I remember the day like it was yesterday. The 2014 Mike Brown catastrophe struck my city, the world, and every corner of my being. There was his body, the unapologetic police, the devastated community, and the wailing mother. In Ferguson, I marched in the frontline protests, echoing the furious chants: "No Justice, No Peace!" "Hands up, don't shoot." Yet, when I returned home, I felt lost. ‘How am I, a dancer and journalist, going to really make a difference?’ I wasn’t exactly sure what to do and that uncertainty formed a nagging knot in my belly.
That was until suddenly while teaching a West African dance class, I charged my students to join me at that very moment in Ferguson to march once again with the people. Strapped with drums, sweaty t-shirts, and a hunger for justice, we headed out by car and landed on foot in front of the scorched Quick Trip, where the air still reeked of smoke.
Caph Guei and Andrew Behnen's drumming became a rhythmic resistance, uniting children and adults, old and young. I began dancing, dipping my back past pain and into power. The crowd swelled, and soon, as newscasters buzzed around us, we weren't just dancing, we were architecting a great revolutionary healing.
Days later, I quickly wrote "United We Dance," my first protest play inspired completely by our spontaneous creative display that day. The play started with dancers dropping to the ground - no different than Mike Brown did - but suddenly rising up to battle rogue forces through non-violent dance. In the end, dance and the summoning of ancestral wisdom brought us back from the edge and into a state of social harmony in which black, white, and brown / police and civilians danced together in positive forward momentum.
The play was so effective that audience members wailed and cried and “United We Dance” was soon invited to perform in L.A. And it was then — while packing my bags to fly to California — that I realized what art is all about and why my play was so effective in helping to heal our community.
In crafting the play, I enlisted Caph and Andrew, just off the frontline of protests, to helm the percussion ensemble. Alongside them, professional dancers infused their movements with more than just skill – they brought forth their entire struggles, hopes, and fears. In the process, I reached out to my longtime dance mentor, Mama DeBorah Ahmed, who contributed a poignant back-to-Africa, time-traveling piece to the play and embodied the watchful elder who ultimately, in the play, prevented a rogue protester from escalating the dance battle into violence. At the core of it all was this profound realization: because that play emerged from the very essence of our hearts and resurrected hopes, it possessed the ability to intimately connect with and reshape our community.
This connection resonates with me to this day, serving as the driving force behind my commitment to creating art as an extension of my personal feelings and as a response to the genuine needs expressed in my community. Crafting from the raw depths of my heart and the aspirations of my people is also the might behind Jaifunde Phonics and Math. Our activity books are more than products. They embody my cries and triumphs and the struggles and prayers of all parents to have their children rise to meet the great call of life, and to transcend the confines of abuse or violence.
And so, to my fellow artists and creatives, I want to extend a call to you today: to step beyond the confines of your studios. We must set aside lofty notions and continue to immerse ourselves in collaboration and co-creation with others. For it is in this collective effort that authentic change finds its roots.
And for my fellow parents too, we are all artists in a way. Everyday, we hold within us a wellspring of creative energy that can serve as a powerful tool for personal and social change. So we must continue working collaboratively, with the divine higher power and with other caregivers and educators as we passionately architect our children's futures.
Our ability to harness creativity, whether through storytelling, engaging lessons, or nurturing a love for learning, is unparalleled and will take root to sprout wonderful opportunity for our children. Ashe! - Malena
