Friday, July 8, 5–9 pm

Food truck creators: WoKitchen, Kabob Trolley, Senor Sisig, Humphry Slocombe, Southern Comfort Kitchen, CURRY UP NOW, 3-3-3 Truck, Lobsta Truck

5-7 pm - DJ Santero (Amphitheater)
Award winning recording artist, producer, deejay and radio host, Santero has his finger on the pulse of the music industry. Santero is the founder of the annual Forever Selena festival in Brooklyn, NY and the monthly Kilimanjaro international dance parties in Oakland, CA and New Orleans, LA as well as the cofounder of the Bay Area Cumbia Cruise. He is also head of A&R for Baylando Records/Sonido Baylando.

7–8:30 pm - SOL Development - Music & Storytelling (Garden)
Oakland’s SOL Development is where soulful jazz, hip-hop and the depth of storytelling artfully intersect. Join SOL Development on our Garden Stage for a live musical performance celebrating joy and an opportunity to come together through powerful music. SOL Development's films Dear Beloved and When The Waters Get Deep will also be screened in rotation in the James Moore Theater throughout the evening. The performance is appropriate for all ages, but may touch on difficult subjects.

5:15–9 pm - Film screening  James Moore Theater) every hour on rotation

5:15 pm and 7:15 pm - When the Waters Get Deep is a short documentary about the Oakland-based hip-hop, soul and jazz ensemble SOL Development and their community-based healing practices supporting Black and Brown families experiencing trauma and grief from gun violence and loss. Take a musical journey through grief, love and hope with SOL Development as they disrupt cycles of trauma from gun violence with music and radical love in Oakland.

6:15 pm and 8:15 pm- Dear Beloved - Experience the collaborative work and music of hip-hop ensemble SOL Development and BE-IMAGINATIVE, who use their artistry and lived experience to disrupt cycles of trauma and violence in their community. Three mothers who’ve lost their children to gun violence recite poignant letters written for their loved ones who've transitioned. Tonya Lancaster, Annette Miller and Myra Jones of the BE-IMAGINATIVE collective share their stories of loss and summon restorative care and resilience. Their stories are accompanied by new music from members of hip-hop ensemble SOL.

This Song Remedy & BE-IMAGINATIVE event we’ll be honoring our mothers of BE-IMAGINATIVE.

Please join us this Friday, May 6, 2022 at The Black Music Incubator 5:30 PM- 7:30 PM PST as we come together to learn, reflect, share tools and engage in grassroots collective healing to support ourselves, our families and those closest to us.

This Song Remedy & BE-IMAGINATIVE event will focus on our inner child experiences, exploring how we've first learned to experience grief. This event will center powerful music, affirmations, sound bathing meditations, community dialogue and more.

Elder Malidoma says, “Death is not a separation but a different form of communion, a higher form of connectedness with the community, providing an opportunity for even greater service.” We’ve experienced many transitions of lives of people of color to issues disproportionately impacting us. On the other side of the coin, it means we have an abundance of ancestors who are waiting for us to tap into their collective spiritual energy that will give us immense support in our collective healing processes. This means that we must grieve together as a unit. BE-IMAGINATIVE and The Song Remedy are here to facilitate the process of learning and teaching one another how to grieve again and how to do it in ceremony, in community, and how to allow that grief to alchemize our lives, transforming our deepest pain into our greatest power and passion -- all in honor of the spirit of our ancestral lineages.

About the Song Remedy: We @thesongremedy believe that there is power in community healing so we hope that you invite a loved one as a practice partner to experience this space with you. The Song Remedy is both a healing circle and a place in which we use our HE(ART) to transform our pain into medicine. In the spirit of cycle breaking, we are co-creating a space for us to resist systems of oppression that consistently attack our mind, body, and spirit by cultivating a practice of care. We also seek to break cycles of toxicity that have impacted our family culture(s) through intergenerational harm and ancestral trauma that no longer serves us. We share knowledge. We co-create. We practice ritual. We hold space. We empower ourselves and each other. We co-exist with purpose. Our space curators are Brittany Tanner, Ayesha Walker, Farima Pour-Khorshid, and Ree Botts. This event is free and open to all but we encourage donations to sustain our work. For inquiries, please dm @thesongremedy or theremedysong@gmail.com Please register at EventBrite, no one will be turned away due to funds.

