“Guided by my heritage of a love of beauty and a respect for strength-in search of my mother's garden, I found my own.”
- Alice Walker
Join us for an evening of moving storytelling and witness Black women’s tales of triumph, courage, beauty, legacy, and love.
Co-presented by Ashé Cultural Arts Center and Junebug Productions, Reel Talk: In Our Mothers’ Gardens features an outdoor film screening of Shantrelle P. Lewis’ In Our Mothers’ Gardens, an excerpt of KM Dance Project’s Raw Fruit, and a post-film discussion with Shantrelle and No Dream Deferred’s Lauren Turner.
Recirculating Farms will also be there serving up their delicious homemade hibiscus tea and information about urban gardening.
In Our Mothers’ Gardens, directed by Shantrelle P. Lewis, celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and oftentimes humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters. The film pays homage to Black maternal ancestors while examining the immediate and critical importance of self-care, and the healing tools necessary for Black communities to thrive.
Featured interviews include: #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; The Roots and Chris Rock tour manager Tina Farris; cultural critic Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University; Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames of Princeton University; holistic lifestyle maven Latham Thomas; photographer Adama Delphine Fawundu and NPR’s Senior Director for Programming Yolanda Sangweni.
Raw Fruit by Kesha McKey and KM Dance Project is a multidisciplinary dance work that reveals the essence of ancestral values woven into the cultural fabric of Black lives, and examines legacy, identity, socialization, unity, and friction inside the southern Black family dynamic.
No Dream Deferred is a community anchored theatre production company that prioritizes culturally relevant theatre and the work of historically marginalized playwrights for a New Orleans audience. No Dream Deferred’s One Womxn, One Show: In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens is a collection of stories shared in honor of Black Womxn and all of the ways in which we birth, nurture, and grow culture, movements, art, and generations.
The Recirculating Farms Coalition is a collaborative group of individuals and organizations – farmers, educators, chefs and many others – committed to building healthy communities through training, outreach and advocacy on innovative farming and food justice. We develop ecologically and socially responsible programs that grow local, affordable food, and create stable jobs in green businesses, in diverse communities, to foster physical, mental and financial wellness nationwide.
** Free and open to the public with proof of COVID vaccination or recent negative test.