I'm sure all mothers believe their children are wonderful additions to the world community, and I have to agree I've got two of the best daughters also, Bilaliyah and her sister TaSin.

TaSin graced the planet with her incarnate presence quite a few moons ago one early morning at Alta Bates Alternative Birth Center in Berkeley. Her father, Bilal Sabir, and I were grooving to the sounds of KBLX when she decided to show up. The labor was brief - just an hour. Big head, wide shoulders and the Oliver hips made me think she might be a boy as she swam through the birth channel. Nope, she was daughter number two, a presence who continues to brighten my life.

I recall when she was little how she'd always want a birthday party, even though, in the Muslim community we worshipped in, birthdays were a time to honor the mother, not the child. What did the kid do other than show up? The mother carried the child nine months and then had to nurture it for another 18 to 21 years. Birthdays were the true mother's days around our house, but I felt honored by this spirit choosing my house to alight, so it was okay to honor her too.

Sinbad

This year we are going to celebrate TaSin's arrival on the planet at Cobb's Comedy Club with Sinbad, ranked by Comedy Central as "one of the top standup comedians of all time." Doesn't this sound intriguing? You probably remember Sinbad from his TV gigs, "A Different World," "The Sinbad Show" and HBO specials "Brain Damaged" (1991), "Afros & Bellbottoms" (1993), "Son of a Preacher Man" (1996) and "Nuthin But the Funk" (1998).

TaSin Sabir, daughter of Wanda and proprietor of the Oakpod Gallery, 450 Santa Clara Ave., Oakland Photo: Wanda Sabir

He'll be here Friday and Saturday, at 915 Columbus Ave., San Francisco. Visit www.cobbscomedy.com. Sinbad closes out a month-long celebration of Cobb's 25th anniversary season. Laughter is a great way to start a new birth year. If you attend the 8 p.m. show, drop by our table with presents - just kidding. Each night, Sept. 29-30, there are two shows, 8 p.m. and 10:15 p.m. Tickets are $40 with a two drink minimum.

35th Annual San Francisco Blues Festival

This amazing festival, founded by Tom Mazzolini, features a terrific lineup, featuring Eric Bibb, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Joe Louis Walker, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Jimmy McCracklin, Allen Toussaint and John Hammond. I had a great interview with the producer and founder yesterday. Check it out on-line a little later on this week. Visit www.sfblues.com or call (415) 421-8497. The concerts are in the Great Meadow in Fort Mason Center, Marina Boulevard and Laguna Street, in San Francisco, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29-30, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

‘Slammin' the Infinite'

In a rare Bay Area appearance, Sunday, Oct. 7, two of the biggest, most in demand, most creative musicians in the downtown NYC jazz scene today bring their latest quartet creation, "Slammin' the Infinite," featuring Steve Swell and Sabir Mateen. The Jazz House is located at 1510 Eighth St., Oakland, 8 p.m. Tickets are $10-$15 sliding scale. For information, call (415) 846-9432 or visit www.thejazzhouse.com.

Film Festivals:

Visit their websites for all the details on the Oakland International, Luna, Mill Valley and Mad Cat film festivals. Oakland International (OIFF) opens Oct. 18 at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland. OIFF is a wonderful showcase of films by directors here in the Bay Area, as well as internationally acclaimed directors, writers and actors, like Danny Glover, who is starring in one of the features this season. Visit www.oaklandfilmsociety.org/.

The 30th Annual Mill Valley Film Festival is Oct. 4 -14, with theatres in Mill Valley, San Rafael and Larkspur. In the past, it has featured films from Africa by African directors and films from the African Diaspora. Visit www.mvff.com/node/2633.
Luna Fest's site is www.lunabar.com/lunafest/. The Madcat Film Festival closes tonight. Visit www.madcatfilmfestival.org or call (415) 436-9523.
I found a great website for all the film festivals - or most - in the Bay Area: www.sfmission.com/sf_film_festivals.htm#fall. You can choose your month and see what's going on.

Global Drum Project Tour

The Global Drum Project Tour, featuring the amazing percussionists Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidago, is Friday, Sept. 28, 8 p.m., at UC Berkeley's Zellerbach Auditorium. Visit www.calperformances.net or call (510) 642-9988. Planet Drum also has a new CD out, Global Drum Project. This amazing ensemble performed earlier this year. This weekend is an opportunity to celebrate the drum in all of its wonderful voices, the mother of all Africa.

Akosua

Ghanaian American singer songwriter Akosua is performing at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley, Saturday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $10 for students. Visit www.lapena.org or call (510) 849-2568, ext. 20.

Mary Lovelace O'Neal

Togonon Gallery presents the work of our sister, Mama Mary Lovelace O'Neal, in "Adventures & Misadventures: The Art of Mary Lovelace O'Neal," Oct. 11 through Nov. 24. This gallery is the first to showcase the newest body of work by Lovelace, who since the mid-1970s has been recognized as a significant influence in the American art world.

The reception for the exhibit, which will feature large scale paintings, mixed media drawings, and a retrospective covering 40 years of her work, is Oct. 11, 5:30 to 8 p.m. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Togonon Gallery is at 77 Geary St., Second Floor, San Francisco, (415) 398-5572 or www.togonongallery.com. The gallery is open the first Thursday of each month. Admission is free.