The Sounds of Sunset. A sound bath on the beach with The Song Remedy and BE-IMAGINATIVE.

Please join us Saturday, April 23, 2022 at Alameda Beach 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM PST as we come together to learn, reflect, share tools and engage in grassroots collective healing to support ourselves, our families and those closest to us.

This Song Remedy & BE-IMAGINATIVE collaboration we are coming together to just BE. This event will center powerful music, affirmations, meditation and sound bathing. Come as you are to bask in the healing sounds of Brittany Tanner alongside the powerful meditations of Ayesha Walker.

Bring whatever you need to be at peace and be comfortable, warm clothes, blankets, towels, snacks etc.

Please join us this Friday, April 8, 2022 at Agency Oakland 4:30 PM- 6:30 PM PST as we come together to learn, reflect, share tools and engage in grassroots collective healing to support ourselves, our families and those closest to us.

This Song Remedy & BE-IMAGINATIVE event will focus on our inner child experiences, exploring how we've first learned to experience grief. This event will center powerful music, affirmations, sound bathing meditations, community dialogue and more.

Elder Malidoma says, “Death is not a separation but a different form of communion, a higher form of connectedness with the community, providing an opportunity for even greater service.” We’ve experienced many transitions of lives of people of color to issues disproportionately impacting us. On the other side of the coin, it means we have an abundance of ancestors who are waiting for us to tap into their collective spiritual energy that will give us immense support in our collective healing processes. This means that we must grieve together as a unit. BE-IMAGINATIVE and The Song Remedy are here to facilitate the process of learning and teaching one another how to grieve again and how to do it in ceremony, in community, and how to allow that grief to alchemize our lives, transforming our deepest pain into our greatest power and passion -- all in honor of the spirit of our ancestral lineages.

About the Song Remedy: We @thesongremedy believe that there is power in community healing so we hope that you invite a loved one as a practice partner to experience this space with you. The Song Remedy is both a healing circle and a place in which we use our HE(ART) to transform our pain into medicine. In the spirit of cycle breaking, we are co-creating a space for us to resist systems of oppression that consistently attack our mind, body, and spirit by cultivating a practice of care. We also seek to break cycles of toxicity that have impacted our family culture(s) through intergenerational harm and ancestral trauma that no longer serves us. We share knowledge. We co-create. We practice ritual. We hold space. We empower ourselves and each other. We co-exist with purpose. Our space curators are Brittany Tanner, Ayesha Walker, Farima Pour-Khorshid, and Ree Botts. This event is free and open to all but we encourage donations to sustain our work. For inquiries, please dm @thesongremedy or theremedysong@gmail.com Please register at EventBrite, no one will be turned away due to funds.

About BE-IMAGINATIVE: @beimaginativecollective is a collective of artists, healers, and community leaders who are dedicated to healing our black and brown communities through multidimensional storytelling. Based in Oakland, California, BE-IMAGINATIVE builds community through gatherings and ceremonies rooted in African ancestral tradition and the memorialization of ancestors through visual and performance art, grieving rituals and healing to #DISRUPTHOPELESSNESS.

When the Waters Get Deep is an award-winning documentary film directed by Kelly Whalen and co-produced by Benjamin “BJ” McBride, is a short documentary conceived as a tool to support Black and Brown communities to tend to their grief brought on by gun violence and loss. The film centers on the community-based healing practices of Oakland-based hip-hop, soul and jazz ensemble SOL Development and the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE.

