On Making Space To Flourish: Three Reminders For Embracing Growth
Throughout Fall 2019, our events and programs will amplify women and nonbinary creatives, business owners and leaders who are creating the best conditions for their work, projects, causes and collaborations.
flourish (n.): to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.
When we make work under our best conditions, we do more than survive—we thrive. And what grow toward (or say no to) has a lot do with it. Whether you’re a small business owner, independent artist or creative leader, your career pathway will take resilience and strategic decision-making. Where do you choose to go? What makes something a yes? Which environments are best for your growth?
Throughout Fall 2019, our events and programs will amplify women and nonbinary creatives, business owners and leaders who are creating the best conditions for their work, projects, causes and collaborations. As you move through our events for the next three months and hear their stories, we encourage you to keep the following reminders in mind.
This post has been written by #BBATX Founding Executive and Creative Director, Jane Hervey.
reminder no. 1: you are the expert of your own experience.
With new growth comes new opportunities and decisions, oftentimes requiring a step outside of your comfort zone or circle of competence. When you’re in these new environments and feeling uncertain, it’s good to remember that you are the expert of your own experience. You know when something feels good—or when something feels bad, scary and intimidating. Train your intuition by tuning into those feelings. What conditions do you need to do your best work, no matter where you are?
reminder no. 2: be kind to the parts of you that are still learning.
When we’re on top of our game, we have a hard time slowing down. We push ourselves to find more and more ways to improve and optimize. Instead, create and cultivate environments that acknowledge what’s working and approach growth areas with respect and patience.
reminder no. 3: what you pay attention to grows.
Your time is valuable, and the way you spend your day-to-day informs the opportunities you have access to, the people you meet and the things you choose to focus on. So, spend your attention wisely. Focus on people, places and things that are designed to help you flourish. Be the energy you want to attract.
CURIOUS ABOUT OUR PROGRAMS AND THIS THEME?
Meet The Three Entrepreneurs Receiving Grants From #BBATX In 2019
From April 23 to July 12, 175 women and nonbinary leaders across Texas applied for three $500 to $1,000 micro-grants, each funded by businesses in our community who wanted to offer others the opportunity to come up.
Today, we are proud to share the badass recipients of those grants with you.
Beyond our events, in 2019 #bossbabesATX introduced its first-ever micro-grants program, providing funding opportunities to businesses that uplift our core tenets of arts empowerment, diversity and equality, creative entrepreneurship, professional and personal curiosity and collaboration.
From April 23 to July 12, 175 women and nonbinary leaders across Texas applied for three $500 to $1,000 micro-grants, each funded by businesses in our community who wanted to offer others the opportunity to come up.
Today, we are proud to share the badass recipients of those grants with you. (Major shouts to our grant funders/advisors, Mélissa Peng of The Curly Executive and Richelle Ouellette, as well as our committee members, for making this possible!)
MEET OUR 2019 GRANT RECIPIENTS.
MYRRIAH GOSSETT RECEIVED THE GET IT, GIRL GRANT.
Myrriah is a freelance producer specializing in audio production for radio and podcasts. She offers consulting, tape syncs, producing and editing services. You can hear her on mic as a co-host of the Star Trek Discovery Pod, and her name in the credits for the Founding Media Podcast Network, the new relaunch of the Bedpost Confessions Podcast, Creative Queso Podcast, Seen with Miranda Podcast, FOGO: Fear of Going Outside Podcast, and more. You can learn more about Myrriah and her production business at myrriahgossett.com.
MEET THE GRANT’S FUNDER, RICHELLE OUELLETTE.
With a background in corporate events, Richelle dove into freelance work after simultaneously breaking up with her boyfriend, quitting her job, voiding her lease, and selling the majority of her belongings in one particularly rash summer. With literally nothing to lose and a heart full of hustle, Richelle grew Alchemy Events into a six-figure business that less than three years later produces national events and employs dozens of contractors. She has an obvious passion for entrepreneurship and once started 30 businesses in 30 days just for the fun of it. Learn more at richelle.loan.
DANIELLE LOCKLEAR RECEIVED THE #BBATX X CURLY EXECUTIVE GRANT FOR WOMEN OF COLOR ENTREPRENEURS.
A native Austinite, Danielle founded her own practice specializing in culturally responsive counseling services. Utilizing mindfulness, somatic work and self-compassion into her collaborative approach to therapy, Danielle has carved a nichè serving some of Austin's most underrepresented populations creating a safe space for clients to explore how issues of “otherness" impact their ability to show up authentically in their many relationships. Her practice offers individual, family, couples and group therapy, treating a variety of issues, but with a particular interest in the trauma of systemic oppression, cultural identity and intergenerational trauma. Learn more at daniellelocklearcounseling.com.
MEET THE GRANT’S FUNDER: CURLY EXECUTIVE.
The Curly Executive Grants are supported by Mélissa Peng aka Curly Executive a Texas-based Serial Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and YouTuber. Mélissa earned her MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and held roles with marketing behemoths including Procter & Gamble, Macy’s, and NBC Universal. After 10 years of successfully climbing the corporate ladder and earning the title of Director of Marketing at the age of 30, she left corporate and her six-figure salary to build a lifestyle focused on pursuing her many passions and her newfound purpose of helping others do the same. Mélissa is a woman of color and the daughter of a lifelong entrepreneur, this grant’s purpose is to support fellow women of color entrepreneurs in pursuing their passions and taking strategic risks in business.
CATIE LEWIS RECEIVED THE CURLY EXECUTIVE GRANT FOR CRAFTHER ENTREPRENEURS.
Catie Lewis is a self-taught artist living in Austin, Texas. Inspired by her travels, life experiences and the various people she has met along the way, Catie explores an array of styles and mediums as she expands her portfolio. She believes creativity has no limits. Learn more at catielewis.com.
MEET THE GRANT’S FUNDER: CURLY EXECUTIVE.
The Curly Executive Grants are supported by Mélissa Peng aka Curly Executive a Texas-based Serial Entrepreneur, Business Coach, and YouTuber. Mélissa earned her MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and held roles with marketing behemoths including Proctor & Gamble, Macy’s, and NBC Universal. After 10 years of successfully climbing the corporate and earning the title of Director of Marketing at the age of 30, she left corporate and her six-figure salary to build a lifestyle focused on pursuing her many passions and her newfound purpose of helping others do the same.
In addition to founding Curly Executive Mélissa is the artist behind Camellias and Curls, a handmade flower hair accessories brand, and the creator of Pon Di Beat, a Dance Hall and Afrobeat dance masterclass series in Austin and Houston, Texas. This grant’s purpose is to support fellow makers, artists, and performing artists in pursuing their passions and taking strategic risks in business.
