How to Build a Fire: Rethinking History
Friday, November 22, 2019
8PM
Since 1990, November has been Native American Heritage Month. It was created by President George H.W. Bush. On Halloween this year, President Trump declared November “National American History and Founders Month.”
The creators of The 1619 Project at The New York Times were accused of trying to rewrite history simply because they chose to add the stories of Black people to our understanding of America’s past.
These examples, among many others, prompt us to ask: who writes history?
Who decides which stories are passed down, which stories go in the textbooks, which stories have value? Do we all have an equal stake in history? Why are certain stories included in/excluded from our history texts, from our classrooms? What is the meaning or value of history when the present day is fraught with pain and struggle?
And what about our personal histories? Does your uncle change his stories at the Thanksgiving table every year? How do we keep our stories, record them, honor them? Do we need to? For whom do these histories hold meaning? Is history always one-sided? What would it mean for us to tell an inclusive history?
This month, we are telling stories surrounded by the deep, corporate blue of Camilo Godoy’s installation: Debtor. Godoy was born in Bogotá, Columbia and is based in New York City. “Debtor” addresses the history, politics, and impact of debt. Debt is deeply embedded in many histories, from shipping inmates of debtors’ prisons to work in the “new world,” to recreating chattel slavery through sharecropping debt, to the ongoing profit-making of selling loan debt. “Debtor” is the perfect setting for our November theme.
We’ve set our clocks back. Let’s look back, take another look at where we’ve come from, what’s brought us here, who we are and what’s shaped us. Come rethink some history with Open Source and How to Build a Fire.
This month’s storytellers are Terence Degnan, Gregg August, Sheryll Durrant, and Jazz.
Terence Degnan has published two books of poetry and is a Co-director at the Camperdown organization founded to create agency for all writers through access to publication and education. Terence is the founder of the “How to Build a Fire” storytelling series. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
Gregg August is a bassist and composer who spans the classical, avant-garde, jazz and Latin jazz worlds, making him one of the most versatile musicians on the scene today. Formerly the Principal Bass of La Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Gregg plays regularly with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s and American Composers Orchestra. As a jazz bassist, he’s a member of the JD Allen Trio, having recorded 9 albums with the group, as well as Arturo O’farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, with whom he’s won 5 Grammy awards. Gregg has also performed and/or recorded with The New York Philharmonic, Steve Reich, The Bang on a Can All Stars, Alarm Will Sound, as well as Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis and Ray Barretto. His recent project is Dialogues on Race, a suite scored for large ensemble, including a 12 member jazz core, 3 vocalists and strings. The work was recorded in early 2019 and is scheduled to be released in the fall. Gregg is on faculty at New York University and the University of Connecticut, as well as the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASSMoCA in North Adams, MA. Gregg was on the Downbeat Magazine Critics’ Rising Star Poll in 2017, 2015 and 2013. He received his degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School.
Sheryll Durrant has been the Resident Garden Manager at Kelly Street Garden since 2016. She is also the Food and Nutrition Coordinator for New Roots Community Farm, managed by International Rescue Committee (IRC). She is an urban farmer, educator and food justice advocate and a 2015 graduate of Farm School NYC. Her work has included developing community-based urban agriculture projects, providing expertise and technical assistance for gardens within supportive housing developments. Sheryll has led workshops and spoken on issues related to urban agriculture and food justice for many key organizations. As a former Design Trust fellow for the Farming Concrete project, she is now responsible for communications and outreach for this data collection platform that helps urban farmers and gardeners measure the impact of their work. She came to this after 20 years in marketing for corporate and institutional organizations.
Jazz is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, professional cuddler and yoga instructor. Jazz seeks to decolonize the world through radical self-expression, love and a lot of conversations. Jazz has facilitated social justice workshops and volunteered on trauma care teams for festivals & retreats. As a composer/performer, they have showcased music in venues across the Pacific Northwest as half of the electro-Afro-future musical duo Jazz/Rev (singles available on JazzRev.bandcamp.com) Back home in their native NY, Jazz is currently working on music with their multitalented sibling Ricky Goldman as Black Tortuga.
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How to Build a Fire was created by poet Terence Degnan. Each month, four diverse individuals share personal narratives centered around a theme. Their stories weave together an illustration of the human experience. This year’s hosts are Christina Marks and Stacie Evans.
How to Build a Fire takes place at Open Source Gallery — a welcoming, nurturing, intimate, safe environment, a participant-driven art initiative that provides space, community and conceptual context for creative play and critical commentary.
