Beware of the Dandelions Detroit
Detroit Community Cohort Members
DJ Stacyé J was only 17 when her mother helped her grab her first set of turntables. Afraid of what others might think of her and her new found love for turntablism, she kept her passion a secret from others afraid of being made fun of and what people might think. With the help of DJ Trixter, DJ Sicari and Piper Carter she was able to get her first gig opening up for the Foundation Celebrating Women in Hip Hop. That one show was all the motivation that Stacyé J needed in order to take the necessary steps to becoming one of Detroit’s most recognizable female DJs. Since pursuing her DJ-ing career full time, Stacyé J has had the opportunity to open up and DJ for many heavy hitters in Hip Hop and R&B such as: YG, Ab-Soul, Waka Floka, and Curren$y. She has also DJ’ed on BET’s “106 & Park” and The BET Experience with Detroit’s most promising artist Detroit Che.
Ryan Myers – Johnson is an arts administrator, dance educator and curator of place-based performance. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Film from the University of Michigan. Ryan has extensive experience in event planning, arts administration, management and leadership, stemming from her many years working in the feature film industry and dance production. After completing the obligatory traveling “muse” phase of her arts career, Ryan returned home to Detroit. Having grown tired of the “Ruin Porn” dialogue and cultural gate-keeping around arts access, Ryan founded Sidewalk as means to celebrate the city that nurtured her artistic practice. All of this was made possible by her exposure to arts in Detroit. Through Sidewalk, Ryan hopes to show people the magic Detroit that she knows best.
Dakarai Carter is a passionate young activist from Detroit. Starting at the age of 13 with his involvement in Detroit Summer, Dakarai has stayed committed to the struggle of young, poor, black and all Detroiters. His work includes being the Coalition Building Chair of the Detroit chapter of The Black Youth Project 100, one of the lead co-coordinators for the network formally known as Detroit Future Youth, a Classroom Coordinator at Detroit Food Academy, and Community Teacher at The James and Grace Lee Boggs School.
Kezia R. Curtis is an aspiring healer, reiki practitioner and lifelong peace activist from Detroit, Michigan. With justice passions encompassing Black liberation, Black and Palestinian solidarity, feminism and queer activism, Curtis currently works as coordinator at the Detroit Area Restorative Justice Center and Feedom Freedom Growers.
Detroit-based artist/ community advocate Halima Cassells occupies a myriad of roles that are unified by a deep and unwavering devotion to foster community inter-connectivity. In practice she designs spaces for authentic engagement, and collaborative artistic expression, as well as projects that engender new economy practices. She works as an independent artist and assumes leadership roles at Center for Community Based Enterprise, O.N.E. Mile project, Oakland Avenue Artists Coalition, Incite Focus Fab Lab, North End Soup, and the Free Market of Detroit.
Michelle Martinez is a Detroit Latin@ passionate about environmental justice. She is an activist, facilitator, speaker, and emerging writer. She has 15 years experience in intersecting issues including immigration and voting rights, environmental justice and women's rights. As a facilitator, she helps groups build collective vision and strategies to advance social justice, most recently [United Hispanic Workers of Detroit, Sierra Club Coalition for Justice, Swimming in the Detroit River Local History Project]. From 2009-2012, she worked as a community organizer in Metro Detroit to end climate causing carbon emissions through the Sierra Club Cool Cities and Beyond Coal Campaign. She is passionate about creative resistance, and has collaborated in women centered spaces to co create art for direct action in Detroit. In 2010, with Centro Obrero de Detroit she helped anchor the US Social Forum. She currently volunteers with the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, which hosted the first ever statewide Environmental Justice Summit in 2014. She loves cooking for others and gardening in her Southwest Detroit home.
As an artist, community organizer and mentor, Shane Bernardo works to address issues of social, economic, environmental, food and racial justice and healing from intergenerational trauma. Shane is a lifelong Detroit resident, grew up on the eastside of Detroit, lives in Southwest Detroit and works for Earthworks Urban Farm, a program of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. As the outreach coordinator, Shane helps facilitate relationships and connections between the soup kitchen and its guest, neighbors, community members and partners. Shane attended Center for Creative Studies where he studied industrial design. While there, he was involved in a student group called BART, Black Artist Researching Trends, that used art as a catalyst for building solidarity amongst black artists of all disciplines. Shane works to actively reclaim precolonial Filipino cultural and ancestral celebrations, traditions and rituals around healing . Shane is also a coordinator for the Detroit Asian Youth Project, a board member for the MI Farmers Market Association, a member of Uprooting Racism Planting Justice, People’s Platform Detroit and Swimming in the Detroit River, an environmental justice storytelling group.