LEARN MORE ABOUT #BBATX’S GRANTS.
Applications for #BBATX grants will re-open in 2020. Click here to learn more.
Click here to get email updates on #BBATX’s grants.
Learn more about our programs.
Attend an upcoming event.
On Working As A Duo: Double Trouble
Double Trouble is a DJ duo comprised of Lynn Metcalf and Erin Gentry in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, they talk about working as a duo, the art of improvisation in their performances, and what the future holds for them.
Double Trouble is a DJ duo comprised of Lynn Metcalf and Erin Gentry in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, they talk about working as a duo, the art of improvisation in their performances, and what the future holds for them.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX staff member Natalia Rocafuerte.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Lynn Metcalf & Erin Gentry are queer DJ duo Double Trouble. Hosts of “Raw Sugar” a slow jams residency at Sahara Lounge, the duo started as a chance to publicly perform their combined collection of vinyl. Their process includes one partner picking a vibe to challenge the other and build sets that way together, a battle style performances, separate crates in competition.
How did you start DJing as a duo? Pick your name?
Erin: Lynn picked our name - she’s a naming things master.
Lynn: The start of our djing was an accident. We agreed to make a “dueling mix tape” for our fist Valentine’s Day date. I really thought it was going to be more making out than mixing music, but Erin put on the first song (she was working off her laptop, me out of my record collection and recording onto an actual tape cassette) and looked up and said, “Better get ready; you have 2 minutes and 46 seconds.”, and I was immediately addicted to the energy of working together to challenge and impress each other. Our first gig was shortly after, through a friend, at the Salvage Vanguard Anniversary Party, where we destroyed the dance floor, but we didn’t DJ again together for years. But it was always on our minds b/c it had been such joyous expression of our attraction to each other.
How do you build your crates?
When building a crate we usually think about the event: what’s the mood; who’s the audience; what is it our job to facilitate? Then we usually have one song that acts a keystone; perfectly capturing the vibe we are looking for which we will use to edit the rest of our selections by. The continuity we are seeking is largely emotional…does it have that feeling we want to capture? This selection is somewhat collaborative, but still mostly autonomous.
Erin & Lynn Photo By Erica Nix
What excites you about a festival that celebrates and amplifies women and nonbinary artists so intentionally like BABES FEST?
BABES FEST is RAD! We love the diversity in breadth of work that BABES FEST brings to the table (3 days of festivities!). It’s so awesome that women and non-binary folks are the focus, not the side project, because you can see really the depth and breadth of expression that is happening out there. Also, specifically that these people are being celebrated and promoted as professional and successful, aspects of queer and female identity that are often imbued with tinges of shame and inaccessibility.
Do you work with an element of improvisation ?
It’s all improvisation! We DJ battle-style, meaning that each of takes a turntable and puts on a song, then the other has only the time that that song plays to go through her stack and find the next tune. This way, the set is a conversation/collaboration/challenge between the two of us, in music.
How did you arrive to Austin and what made you continue making work here?
Erin: I was born in, and my family is originally from, Mexico City, but I grew up outside of Houston. I came to Austin in the late 1990s to study at St. Edwards University, and moved away several times after graduating, moving to a new place every year of my 20s, but Austin always had its pull back. I came back to Austin after grad school, in 2008, and have been here ever since. I came back to Austin because it was an easy place to live, though I think that has changed a lot since I first moved here, but I love the life that Lynn and I have built here.
Lynn: I moved to Austin when I was 11. My parents and I were living in the Valley, and my father violated his probation. He was given one day to put his affairs in order, and ordered to return the next day and submit himself to the authorities. Instead; he purchased the ID cards of his friend Smiley’s dead brother (whose death had not been reported in the states) and came to Austin on the lam. My mother and I followed suit a couple months later (lol..to Austin…not evading arrest) and lived in a friend’s living room till we found a rental house in South Austin. I moved into that house the day before I started 6th grade. Arriving in this town, out of the Valley, was a massive culture shock, but I’m so grateful to have spent my “coming of age” years here. I was old enough to appreciate the differences in culture and opportunity here (I thought Austin was a metropolis), and young enough to claim Austin as my home. I have stayed and made work here because this is where I am and nothing has compelled me to leave. Austin has been very good to me, and I know how hard living can be in a place with little opportunity for advancement and freedom for identity exploration. I identify as a survivor, and Austin has definitely acted as a life raft.
How to you see your work in the future? Is there something you would like to explore?
DT’s future is wide open! We are such different individuals, sharing such a strong passion that the room for growth is limitless. We would love to develop our individual voices so that we can bring more to our work together and create a richer collaboration and to lessen the pressure on our shared space to be our opportunity for expression. For example, Erin is getting really into recording and mixing ambient sound and field recordings these days, and Lynn is excited to explore genre blending and technical mixing skills. In this freedom we could offer so much more to our audience by expanding the definitions of where our separate identities can mingle and play. Most of all, we crave to make space for queer people to come together and feel seen and safe and important.
Photo by Erica Nix
How to you see your work in the future? Is there something you would like to explore?
DT’s future is wide open! We are such different individuals, sharing such a strong passion that the room for growth is limitless. We would love to develop our individual voices so that we can bring more to our work together and create a richer collaboration and to lessen the pressure on our shared space to be our opportunity for expression. For example, Erin is getting really into recording and mixing ambient sound and field recordings these days, and Lynn is excited to explore genre blending and technical mixing skills. In this freedom we could offer so much more to our audience by expanding the definitions of where our separate identities can mingle and play. Most of all, we crave to make space for queer people to come together and feel seen and safe and important.
About #bbatx's The Residency: We annually work with 10 to 15, Texas-based women-identifying and nonbinary visual and musical artists to produce site-specific work, commissions and exhibitions throughout our programming and events. Through these residencies, we invite the public to learn more about their process, approach and sustainability of their practice. Click here to meet this year's artists.
On Allowing Flow to Find You: 2019 Resident Artist Leika
Leika is a photographer in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about how to tell diverse stories through art, allowing flow to find her when she creates, and helping people find comfort in front of her camera.
Leika is a photographer in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about how to tell diverse stories through art, allowing flow to find her when she creates, and helping people find comfort in front of her camera.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX committee member Tess Cagle.
