Online Panel Discussion for Black History Month Facilitated by The Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS)
By Sinela Jurkova To Wakefield Brewster:
Good Day, Greetings and Salutations.
Happy Black History Month, to One and All.
This has been nothing short of a banner year for me, not for performance necessarily, but for public panel appearances.
Of course, I love presenting poetically, and for a very long time, that has been the main avenue of sharing my world of words with our world.
However, I am beginning to receive opportunities that lend to narrative and backstory regarding whatever the topic is at hand.
Always, it’s a flattering affair to be selected, and I am genuinely grateful for this type of speaking platform.
Such was the case with CCIS, and I am beyond honoured to state that I had been able to be a part of a public panel regarding the significance and meanings behind Black History Month for me.
The good fortune befell me to join these illustrious and innovative ChangeMakers in our Calgary Communities:
Pastor Joachim Chisanga
Dr. Rofiah Sarumi
Bamidele Salako
Ricardo Morales
Samuel Obadero of Motif Photography https://motifphotography.pic-time.com/portfolio
Moderated by: Dr. Sinela Jurkova
SJ:
"Wakefield, as Calgary's Poet Laureate and a powerful voice in the arts, your work has illuminated the lives and challenges of the Black community through poetry and spoken word. With your unique background and advocacy for marginalized voices, how do you see the role of Black artists evolving in Canada's cultural landscape, especially in fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of Black history and experiences?"
WB:
I see the roles of Black Artists evolving in Canada’s Cultural Landscape - outside the confines of just ‘culture’.
The nation will better see, hear, and more pronouncedly feel the commitments and contributions of the Black Communities to Canada’s Cultural Landscape, by experiencing Black Culture outside of its public designations.
The nation will better see, hear, and more pronouncedly feel the commitments and contributions of the Black Communities to Canada’s Cultural Landscape, by acknowledging, respecting, and learning about the history.
No one may be expected to know the whole of any history, but this is not only Canadian and American History, it is Caribbean History, it is South American History, it is African History, and it is World History.
We in Canada celebrate Black History Month, and for a myriad of reasons on the positive and the negative, it exists.
However, especially for most of colonial-culture, it exists only in February, and only if it’s entertaining or mandatory. When food, song, dance, and mandate are on the table, then it’s either a feast, or it’s a fare force-fed.
When it comes to how Black Culture all began in the West due to the Transatlantic Slave Trade – I notice a far different reception from Colonial Culture.
“Talking about Slavery is depressing”
“They had slaves in Egypt”
“Can’t we / Can’t THEY just move on?!”
“Slavery has been over for years”
“Blacks weren’t the only enslaved peoples”
“Africans enslaved Africans before slavery in America”
“Obama is Black, what’s the big deal?”
“I have a distant slave relative, and she was WHITE”
These narratives are presently pervasive, and positively poisonous, period.
They do nothing except perpetuate the resistance to change, uphold the dominant-culture systems, suppress, oppress, and educate the younger and impressionable generations of colonial-culture to “learn-by-watching” not by thinking, and then “grow-up-doing.”
These narratives, insidiously indoctrinate.
Therefore, we as Artists must evolve out of Cultural-Artistic boxes, and into all sectors of society, including, and not only:
Business
Media / especially Social Media
Law Enforcement / Incarcerated Communities
Religious and Spiritual Organizations
Civic and Volunteer Groups
Health and WellBeing
Federal, Provincial, and Municipal Agencies
Local Organizations
Science Technology Engineering Math Associations
Education from Primary Grades to Post-Secondary, including vocational and trades
Mentoring and Leadership
Community building
Parenting
Youth
The role of The Black Artist and Artistry is to take our stories, our histories, and our very presence, into the entire world around us – and we shall become the Living Legacies of our Ancestors, and due diligence by our descendants.
SJ:
"In light of your engagement with the arts community, Wakefield, how do you navigate the challenges of representation and inclusivity, ensuring that Black voices are not only heard but also valued within the arts?"
WB:
I navigate the challenges, in the Arts and in the world at large; by never shying away from the places that feel the least welcoming.
I believe that these concentrations are WHAT they are, and the WAY they are, primarily for WHOM they are.
If those atmospheres are left unpenetrated, unperforated, they not only remain as they are, but they also propagate, populate, and progress.
When I have opportunities to bring my Artistry into any unwelcoming spaces, I realize that I am acting as An Agent of Change, it is a Personal Obligation, and a Professional Opportunity.
This is how I create change.
I am an Artistic Translator, I use my linguistic ability to respond, reply, and relate the stories of the Human Condition to the world around me. When we share stories, we truly realize that there is only one thing that a human may endure: human experiences. There is no one human experience that any one person has happened on, that another human has not; the exact same experience, only slightly differently, for we are all unique, and individual.
Once we start telling our own stories and each other’s, it’s impossible to believe that any one of us are at all alone.
Positively, and negatively, we are none of us, alone.
Therefore, going into an unfriendly atmosphere, armed with Artistry, I may draw the connections through my stories in Poetry, and through my Performance Art of Spoken Word, to reveal that in some obvious and oblivious fashions, we are more alike than not
Being in such communities, in this capacity, I believe promotes humans to celebrate similarities, and delight in the discovery of diversity.
That is how I may help Black Voices be heard, that is how I may help Black Voices be valued.
Wakefield Brewster
Professional Poet & Spoken Word Artist
Professional Poetic Interpreter
Poet Laureate, Calgary 2022 - 2024
Registered Massage Therapist
Founder and CEO: Page2Stage Productions, Inc.
Professional Performance Poetry Productions
Founder and Lead Therapist: WakeFull Wellness Registered Massage Therapy & HealingSpace