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AATE: Amplify & Ignite Creative Practice in and with Communities

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AATE: Amplify & Ignite Creative Practice in and with Communities

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This three-day symposium introduced me to the practices and work of K-12 educators, teaching artists, and scholars conducting research. Each session I attended was approached with care and intentionality by the speakers. I participated in workshops and discussions that affirmed my identity as a Black woman in spaces that are still predominantly white. The conversations and dialogue created a sense of cognitive dissonance within me, evoking emotions of discomfort and forcing me to examine my personal beliefs and biases regarding my race and ethnicity. This conference helped me grow—into a better artist, educator, and person.

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My Blackness in Spaces: Reflecting on Racial Identity

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My Blackness in Spaces: Reflecting on Racial Identity

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You defy stereotypes. You break norms. Look at your seat at the table!

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UBW at the Institute of Contemporary Art

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UBW at the Institute of Contemporary Art

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Batty Moves (Excerpt, 1995) "Batty" is a word used in the Caribbean meaning buttocks. This dance was created to honor a woman named Sarah Baartman, aslos know as the Hottentot Venus. Batty Moves is ultimately a celebration about seeing beauty in all the different shapes, sizes and shades we come in. Cite: Institute of Contemporary Art. (2025). Batty Moves. [Bulletin].Urban Bush Woman.

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The Reflections & Growth of an Emerging Teaching Artist

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The Reflections & Growth of an Emerging Teaching Artist

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Urban Bush Women's 40th Anniversary: LEGACY + LINEAGE + LIBERATION

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Creative Reflection of Session "Way Up": Loving Black Children For All They Give Us facilitated by ashley herring

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Creative Reflection of Session "Way Up": Loving Black Children For All They Give Us facilitated by ashley herring

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I made grillz out of Play-Doh and pipe cleaners, reconnecting with my inner child. This was my second time using Play-Doh in a month. Earlier, I taught a STEAM class on the layers of the Earth to my third graders, where we molded the four layers out of Play-Doh to help them remember their names. During the session, I sat and sculpted a three-dimensional model of my grillz with canine fangs. The experience deeply connected me to the Black girls I teach every week. It reminded me of the bonds within the communities I engage with. I felt grounded.

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Black Girl, How Does Your Garden Grow? Performance by Angelique Motunrayo Folasade Akiya C-Dina

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Black Girl, How Does Your Garden Grow? Performance by Angelique Motunrayo Folasade Akiya C-Dina

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What happens when I come unpolished into community care ?

Black Feminist Thought: Black women’s experience does not have to always be tied to oppression. Our story never started with oppression nor ends with it.

Self care is political !

Alice Walker: In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

womanism is to feminism as purple is to lilac

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My Blackness is "Divisive".  Looking at Critical Race Theory to Contemporary Issues of Practice

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My Blackness is "Divisive".  Looking at Critical Race Theory to Contemporary Issues of Practice

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Critical Race Theory posits that racism is systemic and deeply embedded in legal, political, and cultural institutions. When my Blackness is seen as "divisive," it implies that societal structures resist the full inclusion and equality of Black people. The recent executive order on DEI seeks to prohibit lawful efforts to advocate for equity and rights.

Mari Matsuda, a law professor at the University of Hawaii who was an early developer of critical race theory argued that "The problem is not bad people". “The problem is a system that reproduces bad outcomes. It is both humane and inclusive to say, ‘We have done things that have hurt all of us, and we need to find a way out.’” Cite: Fortin, J. (2021, July 27). Critical race theory: A brief history. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/what-is-critical-race-theory.html?searchResultPosition=4

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How a complicated and expansive academic theory developed during the 1980s has become a hot-button political issue 40 years later.

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Magazines in Sessions laid on the floor. 

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Opening Session: Re-Emerging Together: Facilitated by Elisa Hamilton and Gillian Epstein

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What do embrace, challenge and imagine your work

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What do embrace, challenge and imagine your work

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Spoked Choreography used to describe the motions of tying a headwrap.