MEET THE ARTIST
Leika is an Austin, Texas, based photographer whose collegiate studies in French and Literature inspire the philosophy, romanticism, and spirit of rebellion within her work. A modern romantic, her photographs explore the the gentle and chaotic wildness of nature both terrestrial and human, alongside the harmonious dichotomy of proverbial and literal darkness and light. Self taught in digital photography, Leika creates a classical feel with anachronistic details in her still life and portraits, inspired by painters such as Artemisia Gentileschi. Through her work, she seeks to embolden her audience to create, to share their unique perspectives and stories, and to answer the call to close the gap between the privileged elite and the systemically oppressed.
Cagle: Tell us about your background. How did you get into photography? How did you get to where you are now?
Leika: I’m a Texan born and raised, though the “raised” portion has to come with an asterisk to clarify that as much as Texas raised me, I was also raised simultaneously within the Filipino culture. I actually did not get into photography as an art form until the last few years of my life, my formal eduction being a major in French studies with minors in literature and chemistry.
I mostly saw photography as a hobby, documenting fun times with friends in the pre-smartphone era with a hand-me-down point-and-shoot. I graduated to a borrowed DSLR in college for a now defunct style blog I ran, and eventually learned to shoot manual on a secondhand DSLR I bought from a friend of a friend.
I think the big turning point for me was a photography workshop in Iceland. Up until that point I was mostly documenting moments with the twins I was nannying at the time, along with some shots of nature around town, and then bam! I’m in a magical land with magical instructors who basically told me what I never thought of myself: that I’m an artist and that I’m more than capable to pursue photography if that’s what I really want. And that’s basically how I got to where I am today: by people who I respect believing in me more than I had believed in myself. If I didn’t have a community that lifted me up as an artist and photographer, I would more than likely have placed photography on the back-burner.
Photo by Leika
Cagle: How do you use your photography to collect and tell diverse stories?
Leika: This is something on which I’m still actively working. I am naturally fearful of human interaction, yet I crave to make space in the world for marginalized voices. I’m still looking for the right infrastructure in which to make this dream a sustainable, ongoing reality, but I’m fortunate enough to have worked with organizations that have allowed me to capture a beautiful array of diverse humans. Verbalizing that I actively want to highlight diverse peoples and perspectives, and working with organizations who also value diversity has been a great starting place.
Cagle: What kinds of themes do your photo projects explore?
Leika: The overarching themes of my photographs mostly fall under the umbrella of Romanticism. The ability to find the beauty and light within hardship and darkness; the rejection of religion and discovering the divine in nature and man; the exploration of the self and individualism; the dichotomy or fragmentation working together to create a whole; all these themes I loved in romantic literature have really informed the themes in my visual projects.
Photo by Leika
Cagle: You are also a maker, right? Do you still find time to craft and use your hands to make art? How does that art form differ from your art as a photographer? (Does it explore different themes? Have a different purpose for you?)
Leika: I am! I’ve always loved textile art, and when the wind blows just right, I get swept up in watercolor. If photography is first, then knitting is a close second. A few years ago I would have classified myself as, ‘knitter who dabbled in photography,’ and now the roles are reversed.
I haven’t picked up wool and needles too much after the 2016 presidential election; I have a belief that each stitch absorbs some of the maker’s energy, and there was no way I could infuse my knits with all the negative energy that was oozing from me. However, I’m starting to carve out more time for knitting, especially as I transition from my day job into freelancing.
When I create a knit, it is quite different from my photography. Whereas my photography takes on the darker and more serious themes, my knits are meant to be joyful and lighthearted. Knitting allows me to step outside the seriousness of being a socially aware, depressed, anxious adult, and to simply focus on cuteness.
Photo by Leika
Cagle: This season at BossBabesATX, we’re exploring flow. How do you find your flow and how do you know you’ve found your flow when you’re making art?
Leika: I find it very difficult to find flow. I feel like I don’t so much find flow, flow finds me when the stars, planets, and chemicals in my brain align. For me life is a Sisyphean feat in which I’m unendingly battling entropy and the dwindling will to live, so when I’m finally in the flow, it feels like having that proverbial boulder actually make it over the proverbial hill. I know I’m in it when I lose time. I set up a still life in the afternoon and suddenly I realize it is well past dinnertime, or I’ll turn on a series for background noise while editing and suddenly I’m at the season finale. I recognize that waiting for flow to find me is not a sound practice when wanting to create, so if ever I need to artificially generate some flow to start or complete an art project, music and chai tea are usually my launching point.
Cagle: How do you make your subject feel comfortable and authentic in front of your camera?
Leika: I have no idea how or why people can feel comfortable in front of any camera, much less mine, because I am always petrified. I think being open about my nerves helps to ease the nerves of others. Since I know from experience that if one is not confident in front of a camera, hyperawareness of the camera is a killer, I will oftentimes stop shooting and have a small conversation to shift and reset the focus. Because I shoot digitally, the knowledge that there is essentially an unlimited number of frames can take some of the edge off as well.
Photo by Leika
Cagle: What other photographers/muses inform or inspire your work?
Leika: I’m woefully lacking in my knowledge of the photography world, not because I think I’m above it, but because I would drive myself insane by comparing my work against others, driving my self-worth and desire to create down into a never-ending abyss.
That being said, I do know and respect the heavy-hitters Annie Leibovitz and Platon. Leibovitz for her use of color and light; Platon for his ability to take his simple set-up and draw us into his subject. I’m also inspired by Jamie Beck of Ann Street Studio and her work in Provence, along with Nadia Dole who has the incredible ability to make an iPhone photo look like a painting with her use of light and composition.
Cagle: What are some mini or monumental objects or opportunities that you consider a key part of who you are today?
Leika: Who I am today is so different from the human I was before, but the things that seemed to have stuck are:
The Redwall series by Brian Jacques
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The works of William Blake
So much science fiction from Bradbury to Okorafor
So much music from Enya to Kendrick Lamar
The French language & philosophy
Iceland
Mike Brown and the Black Lives Matter Movement
The No DAPL water protectors
Bernie Sanders
About #bbatx's The Residency: We annually work with 10 to 15, Texas-based women-identifying and nonbinary visual and musical artists to produce site-specific work, commissions and exhibitions throughout our programming and events. Through these residencies, we invite the public to learn more about their process, approach and sustainability of their practice. Click here to meet this year's artists.
On Creating Inclusion Riders: An Interview with Cultural Producer Sarah Rucker
What’s an inclusion rider clause? Essentially, it’s a piece of language for artists and creatives to add to their contracts with producers, bookers and clients that holds them culturally accountable. Rucker argues that artists and creatives have the right to demand diverse and inclusive workspaces—just like anyone else.
