A few weekends ago, on a random Saturday afternoon, I stumbled upon these ladies performing in a bar/restaurant in Brooklyn, NY.  They were only beginning their sound check, and I already had goosebumps and my eyes were filled with tears.  A passerby would have suspected that their classically beautiful voices were escaping the mouths of very well-seasoned performers who were at least midway through their career.  In reality, Lady Moon (Ngonda Badila) and Kia Sleet are young girls just at the start of something good – really, really good.

KIA SLEET

In late 2009, Kia Sleet dropped everything and relocated to New York City from the Midwest to pursue a career in music. With no job leads and knowing no one in the city, Sleet quickly learned how to survive on the streets of Gotham the hard way. Having to sleep on couches, in hotels, cars, and eat at soup kitchens motivated Sleet to work extra hard to make sure her relocation was not in vain. Writing and producing her own material, Sleet is greatly influenced by artists of yesterday.  For inspiration, she channels the likes of Marvin Gaye (who she considers her idol), The Beatles, Minnie Riperton, Aretha Franklin, Fleetwood Mac, and Chaka Khan. Sleet also enjoys “drawing faces, blogging about other independent artists, and giving makeovers” (she is a woman with many gifts).  In September she will begin performing with her band “Kia Sleet and the Josephines,” so watch out for them!  If you are in New York City, try to make it to a show.

Check out Kia Sleet’s links:

www.thekiasleetmusicblog.blogspot.com
www.thekiasleetmusicblog.tumblr.com
www.twitter.com/ksleetmusicblog
www.facebook.com/kiasleetmusicblog

LADY MOON

Lady Moon, also known as Ngonda Badila, is a singer/songwriter born in Paris, France and raised in a performing arts company founded and direct by her parents Andre Elombe and Pamela Badila. Lady grew up dancing, acting, singing, and writting poetry. At the age of 12, the Badila family of nine moved to Hudson N.Y. to become a family-based and communty-oriented theater and dance company.  In Hudson, N.Y. Lady experienced the dynamics of community outreach through music as a tool for bringing people together and changing the world.  Some of her influences are Frank Sinatra, Nate King Cole, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Etta James, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Jackson, Eryka Badu, and Mariah Carey.  Lady is currently a member of several bands including Black N Gold, Male Room, Kia Sleet The Josephines, and Lady Moon and The Eclipse, which is a collective of independent musicians who collaborate on music composed by Lady Moon.  The other members of Lady Moon and The Eclipse are Arlen Hart on the Keyboard, Emma Alabaster on the stand up base, Kia Sleet on BB vocals, and Milandou Badila (Lady’s twin) on percussion.

They are still looking for a drummer!!!  Perhaps you all can help with suggestions of drummers in the area?!

Lady Moon’s links:

http://blackngold.info/
http://www.ladymoonandtheeclipse.tumblr.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ngondabadila
https://twitter.com/1LadyMoon
http://www.youtube.com/user/ladymoontv?feature=results_main
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lady-Moon/485324860383

The two met in February while working at The Downtown Community Center in Tribeca and quickly became close friends, roommates and eventually bandmates.  Already they are picking up gigs all over New York City.

In September Lady Moon and the Eclipse will release their single “Rain,” and come October they will begin a 40 day Kickstarter to raise money for a full album.  Also in September, Kia Sleet and The Josephines will release their single “You Don’t Know,” along with a music video.

While many photographs we see, especially of women and girls, are what many would consider the epitome of “perfection,” Lauren Greenfield prefers to explore the pressures of achieving this level of perfection.  She has published published three significant books: Girl Culture, Fast Forward and Thin.  Her work explores the unreasonably high standards girls today hold themselves to, standards mainly emanating from Hollywood and celebrity culture in general.  ”Thin” explores the physical manifestation of these bodily standards, “Fast Forward” depicts Los Angeles teens rushing into adulthood, and ”Girl Culture” explores the self-esteem crisis amongst American women.

A Los Angeles native, and a woman, Greenfield is a product of this very environment she is capturing and dissecting.  Perhaps this distinct and informed insider eye is what gives her the edge that she holds above all others working with this subject-matter.  Lauren Greenfield is a considered a documentary photographer and also a documentary filmmaker.  As do her photographs, Lauren’s films too deal with issues relating to the influence of popular culture on how we live (youth culture, gender identity, body image, eating disorders, media, wealth, fashion, beauty, and consumerism).

Each of us has an insider eye to what we consider our “world,” or our crew, our families, the issues, values or matters that have surrounded us throughout or at certain moments in our lives.  Through photos, film and other modes of storytelling we can bring to light what it is that we register as important and worthy of being shared, discussed and learned from.  Many people today say that it is difficult today to be “original.”  Perhaps it is difficult to tell a story no one has heard before, but each of us as a unique way of telling based on our own unique collection of life experiences.

Lauren Greenfield has determined the world in which she is an insider and spends time in this world as an outsider.  She captures that which is familiar through the eyes of one who is unfamiliar.  This allows all viewers, those who are also products of this world, and those who have steered far from it, to access the images on a certain level.  Whether you are a photographer, filmmaker, storyteller, or none of these, it may be an enlightening exercise to consider what it is that our “insider eye” sees and to consider sharing this vision with others who may or may not have the same vision.

More than 30 years ago, a teenager named Jadav “Mulai” Payeng began planting seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in India’s Assam region.  Floods had washed a large number of snakes onto the sandbar and eventually they all died, which is when Jadav found them.

Now, the once-barren and lifeless sandbar is a sprawling 1,360 acre forest, home to several thousands of varieties of trees and a great diversity of wildlife, including birds, deer, apes, rhino, elephants and tigers.  The Mulai Reserve was single-handedly planted and cultivated by only one man who began this journey as a compassionate and determined 16 year old.  Jadav has demonstrated a complex understanding of ecological balance, even transplanting ants to his developing ecosystem to strengthen its natural harmony.

According to the Assistant Conservator of Forests, Gunin Saikia, it is perhaps the world’s biggest forest in the middle of a river.  ”We were surprised to find such a dense forest on the sandbar,” Saikia told the Times Of India, adding that officials only recently learned of Payeng’s forest.  ”We’re amazed at Payeng,” says Assistant Conservator of Forests, Gunin Saikia. “He has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero.”

Finally, Jadav Payeng may get the support and recognition he deserves.  He has dedicated his entire life to the upkeep and growth of the forest, accepting a life of isolation by choosing to live there.  Today, he is still living in his forest – sharing a hut with his wife and three children.  In the future he plans to spread this venture into other barren areas.

Well, what can one person do?  One person can make a difference.  It may seem futile at first, but with time, energy and persistence, the seemingly small impact may lead to monumental results.  A shadeless sandbar that was once the site of carnage has been transformed into a self-functioning environment where a multitude of wildlife prospers.

Check out Trees for the Future – a group that is dedicated to sustainable agroforestry – and see how you can fight for Jadav’s cause.
Another great resource is The Arbor Day Foundation.