BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Detroit X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Detroit BEGIN:VEVENT UID:34606@arabamerica.com DTSTART;TZID=America/Detroit:20250719T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Detroit:20250719T150000 DTSTAMP:20250617T075140Z URL:https://www.arabamerica.com/events/concert-of-colors-forum-on-communit y-culture-race-the-homelands-in-our-bodies-embodying-artivism/ SUMMARY:Concert of Colors Forum on Community\, Culture & Race – The Homel ands in Our Bodies: Embodying Artivism DESCRIPTION:DETROIT\, MI\n1-3 p.m. ET Saturday\, July 19\, 2025\nConcert of Colors Forum on Community\, Culture &\; Race – The Homelands in Our Bodies: Embodying Artivism\nIn-person at Spot Lite Detroit or Online via L ivestream\n\nFREE with RSVP\nRegister for in-person attendance\n\nThe Conc ert of Colors Forum on Community\, Culture &\; Race\, one of the Arab A merican National Museum’s signature annual events\, is a dynamic gatheri ng of artists\, activists and advocates who use art and dialogue as a tool for advocacy and community building. This year’s theme is titled “The Homelands in Our Bodies: Embodying Artivism\,” and is inspired by Mahm oud Darwish’s Unfortunately It Was Paradise where he writes\, “Where can I free myself of the homeland in my body?” The forum includes a keyn ote speech by Ijeoma Oluo\, followed by a conversation with panelists Cyra h Dardas\, Firas Zreik\, SouFy and Tongo Eisen-Martin\, with moderator and AANM artist-in-residence\, Raed.\n\nThis year’s program will be present ed both in person at Spot Lite Detroit and virtually online. Spot Lite Det roit is located at 2905 Beaufait St\, Detroit\, MI 48207.\n\nConcert of Co lors\, Detroit’s annual diversity festival\, will be happening July 16-2 0! More info + full concert lineup\n\nMeet the Keynote Speaker\n\nIjeoma O luo (ee-joh-mah oh-loo-oh) is a Seattle-based writer\, speaker and interne t yeller. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling first boo k\, So You Want To Talk About Race\, as well as Mediocre and Be a Revolut ion. Her work on race and gender has been published in the New York Times\ , the Washington Post\, and NBC News\; and she has been featured on The Da ily Show and NPR’s “All Things Considered.” Named on the TIME 100 Ne xt list and The Root 100\, she’s been awarded the Harvard Humanist of th e Year Award\, the American Humanist Association’s Feminist Humanist Awa rd\, Gender Justice League’s Media Justice Award\, and the Equal Opportu nity Institute’s Aubrey Davis Visionary Leadership Award.\n\n \;\n\n Meet the Panelists\n\n\n\nCyrah Dardas is a Queer\, eco-romantic artist an d care worker of the Persian diaspora living in Detroit/Waawiyaatanong\, A nishinaabe territory. Cyrah uses her art practice as a tool in remembering the lost relationships between humans and non-human beings by regulating and healing our collective nervous system and body to restore interdepende ncy. Cyrah’s work is informed by their experience as a parent\, her work in childcare\, in growing food\, as a member of artist cooperatives and t hrough their work with natural fibers\, earth pigments and botanical inks. Their practice is deeply rooted in ritualized art making\, using the proc ess as well as the work itself as a tool for grief composition and collect ive healing.\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nComposer and Qanunist Firas Zreik is a Palestine-born New Yorker who has transformed global perception of the Qanun. His treatment of the instrument preserves its identity as a vital p art of the Maqam tradition\, and stretches its potential as a cultural cha meleon enhancing a range of fresh\, evolving sounds. Firas’ music is hon est and authentic. Comfortable in both heavily orchestrated and spontaneou s settings\, he creates waves of layered expression and lyricism among his fellow artists. In live performance\, Firas conjures a complexity of emot ion that shape-shifts throughout his sets. He enters fragile places and si ts inside them. This commitment to stark exploration has sent him around t he world\, performing at storied venues\, intimate clubs and international festivals.\n\n \;\n\nSouFy is an Ojibwe music artist\, organizer and cultural worker rooted in Southwest Detroit (Waawiyaatanong). His roots ar e from Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation. His music highlights the urban Na tive experience. Taking aim at the Flint water crisis\, SouFy’s song\, “Pay 2 Be Poisoned\,” was featured on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman\, CBC Canada\, Indian Country Today Media Network\, Native Trailblazers and cited in academic journals. He released his first official solo LP\, The Ogichidaa Project\, in 2017. In 2018\, Soufy was nominated for Best New Ar tist at The Indigenous Music Awards in Winnipeg\, Manitoba. In 2020\, SouF y co-founded Michigan’s First Indigenous Music Festival called Vibes Wit h The Tribes\, which premiered as a virtual show. In 2021\, the first live festival was successfully launched in Southwest Detroit. He now serves as the artist manager and director of the festival.\n\n\n\nOriginally from S an Francisco\, Tongo Eisen-Martin is a poet\, movement worker and educator . His curriculum on extrajudicial killing of Black people\, We Charge Geno cide Again\, has been used as an educational and organizing tool throughou t the country. He is the author of Someone’s Dead Already\, Heaven Is Al l Goodbyes\, Waiting Behind Tornados for Food\, and Blood on the Fog. In 2 020\, he co-founded Black Freighter Press to publish revolutionary works. He was San Francisco’s eighth poet laureate.\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nMe et the Moderator\n\nRaed‘s journey in music began in their teens\, booki ng shows and honing their skills as a community radio DJ. This experience laid the groundwork for their studio production work with local bands and fueled a decade-long career. Their creative exploration also led to collab orations in short-lived bands such as Chantaines and Lachrymatory. In 2019 \, Raed launched Tagine Dream\, a project crafting guttural horror soundsc apes that blend their love of new wave with subtle influences from SWANA m usic. Beyond performing\, Raed is the founder and curator of YallaPunk\, a queer and trans SWANA multi-disciplinary arts fest that has been reshapin g the SWANA narrative since 2017. Their dedication to community arts was r ecognized in 2022 with the Transformation Award from Twelve Gates Arts. Ra ed also shares their expertise as a former adjunct professor in the Digita l Media and Entertainment and Arts Management programs at Drexel Universit y. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.arabamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2 025/06/Screenshot-2025-06-17-at-10.51.12 AM.png LOCATION:Spot Lite\, 2905 Beaufait Street\, Detroit\, United States GEO:42.358052;-83.016709 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=2905 Beaufait Street\, Detr oit\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=Spot Lite:geo:42.358052,-83 .016709 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Detroit X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Detroit BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250309T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR