The Kaleidoscope Project (MN): Poetic Reflections on Solidarity
Facebook Live Stream
Thursday, April 1, 7 p.m.

Join the East Side Freedom Library April 1 at 7 p.m. on Facebook Live for the second iteration of The Kaleidoscope Project (MN), which includes public readings of poetry inspired by deep reflection on empathy, solidarity, and intercommunity healing.

TKP, developed by creative writer/interdisciplinary artist Rebecca Nichloson, engages creative writers from historically marginalized communities in immersive virtual experiences centered on building solidarity and empathy between different communities across Minnesota. The methodology utilizes a human-centered design approach to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges each community faces and generates social justice/social equity-informed poetry that supports community-engagement and social change.

This cohort includes readings by: Rebecca Nichloson, Anthony Ceballos, Wilt Hodges, and Duaba Unenra!

This event will be available via live stream on the East Side Freedom Library Facebook page.

Anthony Ceballos received his BFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2016 he was selected to be a Loft Literary Center Mentor Series mentee. His poetry has been featured in Yellow Medicine Review, Midway Journal, Sleet, Writers Resist and upcoming from Great River Review. He lives, breathes and writes in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He can be found penning staff recommendations at Birchbark Books and Native Arts.

Duaba Unenra is a survivor of the reconstruction process in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. He is an artist, community organizer, and scholar who looks at how forces of neoliberalism took advantage of openings created by environmental disasters in Haiti and New Orleans to reinforce anti-Black, anti-poor, anti-woman, and anti-queer living and ways of being. Unenra engages in mutual aid and building counter-sites as social tools for self-determination and healing in Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other communities, including in institutions of higher education.

Wilt Hodges is a poet, essayist, and community reporter. He received his degree from Columbia University. A past Minnesota State Artist Grant recipient and Givens Fellow, he resides in Saint Paul.

Rebecca Nichloson (She/Her) is a creative writer, singer/songwriter, playwright and theatre maker. She is the author of numerous creative works, including Mara, Queen of the World (an acapella musical), The Wild, Bold Enlightenment of Velvet the Mistress, Cooking With Keisha (or Anatomy of Pie), and Jill, Jack & the Martian Lady, among others. She holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University, an M.A. in English Literature, and a B.A. in Business Administration. She was also the recipient of a 2020 Commission from the Cedar Cultural Center for which she created Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss, & Triumph and received a 2020 honorable mention from the McKnight Foundation (Spoken Word). www.RebeccaNichloson.com.

Image credit: Marco Verch

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