What does it look like to make creative work inclusively?
Today on the blog, A’nysha Fortenberry interviews Austin-based cultural producer Sarah Rucker about her development of an inclusion rider clause.
What’s an inclusion rider clause? Essentially, it’s a piece of language for artists and creatives to add to their contracts with producers, bookers and clients that holds them culturally accountable. Rucker argues that artists and creatives have the right to demand diverse and inclusive workspaces—just like anyone else.
Keep reading to learn more about Rucker’s work and how to create an inclusion rider for yourself.
Sarah Rucker (pictured)
who:
Sarah is a lifelong arts lover and advocate with 13 years of experience in arts research, programming and presenting. She is the founder of Full Gallop, which offers creative event production and community outreach and engagement services. Full Gallop strives to bridge cultures and connect communities through creative collaborations and programs. She has a personal mission to help increase equity in the arts, especially in Austin, where she recently started the Inclusion Riders Initiative ATX. She was also a founding board member of Austin Emerging Arts Leaders from 2012-2019.
Can you tell us a bit more about your work and what you currently do?
Rucker: My work is predominantly in the field of event production with a specialty in arts programming and community engagement. For over 12 years my career has been in both the music business and the nonprofit arts sector while also building skills in corporate and private event production. I love helping with events and programs from concept to completion.
How would you define an inclusion rider? What is it and how can people use it?
Rucker: An inclusion rider is an addendum or clause added to a contract with a content creator that stipulates the contractor’s need to work in a well-represented team. It first came about in the film industry to try and achieve a storyline and cast that more closely resembles the audience and population it was serving and depicting. It’s now been proven as a versatile tool in letting any employer or collaborator know inclusion and equity are vital to your work as a contractor.
How did you come across the concept? Where have you seen it implemented?
Rucker: I first heard about it like many others , while watching the 2018 Oscars when Frances McDormand said “I’ve got two words for you: inclusion riders.” Before that night, the legal language was being perfected by lawyer Kalpana Kotagal and writer/actor Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni after years of studies at the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at USC with Dr. Stacy Smith. Since then, it has been implemented by Pearl Street Films, with Olympic swimmer Simone Manuel and Michael B. Jordan with Warner Brothers Media.
How did you arrive at the inclusion rider you’ve created?
Rucker: I would looking for a version that my colleagues in the arts and music business could use in any contract with any situation be it music festival, arts nonprofit, or other creative endeavor. Austin attorney, Alyce Zawacki approached me after BABES FEST 2018 and helped write this version that I feel works for a wide variety of contracts.
How can artists in the #BBATX network implement the inclusion rider? How can it be used as a tool?
Rucker: Any artist can now access the rider at bit.ly/FullGallopEquityClause. I recommend letting your employer or collaborator know by email or conversation that you have an additional clause you’d like to include in your contract to allow a dialogue and chance for questions if they don’t understand the concept. You can modify it for your own use to work out a process for discussing inequitable situations should they arise and what the “satisfactory outcome” would be on behalf the hiring party to reconcile any inequitable practices.
What sorts of conversations have arisen out of creating this Inclusion Rider and attempting to implement it / create community buy-in?
Rucker: The panel discussion at last year’s BABES FEST brought some great realizations for me, that there are many creatives in Austin looking for tools to better represent themselves and their communities. Since then, I’ve spoken at two other national conferences about the concept and have seen other versions used in the arts. I’ve used the clause twice myself with my contracted projects and have heard from other Austin freelancers that they also used it and feel empowered after getting it added to their contracts. The City of Austin Arts Commission started a working group on Cultural Equity as a result of my presentation and has now hired a consultant to evaluate all of their grant practices to further their work to become more accessible and more inclusive to all Austin arts communities.
What sorts of road blocks have you run into with this concept? Where are the ethical gray areas and difficult conversations around what an Inclusion Rider means for artists’ rights and the arts industry’s evolution?
Rucker: The most common road block for myself and likely others in using an equity clause or inclusion rider is that amending contracts and invoking legal rights to do so can make some nervous. However, the process in going over a contract sent to you and making recommendations to enhance and cater to one’s liking can be very empowering and can break a cycle of saying yes to entering situations without expressing your ethical beliefs and needs.
I’ve read that you think this concept is more effective than a quota system—can you describe where you think the quota system is lacking?
Rucker: Yes, the question of the difference between inclusion riders and quota systems has been asked of me as well as many others trying to implement the concept and from the perspective of the women who wrote the inclusion rider “something is perpetuating invisible quotas to type cast,” in the film industry for instance, and inclusion riders are a tool to slow down the process, be more thoughtful and counter the biases that are already in place. The goal of inclusion riders is to create a work environment that more closely resembles the community that organization or project is serving, however, quota systems often miss the outreach element of connecting with community and instead get hyper-focused on hitting the mark, I find.
What changes in the industry are you seeking from a better and more widespread use of Inclusion Riders?
Rucker: I started this conversation specifically with the Austin arts industries with the hope to see more of our arts communities represented in a variety of ways: arts funding, music fest lineups, nonprofit boards and staff hirings, etc to make public programming accessible to all Austinites and make access to funding and bookings for all artists more inclusive.
Bonus Q — What does personal and professional synergy look like for you?
Rucker: Synergy and collaboration are essential to the work I do and what I believe in personally. Without input from others and collaboration between individuals and organizations, the arts become less relatable and negate what I believe to be their sole purpose, to enhance the quality of life. Inclusion Riders ATX is a perfect example of synergy for me and I thank my close friends and colleagues that have helped promote the concept and to #BBATX for their support.
Curious about #BBATX’s personal and professional development programs?
On Teaching Social Justice: An Interview With Minh Ha
For our second feature with Brown State of Mind, Vittoria Criss spoke with Minh Ha, Vietnamese-American community organizer and instructor of Brown State University’s class Counterculture America and the Vietnam War.
Local organization Brown State of Mind is fully committed to creating space in Austin for people of color, by people of color. In the second installment of its award winning Brown State University, Brown State of Mind is bringing together local artists, business owners, scientists and activists to provide accessible education to the Austin community. In partnership with Brown State of Mind, we are highlighting two of their members to explore the themes of culture and diversity, and dig deep into their creative process and personal motivations.
For our second feature I spoke with Minh Ha, Vietnamese-American community organizer and instructor of Brown State University’s class Counterculture America and the Vietnam War.
This post was written by #BBATX committee member Vittoria Criss.
Photo of: Minh Ha
You’ve moved around quite a bit, what originally brought you to Austin?
