08 Nov, 2012

when is history history?…

08 Nov, 2012

I spend the first part of the morning talking with Catherine Roberts and Lue Williams on KPFT Pacifica Radio 90.1 FM. We kick off the Open Journal Think Global – Act Local! with a question, When is history history?

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25 Oct, 2012

new artist residency…

Sehba Sarwar
25 Oct, 2012

In 2012-13, I’m serving as Artist-in-Residence at the Mitchell Center for the Arts (University of Houston). I’ll be working on a project called Borderlines.

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23 Oct, 2012

blog posts on poets & writers…

23 Oct, 2012

Check out my new blogposts on Poets & Writers. My blogs will be appearing online for the month of October. October 1 October 9 October 14 October 22

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13 Oct, 2012

making changes…

13 Oct, 2012

Armed with a key to a townhome, I show up at Kenny’s home with collapsible chairs. By the time, Autumn, Pruitt and Kaneem arrive, I’ve already set up the chairs and am getting ready to Skype with Babette. “This is going to be a different living room art,” I...

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11 Oct, 2012

neighborhood realities…

11 Oct, 2012

I’m trying to find a home to host VBB’s next living room art production, but even though I’m talking to a lot of people, no one’s offering his or her house. Either people live in new homes, which they don’t want to showcase, or else, older residents are living...

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09 Oct, 2012

a visit…

09 Oct, 2012

Early Monday morning, Ms. Beckham welcomes me inside. But when she notices where I’ve parked my car, she signals to me to park in front of her home. When I step inside, I ask her why she invited me to move my car. She shakes her head. “It’s not...

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03 Oct, 2012

a visit with ms. beckham

Sehba Sarwar
03 Oct, 2012

Terry works in a house that serves as a storage unit for the church. The building contains painting equipment and other construction supplies. I park my car on Cleveland Street, walk by some boarded homes owned by the church toward where Terry works. A woman sits on the outside...

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29 Sep, 2012

back to the library…

29 Sep, 2012

Today I head back to the African American Library at the Gregory School to speak to Mike Moore, the Community Liaison. He tells me he’s been working hard to connect with the neighborhood residents. “So many people who live near the Library don’t even know of our resources,” he...

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28 Sep, 2012

a visit to the yates museum

Sehba Sarwar
28 Sep, 2012

My friend Christine arranges a breakfast meeting with Catherine Roberts, who serves on the board of the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum, that’s close to my friend’s house on Andrews Street in the heart of Freedmen’s town. I’m meeting with Catherine to see if perhaps VBB can use the Museum...

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16 Sep, 2012

exploring freedmen’s town

Sehba Sarwar
16 Sep, 2012

Danielle Smith, a curator at the Houston Public Library System, visits with me at the African American Library at the Gregory School, a library that archives history about Houston’s black community and about Freedmen’s Town, where the library is located. She’s been interested in helping out with VBB project...

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27 Aug, 2012

I’ve been writing about her…

27 Aug, 2012

I’ve been writing about my daughter Minal ever since I began blogging more than five years ago. And today, she decides to google me and finds herself in my blog. Her face lights up as she reads what I write about her. She finds a typo in one of...

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25 Aug, 2012

a midnight drive

Sehba Sarwar
25 Aug, 2012

Gordita’s altar, Galveston, TX; Photo by Oskar Sonnen Past Midnight We press our backs On flat cement, Cradled by black sky Above, a shooting star flickers. Behind us: Gushing silver waves As the half-moon sets, Reflecting coastal lights. Close to the shore is where I want to be- Salt...

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I was inspired to begin my blog when I visited the library at my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, and saw a framed photograph of my friends and me calling for divestment of funds from South Africa.

In 2007,  I began a blog when I visited my alma mater and saw a framed photograph of my friends and me calling for divestment of funds from South Africa. I use the blog to document my movement between spaces, Houston, Karachi, Delhi, Dhaka, Los Angeles and elsewhere, recording observations, images and conversations. Here, I document the multiple realities that I inhabit – writer, artist, mother, activist, educator, and transnational. Interviews from my blog were exhibited at Houston’s Baker Ripley Community Center (2014) and at Houston Public Library in downtown (2015). My papers are archived at the University of Houston’s library.