ROOTS Weekend: Jackson
RENEW!
November 8-11, 2018 | Jackson, MS
ROOTS Weekend is coming to Jackson, MS, November 8-11, 2018! Through the theme of RENEW!, we’re digging into what it takes to envision and enact a true people’s democracy – one where active, creative community members work together, building collective strategies that allow equity and justice to thrive.
ROOTS Weekend: Jackson brings together artists, cultural workers, activists, elected officials, and community members to engage in deep dialogue, make and witness art, and learn from one another. At this time of civic renewal in Jackson – when the power of the people is recognized everywhere from the movement for a new state flag to the mayor’s office – the community’s artists and activists are coming together and leading the way. ROOTS Weekend: Jackson features a day trip to the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production in Utica, MS where art and agriculture are at the center of sustainable community development. What’s happening in Jackson and Utica shows us that the work of social change is a balance of renewing the wisdom of the past while also calling in new ideas and ways of working.
ROOTS Weekends are condensed versions of ROOTS Week, our signature gathering. These three-day convenings get ROOTS out in the field, connecting with our members’ home communities, and bring artists, organizers, and cultural workers together to share work through performance, visual arts, workshops, and dialogues. ROOTS Weekends deepen our collective understanding of the work of social change by celebrating artists and organizers who are working within communities to develop creative solutions to long-standing issues.
SCHEDULE & VENUES
Thursday, November 8
10:15-11:15am: Decompress, Recharge, Take Care, Take Off! Welcome Breakfast and Warmup (Millsaps College Theatre Students) @ Mississippi Arts Center
6-8pm: Opening Night Reception & Visual Art Exhibition @ AND Gallery
Friday, November 9
9:30am-1pm: Concurrent Workshops @ Mississippi Art Center
9:30-11am: In the Tradition (Charlie R. Braxton, C. Liegh McInnis, Dr. Shanna Smith, & Dr. RaShell Smith-Spears) & People Powered Public Planning (Melody Moody Thortis)
11:30am-1pm: Embodied Stories (Last Call) & Restoration to Renewal: The Story of Two Formerly Incarcerated Women (Syrita Steib-Martin & Dolfinette Martin)
1-2pm: Lunch @ Mississippi Art Center
2:15-3:15pm: EcoShed Excursion (Travis Crabtree & Salam Rida @ EcoShed) & Obama Mural Excursion (Talamieka Brice @ Barack H. Obama Elementary)
3:45-5pm: Kundi Compound Excursion (@ Kundi Compound) & Curious Citizens: work in progress critique (daniel johnson @ Offbeat)
Explore on your Own: (Free!) Mississippi Museum of Art: Jeffrey Gibson, “Like a Hammer Exhibition”
5-7pm: Dinner on Your Own
7-9pm: ROOTS Lounge Live! Hip Hop Show @ AND Gallery
Saturday, November 10: Day Trip to Utica
9-9:15am: Load Bus @ Mississippi Arts Center
9:30am (SHARP!): Bus Leaves
10:30am-12pm: Workshops @ Various Locations
Step Up and Speak Out (Issim) & Cultural Activism in the Classroom (Mat Schwartzman) @ Hinds Community College, Utica Campus
Wurmworks @ Mississippi Center for Cultural Productions – White Oak
12-1:30pm: Lunch & Step Up and Speak Out Performances @ Hinds Community College, Utica Campus
1:30pm: Bus travels to Utica
2:00pm-4:30pm: Tour & Conversations @ Mississippi Center for Cultural Production – White Oak
Tour of Mississippi Center for Cultural Production
Traditional Agriculture At Its Best (Felicia Bell)
Youth Re/Newing Space, Place and Politics
4:30pm-5:00pm: Tour of Mississippi Center for Cultural Production
5pm-5:30pm: Deep Seedz Performance @ Utica Community Center
5:30-8pm: Community Dinner & Bonfire
Bus returns to Jackson at intervals: 5:30 & 8pm.
Sunday, November 11 @ Mississippi Arts Center
10-11:15am: #TakinBackSunday, A #DignityInProcess Queer Black Church Series (ChE & kei) & Hold the Line! Use of the City of New Orleans Railway Line for History, Heritage, and Artistic Transformation (Peter Friedrich & Samuel Smith)
11:30am-1pm:Healing from Memory (Leticia Contreras)
1pm: Closing & Lunch Pick Up
Explore on Your Own: (Free!) Mississippi Museum of Art: Jeffrey Gibson, “Like a Hammer Exhibition”
TRAVEL AND LODGING
Rides & Lodging Share Group
Have an extra seat in your car? Need a ride? Looking to split a room? Live in Jackson and willing to host an out-of-towner? Join our Ride & Lodging Share Facebook group, and share all of your ROOTS Weekend: Jackson community needs/offerings! ROOTS is a village and so is this Facebook Group – we encourage all ROOTers to be active in voicing and meeting the travel/housing needs of our community. We can’t guarantee that every need will be filled, but we trust that our collective community will do our best to respond!
Getting Around Jackson
Ground transportation will not be provided through the weekend. We encourage folks to use rideshare services, or join the ROOTS Ride & Lodging Share Facebook group and connect with folks who will be attending ROOTS Weekend: Jackson.
Local Airport
Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN)
100 International Dr.,
Jackson, MS 39208
ROOTS Weekend Hotels and Group Rates
407 South Congress Street
Jackson, MS 39201
601-968-8200
Call for Alternate ROOTS group rate: $129/night
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ROOTS Weekend: Jackson is hosted in partnership with Significant Developments, LLC (lead partner) and Kundi Compound, Mississippi Arts Center, Mississippi Center for Cultural Production.