Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Arts: It Is Possible

By Keryl McCord, Operations Director, Alternate ROOTS | June 17, 2016 A few weeks ago Alternate ROOTS published my article, and its follow-up piece, Why We Must Have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Arts: A Response to the National

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The Places We Call Home: ROOTS Weekend at Zora Fest

(L-R) Ausettua AmorAmenkum and Jarrell Hamilton perform in Junebug Productions’ Gomela/to return: Movement of Our Mother Tongue. Photo credit: Melisa Cardona, 2014. Article by Tamiko Ambrose Murray (Asheville, NC) | January 4, 2016 Interested in attending ROOTS Weekend-Eatonville? Click here

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Expanding ROOTS’ Circle through 3BQ

Article by Keryl McCord, Alternate ROOTS Operations Director | November 3, 2015 On Saturday, October 24, Alternate ROOTS held our first-ever Un-Gala, Burlesque, Barbeque, and Bourbon, or 3BQ. 3BQ was designed to not be your typical fundraiser. We didn’t want

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Tassels and Transgressions on the Third Rail: Shaking It Up for Social Justice through Burlesque

Article by S.T. Shimi | October 7, 2015 Editor’s Note: We’re thrilled to publish this article by one of our Barbeque, Burlesque, and Bourbon headliners and longtime members, S.T. Shimi aka Black Orchid. Come on out to see Black Orchid,

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Using Art to Undo Imperialism

Dora Arreola in “Telares (o el Olvido),” with Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro at ROOTS Week. Photo: Melisa Cardona, 2015.   Article by Anu Yadav (Washington D.C.) A woman silently gestures to me in the cafeteria, her face partially obscured by

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ROOTS Week 2015: A Preview

We are pleased, proud, and excited to announce the incredible artists, culture-bearers, organizers, activists, and scholars who will share their work with us at ROOTS Week under the banner, A Call to Action: Transformation. Within this theme, we’ll be focusing

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Symbols of Struggle: Black Lives Matter

Chen Lo in Soundtrack ’63 by Soul Science Lab. Originally commissioned and produced by 651 ARTS, Soundtrack ’63 will be presented by Junebug Productions and Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans in January 2016. Photo: Xy-Fy Fotography.   Article by Kiyoko

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Artability Artist Spotlight: Amanda Levesque

This is the fourth and final installment of our Artability Artist Spotlight series, which highlights artists who are differently-abled, and runs throughout Alternate ROOTS’ Artability campaign. Artability provides scholarships for artists with disabilities to attend ROOTS Week. You can read

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Indigenous Artists Gathering 2015 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lumhe “Micco” Sampson presenting his workshop, “Hoop Dance Teaching: Indigenous Circles of Leadership” at the Indigenous Artists Gathering. Photo: Ashley Minner, 2015.  Article by: Ashley Minner, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Alternate ROOTS Executive Committee Member (Baltimore, MD) Way back

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The Mississippi Performing Arts Summit: Doing the Right Work, Right Now

Article by Wendy Shenefelt, Alternate ROOTS Programs Associate (Jackson, MS) On February 15-16, 2015 New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, along with Alternate ROOTS, and Turner World Around Productions convened the Mississippi Performing Arts Summit in Jackson,

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Cucalorus Film Festival: A Work That’s Constantly in Progress

by Shannon M. Turner Alternate ROOTS Manager of Programs & Services For the past seven years, Alternate ROOTS has been sending artists to the Cucalorus Film Festival as facilitators for their Works in Progress program and emcees for other films

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Partners in Action Transforms

Article By Nicole Gurgel In the past two years, Partners in Action — formerly the Community/Artist Partnership Program (C/APP) — has undergone a dramatic, dynamic transformation. The program’s new name reflects deeper structural changes. Compelled by the 2012 strategic plan, the

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Alternative Thinking: Presenting A Different View of the World

  A Conversation on Aesthetics between Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier and D. Patton White This conversation took place at the Starbucks in the Emory University Bookstore. D. Patton White teaches social dance at Emory and visual artist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier taught photography there.

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Project South

Project South, Atlanta, GA The University Sin Fronteras recognizes that successful popular movements in the U.S. have always endeavored to deploy art and culture as a substantial, capable, and strategic conveyer of the espoused goals of their efforts. Through research,

Clear Creek Festival

“Bobby B” Martin, Clear Creek Festival, Clear Creek, KY Clear Creek is proposing a Land, Water, Food, Stories project in Bob and Carrie’s local community Big Hill/ Disputanta Kentucky. This work will be centered on the themes of loss and

Kiyoko McCrae

“Gomela/To Return: Movement of our Mother Tongue” is an original production featuring award-winning poet Sunni Patterson and New Orleans dance and drumming company, Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective. This piece is currently in development and is being produced by

Cucalorus Film Festival: A Traveling Circus, A Social Change Agent, An Artists Retreat

Cucalorus Film Festival:  A Traveling Circus, A Social Change Agent, An Artists Retreat by Shannon M. Turner [reposted from Arts in a Changing America, January 2013] I recently had the great pleasure to travel to Wilmington, NC to experience the Cucalorus Film

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Alternate ROOTS supports the creation and presentation of original art that is rooted in communities of place, tradition or spirit. We are a group of artists and cultural organizers based in the South creating a better world together. As Alternate ROOTS, we call for social and economic justice and are working to dismantle all forms of oppression—everywhere.