Hollerin’ into the Space: Reflections on ROOTS Week 2016

The Hollerin’ Space Installation by Muthi Reed and Angela Davis Johnson. Photo by: Melisa Cardona By Ron Ragin | September 27, 2016 I’ve always leaned into the retreat element of ROOTS Week. Gathering with this extended family is (perhaps ironically)

Tagged with: , , , ,

The Voices Pour Down: Our Theater ROOTS during the 40th Reunion

Founding members of Alternate ROOTS. Photo by: Melisa Cardona By Ashley Sparks | September 19, 2016 The late seventies and early 80s were seminal for U.S. theater history – especially southern theater history. In June 1976, a dynamic mix of

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

GRASP This!: Girls Rock Charleston’s After School Program Re-routes the School-To-Prison Pipeline

GRASP Showcase Karla Barrios & Marie Attelier | June 7, 2016 Girls Rock Charleston is a member of Alternate ROOTS’ 2015-16 Partners in Action cohort and will be attending and sharing their work at ROOTS Weekend-New Market/Knoxville this weekend! Girls

Tagged with: , , ,

Who Counts?

Audience attending Roadside’s Appalachian Tent Tour By Dudley Cocke This article was originally on Roadside Theater’s blog and is used here with permission. Andy Horwitz’s Jan. 31, 2016 Atlantic article about the National Endowment for the Arts is telling: “The current state of

Tagged with: , , , ,

“We Don’t Do Drive-Bys”: A Conversation with Don Harrell, ROOTS Meets Zora

Artists and Cultural Organizers gather at ROOTS Weekend-Eatonville. L-R: Don Harrell, King Shakur, Jan Cohen-Cruz, Sonia Baez-Hernandez, Monique Davis. Photo: Ariston Jacks. By Jan Cohen-Cruz I sat down with Don Harrell, liaison for the second ROOTS Weekend, in Eatonville, FL,

Tagged with: ,

How Can We Create A World Where No Youth Are Locked Up? Bringing Incarcerated Youth to the Forefront of the Movement for Youth Justice

Trey Hartt, (Richmond, VA) | February 3, 2016 Performing Statistics is part of Alternate ROOTS’ 2015-16 Partners in Action cohort.  “If you were me you would know that I love my family; that I’m a respectful person; that I have the

Tagged with: ,

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

Tagged with: , , ,

The Future of “The Future is on the Table #4” is on the Web: Documentation for Activation

Article by Nicole Gurgel (Albuquerque, NM) | November 3, 2015 From fall 2012 through spring 2013, multi-media artists Gwylene Gallimard and Jean-Marie Mauclet, facilitated an art-with-community project in Jackson, MS, sponsored by the Mississippi Museum of Art. The artists, who

Tagged with: ,

“Lord knows we’ll never be the same again, but at least we started telling the truth.”* A Report Back from Environment & Economy Day at ROOTS Week 2015

Land, Water, Food, Story altar installed by Clear Creek folks, created from copies of deeds to the land and rusty farm implements found on the land over the years. Photo: Nicole Garneau, 2015. Article by Nicole Garneau (Chicago, IL) Editor’s Note: This

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

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

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

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

Tagged with:

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

Tagged with: , , , , ,

Teatro Sin Fronteras: Shifting Narratives to Include Latina/os in the Rebirth of Post-Katrina New Orleans

A packed house at Teatro Sin Fronteras #3 at Old Marquer Theatre. Photo: Craig Morse, June 2015.  Article by José Torres-Tama (New Orleans, LA) “The workers and families who helped rebuild New Orleans live in terror today … If they leave their

Tagged with: , , ,

Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro

Mujeres en Ritual Danza-Teatro will be performing at this years ROOTS Week, August 4-9 2015!   Telares (o el olvido) / Looms (or, the forgetting) By Fabiola Ruiz A work-in-progress performance in Spanish Directed by: Dora Arreola Performed by: Gisela

Shifting Narratives through Art and Culture

Article by Kiyoko McCrae (New Orleans, LA) On January 20th and 21st, Alternate ROOTS held a meeting for the 2014 Partners in Action cohort. During the two-day meeting, a theme emerged: How can art help to shift narratives? Robert Martin

Tagged with: , , ,

Next Gen: At the Intersection of Past, Present, and Future

Article by Nicole Gurgel, Alternate ROOTS Content Developer (Albuquerque, NM) Next is a futuristic conversation. It’s talking about the psychic space of the future. Next is a stepping stone, a progression– it’s thinking about legacy. Next is a conversation with

Tagged with:

The Sweetness and the Spoil: Durham Stories of Resistance

Article by Nia Wilson (Durham, NC) and Rodrigo Dorfman (Durham, NC); Photographs by Rodrigo Dorfman Reflections: Building towards “Mother to Mother” Nia: August 10th 2014: I heard about the premature deaths of two young Black men — John Crawford in Ohio

Tagged with: , , , ,

Breathing Room for Something Unstoppable

“Wholehearted.” Collage for June Jordan by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. Article by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Ph.D. (Durham, NC)           A. Opening Prayer (take deep breaths in the stanza breaks) C(h)ant.   Breathe. Dedicated to Eric Garner* And to

Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Exploring the American Dream Mythology through Performance Art Workshops 

Article by José Torres-Tama I see performance art as the bastard child from a drunken one-night stand between the visual arts and theater, and neither wants to claim this hybrid offspring at times. For the past twenty years, I have employed

Tagged with: ,
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.