 Hello! How y'all doing? This is Antoine Hunter also known as Purple Fire Crow. I'm thoroughly excited to be here with you today. Before we start I want to acknowledge the land of the Eloni people here in Oakland, California also home of the Black Panther. My visual description I have ebony locks now as it clips three feet long resting over my back shoulders I have a bushy beard and I have that beautiful milk chocolate skin dark chocolates skin got it from my mama I'm wearing a gray t-shirt with yellow print saying hashtag deaf woke I have a long drape red background I'm really thoroughly excited to present our two amazing interpreters where they at I see my two interpreters we have Amber she said I'm happy to be here today my other interpreter Jay these are my beautiful people thank you so much for supporting us today love they are beautiful right and guess what so are you so today thursday august 19th 2021 let me let you know I'm tired however I'm blessed this uh past weekend uh we had the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival uh hopefully you had a chance to watch it it was the bomb oh we had uh just incredible salient talents uh leaders in our community we had poetry uh in sign language it was a blessing I hope we had a chance to tune in uh however today well okay see a few comments so but today um I get to share uh a little bio about our next guest so today we have Ms. Denise Saunders Thompson see the she is the executive a chief executive director of International Association of Black Deaf Dance she has extensive experience in nonprofit and for-profit established or startup organization she has advised organizations on administrative pro programic and fundraising issues including strategic plans policies she's been doing this for over 25 years of experience in arts administration and management practices for private nonprofit organization currently Denise is the president chief executive officer of the International Association of Blacks and Dance Incorporated Ms. Saunders and she's DD Saunders and Incorporation uh just full of uh of cultural and art she keeps busy see the comprehensive fine arts advisory firm affirming artist management uh consulting and productive services she's recently held the position of professional lecturer at American University and graduates of arts she has 17 years experience at Howard University uh engaging in different positions in theater and art and various forms of performance she's director of the theater art and manager as well she's the co-founder of the playwrights uh she's also a business manager and she's a proud mother of Colleen she holds an MFA from the University of California and a BFA from Howard University in theater arts and administration she's also involved in women of color of arts please please please the amazing the incredible Ms. Denise Saunders Thompson thank you Antoine oh i love you i love you it's amazing to see you amazing to see you i'm over the moon excited to see you i wish we were in person oh i wish we were in person my first question for you man how are you i'm good i'm really good it's been a minute and a journey but i'm good my family is good iabd my organization is doing really well and my immediate family my mom she's in Connecticut i haven't seen her yet we haven't been able to travel yet but she's doing well also so i'm good you know there's some people out there you know that are deaf uh deafblind would you provide us your visual description absolutely uh and i also do a land acknowledgement as well i'm currently in Washington D.C. on the land of the Piscataway and Anacostian people and i'm actually residing currently on the campus of Howard University so at some point you may hear some music or some singing or some students in the background because the students are are out practicing here on the yard and in the building i'm currently in the College of Fine Arts on the campus today my visual background i am a brown skin african-american woman my hair is pulled back in this little bun behind me i have on some earrings that are round and dangly and they're made of metal and are of a bronze burgundy color i have on burgundy lipstick and i have on a shirt that is colorless but has a purplish color to it and i'm sitting in a chair a gray chair and behind me is a blank wall and i again am so happy to be here thank you thank you yes so some people were wondering you know if our type of guests that we um have on this show uh today you know we live in the world together we learn from each other we are individuals we have ways to understanding empathizing communicating with the world how communicating through dance and communicating with the world of business and and you know we got that black people you know mm-hmm as a leader i've learned so much um and and you know your teaching has always been and will always be with me forever so we get the opportunity to speak to the world today all right have you ever been interviewed by a deaf person no this is my first time and i think it's interesting so a deaf person interviewing a hearing person but hearing people that interview deaf people all the time it's about having a conversation so thank you for being brave in joining us today thank you you have a plethora of careers what's you know what's been uh your biggest passion in life what i'm doing now i am blessed i am really blessed because i discovered at a young age what it is i was placed on this earth to do and it actually started as a young person growing up in connecticut and having parents who had the courage to say to me follow your dream and my dream was always in the performing arts when i was a young person i knew i wanted to either sing dance act that's what i did i started off dancing and growing up singing in the church choir participating in the school plays and then making the decision when it was time to go to college to pursue my passion on the collegiate level and when i came to Howard University i was the first musical theater major but somewhere in my first year i discovered the business of the arts and the value of determining and being in charge but also having a voice and a say in representing so many talented people piqued my interest and so i changed my major