New Mexico Black Leadership Council

Author: Kristin Satterlee

  • True NM Exhibition Combats State’s Tricultural Myth 

    by Kristin Satterlee

    You’ve probably heard New Mexico’s tricultural myth: the common misconception that the state’s culture is a harmonious blend of Indigenous, Latinx, and Anglo heritages. Setting aside this myth’s other inaccuracies, where does that fable leave the stories of African American and AAPINH (Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian) New Mexicans who are just as much a part of the tale? 

    Twelve young New Mexicans move the needle on that myth in the fourth annual True NM 2024 Sawubona Exhibition, taking place during this May’s Albuquerque Artwalk on May 3. The True New Mexico program, cosponsored by New Mexico Black Leadership Council and New Mexico Asian Family Center, is designed to combat racism by bringing young people together to share their stories with the community through art. The artists receive a stipend for supplies and to pay for their time, allowing them to focus on creating. But before the art gets made, the artists do a deep dive into their own stories and those of their wider communities. 

    “We asked the youth from the start. … What matters to you?” says Sarah “Zee” Azibo, program coordinator. “When you’re talking about anti-racism, what do you want to talk about? It’s been really powerful. [The youth artists] are the ones who made this what it is.” 

    Those discussions ranged wide and deep from February through April, through topics like affirmative action, equity vs. equality, intersectionality, othering, identity, and self-perception. As well as having those weighty conversations—facilitated by youth coordinators Kai Warrior and Ayami Nakanishi—True NM artists met with BIPOC guest artists and participated in activities: A shoe swap helped them learn deeply about the other youth in their cohort, a Downtown art walk led to reflection about representation in public art, and more.  

    The 2024 True NM cohort selected “Sawubona”—a Zulu term that means “I see you seeing me”—as this year’s exhibition theme. The True NM program does more than combat racism and the tricultural myth: It develops leaders by increasing participants’ self-esteem and awareness of themselves, their communities, and the wider world. You can be part of that development—by attending and supporting the True NM Exhibition, and by getting the kids in your life involved in other arts-based leadership development opportunities like NMBLC’s Roots Summer Leadership Academy (RSLA). RSLA helps youth develop self-esteem and leadership through interpersonal connection, STEM, arts, and social-emotional learning. Registration opened in April, so learn more and sign up at bit.ly/rsla2024. 

    Don’t take our word for the value of these programs in the development of the youth who will lead us into the future. In the words of 2024 True NM artist Isabella Park, “This is the first time I’ve ever had people that look like me and share the same cultural identities as me speak about the passions I share. … I was able to connect and process traumas and my own experiences that I didn’t realize were there.” 

    True NM Sawubona Exhibition Opening Reception 

    May 3, 2024 

    5:30-8:30pm 

    Orpheum Community Hub  

    500 Second Street NW 

  • Jazz Jammin’: Rodney Bowe Talks Jazz Origins and Local Jams

    Jazz Jammin’: Rodney Bowe Talks Jazz Origins and Local Jams

    By Kristin Satterlee 

    “Jazz is the Black American experience,” says Rodney Bowe, an Albuquerque upright bassist and jazz musician. “Very simply put, jazz came from us. We played it from the soul.” 

    According to Bowe, Albuquerque is “a great ground to get your feet wet.” Artists and listeners both benefit from jazz jams around town. Bowe, who teaches a class to prepare adult students to play in a jazz jam, says, “A jazz jam is open. It’s open to the public and, at the same time, it’s open to a novice as well as a master.” 

    Some of Bowe’s favorite local, regular jams include: 

        • QBar Lounge at Hotel Albuquerque with saxophonist Alex Murzyn and pianist John Funkhouser, Fridays and Saturdays 6 to 10pm: 800 Rio Grande Blvd NW, in Old Town 

      Outpost Performance Space, located at 210 Yale Blvd SE, is a gem. Outpost hosts a jazz festival each summer, jazz shows throughout the year (like Diane Richardson’s Ella Fitzgerald tribute on April 18), and educational jazz programming. Check out their schedule at outpostspace.org.  

      For jazz in your own home, don’t miss the “All That Jazz” radio show on KUNM 89.9 FM at noon on Mondays. Listen online at kunm.org. 

      “You cannot be safe playing jazz because jazz is experimentation,” Bowe reminds us. “If you’re being safe in playing jazz, you’re not playing jazz.” 

    • One NM Gospel Concert Pays Tribute to Black American Experience

      One NM Gospel Concert Pays Tribute to Black American Experience

      by Kristin Satterlee

      “There is so much feeling and depth, so much that’s connected to gospel songs that goes all the way back to slavery times.”-Aria Gaston.

      When you ask Aria Gaston—a Las Vegas, Nevada-based singer-songwriter, vocal coach, and gospel talent—why gospel music is important to the Black American experience, she wants you to know that “there’s a reason we sing the way we sing” that goes all the way back.

      Gaston points to the spiritual “Wade in the Water”: “That’s way old school, right? Come to find out … Those hymns were their own code.” It was illegal to teach enslaved people to read or write, so these coded songs—also known as map songs or signal songs—were important vehicles to communicate dangerous ideas and instructions. “Wade in the Water” instructed people fleeing slavery that they would need to travel through water to find freedom. Other songs like “Follow the Drinking Gourd” and “Steal Away” had their own meanings and were used regularly on the Underground Railroad. It’s said that “Sweet Chariot,” sung to let slaves know that they would be escaping soon, was Harriet Tubman’s favorite song.

      Gospel still speaks to us today. “Gospel music is full of encouragement for ourselves. I feel like the depth of who we are is knowing in our hearts who God is, and that is why we are able to share such a strong message of hope: to tell people trouble don’t last always, and we are going to keep singing that until we are sweating,” Gaston explains.

      If you’re looking for a chance to sing songs of encouragement and praise until you break out in a sweat, don’t miss the free One NM Gospel Concert on Sunday, April 28 at First Unitarian Church (3701 Carlisle Blvd NE) in Albuquerque. Gaston will be headlining, “creating a worshipful experience where people are changed and don’t leave the same.”

      The One NM Gospel Concert is open to and meant for everyone. While the music may be deeply rooted in the Black American experience, Gaston is confident when she says, “Of course gospel can pull all races together.” She backs the statement up with years of experience singing to and with audiences of all stripes. “Gospel music has soul in it. People talk about how they can feel it. Whites, Blacks, [Hispanics]—it doesn’t matter who they are. When a person gets up there singing a gospel song, you’re gonna see tears running through their eyes.”

      “Definitely, it will bring everybody together,” concludes Gaston. RSVP to attend here. Sign up for the choir here.

      One NM Gospel Concert

      Sunday, April 28, 3:30pm

      First Unitarian Church

      3701 Carlisle Blvd NE

       

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