Maafa Commemoration

There are lots of other events happening in the Bay Area this weekend, but you know that in October, I slip into tunnel vision where all I see are bones. It's all about recognizing African souls, especially those whose bones lie on the ocean floors unacknowledged except when winds blow off the western shores of Africa and slam into the Western Hemisphere, the rage that of a parent whose child is lost but not forgotten - a parent who still claims what is her own.

Hello Oya, Katrina, Rita and all her sisters past and present.

We call this anger the Maafa and the children of this vicious harvest victims of a capital-driven system that saw other human beings as ore, raw seeds, fertile land. The Maafa, or Black Holocaust, has affected and continues to affect everyone, and until the law of reciprocity is appeased, no one will have peace.

African people specifically have to recognize this anger to heal the encoded trauma associated with the residual psychological effects of enslavement. The Maafa Ritual is one way to take this often unarticulated rage and/or bewilderment to a place where there are answers: the ancestors.

Join us on the beach in San Francisco, the Great Highway at Fulton Street, Sunday, Oct. 7, before sunrise, about 5:30 a.m. In fact, you can spend the night on the beach drumming and chanting. Bring wood for the bonfire and warm blankets and a chair to sit in, along with beverages and food to share.

Maafa 2007 Events

Week 1: The Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, The Family Resource House of Unity, Inquiry Gallery, The Black New World, Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 6 to 9 p.m., screening and discussion, "500 Years Later" film, at the Oakland Public Conservatory, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland, (510) 836-4649.

"Talk Black," with Javier Reyes, Colored Ink, Wednesday, Oct. 3, at The Family Resource House of Unity, Eastmont Town Center, 7200 Bancroft Ave. (mall address), Suite 230, (510) 430-9931. FRHU is located on the upper level of Eastmont Town Center next to Eastmont Branch Library.

The evening will begin with a screening of Paul Mooney's "Jesus Was Black, and So Was Cleopatra," followed by a moderated discussion with Javier about various themes such as, "What is the Maafa?" "What is Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome?" "What is the Healing Passage?"

Diaspora Talks: Thursday, Oct. 4, "From Heart to Hand: Teens talk about their recent trip to Ghana," followed by the film, "Transformations: 100 minutes," directed by Javier Molina, also at The Family Resource House of Unity on the upper level of Eastmont Town Center next to Eastmont Branch Library.

Push Rewind: Maafa Art Exhibit

On Friday, Oct. 5, there's an art reception 6 to 8 p.m., and an artist talk 8 to 9 p.m. at Inquiry Gallery curated by The Oakpod, 2865 Broadway, Unit 2, Oakland. The exhibit is up Oct. 5-31 and features the work of Jason Austin, TaSin Sabir, James Gayles, Nena St. Louis, Wally Scott, Orlonda Uffre and Kimara Dixon. Gallery hours are 1 to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and weekly by appointment. Call (641) 715-3900, ext. 36800, to check the schedule and to leave messages.

Maafa at The Black New World

"What About the Living Ritual Honoring Black Lives" is Saturday, Oct. 6, 9 p.m., at the Black New World, 836 Pine St., West Oakland.

The Annual Ritual at Ocean Beach is Sunday, Oct. 7, pre-dawn, 5:30 a.m. "It goes without question that Black people, particularly those in the Western Hemisphere suffering from Post-Traumatic Slavery Syndrome, are more in need than others in the African Diaspora for a healing, a collective laying on of hands, a new formula, attitude, way of looking at the world and our place in it that promotes mental and emotional health and well-being."

The Maafa Ritual helps us put the situation in context as we recall those painful memories and lay them to rest, this spiritual return to the ships, plantations, auction blocks ... dungeon, deserted beach - cyclical movements turning then releasing the tight bands of subconsciousness which keep us tense, frightened and constrained ... stuck. The path to wellness, to health, is both individual and collective. It's also ongoing.

Maafa is a Kiswahili term for disaster, calamity or terrible occurrence. This term has been used to describe the European slave trade or the Middle Passage. The ritual is an honoring of our past and a prayer for our future. All Black people are invited to come and share in this time of remembrance. We ask that for this one event, those who support the well-being of Black people respect our desires about the commemoration ceremony and mourning ritual. The ceremony takes place at Ocean Beach, Fulton Street at the Great Highway in San Francisco, before sunrise, about 5 a.m., Sunday, Oct. 7.

People are encouraged to wear white, to dress warmly, bring their children, flowers for the ceremony, vegan or vegetarian breakfast items to share afterwards, along with dishes to serve them on, hot beverages and cups, drums, chekeres, rattles and positive energy. Some people spend the night on the beach drumming and singing. Firewood is useful for the bonfires Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Let us know if you want to drop off a load Saturday evening or early Sunday morning. If anyone needs a ride, please call (641) 715-3900, ext. 36800. We plan to have stops in several locations in Oakland and San Francisco.

We can use monetary donations as we did not get a grant this year. If everyone gave $5 for each member of his or her family, we could defray most costs. Businesses can also sponsor an event this month. Donations are tax deductible. Mail to Maafa, San Francisco Bay Area, P.O. Box 30756, Oakland, CA 94604. Checks can be made out to Wosé Community Church for Maafa, www.maafasfbayarea.com.

The ritual, Sunday, Oct. 7, is followed by a Maafa Service at Wosé Community Church of the Sacred African Way, 8924 Holly St., Oakland, (510) 632-8230.

Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit her website, www.wandaspicks.com, for an expanded version of Wanda's Picks and for exciting "web exclusives."

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