 They're in another defense unit, but Gabe at August 11th, 12th. Joy is here. Two days in a row. Really quick. Like, I'm here for a reason. But she's absent. Here, and welcome to our 17th Summer Leadership Institute. We're very happy to be in the space of abundance with so many studios and such beautiful facilities. Our Summer Leadership Institute culminating performance is our sharing with you of the learning that we've been in in these past eight days. It's a 10 day. Tomorrow will be our 10th day. We come together on day one. We don't know each other. We come together as a group of people. Maybe some of us know one another. But as a community of about 100, we don't know each other. And we go through a process of movement and learning that includes urban wish-women's dance for everybody, our entering, building, and exiting community workshop where we look at the values around what does it mean to work in community, to live, and what do you leave. Then we have a workshop called Understanding and Undoing Racism. And we have that for three days where we do a deep dive looking at how racism shows up in our arts communities, in our organizing, in the way we address one another, in our work. And we do that through looking at two, it's a three day process, but we look at internalized racial oppression, internalized racial inferiority for black folks and people of color, internalized racial superiority for white folks. And we look at that how those power dynamics show up in our work, in our organizing. And then from there, I think it's on about day, on day five, we go into our process of asset mapping. And that's where we look at what we have in the room, the people, the skills that are in the room, and we create from that so it is what they bring into the room that we create from. What you will see has been created from the assets that are in the room. We ask people to bring their stories, their whole selves to the process. And then this becomes the way that we put the learning of the last few days of the Summer Leadership Institute, the previous days, into our bodies. We put that learning into our art making, into our bodies, into our songs. So it's a special thing for us to be able to share that art making and share the process with you. So thank you very much for being here, and here we go. Crossroads in this world of possibilities, of choice, of knowing where three become one, where past, present, and future meet, where everyone must make a decision. As a child, as an old man, as an old woman, as the trickster. We stand at the crossroads of the human and the divine. We are the messengers mediating our existence while we resolve within ourselves. Our heavens, our hells, our hiddens, our dreams. Our heavens, our hells, our hiddens, our dreams. Go to the mountaintop, pick a cloud, and in a crowd, don't you touch that tree. I'm sitting in class, real attentive, because I'm a good student. Shannon did, she cut one of my locks off. Yes she did, yes she did. I tried to kill her with some safety scissors, but, to my defense. When my hair dropped on that floor, I felt like I really did lose a part of me. Everything is she looked just like me. And so I was rebellious, and I stopped cutting my hair, stopped getting trends, and I let my locks grow. They were down in my butt, I was slinging them. All the boys started looking at me. Everybody was like, you tripping? You going through a midlife crisis? Because it's mine, and I do what I want. What's our dance class? In the kitchen, cooking, or cleaning, whatever we're doing, we're always teaching them how to dance. When we tell them, wave it, look for peace, wave it. Certified dialect. I'm going to share a few of his phrases with you all, okay? Alright, here we go. It's about four day in the morning. I don't put no yeast in what I tell you. You'll know directly, this system here ain't worth a nickel. So whatsoever you do, don't be no educated fool. Because you'll crack up like home bread. Because you can always sleep on the floor and cover with the dough when you laugh. When I was growing up, my mom used to sing me a song every morning to get me up out of bed. That song was Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory, Glory. I'm tired. I'll say it and then we can say it together. Eskessa. My family is Jewish. My great-grandparents came here from the Ukraine. And while we've lost a lot of our culture over generations, there's one thing that all Jews in America know how to do. And that's the Hora! The Yiddish phrase that I learned. It was this big. But chase me around. I'm gonna give you a punch in the chest. Convide. And you might hear this song. Ancestors. I'm super half her stuff lined up. But we cannot afford to go back home. Where will all the brown people live? Living in the memories of my abuelitas, arroz con plátano, rice with bananas. The only part I get right is the bananas, except when they're green. My rice is always mushy. Living in the memories of the colonia parties, the whole block of party. My house is not at home. Where's the constant influx of people running, singing, yelling, dancing? That coffee shop? That's not at home. Where's my mother's wake-up call? Baja desayunar. Speak the colonizer's language. Twice colonized, twice removed. We cannot afford to not go home. How will all the brown people live? My great-great-grandparents on my mother's side kept enslaved people in their estate in Maryland. I once saw where they lived, the slave quarters. I just remember my grandma being very proud of the architecture. My great-grandfather on my father's side went to his deathbed without ever telling anyone where my Jewish family immigrated from. He was protecting my whiteness, so I could never follow my tracks back. There is no consequence, no risk in my white vacuum. I could literally break a window on purpose and people would be like, are you okay? Was it an accident? This isn't an accident. I'm not an accident. To tarry with whiteness. To hold, to be with something, long past comfort. This discomfort, this is the medicine. Negroes, do I have all my Negroes in this space? We're about to bring you in to meet our team, so you can