my second year of college here at Howard to theater arts administration and i was like okay i was bit by the bug as they say i was and administration to me is still a creative process and so i think of myself as a creative arts administrator because the work that we do supports the work that we see on stage so as you just stated we're always working together there's no you without me there's no me without you agree there's no you without me i totally agree with that you know if i can help you grow and i'll grow myself exactly and then we both grow together yes the growth is a blessing we're always evolving and we should always evolve yes evolving learning you know people think about the business not as the art or people think of the art not as the business about the art administration and so you you know you are empowering people combining the worlds together so you've you've been involved in Howard University you know wherever you go you've been in several different organizations whether it's small or private organizations or large corporations you you've founded the dance incorporation you built the team you know finding your organization how did that go how did that feel well let me say that our gifts have value and so we have to be clear about the value of our art form and so the your question is really right on point because i recognize the value of the art and it really pained me to see artists being taken advantage of and literally you know used without being valued in the way that they should be the contributions that artists provide to society are immeasurable they are immeasurable and that has value that we can never it that it just has there's a tremendous value to that and so as i began to think about organizations that i could become involved with and support this organization in particular the international association of blacks and dance was one that really valued and continued to be a voice for black dancers and specifically five women really shepherded this organization for many many many years and through their bloods went and tears this organization has evolved into a leader in the field it supports many it's intergenerational and it is home and family and what's most important is that every member every person every entity that intersects with this organization places value on the work of those who are apart and those who are not and we invite everyone in to be apart so i don't know if i answered your question but that's how i got started it's just recognizing that yes um how long has uh iabd international association uh black dance how long has that organization been uh been going on we are currently celebrating 30 years but prior to the formation of the actual association black folks have been gathering together and dancing together for many many years so the people who have been around and who have been dancing for decades i'll say this centuries really um have been the catalyst for the actual formation of the organization so all of the gatherings actually predate the existence of the association which was born in 1991 but prior to that there were conferences that were happening there were gatherings that were happening in a more informal way you know let's get together and have a conversation i'm having this issue have you dealt with it could you help me that type of camaraderie and support within the community predates the actual formation and formalization i'll say of the association itself back to the 60s and 70s and probably before then do you have one of uh you know the fondest moments of being part of iabd yes i do i sure do it was uh gosh let me see this is 2021 so 2010 when i was elected the next executive director and chair of the organization and it happened in philadelphia uh at a conference and festival so 2010 is a landmark year for me in this organization tremendous amazing congratulations thank you a you're an incredible leader i don't know if those who are watching um don't know that and it's i've been involved in iabd um and it's a blessing uh that those that those conferences are they're magical yeah uh i attended the homecoming so that's what it feels like you know i'm involved in several different organizations but to have a predominant powerful black organization i felt welcome you know as a deaf person i mean you've already answered part of my question have prior to me had had you had been involved or met or encountered or you know what's your experience working with uh the deaf community well actually that's a great question because as a professor here at howard back in the uh late 90s and 2000s we did a collaboration with gallaudet university so howard is in washington dc gallaudet university is in washington dc and we did a collaboration uh in dance and theater here at the university one of our former students jaron what's jaron's last name you might know him jaron oh boy it'll come to me uh his mother works at gallaudet and he's also a sign interpreter here in the area and also an amazing dancer he is a hearing dancer however he also has family members who are not and so he has really been that link to the deaf community here as part of the howard university community as well so i did have the opportunity and it was an amazing experience then uh just like this one is now jaron i got to think of his last name it's with an f yes i'm trying to think i'm trying to think it'll come to me anyway jaron if you're watching i'm sure you know something to be done i'm sure it'll pop up uh maybe we might interview him in the future yes it would be great to have on your show yes thank you have you worked with the deaf community individuals that identify as having a disabled what's kind of your hope to learn through these communities you know this is something that you and i had started to talk about and really i want to work more to do i bd has worked to do and has partnerships and collaborations that need to take place between our communities i'm not even going to stand here and pretend like we don't i'm not because there is an opportunity for us to learn from one another and create work together many times we kind of go to the go to people and it's time for us to really spread our wings and look internally at who is right here within