A Walk With The Harlemite Songstress: Latasha N. Diggs
by Kiara Lanier
Latasha Diggs
Latasha N. Diggs was born and raised in Harlem, New York. Though she has experienced success in her music and poetry career, life wasn't exactly a crystal stair for her or her mother growing up in New York. Diggs and her mother lived in poverty for much of her childhood. She states, "I was too young to remember when my mother stopped working." Diggs' mother was also a struggling alcoholic, explaining Latasha's strong views against alcoholism woven in her work. Although Diggs loved and respected her mother, she was influenced by her aunt-like figure, Michelle Call. Diggs states, "I was just always enamored by her because she was gorgeous. She was very independent and she could take care of herself. My mom was more like a country bumpkin." Once Diggs started writing at Beryl Manhattan Community College, she wrote her first chapbook, Ichi-Ban, in 1998 with encouragement and editing from Tony Medina, and dedicated it to both her mother and Michelle Call.
Though she was always eager to write, there was a lot of controversy in the way that she wrote. Diggs' chapbook Ichi-Ban (meaning "the first" in Japanese) held up to its name in more ways than one. In this chapbook she describes how she felt like she fit in with the Latino community, and was sort of "taken in." In her piece "from the files of muneca morena negrita linda" she writes, "Inside every black girl in Harlem there's a Puerto Rican or/Dominican." In addition to being apart of a new community of people, it was also her first time manipulating and interchanging language, and experimenting with sounds or words. Though she was pleased with her work, some people were offended, but she still prevailed.
Latasha Diggs
This wind blew her to her next area of interest, which was Asian philosophy, Confucianism and the Japanese language. Diggs later recorded with two Japanese artists by the names of Ryuichi Sacamoto and Toatei, and this was her first experience working with a producer. The Asian style of drumming influenced her and carried on when she began to collaborate with other groups. Diggs collaborated with the Yohimbe Brothers in the album Front End Lifter, featured on the song "Psychopathia Mojosexualis." She developed her electric, sensual sound and later collaborated with Burnt Sugar with Greg Tate, a long time writer, musician, and filmmaker. Their sound was greatly influenced by Sun Ra and Miles Davis.
Diggs recorded her own album Television on CD. Television shows her many musical influences and styles, with her electric voice on subjects ranging from her mother's death, to sex and politics, all combined with collages and excerpts of media clips, and remixed with her own unique sound.
Diggs went to write her second chapbook in 2001 entitled Ni-Ban: Villa Miseria, meaning "The Second, Miserable Village." This collection of poetry was even more amazing than her first. These poems deal with nostalgic childhood stories, intimate missed opportunities, horrific events in her Harlem-lived life and much more. This chapbook affected every emotion, and was greatly written. She later wrote and published her third chapbook called Manuel is Destroying My Bathroom (Belladonna Press).
Diggs faced many issues just being an African American woman in her career as well as being an artist/musician/writer is a difficult field to manage. Her role model Michelle Call died from HIV/AIDS as well as her friend, Willie Ninja. Recently another friend has been diagnosed with HIV. Diggs spoke about how there was nothing like this in her time. "There was nothing bigger than AIDS, I think just being young and being sexually active the concern was just getting pregnant [rather] than catching an STD. There was NOTHING bigger than that."
I ask her if she identified with the term "feminist" and she replies:
"I think the term feminist doesn't gel with me. I still think there are a lot of things with the term that still don't lay with what I'm trying to do, and [how I am trying to] become a better individual. I'm closer to being a womanist, because I'm a woman and trying to work towards being better towards other [women]. Womanists are more supportive; I don't know why, but I think it has to do with how I go about in daily activities and deal with other women. I want to treat other woman beyond the respect I would give to men. With [womanism] it means I'm trying to represent how a woman should be, telling a woman you are my ally. I'm an activist in the work I create. I think also my activism leads towards being human, highlighting qualities that can be just as awful as they are good, and wanting to deal with the flaws in humanity. A lot of women have influenced me [and] inspired me, because they could be a hot mess, and they know they're a hot mess but they walk the street with more pride than me. Single moms inspire me. I am inspired by women who are both parents and artists. I am inspired by women who can walk into Central Park and identify the specific leaves in the lawn."
Diggs shows her love for her Harlem hometown while transcending a whispered octave of change, in her poetry, in her music, and in her love for writing.