After SOL Development’s Karega Bailey’s brother Kareem transitioned, his grief makes him sick with revenge and hopelessness, and he is left questioning his own message of hope and peace. Turning to his faith, family and writing, Bailey finds his voice and purpose again. With the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE, he and the members of SOL Development lead healing circles and musical experiences for families who have lost their children to gun violence. When Bailey and his wife, Felicia, experience the sudden transition of their baby daughter, they find support in the tight-knit community of artists and survivors. This film is about the work of SOL Development and BE-IMAGINATIVE and how they harness the power of their ancestors to transform their greatest pain into their greatest gifts.

Watch the documentary on YouTube.com/kqedarts on February 10, 2022.

CONTENT ADVISORY: If you are inviting someone to watch When the Waters Get Deep, make sure they know in advance that the film addresses very sensitive topics including the death of children, death by gun violence, talk of suicide, and neonatal loss. These subjects may trigger feelings of grief, anger, and other emotions. It is important for participants to have agency on how they want to participate. Consider providing a form in advance for people to express their needs to participate.

When the Waters Get Deep is an award-winning documentary film directed by Kelly Whalen and co-produced by Benjamin “BJ” McBride, is a short documentary conceived as a tool to support Black and Brown communities to tend to their grief brought on by gun violence and loss. The film centers on the community-based healing practices of Oakland-based hip-hop, soul and jazz ensemble SOL Development and the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE.

After SOL Development’s Karega Bailey’s brother Kareem transitioned, his grief makes him sick with revenge and hopelessness, and he is left questioning his own message of hope and peace. Turning to his faith, family and writing, Bailey finds his voice and purpose again. With the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE, he and the members of SOL Development lead healing circles and musical experiences for families who have lost their children to gun violence. When Bailey and his wife, Felicia, experience the sudden transition of their baby daughter, they find support in the tight-knit community of artists and survivors. This film is about the work of SOL Development and BE-IMAGINATIVE and how they harness the power of their ancestors to transform their greatest pain into their greatest gifts.

Watch the documentary on YouTube.com/kqedarts on February 10, 2022.

CONTENT ADVISORY: If you are inviting someone to watch When the Waters Get Deep, make sure they know in advance that the film addresses very sensitive topics including the death of children, death by gun violence, talk of suicide, and neonatal loss. These subjects may trigger feelings of grief, anger, and other emotions. It is important for participants to have agency on how they want to participate. Consider providing a form in advance for people to express their needs to participate.

Please join us this Saturday, October 9, 2021 at Agency Oakland 3:30 PM- 5:30 PM PST as we come together to learn, reflect, share tools and engage in grassroots collective healing to support ourselves, our families and those closest to us.

This Song Remedy & BE-IMAGINATIVE event will focus on our inner child experiences, exploring how we've first learned to experience grief. This event will center powerful music, affirmations, sound bathing meditations, community dialogue and more.

Elder Malidoma says, “Death is not a separation but a different form of communion, a higher form of connectedness with the community, providing an opportunity for even greater service.” We’ve experienced many transitions of lives of people of color to issues disproportionately impacting us. On the other side of the coin, it means we have an abundance of ancestors who are waiting for us to tap into their collective spiritual energy that will give us immense support in our collective healing processes. This means that we must grieve together as a unit. BE-IMAGINATIVE and The Song Remedy are here to facilitate the process of learning and teaching one another how to grieve again and how to do it in ceremony, in community, and how to allow that grief to alchemize our lives, transforming our deepest pain into our greatest power and passion -- all in honor of the spirit of our ancestral lineages.

About the Song Remedy: We @thesongremedy believe that there is power in community healing so we hope that you invite a loved one as a practice partner to experience this space with you. The Song Remedy is both a healing circle and a place in which we use our HE(ART) to transform our pain into medicine. In the spirit of cycle breaking, we are co-creating a space for us to resist systems of oppression that consistently attack our mind, body, and spirit by cultivating a practice of care. We also seek to break cycles of toxicity that have impacted our family culture(s) through intergenerational harm and ancestral trauma that no longer serves us. We share knowledge. We co-create. We practice ritual. We hold space. We empower ourselves and each other. We co-exist with purpose. Our space curators are Brittany Tanner, Ayesha Walker, Farima Pour-Khorshid, and Ree Botts. This event is free and open to all but we encourage donations to sustain our work. For inquiries, please dm @thesongremedy or theremedysong@gmail.com Please register at EventBrite, no one will be turned away due to funds.

