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MINNEAPOLIS: In January, 2015, The City of Minneapolis inquired on a plot of land located between The City Hiawatha Public Works facility and Smith Foundry in the South Minneapolis neighborhood of
This past weekend, Free Black Dirt presented There Are Other Worlds a play written and directed by Junauda Petrus and produced by Erin Sharkey (these two form the core artistic team of Free Black Dirt). The work premiered as a work in progress at Open Eye Figure Theatre in 2013 and returns in 2015 as a fully realized play at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, MN.I have been carrying around this quote by Toni Morrison. “So Ralph Ellison writes ‘Invisible Man’ and as good as that book is, I have to ask, invisible to whom? Certainly not to me.” She is talking so succinctly about gaze, the white gaze, the male gaze and what it means to make art and for whose gaze. Junauda Petrus’s play There Are Other Worlds is the flip side to this question. The play is clearly written with a black female gaze in mind. The entire cast are women of color and the power and beauty present in this play comes from that root and love of Black Women. That the rest of us are invited to witness and imbibe is a gift and we are all stronger for it.I saw the play on the closing night after six sold out, standing room only performances. Such a response speaks to the fact that there is an audience eager and willing for this kind of work. On the political face of it we might merely say how important it is to support an emerging black woman playwright but this is art and what really matters is the actual work. There are Other Worlds is good theater. The play uses movement, aerial arts, more traditional scenes of dialogue and a vast soundtrack that both grounds the play in the late 1990’s with hip-hop of the time and spans time with music from other eras as the two young women, Dreamah and Sarya explore current music and also discover Sun Ra, Ornette Colman and other jazz greats. The original soundtrack created by Sarah White along with the use of aerial arts takes the play outside the day to day and into the universe/spirit realms. Joy Spika and Jordan Hamilton designed the set which is beautiful and layered. Tree branches, paper lanterns and mask like wire sculptures hang from the ceiling. One side of the stage is the bedroom of the teenage daughter Dreamah and is overflowing with rich color and vibrancy. The other side of the stage is stark with a yoga mat and pile of books and serves as the jail cell for Ameri. The stage also holds four location for the long white silks on which the women swing, climb, float, cocoon and spin doing aerial work. The rest of the set design is beautiful, evoking stars and cosmos and quilts and mathematical calculations but was wisely abstract enough to open up the worlds that were being created. The play centers on the frayed relationship between Ameri Akenyemi who has been in prison nine years and her two young daughters, the teenage Dreamah and the young adult Gospel. It also revolves around the transformative relationship between Dreamah and the wildly openhearted, Sarya Rice. Also present are ancestors, a group of talented dancers dressed in purple who appear and disappear; never speaking but evoking, dancing and at times literally holding up characters. Although never on stage fathers are also a strong presence with Ameri’s husband who is trying to hold and protect his daughters and Sarya’s father who she is painfully separated from as he deals with mental illness.The cast is universally strong. Nisreen Dawan as the incarcerated mother Ameri Akenyemi was effortless as both a young revolutionary falling in love with a caring man in college and as a 45 year old woman in prison, taken from her husband and daughters and trying to stay whole as one can in those circumstances. ShaVunda Horsley as Dreamah Akenyemi carried a good deal of the play forward. Her skill was apparent at being able to play Dreamah as young and innocent but not a caricature of youth. The arc of her characters transformation and path back to her mother and new found strength was both believable and moving.Felicia Perry played Gospel Akenyemi the slightly older and angrier sister and had some of the most challenging scenes both in terms of aerial work and drama. She is a riveting presence on stage and held the sense of anger and suffering without over acting it. Alissa Paris played Dreamah’s new found best friend Sarya Rice and had several scene stealing moments. Her kinetic energy and joyfulness were an important part of the play both soothing some of the pain and leading Dreamah forward. All of these strong performances are in service to a beautiful script by Junuada Petrus that is multilayered and complex full of humor and a natural ear for dialogue especially between the two young women Dreamah and Sarya. Without being preachy the script touches on a variety of intense issues around revolution and social change, white supremacy, living in a predominately