Mihn Ha: I grew up in Denver born and raised, then I went to school just outside of Boston, then moved to Portland, Oregon, and I moved here in early 2015. I was working in politics and just got burned out and wanted to try something new. I have a really short attention span! So I ended up getting a software job here like every other yuppie. Austin was a pretty strategic choice. I knew that I wanted to be here to watch Texas turn blue. I knew the demographics were changing, and there was a cultural shift that was happening here. I just wanted to reconnect with my identity, and experience new things. Portland is really really really white. That mindset was not healthy.
How did you make the switch from working in software to a nonprofit?
Ha: I worked at a nonprofit when I was in Portland, so I kind of knew that life. Working in politics and working at a nonprofit are the two places that experience burnout faster than any other industry. So when you combine those two when you’re 23, they’re going to work you to the bone. I wanted to see what it was like to get paid a living wage for once, and I learned so much. But I wanted to be more community-oriented, and I wanted to find something that brought me back to a more intentionally socially oriented space.
Did You see a lot of similarities in the cities you’ve lived in?
Ha: Like Denver, Boston and Portland, Oregon, Austin definitely makes me feel like I stand out. I joke that I'm on my hipster tour of America, living in yet another city where the population is still predominantly full of fair-skinned folks and rapidly gentrifying. They're also all extremely proud of their liberalism, so much so that sometimes I feel like it stands in the way of the true potential of progress—where communities can come together to solve some of those bigger challenges like families getting pushed out of their homes—because we're too busy reminding new transients that "Austin is blue." Austin is also home to the capitol building where some of the strangest policies pull us back and is the most racially segregated city in the country. It's also the convergence of where hella brown communities from San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and beyond across Texas can come together. It can be all those things, but I think we have to acknowledge all of those aspects rather than be selective.
Photo of: Minh Ha
What does being Brown mean to you? How has the Brown experience shaped you?
Ha: For me, being brown is how I choose to acknowledge all the labels that the world has put on me. It's really interesting from a Vietnamese perspective, because my parents always talked about us having yellow skin when I was a kid, which I don't identify with at all. I get mistaken for Filipinx a lot, and in a way that I don't quite understand, I feel really connected to my Flip homies. While brown means one thing to me, it means something completely different to my college best friends who are South Asian, and the same goes for others in Brown State of Mind. I like that "brown" can mean all those things all at once.
What kind of impact do you envision Brown State of Mind having on communities of color in Austin in the future?
Ha: When I talk about Brown State of Mind's impact, I always go back to our founder Adrian's words: "I just wanted to create a safe space for PoC." That's at the heart of what I want to see us achieve, and everything else that we accomplish in addition is icing on the cake for me. In Portland, I have a chosen family that I miss and think about every single day, but it was so isolating to walk around that city and not just feel like I stand out but isolated and alone. At least because of Brown State of Mind, navigating Austin has made me run into fellow homies that are brown and/or down with brown that make me feel like I belong. Isn't that what everyone ultimately wants? To feel like they belong?
What can people expect from your class?
Ha: A lot of social justice language. But that’s just one piece of it. For me it’s more about tying history to movement and art specifically. I think that artistic expression is so related to whatever turbulent time we’re experiencing in our communities and our societies. I think one of the most beautiful things being a child of immigrants from a Communist country, the thing that you learn to appreciate so much about the United States, for all of its faults, is that freedom of expression. And out of that freedom, and that basic inalienable right, it has allowed for so much beauty to come to light and so many avenues for people to come together. I want everyone who comes to that class to be able to understand how tied that is to what we are experiencing on a political, historical and sociological level—to feel those connections to what’s happening today. People can probably expect a lot of inner turmoil, to feel personally connected, to feel something passionate enough to express themselves however they choose to.
You work in a really emotionally charged field. Do you have any routines or rituals you do to combat that feeling of burnout?
Ha: I’m naturally a person who will take care of everyone in my life before I take care of myself. And the thing that I naturally do is watch out for other people. When I got hired where I work now, the CEO asked me “Why are you doing this? Where do you want to be in 10 years?” And I don’t ever have an answer to that question. Mostly because I grew up in political rebellion. But also the only thing I’ve ever cared about is making it easier for other brown women to break down the barriers of whatever it is that we’re trying to do. So my only goal in life is to make it easier for whomever looks like me that comes after me. A lot of what I do to take care of myself is to make sure that I’m taking care of that community. Because that is what nourishes me. That is what replenishes me.
Photo of: Minh Ha. Instagram: @guan_minh
Curious about Minh Ha? Keep up with her work here.
Curious about Brown State of Mind? Keep up with their community events and learn more about the organization here.
On DJing In the Live Music Capitol of the World: 2019 Resident Artist DJ Shani
In May of 1998, DJ Shani created & produced a Deep House radio show coined “The Groove Temple®” on WLUW-88.7FM that filled a void for the most prominent, yet canceled house music radio station, WBMX. She has a humble, personal & realistic outlook about the DJ craft.
Shani Hebert is a DJ in #BBATX’s 2019 Residency. In this interview, she talks about her journey from Chicago to Austin, the historical roots of house music, and how she supports the creative community as a tax preparer.
This interview has been condensed from a conversation with #BBATX committee member Tess Cagle.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Heavily influenced by the soul, funk & jazz scenes of Chicago’s south side, DJ Shani has always been enveloped by music. Throughout her childhood, her family taught her the roots of her sound (Zydeco, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Funk, Soul), while the radio (Energy 88.7fm, B96, WGCI) taught her the future of her sound. After a few years in the rave scene, first as a patron then as a promoter, she noticed that the energy was inviting, but it was missing something. While she was a junior at Loyola University - Chicago, she set in motion what would be her biggest contribution to the House music scene to date.
In May of 1998, DJ Shani created & produced a Deep House radio show coined “The Groove Temple®” on WLUW-88.7FM that filled a void for the most prominent, yet canceled house music radio station, WBMX. She has a humble, personal & realistic outlook about the DJ craft.
Cagle: Tell us about your background. When did you become a DJ? How did you get to where you are now?
DJ Shani: I went to my first warehouse party the night of my 17th birthday and I was hooked! I’d never seen so many interesting looking people, grooving to the most interesting music I’d never heard before. I ended up throwing parties with three crews as a senior in high school. I realized something was missing. It was missing soul. When I started college at Loyola University Chicago, I signed up for the college radio station, WLUW 88.7FM. They called me back and I presented a proposal stating that I knew so and so and had been to this club and that club. In reality, I only knew three DJs and one club. I didn’t realize that I was manifesting at the ripe age of 20 and ended up playing at many clubs and knowing professionally and personally every DJ I mentioned. The Groove Temple aired May 14, 1999. I was the executive producer, host, sound engineer, marketing contact; I was everything!
