Twenty Cubed

Jordan Seaberry () is a PVD-based artist from Chicago whose “painting work lives alongside his political work.” Jordan is also a grassroots organizer who helped to pass criminal justice reforms such as the Unshackling Pregnant Prisoners Bill and...

We talk with not one but TWO artists, Spocka Summa and Casandra Inez, owners of Public Shop and Gallery based in Providence (). As natives and artists of Providence, Spocka and Casandra wanted to create a local space for creators, particularly artists...

Leila talks with Valerie Tutson ’87, Co-Founder/ Creative Director of Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS), a non-profit dedicated to “promoting the awareness, appreciation, and application of Black storytelling.” Produced by: Leila...

Jordan Seaberry (@jordanseaberry) is a PVD-based artist from Chicago whose “painting work lives alongside his political work.” Jordan is also a grassroots organizer who helped to pass criminal justice reforms such as the Unshackling Pregnant Prisoners Bill and the “Ban the Box” movement in Rhode Island. Jordan’s art reimagines and seeks truth in Black histories and legacies, inspired by his own grandfather’s story within the Great Migration, fleeing racial terror in the South. This interview, highlights the intricacies of activism in art, the erasure of Black history and what inspires his paintings and projects. Checkout Jordan’s main website: http://www.jordanseaberry.com Produced by: Leila Kashani-Sabet ’22 (@leilakashanisabet) and Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza) #blackartists

We talk with not one but TWO artists, Spocka Summa and Casandra Inez, owners of Public Shop and Gallery based in Providence (@publicnotprivate). As natives and artists of Providence, Spocka and Casandra wanted to create a local space for creators, particularly artists of color to create, connect and experience art. In terms of their own artmaking, while Spocka curates events and showcases for artists all over New England, he also is a musician and visual artist, currently working on the second part of a comic book, The Live Wire. Cassandra is a published poet and storyteller who has also dabbled in visual art. Tune in to learn about the inspirations behind Spocka and Casandra’s artwork and the founding and purpose of the Public- to uplift and support local communities. Produced by: Uwa Ede-Osifo ’22 (@uwaedeosifo), Leila Kashani-Sabet ’22 (@leilakashanisabet) and Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza)

Leila talks with Valerie Tutson ’87, Co-Founder/ Creative Director of Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS), a non-profit dedicated to “promoting the awareness, appreciation, and application of Black storytelling.” Produced by: Leila Kashani-Sabet ’22 (@leilakashanisabet), Sonna Obiorah ’22 (@sonna_o) and Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza) #blackstorytellers #blackart#blackartistso

In our seventh interview of Revolutionary Roots, we talk with Nafis M. White (), a “multi hyphenate” artist, whose range of work spans from sculpture-making to dance to digital media, inspired by her intersectional identities, multicultural...

In our eighth interview of Revolutionary Roots, we meet Jordan Seaberry (), a PVD based artist from Chicago whose “painting work lives alongside his political work.” Jordan is also a grassroots organizer who helped to pass criminal justice reforms...

In our seventh interview of Revolutionary Roots, we talk with Nafis M. White (), a “multi hyphenate” artist, whose range of work spans from sculpture-making to dance to digital media, inspired by her intersectional identities, multicultural...

In our eighth interview of Revolutionary Roots, we meet Jordan Seaberry (), a PVD based artist from Chicago whose “painting work lives alongside his political work.” Jordan is also a grassroots organizer who helped to pass criminal justice reforms...

In our seventh interview of Revolutionary Roots, we talk with Nafis M. White (@nafis_white), a “multi hyphenate” artist, whose range of work spans from sculpture-making to dance to digital media, inspired by her intersectional identities, multicultural background and a family activist legacy that she adds, “comes with the territory” of artistry. White’s current work explores diasporic representations of beauty; she takes Victorian hair weaving customs and re-appropriates them using Black hair techniques and styles, speaking to the historic roots of hair in African traditions. Follow Nafis’ work here: http://www.nafiswhite.com

In our eighth interview of Revolutionary Roots, we meet Jordan Seaberry (@jordanseaberry), a PVD based artist from Chicago whose “painting work lives alongside his political work.” Jordan is also a grassroots organizer who helped to pass criminal justice reforms such as the Unshackling Pregnant Prisoners Bill and the “Ban the Box” movement in Rhode Island. Jordan’s art reimagines and seeks truth in Black histories and legacies, inspired by his own grandfather’s story within the Great Migration, fleeing racial terror in the South. In this episode, Jordan covers the intricacies of activism in art, the erasure of Black history and what inspires his paintings and projects. Checkout Jordan’s main website: http://www.jordanseaberry.com Produced by: Leila Kashani-Sabet ’22 (@leilakashanisabet) and Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza) #blackartists

Kelly Taylor Mitchell () is an artist and educator at Spelman College with a special interest in oral history and ancestral memory- her own work being inspired by her family history based in Berks County and the Great Dismal Swamp. A master of forms...

Kelly Taylor Mitchell () is an artist and educator at Spelman College with a special interest in oral history and ancestral memory- her own work being inspired by her family history based in Berks County and the Great Dismal Swamp. A master of forms...

