NFN Listening Session: African American / Black Folx (Rescheduled, TBA)

The NFN invites Community Connectors and Community Voices to the African American / Black folx listening session with Emmy Her Many Horses.

Each one of us conducts our relations and carry our work in circles of practice, strategy, or wisdom that may or may not align neatly (or at all) with the categories of naming of the art-world infrastructure as dominant society has established it. So, for some of us in the NFN, the words “folklife” or “folk arts” or “folklore” are either completely new or are wording we struggle to explain to people we talk to. For some of us, these new terms are welcome and help us name something of value that might have been invisible to others around us. For others, this is known territory in which we have been able to raise money, create organizations, and still carry on practices of integrity and deep love. This is the reality of our different stances in the NFN — it is neither a bad thing nor a good thing. It is homework.

How wonderful that NFN has invited people with such divergent relationships to the “field” of folklife to sit together and forge some kind of community support systems.

As Maribel, Selina, Lori, Amy, and the leaders of the NFN have openly stated, the goal of the NFN is NOT to make folklorists of us all or to force us to fit into a box, but instead to expand the ways that the beautiful work of *caring for cultural practices on the ground* is known, supported, and advanced.

To that point, we are inviting Community Connectors and Voices to offer their thoughts about these either fitting or incongruent alignments in listening sessions every Tuesday, from August 1st through September 5th. Emmy Her Many Horses will facilitate these open conversations.

Each week will highlight different affinity groups, highlighting specific cultural, linguistic, and geographical differences. Please join any of these sessions that reflect your identities. These listening sessions will expand upon what we heard at the National Folklife Network Gathering, giving Community Connectors and Community Voices a space to share their thoughts.

**Spanish interpretation available // Interpretación en español disponible. Si desea interpretación en español, infórmenos al menos una semana antes del taller.

 Click this link to register