprons by Sowing Good Vibes - @natty8dread
🌿 Skin crèmes & healing oils by ululeko x TWIN - @twin.cafe_
🕯️ Candles by BerryGirl Scents - @berrygirl_scents
💎Jewelry & journals by @stateofbeading @justkeebs
🧼 Soaps by RoseGold Skin @imalucas_ 
🎨 Select collage prints by Gia Anansi-Shakur - @giatheconqueror
🧶 Crochet crafts by SimplyFati
💌 Affirmation cards by Keisha-Gaye Anderson - @keishagayeanderson
🍿 Popcorn by MamaPOPS
& More!

💫 Come early — doors open at 11:30AM for shopping!
🎟️ Discounted tickets available for the show
📍 WP Theater – 2162 Broadway @ 76th St., NYC

This is a perfect chance to support Black women & femme artists and find one-of-a-kind treasures. See you there! 💛💜💙

#TheWashNFT #WomenArtisans #SupportBlackArtists #HandmadeWithLove #BlackSisterhood #NYCEvents #ArtisanMarket #TheatreAndCrafts

Join poet & artist Keisha-Gaye Anderson for BOOKS & BEATS.

If you would like to vend here please fill out this form.

More opportunities & events below:

*Happening today in Harlem*

​💫 T - Today

How are you today?

Here’s a question for you. Hit reply & share with us your thoughts. And if you're open to it, I may share your reflection in a future letter—credited or anonymously.

💬 Prompt for Reflection:

What is something you’ve had to unlearn—or erase—in order to begin again?

💬 From the TWIN Community
Response from Mama Nakawe to our last prompt: When is home for you?

"Home is now, the only moment where we are truly alive...Home is right here in the heart when I am present, grounded,  interconnected and open to receive the blessings of nature and the universe. Knowing that time is a construction. Knowing when I get lost I can realign and come back Home at any moment is a gift.”

Nakawe Cuebas

Zing standing in front of the Magnolia Tree Earth Center [Pixel Pro, 06.09.25]

🌠 W - Walk With Me

No. 48 - Racing Elder Grace: A Pantoum

She smudges over her mistakes. 
Bone white. Spongy. Blank slate tongue.
The words unseen;
Trace scrawls still here.

Bone white. Spongy. Blank slate tongue.
Attempting to crawl, recognition.
Trace scrawls still here.
Found a seed in her hallowed hall.

Attempting to crawl, recognition.
Is someone sitting here? 
Found a seed in her hallowed hall.
Rooting, racing, running.

Is someone sitting here? 
She flings an orange handbag onto the chair.
Rooting, racing, running.
Then, come.  

She flings an orange handbag onto the chair.
She says no to her and nothing to him. 
Then, come.
Erase the who, the what, the when.

She says no to her and nothing to him. 
Erase the how, erase the why. Erase her why.
Erase the who, the what, the when.
Grace waits expectantly for the show to begin.

Erase the how, erase the why. Erase her why.
No words exchange. 
Grace waits expectantly for the show to begin.
Silence shifting. She glances often.

No words exchange.
Out of her outer eye.
Silence shifting. She glances often.
A dancer, lithe, walks the edge of the stage.

Out of her outer eye,
Braiding hair, sprinkling salt.
A dancer, lithe, walks the edge of the stage.
Make of this over. Sight unseen her. 

Braiding hair, sprinkling salt,
Unusual her.
Make of this over. Sight unseen her. 
Let she make the path of telling truth again.

Unusual her.
Tell true the truth.
Let she make the path of telling truth again.
She smudges over her mistakes.

Tagged under: pantoum, intergenerational

🎥 I - Interludes

We joined a NYC watch party for Not My Family: The Monique Smith Story
Big sis Yaya DaCosta made her executive producer debut 🙌🏾
And her sister Dja delivered her first U.S. speaking role 💥

Loved how the film moved from the 70s to early 2000s. The performances, the costuming, the emotion—it all landed beautifully.

Grateful to share space with chosen fam: Mama Dyane, Baba Abdel, Mama Orundun, , Baba Carl, and Mandingueiro

💖 A sweet night.

⏳ N - Now

🎧 Listening: “El Amor Que Perdimos” – Prince Royce
📚 Reading: The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen
🥦 Eating: Mashed Cauliflower with Dill
🎯 Focusing on: Not looking at my phone first thing in the morning

More soon,
N

About Nzingha

Born at home to midwife Mama Nonkululeko Tyehemba, and caught by midwife Mama Nakawe Cuebas, Nzingha Nomsa Taiwo Tyehemba grew up on 130th Street and Saint Nick in Harlem, NY. She is a poet, healing artist, and operations professional with experiences spanning Western Massachusetts, Senegal, Ghana, New Orleans, and Cuba. She holds a Bachelor's in Black Studies from Amherst College and a Master's in Adolescent Special Education from CUNY-Hunter College. In 2020, Nzingha led production and translation of A Fearless Spring, a twenty-eight-part poem which exists now in Spanish, Kreyol, Wolof, Asante-Twi, Amharic, French, and GriotLite ( a combination of African American Vernacular English and visual cues rendered by the poet Gia Anansi-Shakur). A kidney transplant survivor and facilitator of healing circles, Nzingha is committed to holistic health, wellness, and collective fellowship. Her publications and productions include: The Feminist Wire, Collective Fallout, each other’s harvest: an afternoon of poetry, community, and address from Cave Canem at the National Museum of African-American History & Culture, and Def Dance Jam Workshop – PONO Movement Performance. Nzingha has received fellowships, grants, and awards from the Laundromat Project and Dance / NYC as well as recognitions from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, Citizens Committee of New York City, and Northfield Mount Hermon’s Vivian Dandridge White Prize. She lives and makes life with her husband, John "Of All Trades" Hazelton, and multiple frond; including a six foot tall bird of paradise, two money trees, two fiddle leaf figs, a ZZ plant...and well, this list could go on.