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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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

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Community Artist Partnership: Building Community Power, A Conversation with Linda Parris-Bailey and Cristal Chanelle Truscott

Progress Theatre performs The Burnin’ at ROOTS Week 2014. Photo: Melisa Cardona.  By Joe Tolbert This article is an edited transcript of a conversation that was facilitated by Joe Tolbert on February 8, 2016 with Linda Parris-Bailey, Executive/Artistic Director of

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Resistance as Legacy

David Montana, Big Chief of the Ouachita Nation Mardi Gras Indians. Photo: Rebecca Mwase, 2015. Article by Rebecca Mwase (New Orleans, LA) | October 2, 2015 New Orleans is ten years post-Katrina. The landscape of the city has been ravaged

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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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The Land Man & A Love For

Article by Carrie Brunk, Clear Creek Creative (Clear Creek, Rockcastle County, KY) Photos by Melisa Cardona (New Orleans, LA) Clear Creek Creative is a member of Alternate ROOTS’ 2014-15 Partners in Action cohort. It’s a bold move to drive off a rural

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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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ExComm Loves Nawlins: Face-to-Face Report, March 2015

Article by Bob Martin (Clear Creek, KY); Photos by Bob Martin and Nicole Garneau (Chicago, IL) Hey ROOTers, Bob Martin, your Executive Committee (ExComm) Board Chair here with an update and recap from our spring Face-to-Face (F2F) meeting down in

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Progress and Healing

Article by Rebekah Stevens Progress Theatre is currently on tour, performing in New Orleans March 12-14 and in Dallas April 10-11. In late February, Progress Theatre (PT) kicked off 2015 with our first residency of The Burnin’ at the University

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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

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Music Changes Everything at the Global Village Project

By Elise Witt (Atlanta, GA) The first bone to develop in a baby is the Earbone. The last sense we lose before passing from this life is the sense of sound. Babies are born with all sounds, and to learn

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Living in the Call & Response

Article by Cristal Chanelle Truscott (Houston, TX); Photo by Melisa Cardona (New Orleans, LA) Weeks later…the pulse of ROOTS Week still tenaciously lingers, the healing of ROOTS Space still soothes, the hope of ROOTS Souls still promising something more, the call

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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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Global Village Chorus

Elise Witt, Global Village Chorus, Decatur, GA The project focus is 1. to expand and develop the Global Village Chorus by adding a Global Village Ensemble at the Global Village Project (GVP), a school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur

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

Soundtrack ’63

Stephanie McKee, Junebug Productions, New Orleans, LA Junebug Productions, Inc. (JPI), proposes a new project that is being built from the partnerships of artists, activists and educators interested in documenting and reflecting on the legacy of the civil rights movement.

Joanna Russo

Voice lessons over a five month period with Bremner Duthie, a classically trained singer

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

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.