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Re/Sourcing Memory: An Embodiment Practice

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Re/Sourcing Memory: An Embodiment Practice

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Choreographing the Headwrap Presenter: Joya Powell

The embodiment practice Movement of the People Dance Company's Hair Ties is a multidisciplinary piece inspired by America's fear of Black power and beauty. We each shared our favorite hairstyle, taught it to others, and reflected on our memories. I brought my mother's vintage scarf to incorporate into my embodiment. We explored movement with the fabrics and then collectively identified the gestures created without them.

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Identifying & Amplifying My Communities of Practice

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Identifying & Amplifying My Communities of Practice

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My curiosities and the focus of my work are deeply embedded in designing communities and practices of care, risk, and belonging. My experience at AATE has deepened my understanding of what it means to create and sustain spaces that affirm identity, challenge systemic oppression, and foster meaningful connections. These experiences reaffirm my commitment to designing spaces where people—especially Black youth—feel seen, valued, and empowered to take risks, express themselves, and shape their futures.

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Uplifting Voices in Theatre Education: Confronting Oppression and Reimagining Inclusion 

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Uplifting Voices in Theatre Education: Confronting Oppression and Reimagining Inclusion 

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Blair Bean- "I don’t want to applaud trauma anymore."

Sobha Kavanakudiyil- "Endarkened storytelling (storywork) uplifting counter narratives"

This was the first time I learned about and heard of Endarkened Storywork/Storytelling, a term coined by S. R. Toliver. Endarkened Storywork is a research storytelling format that builds on Endarkened Feminist Epistemologies, Indigenous Storywork, and Afrofuturism.

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Recovering Black Storytelling in Qualitative Research: Endarkened Storywork

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This research-based book foregrounds Black narrative traditions and honors alternative methods of data collection, analysis, and representation. Toliver presents a semi-fictionalized narrative in an alternative science fiction setting, refusing white-centric qualitative methods and honoring the ways of the griots who were the scholars of their African nations.
By utilizing Black storytelling, Afrofuturism, and womanism as an onto-epistemological tool, this book asks readers to elevate Black imag

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Community Engagement from Theory to Practice 

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Community Engagement from Theory to Practice 

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A Collective Vision for a Future in the Arts through Community and Civic Engagement Programs

Dr.Sharon Counts

"Community building needs to be built on reciprocity."

"We must consistently maintain the community building seeds"

"Change comes with/from loss and when we ask people to change we are asking them to give something up"

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Welcome to Boston: Keynote Panel Discussion about Creative Practices In and with Communities 

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Welcome to Boston: Keynote Panel Discussion about Creative Practices In and with Communities 

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Alison Yueming Qu 曲悦鸣, Co-Founder and Executive Director of CHUANG Stage.

Theatre was not built into our routines"

Ronee Penoi, Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts & Director of Artistic Programming at ArtsEmerson

"Show up for communities that are not (your)/their own."

"It is a risk to have community work tethered to one person."

Giselle Byrd, Executive Director of The Theater Offensive

"Arts and culture is no longer a luxury. The new role of arts and culture is going back to the social justice roots."

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From Archive to Estuary: Intergenerational Applied Theatre to Re-Imagining "Growing Up Roxbury, 1880-2075"

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From Archive to Estuary: Intergenerational Applied Theatre to Re-Imagining "Growing Up Roxbury, 1880-2075"

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At the Elma Lewis Center, memories of my grandmother resurfaced as I interacted with and reflected on the art and history of archivists and elder community members. I paid my respects to her and honored the memory she imprinted on this earth.

The questions that remains is: What comes next? In what ways do I continue to learn from the ancestors through memory? What vision and future will I imagine with youth when I become an elder?

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elmalewiscenter148 | Instagram | Linktree

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Neighborhood + campus communities: social justice story work via research & arts

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Community Engagement - Extending Thinking and Definition

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Community Engagement - Extending Thinking and Definition