B. Anthony Holley is a community organizer and entrepreneur in the Detroit area. He was born and raised in Detroit and attended Detroit Public Schools where he gravitated to mathematics and the arts. After completing his Bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship from Hampton University, B. Anthony returned to Detroit to support community economic development and entrepreneurship in the city. Since his return in 2012 he has devoted his energy to uplifting young local activists, business development, and convening educational community forums and retreats on self-sustainability. B. Anthony is a water justice activist and has worked with several human rights organizations including the Detroit Minds Dying film project. He currently works as the Water Program Coordinator for the Water ResidentialA ssistance Program for Metro Detroit. B. Anthony is a co-founder of Conscious Community Cooperative ThinkTank (C3), a grassroots self-sufficiency organization, which provides awareness programs on the intersectionality of cooperative economics, emergency preparedness, sustainability, and holistic health. He also co-directs The Cooperation Group, B. Anthony develops local cooperative businesses and community owned businesses and along with other local leaders are launching the Detroit Community Wealth Fund to provide access to capital for local community owned business through non-extractive lending.
Detroit Community Events
The events listed below were organized by Complex Movements in partnership with the Detroit Complex Movements Cohort during the Detroit residency in the fall of 2016.
September 18th
Sunday
4-7pm
Somos Clarkdale
2012 Clarkdale Detroit, MI, 48209
Potluck...Bring a dish to share!
Art activities for the kids and the whole family!
Music provided by:
Dreamylover
Info
October 1st
Saturday
11am-4pm
Baylis Tri-Block Club Potluck
16581 Baylis St, Detroit, Mi, 48221
Bring a dish to share!
Music provided by: Stacy’e J
October 6th | All day
ArtChangeUS REMAP: DETROIT
Join us October 5-7, 2016 for ArtChangeUS REMAP: Detroit in partnership with the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures' NALAC MI Latinx Art Summit, the Arab American National Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (The Wright), Complex Movements, and Creative Many. ArtChangeUS REMAP: Detroit will bring together artists and changemakers at the Wright Museum and throughout the city to explore how communities are remapping America and transforming the arts.
October 13
Thursday
6-9pm
#SheddyForever Mural
7145 E Davison St. Detroit (alley behind Talking Dolls)
This hands on mural making skillshare will be facilitated in collaboration with muralist and educator Konstance Patton, who has designed a mural in honor of Sheddy Rollins Sanchez, one of the recently gained ancestors Beware of the Dandelions is dedicated to (learn more about Sheddy below).
The skillshare will be accompanied by a dialogue on the art of memorial murals in relationship to other creative ancestor honoring strategies, the danger of murals as a flag of gentrification, the strength of murals as preservation of community stories.
In addition to this workshop community artists are invited to join the mural making team that develops the full memorial mural in honor of #SheddyForever over the course of this weekend (Oct 14/15/16).
All community members are encouraged to participate, all ages and skill levels welcome. Wear something you can get paint on. Please RSVP here.
Sheddy Rollins Sanchez 1986-2014 Philadelphia born and raised, with deep ties to Detroit communities, Sheddy was proudly Black/Afro-Dominican, genderqueer, mother, daughter, partner, and dear friend to many. Sheddy was a youth organizer from an early age and went on to become the youngest executive director of Philadelphia Student Union, and was subsequently an active participant of Detroit Summer for several seasons. Sheddy loved art and activism, and frequently photographed street art, all the more reason why this mural project is so aligned with the spirit of Sheddy's incandescent spirit. #SheddyForever
October 16th
Sunday
1pm-8pm
GET READY STAY READY SKILLSHARE
A community preparedness educational event to share resources and skills on how to be ready for emergencies.
More info here.
Red Door Digital
7500 Oakland Blvd
Detroit, MI 48211
A community preparedness educational event to share resources and skills on how to be ready for emergencies and the importance of working together in teams.
1-5:30pm Workshops & Activities
5:30-8pm Film Screening & Discussion
Featuring...
Free Market of Detroit - Free Market Swaps
The Herbal Walk & Talk/Chat & Chew - Finding Edible Weeds
Spirit Traveler - Disaster Prep Training
Readyo Radio - Community Interviews
Water Cyclers - Water Filtration Trikes
Beware the Dandelions - Storytelling Workshop
Conscious Community Cooperative - C3 - Emergency Plans
+ Clothes Making 101, Emergency Defense, & Much More!!
*******Win FREE Preparedness Tools!*****
How Ready are You? Conscious Community Cooperative - C3 Thinktank and Readyo Radio bring you the Get Ready Survival SkillShare as part of the Detroit Beware of the Dandelions Project. Beware the Dandelions is based in a post apocalyptic society where communities must come together to meet their needs. Octavia Butler's Parables series inspired this work and encourages post apocalyptic preparedness. We are living in that apocalypse of colonization and mass anti blackness, capitalistic destruction of the earth, and extraction of natural resources from the land and our communities. Diasporic Afrikans (The Black Community) are often the most impacted by the lack of readiness during times of crisis. This skillshare will be formatted like a science fair for survival preparedness. Skillshare resources range from water catchment systems and filtration, to wild plants for medicine and food. Let's get back to the basics. How ready are you? Bring your friends and Come find out.
October 19th
Wednesday
6-9pm
Outside the XY: Black and Brown Queer Masculinity
Detroit Book Release
Featuring live readings from Morgan Willis, Chino Hardin and more
Co-Presented by bklyn boihood
Books will be available for purchase at event or online here.
