 Aloha and welcome to Sister Power, I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Women's History Month in March is an ideal time to celebrate the brave, bold and fearless women who have influenced history. The important role women have played in shaping our nation and the world can often be overlooked, whether in the fields of science, politics, environment, legal and the arts. Sequoia Cara Brown is an international performance artist and founder of an award-winning company, Strange Fruit Express. The community-based company creates immersive, mixed-medial production and workshops. Their engaging projects are intended to inform and empower communities through creative culture arts. Sequoia Cara Brown, welcome to Sister Power. Aloha and thank you for having me. Thank you for coming. How are you, Queen? I am absolutely wonderful. How are you, Queen? I'm feeling absolutely fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, and I'm so happy to have you here. You know, for years, Sequoia, I've been watching you perform with our wonderful friend, Dr. Catherine Takara, and I've seen several of your performances. How long have you been performing professionally? Professionally over 30 years. Well, you look 30. Well, thank you. The power of dance and being positive and empowered and who you are as a person and knowing your culture, I give credit to that. And thank you for mentioning my dear mentor, Dr. Catherine Waddell-Takara. She's helped me navigate through the gauntlet of the academic systems here. And I could not have matriculated well without her. Oh, great, great. Well, tell us about your company, Strange Fruit Express. Yes, so Strange Fruit is a project that started out as my business plan for my interdisciplinary studies program at the University of Hawaii where, again, Professor Waddell-Takara was my mentor and advisor. So I was a history major and I was coming against a lot of pushback for incorporating the African-American experience within American history. So my contention was, and still stands, is that Black history is American history and I could not matriculate with all the pushback and the negative feedback I was receiving from my papers, so I switched to interdisciplinary studies and used that program that I developed and fused three majors, American history, modern dance, and fine art. And I fused that into my business plan to launch Strange Fruit Express after I graduated. And it's basically a performance art installation-based company that tells our history, American history with those unsung heroes, particularly African-Americans and women, and I tell it through a fun way, educational way, with dance and fine art. Wow, that's interesting. So you were talking about American history. A Black history is American history. What elaborate about the African-American experience and how to resiliently navigate through the system? How do we navigate through the system? Well, for me, I find it's very crucial to understand our amendments because basically if you- the formula stands that if you are not straight, white, male, Christian, non-Catholic, you have to be amended into our country to have your rights to be recognized. And even so with that, it may not be- it may be on the books, but it may not be in the hearts and minds of the people in general. So what do you do for that? How do you navigate through implicit systems that are designed to oppress and marginalize? So that's where Strange Fruit Express comes in. I put a positive spin on my work. I help people to see that you do not have to be put in a box. You do not have to be these tropes that are set to stigmatize us, to design to keep us from looking forward and being positive. So I create workshops, art installations that illuminate us, bring forth those unsung heroes that helped us to make it through, to revere our ancestors, to be proud of them. And with that, I think you find within your mind, body and spirit a positive light, a way to shine, to move on up. And I love doing it. I find that people who experience my work feel that empowerment, and that's what it's all about. It ripples through the community. It's not all about looking at the past and staying in the past. It's about looking at it, understanding it, feeling proud and understanding what our people went through, and then moving forward in like an Afrofuturist kind of perspective. I love it. I see you're dancing now. Thank you. Now your director, creator, performer, collaboration of live performance installation, explain that to our viewers about your dance and how do you weave in and out and get your message to the audience? Well, I like to research a topic, say, maybe I want to explore the American flag. I have a piece called American Me. I explored what were the meanings of the colors of our flag. Unofficial meaning, red is valor, white, purity and innocence, blue, perseverance and justice. So I would look at that and I would question, okay, so what is it to be an American? What is a patriot? What are these colors mean? And are we truly living up to them historically? And do they apply to all the people that represent our nation? I found that not necessarily, sometimes yes, other times no. So I would create a piece, in this particular piece of American Me, I used the form of movement, buto, which is a Japanese form of movement, to express the spirit of trying to navigate through implicit biases, the oppressive systemic elements of American society. And to keep in mind those colors and showing that, hey, I am, we are Americans too. The base of that piece of American Me also has African artifacts in the down stage space of that piece, where valor, for example, has an African sword, innocence has an akubadol. Justice has calorie shells, which represents the economic injustices that we experience. But at the same time we have so much economic power, we spend trillions of dollars into this economy, and calorie shells were a form of currency once upon a time in Africa. So just kind of bringing back the Black Wall Street 2.0 element of empowering and showing that we can flip this. And yeah, so I take the trouble with it, the dynamics of it is that trying to, all this information that I have about American history and trying to condense it to a clear, concise message without preaching is the trick, but I love it. Oh, good. Well, you can tell through your dance, and we can feel your emotion. It definitely transcends to the audience. Let's talk about Pico Dance Arts. Yes. Tell us about that. Well, Pico Dance Art, I enjoy collaborative projects of fellow artists, and Pico Dance Arts was founded by Sammy L.A. Kune, Jalakara Miller, and myself. We are international performance artists who wanted