community and you are someone who's in community that we haven't really had the chance to work with in an artistic and collaborative space and that's very important to me and that really needs to happen there's support that i often talk about i think what a year ago or so i think i sent you and zana an email and i was like what can we do we need to work together i want to support you this organization wants to support this community that we know exists that we kind of quite honestly jump in and out of but don't have a real relationship like this that needs to be very present and so it's something we need to work on we need to figure out like what is what is it and make sure that we continue to grow partner collaborate all the words evolve work together like we need to establish something that is meaningful long lasting and that is really a pipeline and a way for us to continue to create art together to work art together and to empower an uplift it's a thing we need to work on it geron gilchrist remember see you said it would happen geron gilchrist okay oh yeah i think i know who that is yeah thank you mm-hmm yeah you know it's tough it's tough you know black dancers artists you know what do you feel what's the biggest thing that you've noticed in connection to black dancers barriers like ways that we can support you know what are some things that you've identified i hope you understand what you feel me i understand what you're saying i do i think the biggest thing for black dancers right now honestly is the ability for us to find the synergies between the different forms of dance that we are all creating and working on sometimes we work very siloed and in the silos we don't actually get the opportunity to look beyond who are kind of immediate community or or group that we're working with and many times i find in conversations that i'm having oh wait i know of someone who's exploring some you know something that might be relative to what you're doing do you know about them are you interested in connecting nine times out of ten absolutely but we don't know about someone else's work and the potential for us to really collaborate and partner together and i find that a lot in our community we are all busy we're all creatives we're right now all trying to save our organizations but is there this tangible possible way for us to really connect and support one another i've said this um quite often in speaking with predominantly white institutions about connective tissue and the network so actually making the net work for us we need to also do that within our community and really build a much stronger partnership um and again a synergy and connection to support one another you know yeah i often say you know artists they need a space to feel safe opportunities they need financing there's not a lot of funding uh that supports black black dancers or organizations uh there just seems to be mountains of barriers and our walls uh that's uh we have to break through and i'm hoping that that changes um and like you mentioned you know the net work so making the network for us evolving you know sticking together sticking with black organizations yes that's so true because as you know literally in the last four to five years iabd has received significant funding to support its community and that's only you know been because we finally were able to have some conversations with a funder who listened but not only listened but also wanted to learn and you don't normally find that now you do in you know the midst of the times right george floyd's murder shifted many think many people's thinking um but prior to that you know this organization was a volunteer led association people were not giving money to a black dance service organization because the predominantly white institution dance usa was doing the work but only to a certain extent and so we have to really press upon the philanthropic community to fund differently to engage with us differently to listen be willing to listen be willing to learn because i'm sorry y'all there is so much money out there and the crabs in the barrel mentality does not need to exist in our community because there is money for everyone i believe that and you know why i believe that because my ancestors my ancestors your ancestors they died for this country they worked for this country they made other people extremely rich and that money as i often say needs to be given back to those who died for it and i know that's kind of strong language but i this pandemic has been something else no bring it come on this show is death woke come on well let's just need to wake up right yes let me just really quickly when the pandemic hit and our community stopped working we all of a sudden saw in this country these foundations and the government literally open up those deep vaults and the money show me the money where they say where the money reside where the money reside there was money that just started coming out of nowhere to save people to provide money for us to continue to live you know that money is from our ancestors it's on the backs and it's the blood of our ancestors i mean i really i this is this is going to sound crazy but you know i think of you know the the old white dude with the keys going down the steps and unlocking those vaults and then just passing it up the stairs so that people can you know have access to it we saw institutions philanthropic institutions in one week put together an artistic fund for recovery for our community in one week millions of dollars for us to access one week now y'all know when we do those grants they don't it takes them like three months to get back to us they put that together in one week so let's not let's press on this philanthropic community let's press on these folks that have the dollars to say give the money back give it back fairly give it back equitably and let's begin to change our minds and our thoughts in our hearts about who really needs the support yeah and you know you had mentioned something earlier that they have to be willing to learn willing to listen and i live by the motto that all because you can hear doesn't mean you know how to listen right so we need people to be willing to listen and it's like like