LEARNING TO BREATHE: Black Feminism, Performative Pedagogies, and Creative Praxis (April 21-23, 2016)

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This WINTON CORNERSTONE EVENT showcases the art-making practices of Black feminists who use poetry and performance to elevate Black cultural life and politics. Using voice, storytelling, and deep collaboration, these artists-scholars-intellectuals invigorate the meaning and practice of community. In the era of Black Lives Matter, this intensive Cornerstone examines the how Black feminist/queer beingness informs contemporary practices and articulations of human life by centering love, realness and each other. LEARNING TO BREATHE includes a keynote address by ANDREA JENKINS and culminates in a final performance of THE BLACKER THE BERRY curated by SHA CAGE, SIGNE HARRIDAY, RUTH NICOLE BROWN, and ALEXIS PAULINE GUMBS.

All events are free and open to the public. Please indicate disability or access requests below.

Artwork (above): 'Abundance' by Keegan Xavi

EVENTS on THURSDAY, APRIL 21

A. 9:30am-11am, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
"LOVE IS LIFEFORCE": BLACK FEMINIST BREATHING
Interactive presentation & lecture by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

During this interactive lecture, Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs will activate the breathing brilliance of everyone in the room and the ancestral energy of the black feminist ancestors who make rooms like this possible. Drawing on June Jordan's concept that "love is lifeforce" from her 1977 essay "The Creative Spirit" which is published for the first time in Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines (a collection co-edited by Gumbs), Alexis will offer an intergenerational context for being in the present and lead us in some activities that remind us of the power of our existence.
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B. 11:15am-12:45pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
HER-STORY: THE ARCHITECTURE OF REFLECTION, RITUAL & DEEP COLLABORATION
Panel discussion with Sha Cage and Signe Harriday

How can performance used to redress the sufferances of anti-black racism, misogyny in communities of color? How can public memory be mobilized to ignite, creativity, coalition-building, and community solidarity? Join us in an intimate conversation that covers nearly two decades of political organizing and artistic collaboration in the Twin Cities.
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12:45pm-1:30pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School. Room 180
CATERED LUNCH OPEN TO ALL "LEARNING TO BREATHE" PARTICIPANTS
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C. 1:30pm-3pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
WE LEVITATE: MAKING MUSIC TO SAVE OUR LIVES & HEAR OUR TRUTHS
Conversation & performance with Ruth Nicole Brown, Porshe Garner, Jessica Robinson & Blair E. Smith (We Levitate)

We Levitate is attuned to the multiple heartbreaks- personal, political, organizational, and institutional that often a part of university affiliated collective organizing. As we grappled with the ways our power and violence showed up in our work alongside the material realities of not having enough while simultaneously sensing ourselves as well and enough, the sonic became an important technology for reconceptualizing our work in Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT), in ways that accounted for not only what we did and how we thought, but also for how we felt about our labor, each other, and ourselves. We created sounds and music that encouraged us to interrogate the conditions that set us up for heartbreak and sustain our love and levitation. In this performance-conversation, we will perform music, discuss our creative process, and locate our praxis of celebrating Black girlhood in Black feminists and womanists genealogies.
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D. 7pm-8:30pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
THE "T" IS NOT SILENT: CENTERING TRANS IDENTITIES IN BLACK QUEER FEMINISMS
Keynote address by Andrea Jenkins

EVENTS on SATURDAY, APRIL 23

E. 10:30am-12:30pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
CONJURING OUR GENIUS: UNLEASHING THE BLACK FEMINIST IMAGINARY
Digital organizing workshop with Ruth Nicole Brown and Alexis Pauline Gumbs
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F. 1pm-3pm, Hubert H. Humphrey School, Room 180
THE BLACKER THE BERRY WORKSHOP: A COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP
Workshop with Signe Harriday and Sha Cage
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G. 8pm-10pm, Rarig Center, Stoll Thrust Theater
THE BLACKER THE BERRY: RITUAL SHARING AND PERFORMANCE
Performance and post-show discussion curated by MaMa mOsAiC

Please register below to reserve your seat at any of these events.

Updates, materials, and messages from event organizers will be sent to the email address you provide below. Please direct any inquiries to winton@umn.edu.

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Event updates, materials, and messages from event organizers will be sent to the email address you provide below.

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A. Thurs, 4/21, 9:30am-11am: LECTURE: "LOVE IS LIFEFORCE": BLACK FEMINIST BREATHING (Gumbs)

B. Thurs, 4/21, 11:15am-12:30pm: PANEL: HER-STORY: THE ARCHITECTURE OF REFLECTION, RITUAL & DEEP COLLABORATION (Cage & Harriday)

C. Thurs, 4/21, 1:30pm-3pm: LECTURE: WE LEVITATE: MAKING MUSIC TO SAVE OUR LIVES & HEAR OUR TRUTHS (Brown & We Levitate)

D. Thurs, 4/21, 7pm-8:30pm: KEYNOTE: THE "T" IS NOT SILENT: CENTERING TRANS-IDENTITIES IN BLACK QUEER FEMINISMS (Jenkins)

E. Sat, 4/23, 10:30am-12:30pm: WORKSHOP: CONJURING OUR GENIUS: UNLEASHING THE BLACK FEMINIST IMAGINARY (Brown & Gumbs)

F. Sat, 4/23, 1pm-3pm: WORKSHOP: THE BLACKER THE BERRY: A COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE WORKSHOP (Cage & Harriday)

G. Sat, 4/23, 8pm-10pm: PERFORMANCE: THE BLACKER THE BERRY: RITUAL SHARING, PERFORMANCE & POST-SHOW DISCUSSION

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