The label “presentation” does not do justice to the thought-provoking, visceral, and passionate experience that this was.

She read the draft of her essay “Freedom Is a Feeling on the Tongue,” which concerned communicating the pain and difficulties of being African American in America—a “discursive symphony of Black pain,” in her words.

She focused the essay specifically on the words of Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando Castile, who was shot to death by a police officer in Minnesota last year.

Quoting Martin Luther King, Jr., she first mentioned the difficulties and paradoxes of explaining one’s experience to someone else through the medium of paper, and staying true to what is said on such a medium.

She highlighted the disparity between her academic voice, and natural voice, two different speech registers that do not always comfortably coexist. Quoting Nina Simone, she then stressed the obstacles faced in merely telling someone about things they simply cannot know—and yet, all that is left are words.

More specific to current events, Dr. Conley described what it’s like to be a mother, to have a mother-son bond, and to realize a willingness to do anything for the sake of that child, and then to lose that child in the worst way possible. And so what can we say about Valerie Castile’s outburst of fire after the policeman who shot her son was acquitted?

She had lost her son, her family was torn apart, and she had nothing left but her words. Dr. Conley read to us the entire Facebook post that Valerie Castile had written, filling the air to the point that you could almost feel the words in your own veins.

She then invited the audience to imagine a world “without the collective Black heart,” producing a very long list of every good thing that this world would miss, including “no sweet potato pie done rightly.” Ultimately, she said, “if the universe is a luminous black thing, it is a reflection of the Black heart.”

Then, turning to the white members of the audience, she added that dealing with White supremacy is not a matter of a safe “I and them” type of distance; instead, she urged to “go get your people,” and deal with it from the inside out.

A Q and A session followed—and this was the most heartfelt and engaging Q and A that I have ever witnessed. After thanking Dr. Conley for making the audience feel loved, the mediator then invited the rest of the audience to express how they felt. Among the words shouted out were “helpless,” “relieved,” “acknowledged,” and then again, “loved.”

Dr. Conley and the audience members tossed around more heavy topics. One of these was what equality actually means—I had never really considered how equality is based on a “you are equal to me” type of skewed reasoning, which does not result in an equality at all.

Another question dealt with what it’s like to communicate the Black experience in art and literature through companies and institutions that are all-White; another individual described it as “titillation.” Also pointed out was how Dr. Conley smoothly embraced any possible audience, including a White audience (of which I was very much a part).

Her response, which I thought very inspiring, was that now she believes it effective for people (White people, specifically) to be uncomfortable and to embrace this discomfort in the face of perspectives, voices, and emotions that we have never experienced before. She ended by stressing that freedom is constructed on an individual and moment-by-moment basis—what is important is that people keep trying.

This was a presentation that you could feel—I kept getting chills throughout the entire experience–and a presentation that I could never give justice to in a summary. It questioned your most latent assumptions, and nearly every word that Dr. Conley uttered stirred something deep inside of you, which I will solemnly attest is not an exaggeration.

The post Witching Hour: Freedom is a Feeling on the Tongue @ RADinc. 10/21/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

What happened from there blew me away.

Chuck Peters, Chair of the Board at Folience, began the presentation by relaying his own roundabout relationship to education. After the 2008 flood left damage all around Iowa City, Peters arrived in town with a team of other Corridor business leaders to craft a rebuilding plan.

At the top of their list was the restoration of local school facilities. In order to become more acquainted with the ins-and-outs of these institutions, he started actually visiting them. Along the way, he spoke with educators from around the state.

During these talks, a consistent topic surfaced: school faculty members often feel stifled at work. Peters repeatedly heard that instructors felt like they couldn’t be “their authentic selves” while working with students. This resulted in an ability to fully express their passion for educating.

Above all, the disconnect between teachers and administrators hinders any kind of shared vision from taking shape. Stuck beneath the subsequent cloud of uncertainty, students tend to under perform and misbehave in these unstructured environments.

Recognizing this, Peters set off for England to see how their programs compared to ours stateside. While there, he heard stories about St. George’s Primary School located within a low-income area of London.

Known for being home to underperforming schools, St. George’s emerged as something of an anomaly in the Battersea neighborhood. Despite serving children from the lowest earning families in the country, the school consistently churns out students whose performances match their wealthiest peers.