you said in the beginning there's no you without me there's no me without you yes we need to help each other grow you know husband wife wife husband and husband husband wife family uh you know we we it's it's the balance sometimes it's sometimes it's on me sometimes i gotta work a little bit more harder for the family uh and then sometimes i'm gonna need to rely on you you know to help out with the family you know yes and that's what the dance world is you know we take turns on supporting each other you know our black people you know they they they've earned this ancestor the ancestors you know for black you know arts you know this world you know some people have you know you know so what happened you know what do you think would happen what would you think would happen in the future if we gave this money uh to our black dancers let me just say this you said something just a moment ago this world and i mean this the world does not move without black creativity the world does not move without black creativity it doesn't so what does that mean that means everything that we touch that we do that we create affects all things it does it does and so we are foundational people because it all springs from us let's go back to africa y'all let's take it back to the motherland it's deeply rooted and we are the seeds we are the seeds and so that's why there is such sometimes momentum to hold us back to hold us down to make us think that we are inferior that we cannot be leaders that we have to be submissive when you sit in the theater and we are on stage i mean i don't know how you all feel but the hairs on my arms it doesn't matter when you and zanya performed in Dayton Ohio a few years ago i mean i literally was just on the edge of my seat the slightest movement i felt it the eye the fingertips the extension of the hand that's power and i'm gonna say this white people know it they can't match it we really are magical people we are and unfortunately they have figured out a way to snuff that out so if all of us were funded hmm if all of us had the resources hmm yes yes brandy black magic yes it's true it is so true yes true true indeed uh you know i was watching an interview uh with a gentleman named michael oh with michelle obama interpreter error uh yeah there was an interview that she was uh she provided at the white house my mind i was just out of it was an out of body experience you know black people you know one of the most powerful positions in the usa is as it's the president so i just want to you know your truth thank you we need that truth thank you for being raw you know people need to wake up you know black people need to know black deaf people need to know you know if you know the things you're sharing today they remember they may have never heard today it's critical the information you're sharing today you know there are there are the black people working in different different different places and you my lord how are you how are you maintaining this much energy with everything that you're doing how do you keep it going i have a family that supports me i'll tell you this short story really quickly my husband before we got married courted me and you know what that courtship entailed him sitting in the theater while i did my thing so he understands my love and my passion and the drive for the work that i do because i told him i was like if you gonna date me you're gonna have to come to the theater you're gonna have to come and see what i do i'm just not out yes right i'm not out in the streets every night i'm in the theater doing my work but i couldn't do this without my family my family my husband and my son they allow me to be the person who i am and do the work that i love to do and support me in it a hundred percent i mean i just i couldn't do it without them i couldn't so i love them i love them to death that's wonderful uh who's your role model gosh people ask me that question and you know i i don't have an answer i mean i i learned from people like i i who's my role model my mom my mom um but there's no one that like comes to mind because i learned from people it it it's important that we get to know and understand people period and as we are encountering them you pick up certain things from everyone and you create that space for yourself there isn't someone who i have said like i want to be exactly like them i've said there's a quality about this person that i like and that i'm going to just take that piece and incorporate it into the person that i want to become and there's a person over here that i like and i love the way they do that and though their way their frame of thinking and that i think is something i can use to better myself but i don't i don't have like a just one person there's many many mentors in my life and many figures in my life who i admire and i learned from and helped to just evolve and build i guess my own my being my person to being a better person it's a journey and during covid it sure has been a journey so we have a few questions left i know your time is precious it's all right i'm enjoying this what hold on you see i'm gonna pose this question me probably what is deaf dance mean to you what is your perspective of deaf dance that's a tough one yeah that is a tough one that's a good question it's dance it's dance it doesn't like the qualifier doesn't matter to me the deaf part it doesn't matter to me the dance matters to me does it touch me does it make me feel am i understanding what you're expressing am i connecting with you that part doesn't matter to me is there beauty in what i see on stage am i in the moment with you that's that's the dance that's the art that's that's the piece you know we have the ability to tell the story without speaking dancers are powerful people powerful people period what other art form allows us to speak without speaking allows us to express without vocalizing or even signing it's the movement it's the feeling it's the emotion it's the storytelling that's the beauty of it hmm yes you're an incredibly special person so i thank you and the international association of the deaf black dance you know with that organization is it challenging to you know find you know interpreters having to meet interpreters or