3rd Annual

October 22-24, 2021

Location TBA

Purpose

Our purpose in organizing this symposium is to create a space for exploration of possibilities for using the arts for social action. We define social action as being an action that leads to any of the following: healing, education, community building, and/or community action. The spirit of this undertaking is one of exploration, collaboration, encouragement, urgency in action with the underlying principle being love.

The Convergence Symposium is in honor of Moya Moye

Moya was murdered in New Orleans in February 2018. A Baha'i, a leader in the Black Lives Matters movement, an artist and a mentor to many children and youth, his death broke the hearts of countless people. This gathering in his memory is meant to lift the hearts of those who knew him, lead to action in our communities, provide a space for collaboration and create a unified community of world changers.

This project is made possible through funding from the Florence Regional Arts Alliance's Quarterly Grants Program, which is funded in part by a generous award from the South Carolina Arts Commission and due to the local support of Honda of South Carolina and Mosaic Clothing, LLC.

Workshops 2020

Antonio
Musical Journey of West Africa
During this interactive session, you will be taken on a musical journey through West Africa sharing dances from Guinea and Mali, customs, and traditions.

Kimimila
Who are we without our “colonized” suit?
Have you ever considered who you are or you who you could potentially be without a colonized mindset? What does it mean to shed the layers of colonization and its systematic structures? Join us in a discussion on what it means to live on a land and to partake in a society where the foundations were built on the backs of Black and Indigenous Peoples.

Tim
Social Action Through The Lense
Participants will learn about the power of using media and social media to tell a story, express a message. Using our phones, we will capture and create short videos during the weekend.

Eric
Praise, Protest, and Purpose
Music as a socio-spiritual model of racial healing and restoration

Adalia

Beautiful Dances of Defiance: Ancestors Speak Through Afro-Latin Movement

Merengue, Bachata, Salsa, Son and many other dances began as movements while working on plantations and ships. These movements tell the story of the experience of people of African descent enslaved in the Caribbean. In this session, history and healing will be embodied in movement and words

Katharine
Collaborative Writing (Justice Jam ongoing project)
A time for musicians, songwriters and lovers of music to create together on a social justice theme.

Stacey
Music, Movement, Wellness
We will explore the relationship between music and movement to encourage wellness.

Kathryn
Collective Artistic Reflections
We will close out the weekend with an engaging, participatory, creative approach to collective reflection.

Anana
Strategic Self Care & Social Justice: Healing through the Arts
This workshop outlines the critical response to injustice through strategic self care planning for cultural and social justice activists. Instructional guidance will bring a written template and oral presentation on Strategic Self Care Planning for those who push back against micro and macro injustices. Labels and terminology wars quite often separate us from what is healing. The second half of this workshop welcomes participants to experience the art of a combination of West African, Caribbean and Salsa dance to activate Strategic Self Care tools that can be used to strengthen personal and organizational social justice efforts.

Multiple Facilitators
Let's Talk About the Legacy of Race in America

"Come get your cousin"
How to recognize racist micro-agressions, what to do in the moment, and how to recognize a subconscious sense of superiority in ourselves as white allies.

"Global Indiginaity Task Force"

Current events are making it clear that communities that are being most effected by the national and global upheaval, are brown and black people who are the descendants of people subjugated by colonialism, slavery and systemic racism. This will be ground zero for us to create a collaborative task force whose goal is to work together to meet needs of our collective community that are material, educational, economic and more. Come ready to be visionaries and to consult on collaborative lines of action that will continue long after the close of the Symposium.