Land Acknowledgement, DocuSeries, and more!

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Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we move towards shorter days and longer nights, as our opportunities to spend time socially distanced outdoors become fewer, we are taking the opportunity to turn more internally - reflecting on our past year and on some of the very exciting things brewing for the next one (more on that soon)!

In this vein, we wanted to share with you the beautiful new land acknowledgement painted on the wall of our Lab space, a spotlight on an incredibly important former member (and current collaborator) of the Culture Mill team, information on our final DocuSeries fillm of the year - coming up this Friday, and information on how you can continue to support Culture Mill and the multi-layered, embodied, artistic, educational, and culture-shifting work we do.

Sending lots of health, light, and creativity your way.

With love,
the Culture Mill Team

A new land acknowledgement mural

Pictured above: Culture Mill and the Saxapahaw Social Justice Exchange has commissioned A.yoni Jeffries, a locally-based Afro-Indigenous artist and member of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, to paint a new land Acknowledgement mural on the wall of the Culture Mill Lab. Jeffries completed the mural this week along with collaborators S'nya Brown, Gabrielle Brown, and Sophia Brown.

The text reads: Culture Mill acknowledges that the land now known as Saxapahaw rests on the village sites of the Sissapahaw, Eno, Shakori and the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation whom, along with other tribes, made their homes along the Haw River in what is now known as Alamance County.

We recognize the Native communities in our region today and extend our deepest gratitude to those who have stewarded this land, and offer our respect to their elders, past, present, and future.

Spotlight on Mtende Roll

Mtende Roll is one of the most incredible humans we know - and so we're taking a minute to spotlight her importance to Culture Mill today. Mtende used to be the manager at the Culture Mill Lab - handling calendar schedules to book the space, as well as social media. She met Murielle and Tommy at the Saxapahaw Social Justice Exchange and around other various events in Saxapahaw. At that time, SSJE was meeting at the Culture Mill Lab and Mtende had started doing "Brunch and Breathe: A Black People's Brunch" in the space with LaShauna Austria. At one of the SSJE events, Mtende asked the group if anyone knew of any part-time work opportunities and luckily Murielle and Tommy were looking for someone to manage the space - the rest was history! While she no longer works for Culture Mill, Mtende continues to do projects with us. Most recently she has helped with the facilitation of our DocuSeries screenings and discussions (more on our final DocuSeries film of the year below!).

Mtende is a social justice activist based out of North Carolina. She was born and raised in South Africa and has been based in North Carolina since 2016. Mtende received an Economics degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, with a focus on data and behavioral economics. She is a founding member of Alamance Aid (a grassroots mutual aid fund that has supported over 400 families) and is currently the director of Alamance Racial Equity Alliance. Much of Mtende’s time is spent working with community groups as a facilitator, volunteering as a doula, and sharing her thought-provoking poetry. One of Mtende’s main priorities in the work she does is moving people and groups into anti-racist work and ways of living.

When asked about what excites her about Culture Mill, Mtende wrote that one of the things that she values most about Culture Mill are the different forms of art, events and people that come and engage with the Lab space.

Listen to Mtende read her poem "Black People" HERE.

DocuSeries: Healing Justice

Our final DocuSeries film of 2020, Healing Justice, explores the causes and consequences of the current North American justice system and its effect on marginalized communities. The film reflects on the history of violence that has led to our current system, bringing into focus the histories of trauma – on a personal, interpersonal, community, and generational level.

This powerful documentary addresses the school-to-prison pipeline, the need for comprehensive criminal justice reform, and the importance of healing and restorative practices.

Join us Friday at 7pm for a screening of Healing Justice and a post-screening discussion with restorative justice facilitators Val Hanson, Lia Kaz, and Michael Hemphill.

For more information and to join go to:
FACEBOOK
CULTURE MILL WEBSITE

We hope to see you there!

Sustainer Campaign

When you sign up as a sustainer to Culture Mill you make space possible. What is important about space? Space is potential: the potential for chance encounters, gatherings, assemblies, the emergence of yet unknown possibilities and tendencies which might develop into the next groundbreaking work of art, the next foundational community initiative, the next dynamic collaboration. Throughout 2020, as spaces become increasingly difficult to sustain without dependable revenue streams, we are using our space, the Culture Mill Lab, to conduct virtual classes and gatherings, to workshop new ideas, and to allow miniature COVID-safe residencies for our local artistic community while our organization stays afloat. But we want to ensure that we are here for that moment when it is possible to assemble again. Help our space remain open and ready for the unknown -- ready to kindle the next vital creative spark in our community.

Our sustainer campaign runs until December 23rd. Any amount helps us make space for artistic collaborations, community events, outreach and connection possible.

Become a patron now

If you, or someone you know, would like to make a one-time contribution to Culture Mill you can also do that here:

Make a one-time donation