In the fall of 1999, I started working at the world famous, Gramaphone Records in Chicago. In 2004, I moved to Paris to study French and temporarily gave my show to fellow trustworthy DJs. While there, I went to La Sorbonne Paris IV, worked at a bar in Bastille and DJ’d with Les Nubians’ DJ, DJ Wamba. I returned to the States and started producing, hosting, and DJing my show again and even wrote a song with Glenn Underground. I’d come back with so much new and different music and a new outlook on what house music and deep house could be. It was great! I then moved to Southern California for about three years, then moved to Austin.
In my travels I always kept The Groove Temple running, as an executive producer. Now, I’ve returned to my roots of not only being the executive producer, but also the host. The Groove Temple airs on Soundwave Radio 92.3FM (London) Tuesday nights 10p-midnight. Since moving to Austin, I wanted to bring pieces of my musical experiences to my new home. I brought Chicago house legend Ron Trent to Austin for the first time with an amazing crew. I also produce an annual Black History Month event. The fourth was this past February featuring I Wanna Be Her, myself and the headliner, Blue Nefertiti (Les Nubians). I also play every Friday at Halcyon for “Freedom Fridays” which is an exploration in Black Music where I play everything from Reggae, to Soul to Disco and, of course, deep house.
218 Likes, 5 Comments - DJ SHANI (@djshani) on Instagram: "#SXSW2019 the recap. 😎✊🏾💥❤️"
Cagle: Since you're not originally from Texas, what was the transition like from Chicago to Austin? Were there any growing pains or discrepancies between the two music industries?
DJ Shani: It took a few years for me to remember that I wasn’t on vacation after moving here. Austin weather is amazing, even in the winter. In terms of the difference between Austin and Chicago’s music industries, it is still a bit of a shock that Austin isn’t further along than I thought it would have been. The Live Music Capitol of the World, I learned, only spoke to bands. It was disheartening that DJs weren’t even considered musicians partly because we don’t have to lug our drum kits to our shows. But we do have to lug our DJ equipment to our shows sometimes, must know the mechanics of each song, and figure out how to curate a musical experience from the thousands of songs we own.
I noticed that DJs here are sometimes considered human jukeboxes. Of course, it depends on where you play and who you play for, but it’s a bit of a shock to hire someone to want to hear the same music you’ve always heard, can sing along to, etc. Another growing pain is to accept the fact that people don’t know about deep house. Most people that I mention the word to equate it to EDM. EDM is more geared towards a younger crowd; not many vocals, melodies or harmonies. To make it simple, it’s more techno (Detroit) based and not house (Chicago) based. Please understand I’m not snubbing EDM. I used to freak out for Happy Hardcore and Acid House is still one of my all-time favorites.
It’s still amazing to me that people also didn’t know that house music comes from the Black community, more specifically the Black Gay community. Now the younger generation has an idea of where it came from with “Pose” and “Paris is Burning”, but in Austin when I first arrived, house music seemed very whitewashed and uninformed. I’m glad to say that things are changing for the better because people are a lot more openminded in Austin and they are willing to listen to things they haven’t heard of before. Any music industry in any city can be a bit intense, but my experience here has been that people are more open.
Cagle: You are also an accountant. How do your two career trajectories complement one another?
DJ Shani: I’m not an accountant, but a tax preparer. I worked for H&R Block for seven years first as a tax professional, then a bilingual co-instructor, then an instructor, then a manager. I never liked to blend my DJ life with my corporate life, until I realized that my colleagues had no idea what questions to ask the creative clients that came into their offices. Because the self-employed usually don’t have W-2s or ‘normal’ jobs, only some wouldn’t think to question a client’s receipts for four packs of guitar strings because she went on tour. The other offices referred their clients to wherever I was, and I started to have a following. I realized that I had a niche market and wanted to try doing it on my own, so I started Hebert Tax Consulting, LLC.
HTC is a tax preparation firm that specialized in the creative individual, freelancer, LLC & S-Corps. I was trained in doing taxes for people that were employees, sold/bought stock, had rental properties, etc. but my specialty has always been the independent contractor, the self-employed and people that need multiple years done. Taxes are like one humongous Sudoku board to me and I freakin’ love puzzles! I’ve have presented free tax workshops at the Carver, Dub Academy and Brew & Brew. I’ll be having more free tax workshops this summer.
165 Likes, 17 Comments - DJ SHANI (@djshani) on Instagram: "Some time ago I had the pleasure of being featured in the @myhaam annual report. Super fun and..."
Cagle: What advice would you give to a new DJ wanting to carve out a space for themselves in the local music industry?
DJ Shani: My advice to anyone that wants to be a DJ here in town is to first work on their craft. Whatever you use (turntables, controllers, CDJs), practice at least weekly. Don’t give up! Your favorite DJ sounded terrible at some point in their DJ careers—never forget that. Record your sets and listen to them. With practicing, you’ll be able to understand what your style is. I’ve been doing this for 21 years and just in the last four to six years have I truly felt like I’ve found my sound. After you think you have an idea, do your research on what Austin digs. Go to the places that play what you’d like to perform at the venues that perform it. Key tip—don’t immediately go to the manager and ask for a night. Pull back and observe. You’ll probably see things that you’d do differently or things that you’d never thought of that you want to do. Remember your reputation is key and don’t appear distraught.
Cagle: Do you remember the first piece of music that really affected you?
DJ Shani: The first record that completely touched me is called “I Fight For What I Believe” by Ron Trent featuring Sonti.
Cagle: What's your dream gig? Dream collaborator?
DJ Shani: My dream collaboration is to DJ for the Special/Paralympics. Six years ago, I was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis. After my diagnosis, I learned that people viewed me and spoke to me as if I was an enigma. At the core, the mobility-impaired are just like abled bodies: We still like to laugh, see a great film, have a delicious meal and make love. I’d like to be the ‘face’ of the disabled (in a media setting) that shows the world that we may not be able to run, but we can definitely make you boogie!
My dream gig is at least one per continent, except Antarctica—I really don’t like cold weather.
Cagle: What one thing you think anyone should know about you to really understand "who you are?"
DJ Shani: There’s always more than meets the eye with me.
Cagle: What are some mini or monumental objects or opportunities that you consider a key part of who you are today — i.e.: what films, books, artists, places, etc., have been most influential in shaping you?
