
62843
Mama Fasi/Linda Thomas Jones
Artist Educator Musician Performer Musical Therapist
Linda Thomas Jones is considered one of the founding mothers of female African drumming in the United States. She began her career in drumming at the age of 18 as a dance major at Case Western Reserve University. She studied African drumming both in Ghana and In the U.S.
She is committed to helping students explore their artistic abilities as well as providing them with the necessary tools to assist them in becoming better human beings. Her and services products reflect and support that ideal.
Our mission is to create an environment of universal love. We believe this can be achieved through the arts. The African Culture and in particular the drum, is our main tool for achieving that goal .
My acquaintance with Mama Fasi is as an employer, mentor and friend. I have known her since the early 80’s when she served as the Director of Cultural Arts for my youth and family services organization.
She is a most gifted performing artist and master teacher.
Mama Fasi is a great teaching artist because of her focus on the whole child—she doesn’t just teach how to make music with African drums, she teaches self-respect, generosity, kindness, and compassion. Through her demeanor and communication, she exemplifies the lessons she tries to teach.
When you attend a workshop/class with Mama Fasi, everbody plays! No one sits on the sidelines. Her mantra ever since I have known her has been love, respect and reciprocity—the mantra has guided her success in working with all the seasons of life--children through elders. One of her most successful programs is Girls and Grandmas. once a week intergenerational class includes four-yearold girls through ninety-five year old great-great-great grandmothers.
I have purchased various musical instruments and teaching products from Mama Fasi and have always been pleased with her service and the quality of her many useful teaching tools.
My Potty Story
by
Linda Thomas Jones
My name is Mama Fasi and I have two children, a daughter and a son. They are adults now. When they were younger we went through all the usual childhood stages.
There was the never ending crying stage which included getting up a million times a night. Well maybe not a million, but it felt as if every time I closed my eyes I would here a blood curdling scream.
Then of course it was time to learn how to eat different types of food. During this stage I had carrot facials, green bean and sweet potato make up and several milk hair conditioning treatment.
Next we entered the toddler stage. Oh what joy that was with each of them. Now I have a screaming, carrot, green bean, sweet potato, milk in the hair ball of love toddling all over the house.They made me laugh so hard tears would roll down my face.
If you notice, I have not mentioned one other wonderful thing about parent hood. It is a very important task that we all look forward to carrying out. I call this REPAID TIME. I know you are saying to your self, repaid for what? I was being repaid for what I had done to my mother, grandmother, auntie and anyone else who took care of me as a baby. Repaid is Diaper spelled backwards. My son repaid me in a big way and several times during the day and night.
Of course when he was first born, tiny and helpless I didn’t mind my repaid time. However, as he got older and was eating more than just sweet mama’s milk, repaid time became more challenging.
I began to look forward to that wonderful stage of Potty Training Time. Sometimes I would sit and day dream about my repaid time ending soon. You know, dreams do come true, just not as quickly as we would like.
To prepare us both for Potty Training, I brought the necessary equipment. It consisted of the latest potty designed for little boys. Who ever invented it, I salute you. I also wrote a song to help both my son and myself get through that delicate transition from diapers to the potty.
I hope this will help you and your little one.