“In the wake of protests against systemic racism in the U.S., many industries are reexamining past practices and facing questions about their own racial biases. One new effort puts a spotlight on the world of publishing. Jeffrey Brown reports and talks to Simon & Schuster’s Dana Canedy, the first Black person to head a major…
“For the past two and a half years, two playwrights have been “creatively auditing” the last legacy paper of North Texas, The Dallas Morning News. These writers have turned this investigation into an interactive, theatrical experiment for their community.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized…
“Filmmakers Ryan Byrne and Danial O’Brien share how they’re working to create a locally-focused film-production studio in their hometown, using only local talent and resources. Ryan Byrne was born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. In 2002 he toured Asia as a model/actor after winning a local modeling competition and signing with Elite Models…
“Reading and writing can provide a profession, a passion or an escape from reality. In Washington, D.C., the Free Minds Book Club positions the activities as mechanisms through which incarcerated people can express themselves in healthy and constructive ways. As Jeffrey Brown reports, inmates who participate in the organization have a much lower recidivism rate…
Long Beach-based writer liz gonzález has a simple and surprising answer when you ask her to describe her creative self. “Taco.” It took me a second to absorb her answer. “Taco?” I asked. “The taco with, of course, my culture Mexican…and it would be a vegetarian taco with pinto beans de la olla…and then with…
Growing up in poverty and being abused by his father did not provide much in the way of escape or new environments. Speak Williams learned to find his “home” in the arts. He will tell us his story of how creative expression provided him the home he desperately needed. Keith “Speak” Williams is a hip-hop…
Jeremy Mitchell identifies one of the main problems with makerspaces and explains why it matters. After citing the success of accessible makerspaces such as CLOUD901 in Memphis, TN, he calls for the audience to urge their community leaders to create more of these programs. Jeremy Mitchell works as the Makerspace Facilitator at the CLOUD901, FedEx…
You’re probably reading this from either a smartphone or a laptop. It’s no small secret that the device you’re looking at can create works of art… if you put your mind to it. But therein lies the point that Andrew McAfee makes in this video: you need to put your own creativity into the computer…