DJ Shani: The 4 Agreements, Varadero, Cuba, and my grandmother’s recipes.
About #bbatx's The Residency: We annually work with 10 to 15, Texas-based women-identifying and nonbinary visual and musical artists to produce site-specific work, commissions and exhibitions throughout our programming and events. Through these residencies, we invite the public to learn more about their process, approach and sustainability of their practice. Click here to meet this year's artists.
Meet Her Hands: Maribel Falcón
"I do things that I’m inspired by. Doing things that I enjoy helps me nurture my creativity. I also focus a lot on taking care of myself... that also makes me be a better, more creative person.” —Maribel Falcon
Meet Her Hands is a collaborative exhibition series, produced by #bbatx and the Elisabet Ney Museum every summer, featuring three Texan women artists. This season, we're proud to host photographer Karen Navarro, artist Maribel Falcón and artist duo Big Chicken & Baby Bird. Each artist will showcase work within the Elisabet Ney's collection for two weeks, and throughout the summer we'll explore sculptor Elisabet Ney's legacy, while writing a new history of women in the arts.
The second exhibition in Meet Her Hands, by artist Maribel Falcón, opened on June 27. Thank you to our collaborators at the Elisabet Ney Museum, our drink sponsors Austin Cocktails, our volunteers and partners for making this show possible.
Photo by Jinni J.
MEET THE ARTIST BEHIND "Memoria”
Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
"I do things that I’m inspired by. Doing things that I enjoy helps me nurture my creativity. I also focus a lot on taking care of myself... that also makes me be a better, more creative person. I also think is important to work with a deadline. I believe that having a goal in mind can help you push through and get me close to my completing my work. That’s why having this opening was so helpful.” — Maribel Falcón
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Hosted within the guest artist space at the Elisabet Ney Museum, Memoria by Maribel Falcón is a collection of collages in various sizes depicting ethereal imagery, revolutionist women and water. Maribel Falcón is an Tejana creatrix based in Austin, TX. She works with analog and digital collage as a medium, and her art focuses on political messages and indigenous-based spiritual practices. She is co-founder of Colectiva Cósmica,an art collective of mujeres who make art, teach workshops, and publish zines. Her work has been featured in Remezcla and Bitch Magazine.
Here are a few notes from BBATX Committee Member Cara Cate and Maribel Falcón’s opening reception artist talk.
On creating art:
I did not grow up around art. I did not go to school to study art, in fact my degree is in sociology but I had always been very hungry for art and the scene in Austin really inspired me to become an artist. Now that I look back, women in my family were all artists I just did not know. My aunts, grandmother used to work a lot with fabrics and textiles but since that was, I guess normal and always part of my home, I never saw them as artists. I remember I used to play with their fabric paints but It was not until later in college where I realized I would spend a lot of time decorating my notebooks and finding the right images that I thought would fit the thematic of my classes. I never thought of myself of being an artist, so that’s why I choose collage and analog as a medium because it is so accessible to anybody. I always find myself at thrift stores buying paper, old pieces of advertisements, and any kind of paper (I have recycled beautiful paper from trash cans!). I think of paper as a respected medium because opposed to digital, paper is harder to trace but also is special to keep. I mean, a lot of people keep paper because it’s beautiful and that’s what I like about it.I also like working on zines, they’re great for exchanging information and is a form of publication that is not regulated. I love it, I don’t have to worry about rights and the traditional conventions of publishing houses.
On starting a collage:
A lot of times is just phrases, concepts, or just themes (a lot of them political charged!) but for sure it takes a lot of time to visualize and conceptualize my thoughts into a new work.
On what inspires her:
The Mexic-Arte Museum is a great place that everyone in Austin should go see...I’m not going to ask you to raise your hand to see how many of you have not been there yet, but really, you need to go see it! I also enjoy visiting my friend’s galleries, and so many other things in the city...I do not know. I like watching outdoor films in Austin, I really enjoy visual arts.
On managing work and creativity
I do believe that the era of working for someone else and building an empire for anyone other than you is over! Nonetheless, I chose to have a job for a paycheck because it allows me to be freely creative and not to worry about making art to sell. I wouldn’t want to rely on my creativity or ability to produce art, especially in a scale where I would have to count on it to live. When I’m not doing art I work at a library and I really love it there!
How she named the show
To be honest “Memoria” was the name of my great-grandmother and I wanted to dedicate my first art show to her. So, that’s how I came up with the name!
Photo by Jinni J
WANT TO ATTEND A MEET HER HANDS EXHIBITION?
You can view Maribel Falcón’s Memoria through July 10, 2019 at the Elisabet Ney Museum during museum hours. Our next exhibition in the series featuring works by duo-collective Big Chicken & Baby Bird, will open on July 11 from 6:30 to 9 PM. Click here for details.
On Identity In Austin: An Interview With Photographer Dahlia Dandashi
Born in Houston to a Lebanese and Syrian family, Dahlia is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Dubai.
Local organization Brown State of Mind is fully committed to creating space in Austin for people of color, by people of color. In the second installment of its award winning Brown State University, Brown State of Mind is bringing together local artists, business owners, scientists and activists to provide accessible education to the Austin community. In partnership with Brown State of Mind, we are highlighting two of their members to explore the themes of culture and diversity, and dig deep into their creative process and personal motivations.
For our first conversation, I sat down with Dahlia Dandashi, instructor of Brown State University’s class Poetry in the Middle East. Born in Houston to a Lebanese and Syrian family, Dahlia is a multidisciplinary artist who grew up in Dubai.
Interviewed by #bbatx Committee Member Vittoria Criss.
Pictured: Dahlia Dandashi Photo taken by Jesus Acosta.
Criss: In Austin it seems like there’s a lot of people of color who feel isolated from the rest of the city. But there’s also lots of small pockets of people who are out there trying to create a community for us.
Dahlia Dandashi: There’s a lot of amazing communities in Austin that are doing this. #BBATX is great, Brown State of Mind, In Bold Company—these are essential. It’s amazing that these things are coming to light and they’re happening now. And honestly our generation is really woke. It sounds stupid but we really are!
I ended up quitting my job and almost moved to New York, and I thought well should I move back to Austin? I have a community there, and I have friends. Or should I try something else and build a community elsewhere? A big part of it was because I definitely identify as American, I’m happy I live here.
