As we begin the holiday season, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the previous year and chat about the future. As Langston Hughes said, “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” Similarly, we have been thinking about our organization and getting serious about where we want to go in 2018.
Read MoreA collective of artists and performers and poets, known finally as Spencer's Vanguard, was to advance the mission of The Listening and "be great" in all that we did and in everything we created. We identified greatness in our diversity, in our hope, in our hurt, and in the community around us. If anyone was going to lead the charge, we were at least going to throw our hats in the ring.
Who can guess what happened next?
Read MoreWhenever there has been a threat to something we hold dear, and when it has seemed hopeless, with little to no opportunity to respite or recourse, there has always been something that has been resurrected from the darkness.
Call it grit, call it grassroots, call it stick-to-it-iveness or gumption, when the people decide that they want something, they make the necessary moves to make it happen.
Photo by Rob Lambert on Unsplash
Read MoreI believe the film addresses something much more difficult and even scary for people to talk about, but that's the cool thing about the film. Jordan Peele takes a situation that people are scared to talk about and literally turns into a scary movie.
“So...what situation does the film address?”
I'm glad you asked.
Read MoreI saw God, I saw color, I saw suffering, and I saw victory. These people reached inside of themselves and pulled out the most vulnerable of gems; clad in emotion, sincerity, and rhythm, their art stood there cosmically like an eclipse shielding our eyes from the blinding sun.
Read MoreIf you have a song in your heart that needs to be sung, step to the mic. If you are not satisfied with the world around you and have a truth you must speak to, step to the mic. If you believe that your passion and creativity can change or even save a life, step to the mic.
You just might start a revolution.
Read MoreIt’s unlikely such a gathering existed anywhere else in Lynchburg that night, enjoying alternating performances of poetry and song.
Read MoreIn each performance of his that's been televised, Chance has been able to access a part of his creativity to be fully in THAT moment, which seems to be the driving force behind his autonomy and independence.
Seriously. Chance the Rapper personifies #blackboyjoy.
Photo by Alekzan Powell on Unsplash
Read MoreIt's in this holiday season that find reason to hope and wish for something better.Our expectations aren't necessarily high...but we do kinda need a break. What's your wish list for the new year?
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