Echoes: A Collaborative Abolitionist Curriculum
Chapter Two: Invitation
Studio Museum
Hilton N. Webb Jr., Rough and Scarred
"Echoes: A Collaborative Abolitionist Curriculum in Four Chapters" was a collaboration from 2021 to 2022 between The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Department of Learning and Engagement and The Fortune Society’s Creative Arts program. The Fortune Society is an organization that assists New Yorkers who have been formerly incarcerated through a range of reentry support services.
"Echoes" grew directly out of group conversations with Fortune community members and highlights their voices as well as the voices of formerly incarcerated individuals beyond Harlem. In a series of workshops held on Zoom and in person in Harlem over the course of six months, Studio Museum Artist Educator Jeannette Rodríguez Píneda led a multisensory curriculum that included art making, writing, and somatic practices.
Each workshop responded to artworks in the Studio Museum’s permanent collection, as well as literature, music, and archival materials, including the Thomas J Price: Witness exhibition in Marcus Garvey Park (October 2, 2021–October 1, 2022). Workshops concluded by collecting audio describing the produced work and the experience of production. The audio became the basis of musician Kwami Coleman’s soundscape.
These chapters are structured according to the workshop curriculum’s four chapters: Haunting, Invitation, Wisdom, and Embodiment.
An invitation, to listen, read, think, and engage beyond ourselves, is extended in sharing the participant’s artwork about their experiences.
Participants
Ronette “Pink” Cordett
Ronette “Pink” Cordett was born in the Bronx, New York. She is twenty-eight and now lives in Manhattan. She is a very colorful person and uses colors to express how she feels about herself. Ronnette's
Ronette “Pink” Cordett was born in the Bronx, New York. She is twenty-eight and now lives in Manhattan. She is a very colorful person and uses colors to express how she feels about herself. Ronnette's favorite colors are purple, pink, lime green, and so many more. She believes bright colors attract positive energy. Her advice: “If you ever feel sad, put something colorful and different on, go out in the world, stand out and be happy! You will receive positive energy. Be bright, be colorful, and be bold.”
Raffy Somerville
Raffy Somerville is a Pope of All Trades, rockstar, actress, illustrator, photographer, videographer, digital artist, poet, and author of fiction, but her greatest aspiration in life is to be a T-Rex.
Raffy Somerville is a Pope of All Trades, rockstar, actress, illustrator, photographer, videographer, digital artist, poet, and author of fiction, but her greatest aspiration in life is to be a T-Rex. You can check her out at @laffy_raffy.art.
Chontay “Shy” Smith
Chontay “Shy” Smith is an aspiring musician and keyboardist. He also studies American Sign Language (ASL). Chon shares: I'm working to become a better me. Enduring life's journey and enjoying learning
Chontay “Shy” Smith is an aspiring musician and keyboardist. He also studies American Sign Language (ASL). Chon shares: I'm working to become a better me. Enduring life's journey and enjoying learning. Life is a process.
Nestor “Panama” Eversley
Nestor “Panama” Eversley is a poet and proud Fortune Society community member.
Nestor “Panama” Eversley is a poet and proud Fortune Society community member.
Erobos Abzu Lamashtu OKA “E”
Erobos Abzu Lamashtu OKA “E” is an extraterrestrial, extradimensional being imprisoned in human form for reasons that remain unclear. "Middle aged" according to the lifespan of earthlings, formerly
Erobos Abzu Lamashtu OKA “E” is an extraterrestrial, extradimensional being imprisoned in human form for reasons that remain unclear. "Middle aged" according to the lifespan of earthlings, formerly imprisoned in several penal colonies throughout the State of New York: "Excelsior!" For the majority of his existence, he was referred to as an "illegal alien." The consensus has currently settled on "undocumented immigrant." An unwanted stranger by any other name is still .... He resides at the behest and upon the auspices of the Fortune Society.
Becky Jane Dunham
Becky Jane Dunham is a lifelong student of Mother Earth and is now learning how to grow with words.
Becky Jane Dunham is a lifelong student of Mother Earth and is now learning how to grow with words.
Helen Taylor
Helen Taylor is a poet and proud Fortune Society community member. Love is love.
Helen Taylor is a poet and proud Fortune Society community member. Love is love.
Hilton N. Webb Jr.
Hilton N. Webb Jr. is a formerly incarcerated cisgendered man who loves the speed and danger of Harley Davidson motorcycles, the smell of fragrant blossoms, and the laughter of small happy children.
Hilton N. Webb Jr. is a formerly incarcerated cisgendered man who loves the speed and danger of Harley Davidson motorcycles, the smell of fragrant blossoms, and the laughter of small happy children. He is also a writer who believes poems are the sharpest arrows in literature and that love is the strongest force in the universe.
Lionel “Doc" Limage
Lionel “Doc" Limage enjoys learning and teaching through the arts. Self-taught while incarcerated, he plays keyboard, writes songs and poetry, and records and produces his own music. He is a proud
Lionel “Doc" Limage enjoys learning and teaching through the arts. Self-taught while incarcerated, he plays keyboard, writes songs and poetry, and records and produces his own music. He is a proud member of the Fortune Society Creative Arts program.
Ryan “Blustone” Bennett
Ryan “Blustone” Bennett is a poet and photographer. He loves exploring nature and spirituality.
Ryan “Blustone” Bennett is a poet and photographer. He loves exploring nature and spirituality.
Kwami Coleman
Kwami Coleman is a musician, composer, producer, and musicologist specializing in improvised music. His research and published work is focused on experimental music history, jazz history, Black music
Kwami Coleman is a musician, composer, producer, and musicologist specializing in improvised music. His research and published work is focused on experimental music history, jazz history, Black music and the African Diaspora, the political economy of music, music technology, aesthetics, and cultural studies. Kwami's first recording as a bandleader, Local Music, was released in 2017. It features ten original pieces, some of which are molded around field recordings taken around his childhood home in Harlem. His nearly completed book, Change: Modern Jazz and the “New Thing,” is a short history of the jazz avant-garde of the 1960s. He is an assistant professor of music at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University.