to bring, were from Hawaii, and we wanted to bring the hearts and audiences locally and internationally with a variety of quality performances and shows. Sometimes they have messages, other times not. We've performed in Portier, France. We've performed in Seoul, Korea. The topic in Seoul, Korea was climate change. We performed in what was formerly oil tanks in the 70s, and they converted them into these beautiful cultural art centers. So our piece, Slow Awakening, was all about addressing that. How do we fit in with this climate change? How do we, can we change ourselves and then resonate through the community in being more mindful about helping our climate, helping our planet, helping one another? That's wonderful. I received an email today from Wallet Hub Best Award, and let's talk a little bit about activism, and it's out of Washington, D.C., and it's a Hawaii was named 2020's best state for women. I mean, I love that we live here, the Queens live here, and now this is something so very positive for people to think about, that we have so many sharp, brilliant minds who live here in Hawaii, and now we know as one of the safest places for women to live here. What do you think about just a few of your experiences of living here in Hawaii? Well I would definitely agree with that. I find Hawaiian culture to be much more socially mature than mainland culture. I am originally from Chicago, but I am come in now, over 20 years, resident UH graduate, but I find that I can let my guard down more here. I don't have to have, like when I lived in Chicago, that street sense, you know, being street wise, and being conscious of 360, kind of looking around and making sure I'm safe. I don't have to do that necessarily so much here. I enjoy that I can speak to most people without having some kind of preconceived idea about who I am. I'm learning and found that here in Hawaii, if you say who you are and what you are, people just sit back and wait and see because the social circles are so small here, right? If you don't understand and gather that sense of aloha and get the way things work here socially and being connected to the Aina and all of that, people will see you for who you truly are. I enjoy living here, but we don't want people to think that we don't have challenges here. Yes. This is the 50th state. We have concerns and we are in discuss them here. This is why Sister Power is here. We're so happy to have you. I want to ask you, Sequoia, what are some of the components of your live performances? Well, my motto, my tagline is, strange root express, history, art, dance, and activism in mind, body, and spirit. So I like to take those elements of mixed media, buttoe, modern, or my based in terms of movement, and then art, surrealism is kind of my thing, modern art, and creating projects and pieces that resonate the message of inclusion, positivity. Creating this all together as Americans. Wow. Thank you. Oh, I'm looking, we're looking at some of your beautiful work, your art form. Yes. Some of those works were formerly, I was formerly with Iona Contemporary Dance Theater where I learned some of my buttoe movement, but primarily I am learning through Lori Otani from the Japanese Cultural Center. I've been studying with her for four years. She's a true buttoe, original, traditional style. And I thank her so much for grounding me in that. Wonderful. What's stayed with us, we'll be right back. I was the head coach for the Punahou Boys Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My show is based on my book also titled Beyond the Lines, and it's about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness. I feature a wide range of amazing guests who share valuable insights about how going beyond the lines leads to success in everything you do in life. I'm looking forward to you joining me every Monday at 11 a.m., aloha. Welcome back to Sister Power. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, and our very special guest. We have Queen Sequoia Carr Brown, and we're discussing history, dance, and activism. And before we went to break, we were talking about different mini-forms of dancing, and I just love watching you tell your story. So who is the target audience for Pico Dance Arts? Pico, everyone. We are all inclusive. We are all about bringing our work, our message of positivity, and community-based projects to everyone. We are, of course, here in Hawaii, but we do work internationally and have been invited to various dance festivals because of that, but we don't limit ourselves at all. Our most recent piece, Raw Lineage, was kind of a heavy piece, we were addressing those social ills, those unspoken instances of some kind of oppression, racism, sexism, gender identity issues, walking on eggshells as the overarching term or title of that concept. And we wanted to bring it to light. You can't heal until you bring it to the light. So we produced and created this project in an untraditional stage space, which is another element of Pico. We like to take it out of the stage, traditional stage space, and put it in unexpected areas. So we performed at Art Zone. We graciously thank Kurt Kananaka for that opportunity to perform in that space. And just address things that need to be said, but at the same time, have our audience feel comfortable enough to feel safe enough that they can speak of it and understand and know that we have you, others in the community have you, and that you can be strong and move through those. I like that. You know, March is Women's History Month. Tell me about one or two of your mentors who has impressed you, or they have left a memorable imprint regarding your dancing. My dancing? Oh, well, there's... Oh, just in life, period. We don't have to label it. Okay. Well, being from Chicago in my first introduction to dance would be Katherine Dunham. And I loved her anthropological element of bringing in the African diasporic spiritual elements to movement. So that really resonates with me. Also Pearl Primus was similar like that. She's from Trinidad. Not very well known, but she has anthropological elements to her work as well. I also enjoy, for my art, anything out of the black renaissance, period, is one of my favorites. Afrofuturism greatly influences my work as well. I love, I love, I love, I love all of it. So I try to bring that, incorporate those ancestral ties to my work. But at the same time, have a spin where it propels us forward to be positive, to be empowered, to heal. Because like I said earlier, our equality and justice may be on the books, but it's not necessarily into the hearts and minds of everyone that we have to live with. So I'm at a place now where I don't care if not everyone loves