you know be involved in the deaf community especially you know black deaf dancers we need a space to share our art you know you know we understand like for example you know me growing up you know i lived in different worlds you know deaf people of my community you know they looked at me like i'm you know i'm black uh but deaf black or the black people in my community look at me like i'm black or i'm deaf rather so like i balance in between those worlds so and you know myself it's incredible it's been a joy to be black deaf and be a dancer you know iabd provides a place to be able to share your story and i invite everyone everyone to participate be involved in to tune in to iabd and the other organization you had mentioned that you know your mom is your role model you look you look up to them and there's a lot of people you look up to that there isn't just one um and you know you have several people who's influenced you um so now our next segment i welcome you to our game show it's called name these people okay antoine don't have me out here okay let's do this don't worry i'm ready come on you know it's all about educating each other that's right come on let's do this so you have two options you can you can name them or you can uh guess what they do or you know you just guess maybe guess what they do okay it's all be providing a visual description of each of our uh each of the uh individuals so actually uh she was on um she was on our show last week the visual description is a picture of an indian female appears in a beautiful outside of the garden uh with some pink flowers behind her she has a salt and pepper short hair wearing silver bindi on her forehead gold earrings on her ears to match her gold necklace who is she oh i don't know who she is but she's obviously a dancer and she's yeah and she's indian yes and okay kavita yep kavita papalia papyla yeah she's a dance she's a deaf dancer uh native from india uh is the global deaf aid foundation executive director uh mother uh so uh the reason why i brought her name up is because she was on our show last uh last week okay uh she does uh so much uh especially in the nations of africa um and our next uh so just let you know i you know uh these might be a guess for me as well okay a visual description a picture of an african-american male stands next to the smoky white brick walls holding hands to look at the camera and smiling he has a bald head looking handsome with a pair of silver rounded eyeglasses and a thin black beard um who is it he looks like he could be your brother don't kind of have the same frame of the face he does but you know we're our brothers and sisters i don't know who this is but he's um a business person uh okay yeah chris he's in the washington dc area um hopefully you have an opportunity to meet him as well he's an incredible mentor uh role modeling a role model leader inspirational writer so i do hope in the near future you get the opportunity of meeting him i've seen her before uh this picture of an african-american female stands with her arms folding uh wearing a black golf cap and a black eye-framed eyeglasses with her golden brown long golden brown hair on her shoulders you said you've seen her before i have i don't know her name i've seen her before okay i don't know what's her name name is jade brian uh she's deaf a native of new york city i think you may have i think i've you may have met her once a long long long long time ago has she done something at the apollo has she worked at the apollo theater before yes yes yes okay this picture of african-american male has a black short soft curly haircut trimmed black goatee wearing a small silver hoop airing a black suit jacket with a white collar who is it that could definitely be your brother but now isn't he a wayans is that one of the wayans i don't know who is that he's an actor uh-huh marlin sawn okay sawn okay close close close he's a hearing actor native of new york and he was on the show in living color that was during my time when i was growing up oops one more as we have technical difficulties that's okay that's okay she had on a red blouse with a black sweater and a thing in her hair she had a scarf on her head or what do you call those things can y'all see it no we can't see it well i can't see it come on come on come on let's bring it back bring it back you know it is tech to tech you know it's fine it's fine here we go that wasn't the other picture but i'll take this one there's a picture of african-american male stands holds his tap brown leather shoes on his left hand while another tap shoe in his right hand arm holding he has a medium long care free locks full uh stalled beard and so who is he that's the tap man savion glover i worked with him he's phenomenal yep savion glover is hearing is a native of new york new jersey uh in american uh tap dancer actor and choreographer uh this is a picture of african-american female appears behind a white blinds to sit and hug to hugging herself and gold hoop earring peeks out of her right ear she has in her long uh micro braided ponytail with long braids in the front of her shoulders who is she that's a figgins girl which one deon yes is it deon or is it the other sisters there's three they all came they all grew up here in dc went to ellington they all look the same they do they do which one is this uh it's not deon is it i'll give you a little i'll give you a little help on this one oh she's uh she's death i know uh samantha yeah samantha figgins yes she goes uh she identifies as hard-of-hearing uh native of washington dc a ballet dancer and contemporary ballet teacher she's also known for uh the alvin ailey dance theater she was involved in the bay area international deaf dance festival uh the 2020 festival she's incredible uh yeah she's this is a picture of african-american male appears in his black kinky curly afro haircut with shaved sides as his black eye frame glasses and has black trim goatee wearing deeply orange shirt who is he i don't know who this is i don't oh no me too me too who is this oh yeah jeremy lee stone okay death a native of new york american sign language instructor social media platform uh called asl storyteller oh i know who this is yeah yeah there's one more