Session 5: The Art of Repair: Harmony & Dissonance

Speakers

  • Mizan is the Co-Creator of Spearitwurx, an organization that inspires Intergenerational Wellness and Racial Healing through cultural arts, community events, strategic consulting and transformative educational experiences. Mizan is also a certified Healing Centered Engagement Trainer with Flourish Agenda and has a master’s degree in public health. She is an experiential and Installation artist and has exhibited work throughout California. She is the artist and curator of the Experience Sankofa Project Living Museum. See more of Mizan’s artHERE.  Certified Therapeutic Yoga instructor by Niroga, Mizan incorporates creative expression and dynamic mindfulness into her work for social transformation.

 

  • Sizwe is an Educator, Radical Healer and Mentor and has worked throughout the Bay Area. He has supported African American Wellness through the National Campaign for Black Male Achievement, Oakland Freedom School, Flourish Agenda’s Camp Akili, Oakland Unified School District’s Manhood Development Program, and Determination Black Men’s Group at United Roots, to name a few. As Co-Founder and Director of Cultural Engagement at Spearitwurx, he approaches the work with passion and insight. Sizwe believes that connectedness is our currency and that building authentic intimacy is key to our relationships. The practice of being vulnerable with each other can help us get to a place of transformation and liberation. Sizwe utilizes his skills as a performer to build awareness and connection and open doors to self-mastery. Sizwe, also known as Spear of the Nation, is an MC and producer. Spear has released 11 studio albums, both as a solo artist and with the groups Lunar Heights and Potliquor, and has been featured on a host of songs over the past 20 years of his career. To see more about Spear of the Nation music, see www.spearofthenation.com

Part 1: The Art of Harmony & Dissonance

Part 2: What is your favorite or go-to tool for mending/repair?

Part 3: Why is learning to navigate conflict important for leading us to liberation, especially as Black people?

Part 4: How do you build on layers and see the connections or potential for harmony in things that look or sound very different?

Part 5: How has conflict shown up in your artwork, or how have you expressed conflict in your artwork?

Session Recap

Leadership Learning Community, along with Mizan Alkebulan-Abakah, MPH, and Sizwe Andrews-Abakah, who are the co-founders and directors of SPEARITWURX, held a discussion on Tuesday, May 14, about conflict and how it can be mended through the lens of art. Mizan and Sizwe shared their experiences of navigating the space between dissonance and harmony while also exploring innovative art as a way to imagine conflict. The conversation aimed to provide a new perspective on conflict by discussing, viewing, and listening to art.

Click here to read the session's recap