2023 Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival Empowers Arts & Humanities as Vehicles for Social Change
Part Education Conference, part arts festival, and part homage to the powerful history of social and anti-racist activism of Western Massachusetts, the 2nd annual Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival brings together a group of eclectic community members to envision pathways to a just future.
4/3/2023
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – The Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival envisions a world where arts and education are a powerful part of creating communities where justice and equity are the standards, not exceptions. The Power of Truths centers on the practice that the arts and humanities are powerful tools to imagine and create a more just world.
Self-Evident Education and the Northampton Arts Council are working together to organize the 2nd Annual Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival to be held April 29-April 30, 2023 in Florence, MA, at the Bombyx Centre for Arts & Equity. The event is sponsored by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Northampton Department of Health and Human Services, Peoples Bank, the Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity and many others.
The 2nd Annual Power of Truths Arts & Education Festival will build on the previous year's event with even more thought-provoking performances, talks, and workshops on the intersections between arts and education as tools for empowerment, social justice, and equity We have worked with educators, students, and community members to plan the festival and its activities.
In the words of an educator who attended last year’s event, “The energy was so welcoming and positive. So many different people were there from all different backgrounds and it was great to meet them and learn with each other. The music and food made it feel so communal and joyful; this was a nice balance to the gravity of the work we were doing together.”
The intended audience for the festival is diverse in all ways. This arts and education festival/conference is for all "teaching and learning public members." We define this VERY broadly as anyone interested in arts and education as tools for a better world. 2023 will be year number two in an ongoing series of experiential, educational, and artistic conferences to push our public use of education to create a just future.
Festival highlights include:
"Know the Ledge: Hip-Hop History Live"- Multiple performers will interpret the stories from the Self-Evident Education library of films in the medium they work in.
The world premiere of Self-Evident Education's newest film, "If You Cross This Boundary, We All Die," is about famed abolitionists Ellen & William Craft, who escaped enslavement through Mrs. Craft's passing as the white male owner of Mr. Craft.
Presentations and performances by
Kellie Carter Jackson, a professor, historian, and award-winning author of "Politics of Violence." Jackson's research focuses on slavery, abolitionism, political violence, Black women's history, and historical film.
Interdisciplinary artist, photographer, filmmaker and education worker Bayeté Ross Smith works at the intersection of photography, visual journalism and. He is Columbia Law School's inaugural Artist-In-Residence, and a Presidential Leadership Scholar.
Written Quincy, a spoken word artist, emcee, event host, educator, father, and entrepreneur. Written created the legendary Cypher120 event series, which plays a major role in the development of Tulsa's hip-hop culture. Written will be joined by fellow Fire in Little Africa members iamDES and Krisheena Suarez.
About Self-Evident Education
Self-Evident Education is a digital humanities resource and community of educators of American history. We support educators and students to think critically about the role of race and institutional racism throughout United States history. Self-Evident Education envisions a world where all young people understand and honestly assess the ways that race and racism have been intentionally constructed. Through this education they will be able to accurately analyze the present, and create a future where racism can be intentionally dismantled.
Contact
Michael Lawrence-Riddall
Self-Evident Education
michael@selfevidenteducation.com
General contact: truths@selfevidenteducation.com
