I invited in Iyatunde Folayan as a collaborator and we are planning to extend my original study "Indians" (section 3a below) into a duet that will include section 3b below as well as some new spoken word and multimedia ideas.
Aside from the performance aspect, we intend to create a two-part interactive process for families: Part one will be just for the parents to witness the performance piece, share their own relationships with the song and discuss ways to find language to engage children when faced with the violences on black and indigenous communities. Part two will include both the parents and their kids and we imagine it looking something like this:
What:
Interactive, inter generational, non-traditional family-centered creative process to examine and re-frame the 10 little song.
When:
Nov 5, 3pm.
Where:
Manazar Gamboa Community Theater 1323 Gundry Ave, Long Beach, CA 90813 (currently reserved but may consider an more lighted art gallery - the theater is dark).
Why:
The intention of this piece is to examine the story/song Ten Little Indians, also known as Ten Little Niggers, in an effort to re-frame, decolonize and humanize storytelling and the messages within. The goal is to work together with an inter generational community including Native American and African American individuals and families to create an alternative to the Ten Little Indians. This new collaborative story, song or chant will intentionally nourish our children’s imaginations with positive imagery that stems from personal family stories rather than carelessly indoctrinating them with supremacist ideas about race. The impetus for this was a response to the Post Natyam Collective’s creative process “Re-Imagining Citizenship.”
How:
FEEDBACK GROUP: in early Oct. we will gather artistic and activist individuals, especially from the Native American and African American communities, to share our ideas with and get feedback from to strengthen the experience. This will either be at the venue or in an informal home space with snacks.
INTENTIONAL INVITATION: will be sent to 10 individuals with their chosen families (each one will be encouraged to bring a child)
Invitation will include some background on the “10 little...” song as well as the purpose of the gathering.
GATHERING:
Name Gesture Rhyme intro:
say your own name, intro all in your "family" and do name gesture game with child's name: say name and a little phrase that rhymes with name and a gesture to go along with it, like "Roshan, Roshan rides on the ocean." Everyone repeats. Add in all the kids names till you have a little chant.
2. storytelling (each group shares an object that represents their family, legacy, history, something they want to pass on to their kids and a story that goes with it.)
password: citizenship
(not the This Land is your land part)
3. b. One or several people Sing/or hum “10 little, 9 little, 8 little (pause instead of saying Indians), 7 little 6 little 5 little (pause), 4 little 3 little 2 little (pause), 1 little (Pause)”
The song or hum will be repeated starting loud and getting quieter as each group stands to “Say their name. “ Ideally there are 10 groups in total and we will include children’s names, as well as African Americans, and Native Americans lost to current police violence. The purpose is to match the current situation to the historical roots of the song but not say outloud to the kids what either is about, the background will be in the invitation, and parents of older kids may choose to explain or not)
Ex: Number (1-10), Name, place (of death), age, and maybe one piece of info to humanize their identity
1. Aiyana Jones (Detroit, 8 yrs old, ?),
2. Tamir Rice (Cleveland, 12 years old, ?)
3.
etc.
3. Circle debrief:
-what did it feel like to juxtapose the singing and say say their name
-or what is your memory/experience/feelings about the song? Who passed this on to you?
4. Walking rings, sounding and inward meditation moment, clearing
-Carrying their object, groups will walk around in one large maze of ring circle paths made with stones or drawn on paper the floor. The ring circles are inspired by ritual objects by the KRU people (see info below) (perhaps juxtaposed with a medicine wheel, 4 stages of life, 4 directions) in a clockwise direction. As each group adds into the circle they add in a vocal sound to repeat until a group sound score is created. Purpose to clear our minds of the “10 little…” and to meditate on our object stories.
Here are examples of the rings:
Information on the KRU rings:
"A society that loses its symbols loses it's identity and in the process loses touch with itself." These are ritual objects created and used by the KRU people of West Africa (Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria) region. They are known for being expert seafarers and these were considered both ritual objects and currency. The KRU people refused to participate in the TransAtlantic Slave Trade and were known by the Europeans if captured to have less value because they refused to be slaves, fought or would kill themselves. The power these rings carry in meaning include the ability to stop wars, heal the sick. They can be called 'tien' and be protectors or guardians.
5. Art making (visual and rhyme)
-Each group will find a personal space within the ring (can spread to join others) to place their family object. Once there the group sound score will end and we will play recorded live drum to provide a beat.
-The children will be provided fingerprint pads and paper to create finger print art that tells the story of their family object, or that is a rendition of the object itself (the thought is to create something positive out of our identity markers rather than fingerprinting by the state), and/or crayons to color within the ring, or books with positive messaging (ex. A is for activist, Counting on Community, etc.) If they are too young, perhaps they run around within the ring, or play and move the rocks.
-Adults create a 2- line rhyme or couplet for the number they said for their “say their name section” inspired by the family legacy object story.
Ex.
6. sharing of the childen’s art and adults rhymes
All learn the chants in order of the numbers and create new chant together!
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Questions:
1. What interests you most about this process?
2. Does anything confuse or you/need clarification?
3. Are all the steps of the process ok for kids? If not, how might we modify them or should we take them out?
4. Is it too complex? If so, how might it be simplified without loosing the connections to the 10 little song?
5. What red flags exist that might be misinterpreted or taken as offensive?
6. Is it useful to include all or a part of Shyamala’s study “Indians” (perhaps under a different title) either as a link in the invitation or done live before the “say their name” portion? https://vimeo.com/163181158 password: citizenship
