By Ebony Noelle Golden (Harlem, NY)
Content Developer’s Note: South Carolina-based performance group New Danger ignited their Alternate ROOTS family this August at ROOTS Week — our annual meeting and artists retreat. Guided by educator, poet, visual artist, and community organizer Omari Fox, the New Danger Arts Movement plays on “the new or ‘fresh’ ideas of creativity and the old or ‘dangerous’ thinkers and change agents in society.” The work New Danger shared with us was all-encompassing; fusing spoken word and dance, video and performance, satire and sincere call to action, New Danger responded to Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis’ murders, Don Sterling’s racist comments, Richard Sherman’s emotional response to a reporter, the shootings at Newtown and Fort Hood, and more. Their performance created space for a rich dialogue, facilitated by Ebony Noelle Golden (CEO of Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, LLC). During this conversation, one audience member praised New Danger for creating Rapid Response Art that inspired urgency in the face of injustice. To close the discussion, Ebony read back to us the list of creative action strategies we as an audience had named in response to New Danger’s work. Using these strategies, Ebony crafted this powerful poem — her own form of Rapid Response Art.
— Nicole Gurgel, Alternate ROOTS’ Content Developer
_________
for Michael Brown and Ferguson, Missouri
1.
hashtag
#hashtag #activism #is #not #real
#blood #bones #bullets #bombs #babies
#brothers #bigots #bodies #blackness #therealist
&
michaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichaelmichael
&
christopher
christopher
christopher
&
joey (& all his daughters)
james (1 & 2)
javon (1, 2, & 3)
herschel
harry (one & two)
&
derrick
& alan
&
h-
& q-
& t & t & t & t & t
& so many
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm’s
&
omari (one & two)
& hasan
& so many j’s
& so many l’s
leon
larry
lenny
luke
leroy
& so many k’s
New Danger members Omari Fox and Taye Beasley perform a spoken word / dance duet at ROOTS Week 2014. Photo: Doobious.org.
2.
when we gonna talk about
the streets
& front lawns
& schools
& stoops
backseats
& jail cells
& sidewalks
that have become an
archive of our worst fears
a memory bank of our mothers’ tears
an open air cemetery for the world to see
and remind you
of what it means to be a nigga in amerika
New Danger member Idlewild performs as President of the United States at ROOTS Week 2014.
3.
we won’t talk about
war
wild wild west
war
soldier of love
war
what are we fighting
we won’t talk about
women or illness or silence or death or water or woundedness or oppression
or oppression or oppression or oppression
when we gonna talk about white privilege
& the culture of white rage
vigilante white rage
out of control white rage
white hot rage
whiteness raging against black boys
& men & women & trees & oceans
we won’t say
white rage is a disease
white rage is a disease
white rage is a disease
white rage is a disease
we just keep dieing
& crying
& printing faces on t-shirts
& second-lining
& marching
& weshallovercoming
Who runs the world
Capitalism
Pop that profit baby
Distractions
Omari Fox introduces his hop art at ROOTS Week 2014.
4.
we won’t say melanin makes you an
enemy of the state
a weapon of mass insurrection
that must be subdued
when we gonna talk about
oscar grant
when we gonna talk about
oscar grant
can we talk about
food deserts
political muppets
domestic terrorism in our hoods
domestic terrorism in our homes
domestic terrorism in our bodies
when we gonna talk about
bi-polar disorder
depression
epilepsy
schizophrenia
drug addiction
work addiction
alcohol addiction
sex addiction
food addiction
fame addiction
money addiction
when we gonna about
sexism
homophobia
ageism
trans-phobia
5.
may/be
we/be
talking tooooooooo
much
New Danger members and their creative collaborators engage in post-performance dialogue at ROOTS Week 2014.
6.
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
NOW
rapid
response art
NOW
change the narrative
NOW
speak to the non believers
NOW
master craft
NOW
self determination
NOW
take the time
NOW
learn political process
NOW
have a critical practice
NOW
satire &
irony
NOW
political education
urgency
NOW
activate our intuitive knowledge
NOW
more functional art
NOW
interrogate your practice
NOW
amplify the power
of family
NOW
activate aggression
activate anger
NOW
quilt a revolution
NOW
choreograph a revolution
NOW IS THE TIME FOR A NEW DANGER
dance a new danger
speak a new danger
live a new danger
twerk a new danger
research a new danger
sing a new danger
plant a new danger
grow a new danger
write a new danger
practice a new danger
we have nothing to lose
& everything to gain
know that we are close to the gods
know here
is there
is here
is everywhere
is anywhere
is here
is home
is home
is home
is home
we have nothing to lose
& everything to gain
_________
Ebony Noelle Golden
Ebony Noelle Golden, MFA, MA
Creativity is conjuring, is root work, is making a way out of no way, is the practice of radical expressiveness that enlivens, incites and insists on liberation, NOW! Houston, TX native and Harlem, NY resident, Ebony Noelle Golden, works at the intersection of art, culture and public education with individuals and organizations seeking to initiate community-powered creative strategy, cultural performance, and liberatory learning experiences for progressive social change.
Ebony is known and respected for her ability to blend cultural strategy, creative innovation and community-centered design to address the most pressing quality-of-life issues including: environmental justice, youth development, women’s empowerment, education equity, and the holistic sustainability of families and neighborhoods.
Working nationally, Ebony is the CEO of the cultural arts direct action group, Betty’s Daughter Arts Collaborative, LLC and the Artistic Director of The Body Ecology Performance Ensemble. She earned a B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Texas A & M University, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing-Poetry from American University, and an M.A. in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.bettysdaughterarts.com.