white place, prison, rape, forgiveness, strength and love. So much love. The love of this mother for her children, the love of these young women for each other, family love, love of and love from ancestors, love of Blackness: as a people, as a source of beauty, creation and resistance. The use of aerial work was a perfect sister to the writing; the long silks were utilized by various characters and served as trees, wombs, and facilitated various journeys both physical and spiritual the characters embark on. Junuada Petrus wrote in the program about wanting to see more women of color involved in aerial performance and also her inspiration to use aerial as a reclaiming of Black and Brown bodies suspended in space from the horror of lynching. All but one of the actors were new to aerial work and the confidence and trust they had in their own bodies to climb essentially a long piece of cloth and wrap themselves in it and then unfurl often to the ground was beautiful to watch.There were two interconnected things I wanted that were not present. More breath and silence and to see Ameri engaged in her yoga practice. Continue Reading
“We want to get into different types of fundraisers, not just pancake feeds and spaghetti dinners,” says Dave Rudolph, manager at the Southern Anoka County Assistance Food Shelf (SACA). With craft beer popular, what beer way than a local festival?On Sat. March 28, SACA will host Hops for Hunger III, a beer tasting event with live music, catering, and a charitable bent. Sixteen Minnesota breweries will be pouring samples to guests, including Dangerous Man, HammerHeart, and Fair State.It’s not just a chance for beer drinkers to sample some goods, though, the $35 tickets raise important funds and awareness for the hunger problems facing the local community. Hops for Hunger II raised $12,500 last year, and festivals 1 and 2 combined have bought about 175,000 pounds of food for the local food shelf.“We’re seeing a lot more people coming to the food shelf even though the economy is getting better,” Rudolph says. Continue Reading
Sometimes drinking beer can make a difference. That’s the goal with Northern Lights Rare Beer Fest, which hits St. Paul for the second straight year on Sat. March 28. The festival is both a showcase for rare and limited beers that fans can’t get anywhere else, but it’s also a significant fundraiser for Pints for Prostates, a national charity that raises awareness and funds for prostate health.Chop Liver Craft Beer Festivals sponsors Rare Beer Fest, as well as St. Continue Reading
The Brewer’s Ball, a fundraiser from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Minnesota, isn’t your average beer festival or your average charitable fundraiser. Yes, it features 25 local breweries, a tasting glass, and a personal encounter with the recipe makers behind your favorite beers. But it’s also a fundraiser where your donation is certain to make a difference.The Brewer’s Ball name carries over from the group’s formal Fargo gala, but in Minneapolis it’s a more casual affair. With ticket prices set higher than other festivals, it A) raises more funds, and B), attracts a crowd that is truly interested in the event instead of degenerating into a drunk festival.“One of the things I really wanted to do was focus on creating an event that raised money but also celebrated the breweries and made it somewhat different for them,” says Development Director Matt Ling of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “We got great feedback from the brewers [last year] that it was something they really enjoyed.” The smaller size of the event helps to foster that environment, and it still raises sufficient funds, collecting just over $45,000 in 2014 (a piece of over $3million in total funds raised during the year).Brewer’s Ball is one of 25 annual events from the local chapter, who manages fundraising in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Continue Reading
The third annual Community Connections Conference attracted over 500 people to the Minneapolis Convention Center on March 21 to meet, learn, and get inspired for the work of creating a more equitable and connected city of Minneapolis. The Conference, organized by the city’s office of Community Relations and a committee of volunteers from across the city, was subtitled “Creative Engagement and Action Using Arts and Placemaking.” Neighborhood groups, community non-profits, arts organizations and city departments exhibited at the “Village Square.” Many of them held interactive exhibits, such as artist Aldo Moroni’s citymaking project at the Bottineau Neighborhood’s space. This year’s conference was called a “nonconference,” because it dispensed with the uaual keynote address and workshops, instead holding a number of “Learning Labs” on Placemaking, and performances. Continue Reading