and there's a visual description of black and white picture of an indian female stands against the post office of old male box with her folded arms looking at the camera and greening she has long hair to her shoulders wears a jacket with her tote bag over her shoulders and black pants who is she i don't know what do you think she does or living well she's probably a dancer right ronnie you're in dance is she in dance yes she's fond of yoga she lives in northern california uh works as dreamworks as a graphic designer uh she has she's been credited for a few movies like kung fu panda wow and uh puss in boots okay those are really amazing people that's what i was hoping you would say oh yeah yeah you know i use this moment uh to learn that we can learn together black history you know it's only once a month i mean really black history is every day yeah so you know being that it's every day i use this moment i know we only have so much time left i don't want to take too much of your time so i want to leave some time for the audience uh for a little q&a you ready i'm ready all right audience this is your time go ahead type your questions in the chat box um this is the segment called ask the niece saunders thompson anything oh i'll bless you during this moment uh i definitely saw one question where's the money reside noa anywhere you can find it so question is i feel dancers are often underestimated what advice do you have for dancers to advocate for themselves that's a great great question um one of the things that i often talk about particularly in our field is the fact that um we are often only thought about within the art form that dancers typically don't have a voice that you know just you just continue to dance and don't say anything we have to break that cycle and that culture and that thinking because we are often told to be quiet and just dance that you have a voice that you should not remain quiet we oftentimes think about being penalized for speaking up speak up speak up if the person or the organization that you are involved with or are engaged with really cares about your work your voice will matter if they tell you they don't want to listen and they don't want you to speak up you've got a decision to make so advocating certainly means speaking up for yourself but also so the organization has a responsibility and an obligation to listen to what you have to say and so i often say you know what does that mean to you as an artist working for a particular organization do they respect you do they listen to you do they allow for you and i mean that allow for you that's a strong word but do they allow for you to utilize your voice without there being any type of backlash or any type of repercussions if you don't agree and so we do have to step out there and be strong and be very clear about whatever the matter or the situation may be or what it is you what it is you have to say and sometimes there is penalty and we also have to be prepared for that too question is what is a good advice for a starting professional dance company as a black dance company founder yourself oh wow stay in it oftentimes you're going to be told no and antoine i know you know and most most people who are leading organizations know they're going to be more knows than yeses and so you have to push through the nose in order to get to the one big yes and that's very tough i could tell you you know the number of grants we've written the number of asks and conversations that we have had that didn't garner us anything but that one conversation that one opportunity garnered many so it's really just sticking in there believing in your work believing in the the purpose and the goals of what you're doing and just continuing to just just to do it do it don't let anybody steal your dream don't anybody take um take away the the spirit the dance the drive if that's what you want push through it's going to be tough i know this this is like we always say these kind of like pep talks and advice but it really is it's it is keep pushing just continue to keep pushing and where's you know if you have the opportunity find people who believe in the work that you're doing and work together in a unit because you're gonna need that support you're gonna need the support to continue moving forward so when's the next international black dance conference well we were supposed to be having another one in 2022 and we're not the it's it's there's still too much uncertainty right now in our industry is is not back at capacity so we are pushing back to 2023 january of 2023 and it will actually take place outside of the country will be in toronto canada it's cold in canada in january i know well there's gonna be a whole lot of black people together so there'll be plenty of heat on the stage how about your social media handle we can follow well hold on oh i can answer that one hey so yes you can follow denise saunders thompson on her website and social media her website is www.iabbassociation.org her ig and twitter account is at iabbinc and her facebook uh you can find her at iabb black dance you know but what do you love to cook well my family is interesting i don't eat meat i'm a pescetarian but my son and my husband eat meat so i cook two different meals everything you know when i cook so for myself i am from connecticut originally everyone so i grew up around the water and i love seafood so i love fish i love shrimp i love crabs i love lobster i love scallops i love oysters i love fish seafood so i eat a lot of seafood and i cook that for myself but i have a 14 year old and i had a 50 something year old in my house who eat turkey so chicken and steak so i cook that for them too so it's kind of a weird menu in my house all the time because it's like well we gotta go somewhere where we can both eat we're always navigating that food that food conversation so what do you want for food tonight or what do you want do they have okay then we could eat there so do you feel this new relationship and act of listening from the founders will last well that's a great question um the world the world moves in like these circles and this moment is a cyclical moment because i've heard from those who have been doing this work um prior to me so my