Broadcasting Hope: A Community Listening Event

The University of Florida and the Matheson History Museum will host a presentation and performance, followed by an interactive podcast listening experience. The event will begin with a libation by Turbado Marabou, a babalawo and doctoral student researching Black Aesthetics, followed by an exploration of decolonization themes presented through ritualized dance and spoken word by Rujeko Dumbutshena, a Zimbabwe-born artist and researcher at UF. Dr. Amanda Concha-Holmes will discuss the Decolonizing Representations in the Curriculum: Evoking the Complexity of Black Lives in Florida project. Her discussion will also present a viewing of a 3-minute animation created by Atlanta-based freelance animator Kandice Rodriguez that illustrates the need to alter the origin story and include precolonial Africa in the polyphonic conversation of Florida’s roots. In the second half of the event, Gabby Paul, Ryan Vasquez, and Sky Lebron will present their WUFT production of a podcast that highlights Black Thursday and presents the history of Florida from first inhabitants to Reconstruction. Bringing the conversation of decolonizing the curriculum to contemporary interventions, Dr. Dionne Champion will guide explore some of the journey that she, CAME (Center for Arts, Migration and Entrepreneurship), local artists and community partners are developing with the SPARK 352 initiative. Turbado Marabou and Barakissa Coulibaly will close the experience with the poignant remarks of decolonial knowledge production that embraces and unifies community through movement and rhythm. This program was funded in part through a Florida Humanities “Broadcasting Hope” Public Media Grant in partnership with the University of Florida.