ONLINE: Passing the Mic
media release:
Monday:
7:00pm – 8:00pm, Pass the Mic: an intergenerational showcase on the American Experiment: Opening showcase for this year’s Passing the Mic: The American Experiment. We invite youth artists and their mentors from across the country to perform works that interrogate the American Experiment. What is The American Experiment? Will American lives be better as a result of this experiment? What is the role of democracy in this experiment? Who is the “control” in this experiment? How do we know that it’s working?
8:00pm – 9:00pm, PtM Youth Workshop 1*: What is the American Experiment? (teen participants only). In this workshop, PtM youth participants will begin developing creative works for the PtM Thursday night youth showcase. Facilitated by First Wave Artistic Director, Professor Chris Walker, and FW Creative Director, James Gavins, participants will begin unpacking the week’s theme of the American Experiment through various creative expressions (writing, movement, music, visual arts, etc).
Tuesday:
7:00pm – 9:00pm Interdisciplinary Arts Residency Showcase
Wednesday:
5:00pm – 6:30pm, PtM Youth Workshop 2*: Form to Performance (teen participants only). In part two of the PtM Youth Workshop, participants will move their creative work from thoughts and ideas to the virtual stage in preparation for the Thursday evening youth showcase. 7:00pm – 8:30pm First Wave Showcase: Past, Present and Future As the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Learning Community enters its 15th year, this multimedia showcase will highlight performances by First Wave alumni and current First Wave scholars.
Thursday:
5:00pm – 6:30pm, The Vote: Equity, Access, and The Experiment: This showcase, panel, and breakout session will interrogate what it means to vote: who has access, who has been denied, what is our electoral system and what does it mean to participate in it? It will highlight five regional Youth Poet Laureates of the National Youth Poet Laureate Program by Urban Word NYC. Followed by a panel moderated by UWNYC Artistic Director, Mahogany L. Browne.
*Concurrent breakout sessions will take place during this time to conduct small 4-5 minute interviews that will inform a video project guided by this question: When did you first vote? When (if ever) have you been denied the right to vote?
*This project will showcase dialogues between artists and community members impacted by mass incarceration. These exchanges will focus on the participants’ thoughts and surrounding the 2020 voting season. The interview responses will be used to synthesize a short film. This production will also be embedded in an online zine. The visuals will be adjoined by poetic interludes from writer Mahogany L. Browne and several formerly incarcerated poets. The amplification of these voices typically silenced by the current legal system will highlight conditions that prevent equitable access to polling stations in what might be the most crucial election of our lifetime. Art as protest is a consistent theme in Mahogany L. Browne’s work. Guided by her trajectory of poetry and community service, this collaborative project seeks to provide an unprecedented opportunity for participants and viewers to learn organizational strategies and healing practices that will help future community members navigate similar circumstances involving the prison industrial complex.
7:00pm – 8:30pm, Passing the Mic Youth Showcase: “What is the American Experiment?” Youth participants will perform original works as developed throughout workshops over the week with their mentors and the First Wave Artistic team.
Friday:
5:30pm – 6:30pm, Passing the Mic Youth Participant Closing Event* (teen participants only). As the week intensive comes to close, youth participants will debrief, unpack the week and learn more about applying to the First Wave Hip Hop & Urban Arts Scholarship Program.
7:00pm – 8:30pm, The Just & The Blind: Conceived and written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Original musical score by Daniel Bernard Roumain. Directed by Michael John Garcés. ARTISTS: Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Spoken Word and guest artists!
Poignant and pressing, The Just and The Blind illuminates the unseen and under-heard experiences of incarcerated youth and the realities their families face. Spoken word artist and arts activist Marc Bamuthi Joseph (BAMUTHI) joins forces with long-time collaborator composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) and street dance pioneer & choreographer Drew Dollaz to explore themes of racial profiling, sentencing and the prison-industrial complex from the perspective of fathers of Black and Brown sons. In addition to spoken word, music, and dance, The Just and The Blind features the work of the award-winning investigative journalist Lisa Armstrong, the provocative images of photographer Brittsense, and the illustrative talent of Xia Gordon, woven together by media designer David Szlasa under the direction of Michael John Garcés. Centered on the humanity of the historically marginalized, The Just and The Blind provides a framework for the unique voices of the community, striving to humanize the Black and Brown children who are enmeshed in it. The Just and the Blind was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and presented as part of the 2019 Create Justice Forum. The Just and the Blind was produced by Sozo Artists, Inc., in partnership with the Sozo Impact Fund and its fiscal sponsor, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, with support from Ford Foundation. Special thanks to Miami Light Project.
Saturday:
10:00am – 1:00pm, Hip Hop in the Heartland Educator’s Institute: Typically each spring and summer, UW-Madison’s Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives and School of Education team up to offer educators and community leaders an opportunity to connect hip hop as both an art form and an instructional tool to improve the academic success of students who remain marginalized in our schools. Hip Hop in the Heartland (HHH) draws from educational theories such as socio-cultural theory, culturally relevant pedagogy, critical race theory, and hip hop and social justice pedagogies. Participants learn proven, hands-on techniques to develop lesson plans and strengthen their course study, as well as create a platform from which they will understand the scope of hip hop history, culture and politics. The spring seminar is generally offered in April as a one day seminar, while the summer institute spans across three to four days in July to dive deeper into the topics outlined below. In light of 2020 CDC regulations and concerns, HHH will be held digitally in October, January, March and May. TOPICS Gain a better understanding of the scope of hip hop history, culture, and politics, deepen your practice a
s a spoken word and hip hop educator, and engage in best practice approaches to student-centered liberatory education models. Discover the best practices in hip hop and spoken word pedagogy Learn skills to better reach and mentor your students Improve academic achievement, reduce behavior issues and energize your classroom Get practical strategies for increasing participation and building community Meet new colleagues and enjoy UW-Madison’s beautiful educator community!