us, wants us to be, reach our full potential. But I am out there, my company is out there to reach those who, who need that glimmer of hope that can see the light at the end of the tunnel, want to see that light at the end of the tunnel, and I am there, my company is there to help to bring you to that light. I love that. Yes. Well, Sequoia, how does your past work inform your current project? Well, the thread of my work is my core foundational piece, constructed red, white, and blue. And again, that touches on that American me piece of exploring the meanings of the American flag. All of my pieces also has an element of reflection, a mirror, if you will. So it's to show that I, not am only am I telling the story of others and helping, trying to get the general public to see us for who we truly are, the beautiful people that we are, but that I am struggling and working through it as well. So raw lineage, I introduced a piece called Reverence, part two of that piece, which is all about ancestral, recognizing our ancestors and my mentors that helped me to get to where I am today, connecting the black economic element I had experienced and have experienced a great deal of our racism here on the islands in the past few years, since returning from teaching in Japan. And I was really disappointed and shocked by that. Why were you disappointed and shocked? Well, I don't know if it's because of number 45 and the people's White House right now, and people are feeling a little bit more emboldened, but it wasn't like that when I first arrived over 20 years ago as a student at University of Hawaii. And I find that it's a constructed white kind of mentality and it's not just white, you don't have to be white to be constructed in whiteness. So I decided to put together Reverence, part two, to address that struggle, that it's a cathartic kind of way to release these experiences that I've had since returning to the islands, being a follower around in stores, being called the inward, not being served at a Japanese restaurant. And I had a noose at the center of this stage space, but the noose was made out of $100 bills because it's all about the Benjamin's. And that was to represent that we're going to flip this script. If you're going to have companies who want to exploit us monetarily, then hold your money, boycott, keep your money in your pocket, keep it local, make it balance at least five times in your own communities. Bring back Black Wall Street 2.0, if you will. In that center space, I also had where the noose was located hanging. I had on the floor the words, Black Money Manors, and still we rise. I would dance in that space by the accompaniment of Aaron Aranita, a credible jazz musician who played God Bless to Child by Billie Holiday, by which my company's name, the namesake, is named after Strange Fruit. So I'm all about taking these concepts and elements, and the thread is always empowerment. The thread is always exploring American history through the Black experience, but using U.S. constitutional history, exploring what the colors of the flag mean. Having mirrors within that space to reflect only on the past, but where we are going, who I am as a person, and who we are as a nation, and how do we move and progress forward? I like all of that. And all of that is so empowering, and it's motivating, and such a part. We continue to educate people. So I have a two-part question for you, Sequoy up. And the first part is, what did I want to ask you? You just don't something, yes. What is Strange Fruit Express Mission? Give us a quick 10-second mission statement for Strange Fruit, and then I'll ask you the second question. Our mission is to empower and foster resiliency in all who experience our workshops, our performances, our collaborative projects. That's it. Just empowerment and resiliency in the mind, in the body, in the spirit. Racism, sexism, all these isms are very, very physiologically, they really bring you down. And I'm all about reversing that. You don't have to internalize that. So my work is all about bringing that information forward through art, through movement. I even have exercise programs, these compressing stress projects, exercises that are designed to release the stress where we place that stress, you know, those implicit biases, you know, we tense up in our face, in our neck, in our shoulders. I have a program to get rid of all of that. Well, I'm sisters in part in Hawaii, and sister in part we're interested in talking about getting together to do that program. So Sequoia, what's next? What are you doing next? Next, well, I am with Along with Pico Dance Arts. We are, we just submitted some proposals for grants. We prayed that those will come forward. And I am currently, I was invited by Tau Dance Theater. Peter Espiritu is the director of this beautiful piece called Indigeneuity. It will be a Farrington Theater on March 27th, 7.30 p.m. by your tickets now. It's an incredible, beautifully powerful piece about connecting to each other, to the planet, to one another, respecting indigenous rights, indigenous cultures and people. Please come out and see that. I'm so honored to have been invited to be a part of that. And I'm also teaching. I teach Mixed Ability. I'm a dance ability certified instructor. So I work with people on the spectrum, Down syndrome, doesn't matter even, you know, we all have some kind of ability. So I call it handy capable crew. And we all work together regardless of your ability and have a good time learning creative movement. Oh, I love that. So March 27th, and is that what time? March 27th at 7.30 p.m. And we're in the location? It is at Farrington Auditorium. Okay, Farrington Auditorium. Well Sequoia, in 30 seconds or less, tell the audience something that we have not touched on that you would like to relay to the people out there. Oh, would you like to know, well, just know that I am here for all of you. I am a global village personality. I love to live, love and learn and laugh and all of those wonderful things in life. And just because you see me here in my melanin, I am not a trope, nor are my people and we are here, we have always been here and we all are about growing, educating, living, being spiritual, being grounded and just accept us and we will accept you as well. I love that. Thank you so much, Sequoia, for joining Sister Power. And I want to urge every listening person out there to get out there and vote. Yes, vote, vote, vote. It's crucial to get out there and vote and celebrate Women's History Month today and the rest of the month and always. Always. And again, I'm Sister's Empowering Hawaii, President and Founder, and the host of Sister Power, Oceans of Allah, Peace and Love.