It has been a while since we have talked about what is supposed to be the greatest employment story in the history of Minnesota: the new Vikings stadium, with its price tag of over a billion dollars and thousands of jobs.In terms of dollars added to the local economy, it is a success. In terms of jobs for Whites, it is a success. But in terms of jobs for Blacks, it is a disaster. Worse, it is another scam our Black leadership pulled on our own Black community.Black leaders are as corrupt as White leaders. Not the kind of integration and equality we were looking for. Continue Reading
The first committee deadline has passed in a flurry of bills and late-night hearings, and the 2015 session will keep picking up steam next week with the release of two key pieces to this year’s legislative puzzle.First comes the Republican transportation plan, set to be released during a 9 a.m. news conference on Monday. Funding transportation has emerged as one of the key issues of the session, and how far apart plans put forward by Gov. Mark Dayton and Senate DFLers are from what is announced by Republican leaders could have a big impact on the next two months at the Capitol.The governor and Senate have expressed support for raising the state’s gas tax to pour billions of dollars into fixing Minnesota’s roads and bridges, as well as upping a metro-area sales tax dedicated to funding mass transit projects.Republican leaders, on the other hand, have said they want to construct a package that spends existing state dollars and focuses on roads and bridges, not transit.Budget targets dueTuesday is the deadline for the House Ways and Means Committee to OK a budget resolution bill. Rep. Jim Knoblach (R-St. Cloud), committee chair, told Session Daily last week that the Monday release of Republicans’ transportation bill was one reason he expected the committee would act on the deadline day. After Tuesday, each finance committee will have a budget target — essentially, a maximum for the total spending in the bills they approve.On the floorMonday on the House floor lawmakers are scheduled to take up HF 1027, a bill sponsored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) that would set a lower minimum wage for tipped employees, such as waiters, who earn $12 per hour or more in combined wages and tips in a pay period.Chris Steller contributed to this story. Continue Reading
In emails to constituents, Republicans are seeking to drum up support for a bill that would bar school from adopting transgender inclusive policies and would repeal a policy by the Minnesota State High School League that allows transgender students to participate in high school sports based on gender.Many of the Republican lawmakers are touting a mysterious poll conducted by Republican polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, and paid for by an anti-LGBT group, the Minnesota Child Protection League. The Column has repeatedly sought information about the poll including methodology and specific language that was asked of those participating in the poll. The Minnesota Child Protection League has refused to respond to multiple inquiries.Below are excerpts from emails sent to constituents that were obtained by The Column. We will continue to update the list as more are identified.Sen. Paul Gazelka (PDF version):Reinforcing our children’s safety and privacy at school On Monday, Senate Republicans introduced the “Student Safety and Physical Privacy Act” to address serious concerns regarding a controversial new policy from the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL).Last December, the MSHSL issued a new ruling allowing transgender students to play on a sports team other than the team of the student’s biological sex. In effect, it allows male students who identify as female to play on female sports teams. The ruling was met with resistance from parents and families who were worried about what effect it would have on locker room and shower situations, and how the ruling would impact private and nonpublic schools. Continue Reading
Education Minnesota, the organization representing 70,000 educators across the state, is praising Governor Mark Dayton’s plan to invest the projected state budget surplus in public schools, including free pre-kindergarten programs for all four-year-olds.The forecast from Minnesota Management and Budget released in late February showed the state’s previously forecast $1 billion surplus for the next biennium has jumped to nearly $1.9 billion. Dayton proposes to spend much of the projected surplus on education.Education Minnesota President Denise Specht said the plan calls for “significant new investments in pre-K, special education and expanding the teaching workforce.”“Gov. Dayton is investing education dollars where they’re needed – diversifying and expanding the teaching corps, reducing the unfunded mandates for special education services and preparing our youngest students for kindergarten and beyond,” Specht said. “Smart priorities like these are why he’s known as the ‘education governor.’”“We’re excited to learn more about the governor’s teacher workforce and retention program,” Specht said. “We’ve supported loan forgiveness programs for teachers in hard-to-staff areas in the past. Our local in St. Continue Reading