The WeDaPeoples Cabaret was the last event of a series of workshops held at the New School called Days of Art and Ideas. The 3 day festival, organized by Eugene Lang Professors Cecilia Rubino and Brian Lewis, and playwright and performer Will Power, as well as the non-profit producing organization MAPP, was put together to celebrate and explore Sekou Sundiata’s “research-to-performance” methodology. Days of Art and Ideas gave students the opportunity to engage in a form of Sundiata’s methodology through workshops, panel discussions, staged readings and film screenings, and offered a unique perspective of public engagement and activism through art. Sekou Sundiata was an activist, artist, an internationally known poet and an academic who taught at the New School. His approach to education focused on the use of multidisciplinary artistic expression in order to put passion for activism, community, democracy and social justice into action to dismantle oppressive systems and create a better world.

In an interview with the Free Press following the cabaret, Jilani spoke about the objectives of “Days of Art and Ideas” as an entire program. He explained, “The goal of this program was done, on an academic side, to connect students with a methodology to the practice…going past theory of art and civic engagement and seeing how it works…We’re [MAPP] a non-profit production company that does that. Eugene Lang is an institution that works with kids on their theory so [we asked] how do we merge those two so students can actually see themselves as a solution through using art. Each day we were kind of creating a map of how to get from art and civic engagement to a specific issue.”

Jilani went on to speak specifically about the objective of the Cabaret itself, referencing host Will Power’s idea of art and medicine, a concept that speaks to the need for personal healing.

“We do all this work through civic engagement but sometimes we leave behind our health, sometimes we leave behind our families, sometimes we leave behind community because we’re working for a greater community,” said Jilani. “Now how do we heal after putting all that work in? So the first two days we put the work in, this was the healing, that’s why it  came together as a celebration… So the output was just for people just to have fun, but also for the kids to see themselves as the activists.”

 

Naima happened to walk into the Free Press‘s interview with Will Power and Rasu Jilani, and agreed to comment on the experience of participating in the Cabaret and the “Days of Art and Ideas” program.

“I feel like no matter where we go, small town, big town, there is this awakening, this fervor for transformation, thats feelin’ pretty universal you know? We live in an age where information is so accessible that its hard not to draw your own conclusions and be awakened into some type of truth,” she explained. “…I also feel like over the course of my lifetime Im seeing more people ready to make some change. That’s exciting. And I also feel like there’s more consciousness around how we’re going to dismantle these systems, but also [around] how we’re going to create and invest in something that’s actually transformational, that’s gonna focus on healing, focus on love, focus on creativity.”

 

As the Cabaret came to a close, the audience cheered for an encore from the Burnt Sugar Arkestra. The band enthusiastically continued and a majority of the audience members left their seats to dance around the stage. After the Cabaret in an interview with the Free Press, Will Power commented on the audience’s excitement to participate, stating “I think it’s the tone you set before the show, the tone that MAPP sets…the tone Sekou sets, the tone that the New School sets… this idea of progressive thought, moving forward,  being comfortable with who you are, that’s what I get here.”