"Joy is An Act of Resistance" Panel Discussion and Performance

272 Wall Street,Kingston NY 12401

05 June, 2022

Description

The panel will explore the history of Pinkster & its role in the spiritual liberation of enslaved Africans and Dutch colonizers. Moderated by Professor Daniel Dawson, the "Joy is An Act of Resistance" panel will explore the history of Pinkster celebrations and their role in the spiritual liberation of both enslaved Africans and Dutch colonizers in the mid-Hudson Valley. Panelists include Chief Baba Neil Clarke, Alex Lasalle (check the spelling), and Cesi Davidson. Read about our panelists below: Charles Daniel Dawson A multi-talented artist, Daniel Dawson has worked as a photographer, filmmaker, curator, arts administrator, consultant and scholar. He has served as Curator of Photography, Film and Video at the Studio Museum in Harlem (NYC), Director of Special Projects at the Caribbean Cultural Center (NYC), Program Manager at the American Museum of Natural History (NYC) and Curatorial Consultant and Director of Education at the Museum for African Art (NYC). As a photographer, he has shown in over 35 exhibitions. In addition he has curated more than 70 exhibitions including Harlem Heyday: The Photographs of James Van Der Zee and The Sound I Saw: The Jazz Photographs of Roy DeCarava. Prof. Dawson has also been associated with many prize winning films including Head and Heart by James Mannas and Capoeiras of Brazil by Warrington Hudlin. He has worked as a consultant for the Cooper Hewitt Museum, International Center for Photography, Lincoln Center, Ralph Appelbaum Associates and three different divisions of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. As a scholar, he has lectured at the House of World Cultures-Berlin, the Kit Tropenmuseum-Amsterdam, the University of California-Berkeley, University of Texas-Austin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, New School for Social Research, Columbia University, Princeton University and the Federal University of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Prof. Dawson has also taught seminars on African Spirituality in the Americas at the University of Iowa, Columbia University, New York University and Yale University. He is currently a member of Kamoinge, a pioneering collective of African American photographers founded in 1963. Alex LaSalle, Alma Moyo | Bomba Y Plena Alexander LaSalle is a spiritual healer, historian, musician, songwriter. Alex is the head of the religious house of Bejuco Nfinda Batalla Sacaraempeño in the United States, providing leadership and support to hundreds of people in the United States in the Afro-Cuban Kongo healing system known as Palo Mayombe. A Mayombe priest for over 2 decades,, Alex has dedicated his life to helping people of African descent restore balance, heal from trauma, spiritually fortify and evolve using their own African-derived indigenous healing systems. Alex LaSalle is also a priest of Oshun in the Yoruba-derived Lukumi tradition known as Santeria as well as an omoawo in the traditional Yoruba Isese and a skilled diviner in Kongo/Bantu based divination systems. Alex is a master in the folkloric roots drum tradition known as Bomba. Alex’s near photographic memory is the repository of hundreds of Bomba songs, and he is also recognized by elders of the Mayombe spiritual system as being amongst the top interpreters of the AfroCuban songs of Mayombe known as “mambos de palo.” A gifted singer, songwriter, arranger and percussionist well versed in roots, rock, and blues, Alex is the founder and musical director of NYC's powerhouse bomba ensemble Alma Moyo, a group that helped promote the maroon warrior spirit inherent in the musical practice. Alma Moyo has been praised as the next generation of powerful bomberos, and has recorded the iconic bomba CD entitled “No Hay Sabado Sin Sol.” Alex is a master in the folkloric roots drum tradition known as Bomba. Alex is the repository of hundreds of Bomba songs, and he is also recognized by elders of the Mayombe spiritual system as being amongst the top interpreters of the AfroCuban songs of Mayombe known as “mambos de palo.” A gifted singer, songwriter, arranger and percussionist well versed in roots, rock, and blues, Alex is the founder and musical director of NYC's powerhouse bomba ensemble Alma Moyo, a group that helped promote the maroon warrior spirit inherent in the musical practice. Alma Moyo has been praised as the next generation of powerful bomberos, and has recorded the iconic bomba CD entitled “No Hay Sabado Sin Sol.” Alex has been tapped to advise on historical accuracy and prevalent practices within Santeria, Palo Mayombe, Spiritism and Sance by community members, scholars at Yale University such as Dr. Robert Farris Thompson, and Hollywood stars such as Madonna and Spike Lee. Alex is a kind and effective educator who uses arts and culture to help unleash the brilliance of youth of color grades K-12 who’ve been written off as unruly and unreachable in “last stop” schools across New York. Alex uses culture and African diaspora heritage as a tool to catalyze curiosity, learning, personal empowerment and purpose-setting youth on the path to becoming “enlightened ancestors. Cesi Davison During August 2008 while on a spiritual retreat at Monastere de Recluses Missionaires in Quebec, Canada I self-identified as a playwright. I lived with a convent of nuns who were spiritually devoted to prayer and meditation. During the stillness of my life at the convent the playwriting began. Over time I came to realize that my professional career as a speech and language pathologist had prepared me to write conversation. My daily professional life was about communication. It was also about suffering, perseverance, and triumph. Professional experiences together with those while being a companion, mother, sister, friend, acquaintance and colleague, encouraged me to ignore conventional boundaries and focus on truth. When writing drama for the stage I attempt to release the inner life of a character so the truth of whom he or she is can be unobstructed. Essentially I strive to be receptive to the truth of the characters placed in my care and not get in the way of their story. The unexpressed words that create their actions as individuals are usually the most important. I attempt to expose it all in moments. Thank you to our partners— NEA Radio Kingston The Old Dutch ChurchCCEYMCAThe Kingston Interfaith AllianceThe Ministerial AllianceThe City of Kingston Kingston LibraryUlster CountyThe Rosendale TheaterRondout Valley Growers AssociationThis project is supported in part with an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.