come on in. There'll be a few words from everyone on the team, and then we'll get started. Hi everyone, thank you so much for coming. We're super excited that you're here to audition for this adaptation of James Baldwin's I Am Not Your Negro, which we are bringing to the great white way. We just thought it was important for you to meet the production team, because this is a very different show. And so I'll start by introducing myself. I'm Harriet Shusung, I'm the head writer. And then over here we have our dramaturg, Ms. Vanessa Threadgill Hopkins Hughes. And then we have our Negro specialist, Ms. Ola Binta Jackson. And none of this would be possible without our incredible director and producer, Steven. Steven, could you just say a few words? Hi, thank you so much for coming to see me today. After seeing the James Bond movie, I was just, yes, yeah, whatever. The James Baldwin movie, I was just so struck and knew that I needed to tell his story. We've received numerous grants, residencies, and we're going to be touring all around the world, and if you're just right, you could be our Negro, thank you. And so to help you in your preparation process, I think our Negro specialist and dramaturg would like to tell you a little bit about the character. What we'd like you to consider while you prepare is that we would like our Negro to be classic, but contemporary, our Negro needs to have robotics and humor. Our Negro needs to be profound yet accessible, and of course, our Negro needs to be urban and suburban. We love for our Negro to be universal, yet unique, and appealing, yet off-putting. Yes? All right, everyone, so you should have your sides, the Baldwin quote, so you can go outside again and we'll call you in one by one. Prestigious white like to go with all those coins. Question, you asked, why, why me, why us? The chosen ones, the white man Cinderella, the social scapegoats, the reliable guinea pigs, we're a reminder of power, a measure of progress, and that is the secret to selling the Negro. Quotes from Mr. Baldwin. There are days when you wonder what your role in this country and your future is in it. I'm terrified of the moral apathy at the death of the heart that is happening in my country. It's a terrible thing for an entire people to surrender to the notion that one ninth of its population is beneath them, and until that moment, until the moment comes when we, the American people, are able to accept the fact that I have to accept, for example, that my ancestors are both white and black, that on this continent where we are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other and that I am not a ward of America. I'm not an object of missionary charity. I am one of the people who built this country. Until this moment, there's a scarcity of hope for the American dream because the people who are denied participation in it by their very presence will wreck it. Trauma. Trauma. I hate to say I was born with this trauma, this weight, this fear, this anger, or maybe it's not anger, more like sadness, this internalized racial oppression, marginalization, depression that has been passed down. We need to be comfortable to be loved on. That connection between a baby relying on reaching for her mother's breast. I knew she'd comfort me. I knew she'd comfort me. Marishas would heal me, guide me. But what am I missing? What am I missing? Sit. But I'm tired of sitting. I have been sitting. Move. Move, movement, move, movement, move. You know this traditional practice of movement, this traditional practice of medicine, hundreds of medicines embedded within this cell, this body, this body we come to call you. Me. We. We are the healers. It's time we take our bodies back. That's Negro. Great. Thank you. Come right on in. You're prepared. And tall, but I am more than a mere physical representation in a specific personality trait. I'm everything and everywhere, and everything and everywhere is in me. My messy bed, my tired eyes, my unnerving yet quiet pets, my loquacious friends, my erratic siblings, my neurotic parents, my joyful relatives, the people that I meet along my journey, the wild sea wind, the compacting rain. Yeah, we're going to just give you some, you know, some materials to work with. We're going to just give you some prompts and things. Okay. If you could just grab your groin. And if you could also be a little bit more black, okay, a little bit edgier, edgier. And I brought this just for this case. Could you put on this hoodie? Put on the hood, please. Thank you. Yeah, perfect. Thank you. I'm black, light-skinned and tall, but I am more than a mere physical representation. Yes, yes. Next. Oh, is he a little young? I don't know. Do you think he's a little young? I don't know. Let's ask Steven. Is he a little young for the role? I think we can audition him as an adult. People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them. Okay, I think we need a five. Yeah, that sounds good. Not the others on me. Right, everyone, home stretch. We've seen a lot of Negroes today. We've got just a few more. We're ready for our next Negro. Come on out. The idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white. I really like you. Especially you have that classic black female body, curvy, thick. It's awesome. The hair. It's a lot. If we chose you to be our Negro, would you consider straightening it? No. What? Buenos dias y gracias por la oportunidad. Do you have a James Baldwin quote? No. No? Thank you. Gracias. Gracias. Yeah, gracias. Bye. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thanks. Next. No. Our dreams have been sure. Our days have been made. Our dreams have been sure. The end of seeking, fine. See, within my block, some label the state of calm. Conflict to conspire, to connect these minds. So, therefore, they've taken minds. That's their daily grind, greed. Said, I need what they feed. But they ain't asking me no questions. They just gave and said, proceed. Gentrified my hood. Didn't even ask for permission. They asked for forgiveness after the dirt was issued. Talk them out. We just here to reach out to some colored people. So, I'm like, yeah, reach me toilet tissue.