Performance and Workshop at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Performance and panelist for University of Chicago's Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture conference, The Hip-Hop Generation: Race, Gender & the Vote. The conference engaged participants in a wide-range of topics, including the media representation of hip-hop and politics, youth voter mobilization, and new forms of political participation.
Performance and Workshop at the Illinois Youth Center. Music Theatre Workshop (MTW) is a youth development arts organization that prepares young people to make positive life choices through the process of writing, producing, and performing original musical theatre inspired by personal stories. One of their signature programs, Fabulous Females, serves young women incarcerated at Illinois Youth Center (IYC) in Warrenville. As part of this program, the young women share their stories and collaborate on a script that will be performed in late fall. The Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in Arts and Media is proud to partner on a special workshop with MTW and the Fabulous Females in October as part of a continuing partnership. This workshop will be led by AquaMoon.
Celebrating hip-hop performance and activism, the Institute presents the 3rd Annual Women in Hip-Hop. Building upon the success of previous years, this program features dynamic performances by socially-conscious female artists, followed by an audience discussion about women, race and gender issues in hip- hop. Headliners include Miami-based Soulflower, Detroit-based Invincible, and Chicago-based AquaMoon & Tha Crew. The discussion is moderated by Jane M. Saks Executive Director at the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media and Stephanie Shonekan, Director of the Black World Studies Program at Columbia College Chicago. This program is part of the Institute’s multi-year Gender and Hip-Hop Initiative engaging in critical analysis and public discourse about issues of masculinity, feminism and gender as they are being defined, shaped and applied through this powerful genre. Chicago Public Radio's recording of this event. 2007
Performance for Loving Hip-Hop with our Eyes Wide Open. This program was a multimedia program and discussion that explored the notions of masculinity, femininity, sexism, and homophobia as portrayed through hip hop and the media. Sponsored by Chicago Cultural Center, Public Square, Illinois Arts Humanities Council.
Opening performance for Does Hip-Hop Hate Women? This panel, co- presented by the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, the Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media at Columbia College Chicago, and International House Global Voices Performing Arts Series, discussed how mainstream hip-hop culture influences relationships between young men and womyn. Its goal was to get hip-hop's core audiences to think critically about the music they consume and participate in.
Conference Organizing Committee and Opening Night Host/Performance for the Free Minds, Free People Education for Liberation Conference. This conference brought together teachers, youth, parents, researchers and community-based educators from across the country to begin building a movement to develop and promote Education for Liberation. Education for Liberation is an umbrella term we use to describe the work of people who are trying to link education, social justice and activism.
Featured organization in the PAVING NEW ROADS: Communities Engaged in Resisting Violence report that highlights innovative, creative, and grassroots initiatives developed in Chicago communities to resist violence and end violence against women and girls. Sponsored by the Women & Girls Collective Action Network.