About BE-IMAGINATIVE: @beimaginativecollective is a collective of artists, healers, and community leaders who are dedicated to healing our black and brown communities through multidimensional storytelling. Based in Oakland, California, BE-IMAGINATIVE builds community through gatherings and ceremonies rooted in African ancestral tradition and the memorialization of ancestors through visual and performance art, grieving rituals and healing to #DISRUPTHOPELESSNESS.

This event is sponsored by the Akonadi Foundation.

Join us Friday, June 18th 6-8PM PT as we bring the community together to honor and hold space for our Black fathers of the Bay Area. Music, conversation, and community building amongst one of the most important groups of men in our communities, our black fathers.

Fathers have a chance to enter a raffle for a $100 Amazon gift card sponsored by Dads Evoking Change

This powerful event will be hosted by the exceptional Jason Seals.

Agenda:

• Opening

• Pouring of Libations in Honor of Ancestors by Ayesha Walker

• Spoken World by Shawn Williams

• Keynote Speaker: Game from an OG by Baba Ron Shaw

• Affirming Fathers by Ayesha Walker

• The Song Remedy by Brittany Tanner

• Raffle

• Closing

Black dads need love! We welcome fathers, mothers, community members, and allies to join us in this honoring of Black fathers of the Bay Area.

When the Waters Get Deep tells the story of Karega Bailey, SOL Development & BE-IMAGINATIVE as we work to create healing spaces for ourselves, our families, our communities and our people. This is a brilliant counter-narrative of hope, created in partnership with KQED.

ABOUT THIS EVENT
This drive-in movie night features shorts by local Black artists: Naima Jordon, Ryan Nicole, Adrian Burrell and a screening of WHEN THE WATERS GET DEEP, a film that revolves around the Oakland band SOL Development. Hosted by MC Karega Bailey, this event will also simultaneously screen on KQED's YouTube channel. A link will be sent to registrants who sign up for a live-streaming ticket prior to the event.

 ABOUT WHEN THE WATERS GET DEEP
SOL Development uses hip-hop, jazz and soul to tell powerful counter-narratives of hope and healing, even in the midst of policing, mass incarceration, and gun violence, this band continuously works to #DISRUPTHOPELESSNESS by creating profoundly impactful spaces for healing in Black and Brown communities.

When MC Karega Bailey experiences the passing away of his own brother in a shooting, his grief makes him sick with revenge and hopelessness, and he is left questioning his own message of hope and peace. Turning to his faith, family, and writing, Bailey finds his voice and purpose again. With the collective BE-IMAGINATIVE, Bailey and his bandmates help lead retreats for themselves, their families and community of mothers to help heal their deepest pain, allowing grief to transform into power and passion. This work of powerful ancestral healing prepares Bailey and his wife, Felicia as they experience another profound personal loss.

 PROGRAM 

◾ Special Welcome from Mayor London Breed
◾ 'Mamas Babies' by Adrian Burrell
◾ 'LABOR' by Niema Jordan Featuring Ryan Nicole
◾ 'Dear Beloved' Music Showcase
◾ Feature Film: 'WHEN THE WATERS GET DEEP'

KQED Partners: San Francisco Mayor’s Office, SF MoAD, SF FIlm, African American Arts & Culture Complex, Umber Magazine, Live Free USA, REP CO, BE- IMAGINATIVE and SOL Development.

The 35-minute film will debut at KQED's first drive-in screening at FORT MASON FLIX on February 23rd at 8pm. We will be hosting a simultaneous digital screening of the film on our YouTube channel. A link will be sent to registrants who sign up for a live-streaming ticket prior to the event.

