Radical Black Girl will be kicking off Hibernian Hall’s new artist residency program “SOL*ARTS” with the first iteration of their traveling research and performance project called
“My City, My Body or If Concrete Could Talk or For Those Who May Be Traumatized.”
On March 18, 2019, twenty-five young women and girls from Youth Options Unlimited will join founder, Destiny Polk, for a week of embodied research through movement, poetry, and storytelling. The intention of this project is to identify and address violence in its many manifestations, unpack the different ways our bodies carry memory and trauma and examine how we treat ourselves and each other after experiencing violence. Destiny will be leading the group through body awareness, writing exercises, and choreography and performance building, inviting the young women to practice agency over their bodies while inviting them to re-imagine what safety, security, and solidarity look like in practice in the city of Boston.
The community sharing and forum will be held on Saturday, March 23, at 5 PM, where folks are invited to participate in an open dance cypher lead by Destiny. The group will perform original work based off their week of research together, and they will close with an open discussion on issues identified by our young people.
A note from Destiny Polk: “I couldn’t think of a place most calling for healing and most deserving to be heard than my own home city, Boston. I intend to work with a range of age groups over time, incorporating the voices of formerly incarcerated folks and those most impacted by violence. The driving question for the larger project is “If your city were a body, what injuries or sickness has it endured? How would you go about healing it?” I see Boston as the initiator and I look forward to uncovering truths over the next year before bringing the residency and conversation to a national level.”