Behind this incredible success over the last fourteen years has been Janet Hilary.

Recognized as a National Leader of Education in the UK, Hilary champions leadership structures and curricula that foster integration. That feat is accomplished by enabling each aspect of the learning experience to be collaborative and robustly taught.

This experience depends upon the establishment of a clear system of management: every instructor knows their duties, and they are helped along in the fulfillment of those duties by a proven program. At the core of that program is the mastery of language.

Just as we might have grown up with Hooked on Phonics, Hilary has instilled a sound-based approach into her school’s early lessons on English fundamentals. She reasons that articulation is the foundation upon which all other knowledge is built.

Ultimately, in order to properly think, we need to be able to create narratives extensive enough to consider complex problems wherever they arise.

The power of this educational system became apparent once we were able to see how eloquent many St. George’s students actually are. This ability to speak gives them a confidence that carries over into their outlook on other subjects as well.

These forces combine to produce actively engaged students and educators who can bear witness to the success of their teaching methods. Both parties are fully invested in the process that they are taking part in.

At the same time, the students and instructors are also able to personalize that process. Learners can identify areas that they need more work, and teachers can optimize their lessons in order to ensure the best outcome for their pupils. If parents, teachers, or children express a desire for more engaging and organized play opportunities on the playground, playground markings from playgroundmarkings.org.uk may be needed.

This autonomy only increases the level of investment on both sides. When everyone is involved in something that fosters shared belief, individuals feel empowered to give their voice to that belief.

In the case of Janet Hilary & St. George’s School, that belief is in the education of our future generations. It isn’t surprising that this call to give voice is based upon an educational system founded upon the fundamentals of language.

Check out other Witching Hour events here!

http://www.witchinghourfestival.com/2017-schedule/

The post Witching Hour: Empowering the Next Generation to Flourish @ IC Public Library 10/20/2017 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Both taiko and tanko bushi, for those who don’t know, refers to two traditional art forms within the Japanese culture. Specifically, taiko refers to a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments, while tanko bushi, on the other hand, refers to a Japanese folk song. Together, both can be seen in festivals within Japan ranging from either religious significance to historical pinpoints.

At the beginning of the event, we both sat in the front – on my behalf – in order to get the full experience of watching a taiko performance alongside demonstrations of a tanko bushi. What we failed to do, however, was read the description of the event and understand that the event itself wasn’t simply just a presentation, but instead, a workshop.

Midway through the event, the presenter began calling out for volunteers to participate in the tanko bushi. Being who we are, my friend and I tried to scurry to the back of the room in a poor attempt to not get called on; however, we failed miserably because

one of the ushers stopped us and encouraged our participation. Not being able to say no, we both scurried to the front of the room, or rather at the end of the crowd, and began to perform a tanko bushi.

At first, we were confused and by that, I do not mean any simple confusion.

In our best attempts, we tried to follow along with the steps of the tanko bushi; however, it was in that moment that we both realized we severely lack any form of rhythm. While we were trying to dance, stay in step, and on beat with everyone else, I can assure you we did anything but. One thing I will note, however, that while we may have been two of the most horrendous dancers anyone in that room has ever possibly seen, we had fun.

From the beginning to the end of the tanko bushi, we had a blast trying to keep up with the steps and stay in line with everyone else. While we may have looked like some rhythm-less dorks, we were cute dorks, if I may say so myself.

Towards the ends of the event where our energy was slowly beginning to dissipate, we returned to our seats and listened to the history that surrounds both taiko and tanko bushi alongside watching, more than listening, to the presenter play a taiko. While in

most instances, you would listen to an individual play an instrument rather than watching, in this instance, it was amazing to watch the presenter play the instrument because it was not only a musical performance, but a physical one as well.

Sadly, words cannot do justice to the performance, so please, watch one here.

Once the event concluded, my friend and I decided to run away before another workshop could commence, but we will admit that the event was not what we expected and that we are pretty pleased with our decision to attend the event itself.

We both look forward to our next adventure and this time, I promise, we will read the full description of the event.

Anything going on around town?
Let me know: Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram!

The post Word Around Town: Taiko Presentation and Tanko Bushi Dance Workshop appeared first on KRUI Radio.