Kelly Taylor Mitchell (@kellytaylormitchell) is an artist and educator at Spelman College with a special interest in oral history and ancestral memory- her own work being inspired by her family history based in Berks County and the Great Dismal Swamp. A master of forms such as papermaking, printmaking, sculpture and textiles, Kelly’s work embraces an immersive and sensorial experience. You can take a look at her website here: https://www.kellytaylormitchellstudio.com Produced by: Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza) and Tammuz Frankel ’22 (@t_mmuz)

What do Shakespeare and Eminem have in common?

Marlon “Inphynit DaGhost” Carey, who best describes himself as a Poet, Educator, Actor, Communicator and Entertainer, an acronym for PEACE which he adds is his “philosophy on people.”  There isn’t a medium Carey hasn’t mastered- from his 18+ years as a poetry slam champion to his hip hop music career as “INPHYNIT” to his co-founding of Shakespeare to Hip-Hop, a literary arts enrichment project that travels to schools across the U.S. In this episode: How Marlon’s Black identity informs his work, his journey of “self-discovery” and how he fuses Hip-Hop and history to engagingly teach Shakespeare to hundreds of students. Listen to Marlon's music here: https://soundcloud.com/marlon-carey Checkout Shakespeare to Hip Hop: http://www.shakespearetohiphop.com Produced by: Leila Kashani-Sabet ’22 (@leilakashanisabet), Tammuz Frankel ’22 (@t_mmuz) and Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza)

Assi Coulibaly is a Malian American artist and teacher at the Trinity Academy for Performing Arts in Providence. For the last 15 years Assi has trained in traditional Mande West African dance, following the footsteps of her parents who are both dancers and artists. For Assi, dancing highlights an integral part of her culture and community. Assi’s dance collective, the Haus of Glitter Dance Company runs workshops in Rhode Island and online. Checkout the Haus of Glitter’s website here: https://www.theglittergoddesscollective.org Produced by: Mako Mendoza ‘21 (@mako_mendoza) and Sonna Obiorah ’22 (@sonna_o)

Artist Liz Morgan introduces herself first as “a Black woman living in the Bronx.” The work that she does spans organizations and roles: She is “a theatre maker, a playwright, an actor, a Theatre of the Oppressed facilitator and Practitioner.” But after describing her art, Morgan adds one more identifier – she describes her hair. “fairly short, naturally styled… Kind of in a mohawk.” Morgan’s identity as a Black woman is fundamentally ingrained in the work that she does and the many hats she wears. She writes characters into being who are allowed to be different from one moment to another, who represent “all of the things that Black women can be.” Her writing led her to create Drammy-Award-nominated The Clark Doll, which centers around three women who “try desperately to discover what game will give them the sweetest dreams” as a metaphor for seeking joy in America as a Black woman. She is also widely recognized for her poem featured in the Huffington Post: "Why I was Late Today and Will Probably Always be Late as a Black Woman.”  Beyond her own productions, Morgan acts as both ‘Joker’ and Community Resources Coordinator for Theatre of the Oppressed NYC. Founded in 2011, the group seeks to advocate for and encourage social change by engaging in communities. They engage in “a rehearsal for real life, a rehearsal for the revolution,” Morgan explains. The organization engages in two different types of theatre: forum theatre and legislative theatre. The first practice incorporates the audience as a participant, or Spect-Actor, so that they are galvanized to consider forms of systemic oppression and possible strategies for change. In this style of theater, the versatile Joker facilitates audience engagement. The Joker, Morgan says, is “some type of wild card that actually has to be able to play multiple hats and could really change the way things go.” So, Morgan directs, acts as a caretaker, and pushes the audience to think harder about what they are experiencing and realizing throughout the production. Legislative theatre is similarly action-oriented, and is geared specifically toward an audience including legislators, to the end of encouraging better policy solutions. Find out more about Liz Morgan at her website. You can learn more about Theatre of the Oppressed NYC here. Morgan asks, on behalf of Theatre of the Oppressed, that you consider donating to the family of organizer Nikita Price. Finally, you can donate directly to Morgan’s Venmo at Elizabeth-Morgan-1.

Valerie Tutson has been practicing storytelling for as long as she can remember: “My dad said I was born with my mouth open and was always telling stories,” she explained. And though she has always loved reading and telling stories, her strongest memory is from when she was in 8th grade. Living in a small town in Connecticut at the time, Tutson drew from African-American history, literature and her own story as the daughter of a white mother and a Black father — “a product of that civil rights movement” — to express to her classmates what her experience was being Black.  Tutson has lived in Providence, Rhode Island since she first attended Brown University as an undergraduate. Here, she founded the Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS) in 1998. RIBS has hosted Funda Fest every year for the past 22 years, a weeklong festival celebrating local and national Black storytellers and performers in a series of events that are free and open to the public. Outside of her work with RIBS, Tutson also travels nationally to schools and conferences, sharing and spreading a rich range of African-American, African and Caribbean folklore, history and traditions. Follow Valerie Tutson on Facebook here. Sign up for the RIBS mailing list, buy RIBS merchandise, and support RIBS here.

A group of college students discuss their thoughts on headlines and stories surrounding the 2020 election including conducting a diverse national poll of only college students opinions leading up to the election.