Resources

Here is a list of culturally relevant and affordable resources for individual and collective healing and wellness.

Fort Mason safety measures: FORT MASON FLIX provides a safe moviegoing experience, with online ticket sales, contactless check-in, a limited capacity, safe physical distance between vehicles, expanded cleaning, and sanitation in restrooms, and PPE for all theater and security staff. Patrons are not allowed to exit vehicles unless leaving to get concessions or use the restroom. No Alcohol allowed.

A community healing circle co-hosting by Black Brown + Breathing and BE-IMAGINATIVE

About this Event

2020 is coming to an end, and this year brought immense change and challenges for all of us.

Black Brown + Breathing will join BE-IMAGINATIVE to host a final activation to reflect on the past year, to collectively grieve who and what is no longer with us, and to imagine the futures we wish to build moving forward.

We will move, meditate, and hold community dialogue alongside Ayesha Walker, the co-founder and director of BE-IMAGINATIVE. Ayesha will also facilitate a ritual to honor those who have passed on, and to bring their memory with us into 2021.

Optional items to bring

• Images of a loved one or loved ones who you would like to honor or remember

• An object or practice that helped you to find peace this year

• Pillows, blankets, a yoga mat (anything that makes you feel comfortable)

• Water

• Something to write with

Buy One, Give One

Tickets are donation-based, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. All donations to this event will go toward creating winter care kits to be distributed to community members at Stone Temple Church food distribution program in Chicago. Kits will include herbal tea blends, calming essential oils, and wellness resources gathered in collaboration with BIPOC-owned initiatives throughout Chicago. If you have financial capacity, we encourage you to purchase a “Buy One Give One” ticket, or to contribute at the amount that suits you.

RSVP Here.

Watch the KQED documentary When the Waters Get Deep. This film is a look into the work that BE-IMAGINATIVE and SOL Development have been on for years. We create sacred spaces that heal our communities impacted by high volumes of trauma. When we’re shaken by unspeakable losses of our own, we’ve had look inward and lean on each other to navigate circumstances that alter their lives forever.

Live Q+A Session Sunday at 6:30PM

KQED previews the documentary "When the Waters Get Deep," featuring SOL Development and the mothers of BE-IMAGINATIVE.

About this Event

Join us at the KQED Arts YouTube Channel for an evening of healing in advance of KQED's upcoming documentary film When The Waters Get Deep.

Experience the collaborative work of hip-hop ensemble SOL Development and BE-IMAGINATIVE, who use their artistry and lived experience to disrupt cycles of trauma and violence in their community in a virtual event and concert hosted by KQED’s Pendarvis Harshaw.

Filmed at West Oakland’s historic 16th Street Train Station, a hub for the Great Migration of African Americans from Southern states to the Bay Area during the 20th century, we invite you to bear witness to the healing power of telling one’s own story.

Three mothers who’ve lost their children to gun violence recite poignant letters written for their fallen loved ones. Tonya Lancaster, Annette Miller and Myra Jones of the BE-IMAGINATIVE collective share their stories of loss and summon restorative care and resilience.

Their stories will be accompanied by new music from members of hip-hop ensemble SOL Development including "I'm Alive" and "Her Pain" at 25th Street Recording Studio.

The event will culminate with the premiere of the trailer for When The Waters Get Deep.

ABOUT WHEN THE WATERS GET DEEP

The artists of SOL Development make music to heal communities torn apart by gun violence, policing and mass incarceration. But when they’re shaken by unspeakable losses of their own, they must look inward and lean on each other to navigate circumstances that alter their lives forever.

KQED Arts & Culture’s newest documentary When The Waters Get Deep will premiere at the 18th Annual Oakland International Film Festival on Sept. 27, 2020. For film updates, visit @KQEDArts on social media.

This event is a co-production of KQED and SOL Development, presented in partnership with BE-IMAGINATIVE, Live Free, the Oakland Museum of California, MoAD SF, 1 800 Happy Birthday, and Wine & Bowties.