founders and members of my community of the older generation talk about this kind of being a repeat cycle what i feel is different about this cycle however is that we spoke up someone asked a question about advocating we advocated as a community as a people loud and clear and there was a moment that took the life of a man what catapulted us in a way that from what i hear from our elders has been different has touched people differently has moved people to think and act differently though not everyone has gotten on that boat but there's a larger majority of folks who are now thinking and listening listening actively to voices that they normally would not have been listening to before so i'm hopeful i'm real hopeful that this is a shift permanently though the cycle will continue there's been a shift permanently so we have two more questions what are some opportunities for deaf dancers and professionals within your organization well we have a number of programming activities and i'm really glad this question was asked um as i mentioned before i was able to see antoine and zania perform on the stages of the conference and festival in Dayton Ohio in 2019 so there are performance opportunities for all organizations it doesn't matter who you are the art that you do the form that you practice there's an opportunity a performance opportunity for dancers for companies there's opportunities to participate with workshops and seminars and classes to teach there's a lot of opportunities in addition we have programmatic um we have programs that involve master classes there's auditions that occur for other companies as well we are a service organization and so we really try to listen to what's happening in the community respond to that but also try and keep our pulse our finger on the pulse of what are the needs and how white and how might we be able to assist in addressing them and or creating opportunities for dancers period i think we have one more does your site have a list of grants um and supporting information yes it does if you go for the resources tab on the website you'll see a drop down and you'll be able to uh what does the tab say i think it says dance resources but you'll click there and you'll see a whole host of information on funding uh funders on um institutions on agencies um across the board for for dancers actually i want to use this time to show a little video okay that group was here we just knew we'd hit our stride but then everything changed no more touring no more performances no more training no more dancing who could have known that when we went home in march it would be for the rest of the year who could have known that when we went home in march and we're having some uh tech things going on but uh i definitely want some people to see that video that is the end of the year video my team came up with that video and it really was a summation just of all of you know a recap of what we went through um throughout the covid year when they sent the script to me it really touched my heart armad abri ronnie ronnie othello delis george george lewis johnson paula kello john luce fessy paul jonesan david sage jones renon is here marcus white and so many more we've made it through 2020 by leaning on each other we won't go back to normal because normal is not enough we deserve more you deserve more you are the reason dance thrives here so keep creating keep innovating keep showing up because the only way forward is together wonderful do you know do you have any final third words or thoughts this has been an amazing night talking with you and um i miss you so much i really do um i don't have much to say i think the video that you showed really some summarizes how i feel right now about what's happening in the world and where we as black people black creatives particularly in dance we just have to keep going we have to lean on one another we have to support one another and i am so proud to be shepherding this organization during this time the people who are part of this association the people who are part of this community we said it earlier it's black magic we are a special people we are a special people keep creating yes yes yes yes thank you so much uh you know being brave and talking to our black deaf community BIPOC community and you know even the hearing community uh you know uh and those who you know maybe interact with the deaf community so thank you so much thank you for being your black magic bring into the space it's been a blessing i'll see you soon we will see each other soon thank you i would like to share my final thought before i even say anything wow wow what a blessing you know as a black deaf dancer in person myself i often don't feel welcomed as an artist we need a space to feel like it's a homecoming for other hearing community those who are leaders please be comfortable inviting and learning new things learning how to grow it's like what denise said there's no you without me there's no me without you if you grow then i grow and we grow together black is beautiful that's true black is beautiful and let's go and celebrate that uplift that i invite you all to become members of the international association of black dance to learn how to fund your own and found your own organization there's no limit to what you can do hopefully you can capture some of that energy that denise has please participate collaborate thank you for watching thank you i need to say thank you to of course denise saunders thompson uh the interpreters the audience howl round drop labs and everyone you who are watching thank you zula for watching you guys are all a blessing come on now where my likes at come on where my heart's at thank you thank you all so much love oh of course thank you to pop fish who designed this t-shirt um if you can please uh donate to urban jazz dance company this platform this deaf woke is is not free uh there are admin costs interpreters other costs to continue this show please if you love this show and if you can contribute to urban real urban jazz dance company dot com come on now where my where my likes at where my heart's at let me see those clicks click six this is not the end but until next time peace love i'm out wait man hold on where's my music at