Softshade - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm a freelance writer and journalist in Denver, Colorado. I write news and features about music, entertainment and popular culture, particularly in relation to Africa and African Americans, and I also do copywriting for advertising and scriptwriting. I write my series, "An Eye on Africa," for people who are interested in fresh insights and viewpoints on Africa. I've traveled extensively in South Africa, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore, and I lived in Johannesburg, South Africa for 8 years, from the historic April, 1994 national elections until March, 2002. You can read my main web site here:You can check out my Africa blog here: This wild, crazy, beautiful world is all the more fascinating because of the Net, and I enjoy various online communities... I would like this page to be a place for conversations about media, journalism, Africa, film, spirituality, yoga, fatherhood, motherhood, childhood, mind-body experiences, astral travel, imagination, change in America or just about anything... ..

My Interests

Writing, film, television, entertainment, yoga, meditation, tantra, holistic healing, General Semantics, Africa, South Africa, Indonesia, Bali, Maluku, Moluccas, Pacific Islands, Hawaii

I'd like to meet:

Anyone with an open mind, spiritual sisters, poets (I don't write much, but I appreciate poetry) beautiful people with creative, interesting perspectives...

Music:

Prince, Van Morrison, Brenda Russell, Mary J. Blige, Hugh Masekela, Carlos Santana, The Neville Brothers, Usher, Toni Braxton, Alicia Keyes, Chante Moore, TLC, Deborah Cox, Diana King, Vivian Green, Kindred, Eric Benet, Lyfe Jennings, Kem

Movies:

Black Orpheus, Seven Beauties, Cry the Beloved Country (1951), The Razor's Edge (1984), Sankofa, Sugar Cane Alley, Burn, The Hustler, The Sand Pebbles, The Passenger, Year of Living Dangerously, Do the Right Thing, Alex and the Gypsy, Undercover Brother, Brother from Another Planet, The Last Emporer, What the Bleep do We Know, Ray Hotel Rwanda

Television:

Dave Chappelle, Sopranos, Frontline, Democracy Now, NBA and NFL, Olympics, Soccer World Cup

Books:

Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu, The Way of Chuang Tzu, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, Manhood of Humanity by Alfred Korzybski, Science & Sanity by Alfred Korzybski, Steps to an Ecology of Mind by Gregory Bateson, The Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss, Passages about Earth by William Irwin Thompson, The Healing Tao by Mantak Chia, The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin, The Invisible Man Ralph Ellison, Afrika My Music by Es'kia Mphahlele, The Mind of South Africa by Allister Sparks, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela

My Blog

Seeing the Earths planetary etheric field

Physic, "metaphysics" a realm between the tangible and the intangible... In the very first Star Wars series viewers are introduced to a continual theme of "The Force." Obi-Wan...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 02 Feb 2007 03:57:00 PST

Hugh Masekela on Music and Politics

Hugh Masekela on Music and Politics This is an interview I did with Hugh Masekela when he came to Denver on July 4, 2005, to put on a fantastic summer festival concert. He was very open and easy...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 05:07:00 PST

On African and African American Actors

On African and African American Actors This is a response I wrote to a column by John Matshikiza in the Mail & Guardian in South Africa called, "Their Blacks are Better than Yours." He was ranting...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:54:00 PST

Buddhism and an African Greeting

Buddhism and an African Greeting In the Zulu and Xhosa and the Nguni languages of Southern Africa, many millions of times every day people greet each other by saying "Unjani?" or "Ninjani?" ("How are ...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:39:00 PST

Ethiopian Lions and a Young Girl

Ethiopian Lions and a Young Girl Co-evolution? Spiritual communication between species? Africa is full of mystery, overflowing with wildlife, and nature has a passion and energy that seems to be mor...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 04:36:00 PST

Genetic Frontier of the Motherland

Genetic Frontier of the Motherland I enjoyed researching and writing this piece, although I didn't really get as detailed as I wanted to or perhaps should have regarding the actual genetic controversi...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:40:00 PST

Lost Boys of Sudan: Searching for Peace

The Lost Boys of Sudan is truly an incredible story. Its a story about war, cruelty, suffering, endurance, faith and deliverance In our global village, somehow, the things that happen to James Manyror...
Posted by Softshade on Fri, 09 Jun 2006 11:58:00 PST

Beginning MySpace

"God is hidden inside everyone, and everyone is looking for him..."
Posted by Softshade on Thu, 01 Jun 2006 11:21:00 PST