But at the same time, I’m really Arab. My parents immigrated here and they stuck to their values. They would speak Arabic at home, we grew up Muslim, my parents fast. So now that I’m getting older, in my personal writing I talk a lot about identity, and navigating it, and being confused. Because it was always “we want you to be American, but not too American. You still have to be Arab.” When I lived in Dubai, I never really thought about it. Then I came here, and that’s when I started to question my identity. If I don’t move back to the Middle East, I at least want to help people in my community. These spaces were built for a reason—there was a need for it. Austin is shifting, though. I feel instead of becoming a more diverse city, it’s becoming more homogenized.
Criss: Part of the reason I stayed in Austin was that I hoped it would become more diverse with time. It’s definitely moving in the opposite direction.
Dandashi: Yes, and I will say that your experience is different than mine because I’m white passing. But then I have conversations with people and they find out where I’m from. I’ve been told “people that are from where you’re from are oppressive.” There’s a lot to unpack, and people assume things. I’m all about having conversation, but a lot of times I feel either they’re really ignorant, or they’re not asking the right questions, or they don’t believe what I’m saying. I love Austin, and I feel that you can be part of a community here, since it’s well connected. But what does diversity feel like? When you go talk to someone at a bar or a restaurant, what is your experience? Are you meeting someone that is different than you?
Criss: Even within those of us that identify as “brown” we all have a lot of similar experiences, but we’re also from so many different backgrounds. What has your experience been like as someone who identifies as brown, and how has it influenced your work?
Dandashi: Brown is such an encompassing word, it’s also a word that’s packed with a lot of things. Physically, I don’t look brown, and I’m aware of that. When I go back to the places where my parents are from, people look at me differently. When I speak Arabic, people say, “You’re not from here, you dress differently, you talk differently.” It’s so weird because I always found myself wondering where do I fit in?
I’m not 100% American. I have a lot of American values, but I grew up culturally Arab. Since I moved back to the States, I’ve always struggled with my identity. As I’ve gotten older, the identity crisis has ebbed and flowed. It’s always going to be a challenge for me. It’s getting better for me to navigate now, and I think a big part of that for me was writing. I was feeling all these things and it was all pent up inside, so I started writing a lot the last few years. Last year I wrote a zine and just put it on the internet. It was all about identity and womanhood and understanding yourself as an individual. I’ve written a lot about things that remind me of home and my culture. And recently, with photography, I’ve tried to start collaborating more with artists of color or Arabs who are creatives. Because really in our culture Arabs don’t do art. You’re either a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. I took the LSAT and didn’t go to law school and that was a big disappointment for my parents. It’s starting to get better now.
Social media is crazy, too. I just did a project with a guy that I never met—he’s Jordanian and lives in Tunisia. I took photos and he did Arabic calligraphy with the photos. I’m trying to do more of that. We’re putting our brains together and making art that matters.
Criss: Do you think your parents are becoming more open to what you do as a creative?
Dandashi: My parents are becoming better listeners, especially my Mom. They don’t really get it which is fine; I’m not going to force them to understand why I want to be a person that has a creative career. But it is getting better. The things that I do now are quite new. Social media wasn’t really a thing until recently. Photography has been around for ages, but it’s more accessible now. If you do it properly it’s something you can make your life’s passion if you want to. So it’s explaining to my parents that these are careers that people actually have. I appreciate my parents’ sacrifices, and living here has also given me different perspectives that make me who I am.
Criss: I think it’s easy to forget that our parents are kind of experiencing the same thing we are. They’re also in two different cultures, and we’re learning together.
Dandashi: It’s a process that doesn’t really end! I think the idea of putting yourself in a box is a horrible thing. Break the box and just stand! Observe, take notes, and take chances as well. Being a child of an immigrant is being able to say that you can not just accept everyone, but be able to connect with them on some level.
Criss: You do so many different types of creative work, but there is definitely a uniting theme in all of it. Where did that come from?
Dandashi: I always wrote a lot and did photography since I was young. As I got older, I started to know myself more. My style keeps refining itself. But the cool thing about style is that style can change. Tomorrow I can do something else. I think a lot of it has to do with color. Part of it is that my mom always wore a lot of crazy colors. She would wear matching orange suits with fake flowers on her chest, or sequins, just crazy shit I remember as a kid. So I think that’s part of it unconsciously. And part of it was growing up in Dubai on the beach—I loved being outside, I love water and swimming and sun. That attributes to life for me. It’s something that’s so prevalent in my work that happened on accident.
Criss: How did you become interested in poetry, and what made you want to teach about Middle Eastern poetry?
Dandashi: I’ve been writing since I was probably in elementary school. I had endless amounts of diaries. So writing has always been a big part of my life. I found that poetry was a way that I could express my identity and talk about struggles I was having after I moved back here when I was 18. I grew up reading a lot of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, and poetry like Rumi and Nizar Qabbani. Also the Arabic language is very poetic. A lot of Arabic songs will last 10 minutes where the singers are belting their heart out. It’s a very lyrical language. Even the way it’s written—Arabic calligraphy I find is very beautiful. The reason I was writing was because I was trying to figure out how to talk about my feelings and experiences. I was really obsessed with confessional poetry, so my stuff was very confessional, too.
Jason from Brown State of Mind asked me to teach a class, and he had already picked the poets. He picked Hafez and Rumi, and Nizar and Kahlil Gibran. Rumi and Hafez are Persian writers. Nizar and Kahlil Gibran are pretty famous in the Arab poetry world. I already knew a lot, but this has been a really big growth process. I thought it would be a fun experiment for myself to learn about these poets that I read from a lot, but also to share the experience with people that I don’t know. The funny thing is, Rumi is the most read poet in America, but he was born in Afghanistan. There’s a reason why Middle Eastern poetry is so unique, how did these people have such a big influence on this side of the world? Let’s talk about it.
Want to keep up with Dahlia Dandashi? Follow her on Instagram or browse her portfolio.
Curious about Brown State of Mind? Keep up with their community events and learn more about the organization here.
On Taking Care of Yourself: Thoughts From the #BBATX Community
At our last community meet-up in Austin, Texas, we explored themes of synergy. We asked those who attended to contribute their answers toward the question: “How do you take care of yourself as you navigate opportunity, success and failures?”
At our last community meet-up in Austin, Texas, we explored themes of synergy. We asked those who attended to contribute their answers toward the question:
“How do you take care of yourself as you navigate opportunity, success and failures?”
And we heard from a spectrum of people about their own self care practices — from listening to their body to being very thoughtful about the people they surround themselves with. We've collected some of those answers below.
WHAT THE COMMUNITY HAS TO SAY:
want to attend a #BBATX meet-up?
Our next community meet-up is on August 14 at Native Hostels Austin. Learn more about how to join us here.