Assetou Xango
Assetou Xango
Poet, Film Maker, Creator
Link to Assetou's Ted Talk:
We sat down to ask one of our favorite artists a few questions. Check out her quick interview below!
THE QUICK INTERVIEW:
Conscious Creatives: Where does poetry come from?
Assetou: This question could be taken a couple of different ways. I'm going to choose to take it in a way that allows me to honor my ancestors first thing.
The art of spoken word was a tradition started in West Africa. I'm sure it had many concurrent or previous incarnations. But the closest link for African-Americans who's ancestors who were brought over in the slave trade is the Griots (pronounced gree-os) originating in what is now 'Mali'. The Griots held the memories, secrets, and lore of villages. They did then and still now, speak the truth. Their tongues are untethered, yet strict with intentionality. This is where Spoken Word Poetry originated. This is the legacy that we as Black Americans must carry.
Conscious Creatives: Describe your favorite sandwich in detail
Assetou: Bet! So I just discovered this one. So I always used to get the bacon, egg and cheddar sandwich from Coffee at the Point. Delicious, I got it every time I went until, *duh duh dunh* the one time they ran out of eggs. So the barista offers to us chorizo instead which came with their chipotle sauce. Y'ALL! That sandwich is dabomb.com.org.net.edu
Conscious Creatives: What does the word "Hableshmant" mean? (It's a made up word but give us a definition)
Assetou: Hableshmant from the word 'hable' meaning sausage and 'shmant', the Latin word meaning 'holiday'. Hableshmant is the name of the Swedish Celebration marking their rich sausage harvest...(please don't fact check this).
Click below to watch our interview with Assetou
Conscious Creatives: What's your vision for the future?
Assetou: This is complicated. I'll simplify it to say that the future is everything of today, just in a different order. ...Maybe that makes it more complicated. But honestly, it's the best way to say it because it means all the things I believe about time. It is cyclical, (though less of a circle and more like a spiral) folding in on itself in varying patterns giving the illusion of separation. Then you can think of a same phrase in another way and find the same truth. All the things we are proud of, all the things we say we have "evolved" or invented are the same ingredients in a different order. It is only our perspective that makes it different.
Conscious Creatives: What were you feeling the moment before you walked on stage to do your Ted Talk?
Assetou: Backstage at the Buell Theater on October 28, 2016 is actually my happy place. But seriously, I do intensive trauma therapy and one of the techniques we use to reground is imagining I am backstage in that peace driven darkness. Barefoot, looking out at that red carpet, knowing I had done everything I needed to prepare for that moment was the peace before the great opening. It is still where I find my calm.
Conscious Creatives: Where do you find inspiration for your art?
Assetou: Everywhere but most especially in relationships of all forms.
Conscious Creatives: Who are some of your favorite poets/creatives?
Assetou: Toluwanimi Obiwole and B. Yung. As far as modern day poets go, I like a lot of work but no one's on their level for me. Katani is a Hip-Hop group based out of NY. They create music dedicated to confronting misogynoir and inspiring self-love especially for black women. I'm obsessed with them.
