Resistance music is everywhere. Music and movements have a reciprocal relationship. Inspiration bounces and weaves across the speeches of leaders at rallies and the cries of singers on a stage. When Esperanza Spalding asks, “what is the frequency of healing?,” when Nina Simone proclaimed, “You are Young, Gifted and Black,” and when Marvin Gaye reckons with “What’s Going On” – this music influences how we think and feel about justice, and calls for us to hold on to dignity & grace in a world on fire and the love we need to survive. Join is for an evening of musical performances whose sound draws from the sparks of movements.
ASL, CART (English) provided.
Performances by:
Tazeen and LuFuki are composer and guitarist, Lufuki, and guitarist and vocalist, Tazeen, a Detroit based duo that feels the need to connect hearts through sound in order to promote solidarity, freedom, and social action. They formed a Detroit Afro-Jazz Collective, Divine Providence, and have released four albums including their latest Love&Light. They currently for a part of XRoads, a traveling exhibit on the history of Black Muslims in Jazz, and Autophysiopyschic Millennium, a creative research-music collective that brings to light the work and philosophy of Dr. Yusef Lateef. They also serve as co-directors for the Detroit chapter of GAMA, Gathering All Muslim Artists, and they are the founders of the Sanctuary of Sound, an intimate community space that pairs meditation and music as a spiritual practice.
Damon Williams is a movement builder, organizer, hip-hop performing artist, educator and media maker from the south side of Chicago, and Cohost of AirGo. He is the co-director of the #LetUsBreathe Collective, an artistic activist organization birthed out of supply trips to support the Ferguson uprising in resistance to the murder of Mike Brown. Williams and #LetUsBreathe transplanted the experiences from the front lines and continue to organize direct actions and community enrichment events throughout the streets of Chicago and in their movement building community center The #BreathingRoom Space, with the mission of utilizing cultural production and popular education to redistribute power and resources, eradicate systemic violence, and transform inequity.
Sophiyah Elizabeth is a native Detroiter who draws inspiration from the desire to raise awareness surrounding liberation and spiritual reverence. Through community advocacy and musical production, the songwriter/singer connects various mediums via multi-sensory frequencies. Sophiyah also deepens her connection within the community as founder of Afro Moone, A Detroit-based wellness resource furnishing sonic healing practices, creative direction/strategy, and accessible aids for healthy living. Sophiyah impels a story-telling lens as Director of Artist Relations and Programming of DCIPHER– a Detroit based organization dedicated to advancing the community and music economy. She believes ascension can be achieved through any medium and anticipates growing through her transparency, practicing dimensions of love.
Moderator:
Imani Mixon was born and raised at the magnetic center of the world’s cultural compass — Detroit, Michigan. She is a long-form storyteller who is inspired by everyday griots who bear witness to their surroundings and report it back out. Equal parts urgent and essential, her multimedia work centers the experiences of Black women and independent artists.