Summer Leadership Institute Public Events Archive

The Summer Leadership Institute of Wesleyan’s Embodying Antiracism Initiative was presented in partnership with Urban Bush Women, Junebug Productions, and The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond.

Developed out of Urban Bush Women’s nearly 40 year history of art making, the participatory program forged an “artist as activist” methodology through a complex set of techniques that “use movement to build a movement.” Over the course of a week, the participants sweated, clapped, and created together—harnessing the joy and unifying power of rhythm and movement to build respectful physical and verbal dialogue.

Click here to see upcoming Summer Leadership Institute events that are open to the general public. 
2023
June

2023

June

Summer Sounds at the CFA: Free Outdoor Concert featuring Funky Dawgz Brass Band
Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 7:00pm
Center for the Arts Courtyard, 283 Washington Terrace, Middletown, Connecticut
Connecticut’s Funky Dawgz Brass Band delivers a contagious, upbeat mix of original hip hop and funk, plus today’s top hits with a brass twist. Bring a picnic, then dance with family and friends at this free outdoor concert. SoulFully Vegan Food Truck provides food for sale, starting at 6:30pm.
Summer Leadership Institute Informal Sharing: “The Power of We”
Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 5:00pm
Fayerweather Beckham Hall, 55 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
Participants in the Summer Leadership Institute of Wesleyan’s Embodying Antiracism Initiative “The Power of We,” presented in partnership with Urban Bush Women, Junebug Productions, and The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, present an informal final sharing.
Urban Bush Women Workshop: “How We Got to the Funk” and “The Block Party”
Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 7:00pm
Fayerweather Beckham Hall, 55 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, Connecticut
This 90-minute combined dance workshop, led by Urban Bush Women’s Founder and Chief Visioning Partner Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Performing Artist and Associate Producer Cheri Stokes, is a fun, participatory exploration of history through the lens of African American social dances from the ’50s through the ’70s, as well as the block party aesthetic in Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in the ’80s and ’90s. All ages, no dance experience necessary.
A Conversation with Michelle Miller and Stephanie McKee-Anderson: Embodying Antiracism Summer Leadership Institute Opening Keynote [Postponed with New Date]
Tuesday, June 6, 2023 at 5:30pm
Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut

PLEASE NOTE: This event has been postponed until Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

Michelle Miller, a co-host of "CBS Saturday Morning” and author of the recently published memoir Belonging: A Daughter’s Search for Identity Through Loss and Love (Harper Collins, 2023), will be in conversation with Stephanie McKee-Anderson, Executive Artistic Director of Junebug Productions, one of the three partnering organizations of Wesleyan’s Embodying Antiracism Initiative.