Baltimore Gallery
314 E. Baltimore
Detroit, MI 48202
Saturday
October 22
10:30 - 3:30
CREATE NED District 3 Tour
District 3 is rich in community power. Hundreds of block clubs, churches, and community organizations and businesses have held the social fabric of the neighborhood together for decades in the face of economic divestment and municipal neglect.
Come learn about the vibrant resident-led movement that has been transforming District 3 through art, agriculture, and community activism.
Meet at 10:30am at the Two Way Inn
17897 Mount Elliot Street Detroit, MI 48212
Tour will conclude with lunch back at the Two Way Inn at 2:30
$25 per person, includes lunch.
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY EVENTS IN DETROIT
In addition to events featuring and organized by Complex Movements, we have been working with our community cohort to identify Detroit social justice and culturally-rooted events taking place while Beware of the Dandelions is in residency. These are not events that we have organized, but are included as we intend to support and uplift this powerful local work. Your attendance is encouraged!
Ongoing Events:
Rad Art, Culture and Activism Fall Conversation Series
September 12, Kresge Auditorium, 6:30: Baba Jamon Jordan: We Are Our Own Heroes
September 14, Bernath Auditorium, 6:30: SCHOOL of THOUGHT Project, DETROIT VS - f/ ROCKET(!!!)MAN and the Free RADICALS, Queen LAE, INTELLECT, and Sheezy Bo Beezy. 7:30: Poetry as Visionary Resistance Workshop with Tawana Honeycomb Petty
September 19, Kresge Auditorium 6:30: Music Histories, Music Economies with Marsha Music, Dr. Carlton Gholz, Piper Carter, and Bryce Detroit
September 28, Kresge Auditorium 6:30: Mary Luevanos and Sacramento Knoxx: Intergenerational Resistance in Southwest Detroit
October 5, Kresge Auditorium 6:30: Journalism and Community Organizing: Monica Lewis-Patrick, Curt Guyette, Allie Gross, Zenobia Jeffries and Chris Savage
Events by date:
September 16th
Friday
8pm-1am
Archival Arteries of Sterling Toles: Record Release Party
Paramita Sound
September 17th
Saturday
2-6pm
Create NED Block Party
Wish-Egan Park
September 17th and 18th
Saturday and Sunday
12-6pm both days
10th Annual D-Town Farm Harvest Festival
D-Town Farm
September 18th
Sunday
10am-3pm
Art Center Garage Sale
Peck Park at Kirby and Brush
September 19th
Monday
6-9pm
Healing by Choice Public Offering
Cass Corridor Neighborhood Development Corporation
3535 Cass Ave, Detroit
September 22nd
Thursday
Quality Control Detroit Presents: Kev Brown / Hassaan Mackey / Apollo Brown / Nolan The Ninja
Marble Bar
September 22nd
Thursday
#TASTE
Transcending Artists Simply Thru Entertainment
Featuring Just Snazz, Aday, Big Ang
September 24th
Saturday
2pm
Know Allegiance Nation presents: Coming Out My Box Book Signing
Featuring Tawana Honeycomb Petty
KAN Cultural Center, 9417 John R St, Detroit
October 10
Monday
5pm-9pm
Just Food Detroit Fundraiser
Tickets available here.
COLORS Restaurant
311 East Grand River Avenue
Detroit, MI
October 10
Monday
9PM-1:30AM
DJ Lixxer
DJ $quid
DJ Stacye J
Trumbullplex
4210 Trumbull Detroit, MI 48208
October 15th
Saturday
11am-2pm
Detroit Digital Justice Coalition Presents Discotech (Discovering Technology Event)
Adams Butzel Rec center 10500 Linden St. 48238
October 15th
Saturday
2-4pm
What’s For Dinner Lecture: Mapping the Water Crisis with Monica Lewis Patrick
Charles H Wright Museum of African American History 315 E Warren, Detroit
October 27th
Thursday
6-8:30pm
What is Black Queer Feminism?
Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100) is committed to working towards Black liberation through a Black Queer Feminist lens - but what does that really mean? A Black Queer Feminist Lens allows us to see and understand that our identities make us vulnerable to many types of oppression. What does that lens look like in practice? What privileges do you hold? How can those of us with privilege empower those of us who experience more oppression based on being trans, queer, feminine, undocumented, poor, or disabled?
Come through for an exploratory space to think about what it means for Black people to do Black Queer Feminist work, even if you don’t identify as queer or a feminist! This event is open to the public, but please respect that this is an event for Black people only. It will allow us to engage with the questions about how we treat each other, and develop strategies that will help us to truly love and protect each other within our own communities.
Black liberation can only be realized when we uplift the voices and experiences of those on the margins who are historically silenced within the Black community. We are not free until we are ALL free!
Sweet Potato Sensations
17337 Lahser Rd, Detroit, MI 48219
October 28th-October 30th
Friday, Saturday, Sunday
All day
Great Lakes Bioneers Conference
Marygrove College
October 29
Saturday
1-5pm
Crisis In Detroit Schools Town Hall: Reception; Panel; Discussion around Education Justice Issues
Charles H Wright Museum of African American History 315 E Warren, Detroit
