By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
BRAVE – Black Rights Activism Visibility and Equity – grew out of the turmoil of the early summer.
While its members were involved in the racial justice protests of those times, the organization has also been interested in shining the light on Black culture. BRAVE hosted the city’s first Juneteenth celebration – and is planning a second.
On Friday, BRAVE put the spotlight on individual talents of young Black poets and singers.
“Soul Speaking.” was staged with appropriate social distancing in the Brookside City Space at Court Street. The church building has had various incarnations the past decades. The off-beat fashion show, dark comedy about the Peanuts characters, sundry works of William Shakespeare, have lent the space with a patina of a hip coffeehouse vibe, even as it has returned to its original use as a worship space.
For those who didn’t get one of the few seats inside the venue, the event was livestreamed.
Tuning in at the beginning I felt a wave of nostalgia listening to the chatter of the audience waiting for the show to start. Then a burst of laughter. Yes, my couch may have been more comfortable than the seating in the venue, but that didn’t make up for lacking that sense of connection to familiar faces and strangers gathered together to be enlightened and entertained. And as the performers who took the stage demontrated these two enlightenment and entertainment need not be mutually exclusive, but rather linked. People can smile and think and feel uplifted at the same time.
Each performer had about 10 minutes or so, and the organizers kept things moving along.
From the opener IMaNI’s soulful original songs to the power of the Centra’s powerful faith-based verse, the audience was privileged to hear young Black artists’ intimate reflections on love, racial justice, identity, and faith in God.
As spoken word artist Easu Parker said before sharing his dramatic monologues: “It’s always an honor and privilege to share myself.”
Anthony King, one of the organizers, said “Soul Speaking” was “a dream come true for me and all of BRAVE.”
“What we wanted to do was create space in the predominately white city for Black culture to be celebrated, Black culture to be recognized, Black culture to be commemorated in this Black History Month.”
Several artists presented new work, fresh to the page.
IMaNI gave a preview of a song she hasn’t recorded yet. “Everything I do is an experiment,” she sang.
Poet Maya K prefaced her poem by saying “this is a little last minute but I hope it’s right on time.”
In the piece that followed she said: “When you recognize your worth that’s where your confidence grows.”
Kadence, who followed, also read something “hot off the press” proclaimed: “I will exude black girl magic in every situation.”
Poetess (Shelby Faulkner) said she woke just that morning in a dream state from which emerged a piece expressing annoyance with Facebook’s practice of reminding her what happened a year ago. She used that to kick start a reflection on her spiritual journey away from “our mistakes and sickness” and a reminder that “there are empty canvasses waiting to be painted.”
Vocalist Alice Carlton delivered a powerful cover of YEBBA’s “My Mind.”
Jon Torrence, who accompanied his soul- jazz inflected vocals on guitar and added a chorus of trumpet, sang that “in our brokenness we find a beauty that’s so truly human.”
Reflecting on the ongoing struggles for racial justice, King Justo said: “I’ve been marching so long it made me a man.”
In the poem “Black Rose,” Tatiyana Haythorn urged people to turn “to the one you can call on with no shame, all you have to do is speak his name.”
Sherry J. White celebrated Black love with her cover of “At Last,” which was bookended by musical celebrations of her religious faith.
The closing poet Centra said that “I live by the habit of praying before I write.”
That faith radiated through her words. “Black is beautiful” but so are other shades in the spectrum. “Who we really are is much fairer than skin color,” she said. All are “predestined to be made in Christ’s image.
And each person, she said, was created by God’s hand to be an original.
As “Soul Speaking” ended, King suggested that they do this again next month. Clearly there is so much more to say.
