spoken if Salani three times yes
Frederick Douglas one of the great
auditors of his times okay epsilon E
three times don’t feel bad if you didn’t
know because I didn’t know either and
many of my students didn’t know I came
to insulin and community high school in
2014 as a veteran art teacher but as a
new resident so like most teachers in
the beginning of the year you try to
spend some time getting to know your
students so I had questions from our
students what’s it like to live in
Ypsilanti do you ever go downtown what
are the neighborhoods like tell me
something unique about if shalini so
their response to me was complete
silence and a strange look of confusion
then someone said the neighborhoods are
nice and okay we don’t go downtown very
much we have the water tower here but
but user Michigan University is here so
I said okay I felt good about that but I
wanted to know more so I said tell me
about the history here once again
complete silence that look of confusion
and then someone said there’s a lot of
history here just not much history as it
relates to us so I need to tell you at
this point then the majority of my
students are African Americans or
students of color but at that point in
that time in my mind I’ve said I’m going
to use what I do which is teach and
create art to bring about a greater
awareness of their history and culture
and to bring a deeper connection between
them and their community so I’ll be back
to epsilon T last year it’s rushman I
thought okay well I don’t know anybody
here so it’s going to be kind of an
interesting year for me what meat is
kind of sitting to the side of the
corner and just say to myself so that
changed almost instantly I walked in the
cells classroom just the dynamic of it
was like wow it’s like you’re at home
and micelles genuinely cares how you
feel if I was having a bad day I’ll be
like okay well I’m a little out of it
today
and so just being like okay take your
seat cells a test What’s Wrong are you
okay and it felt great to know that she
genuinely cared how we feel felt now I
never really thought a lot of art before
I started this and I’ve never been more
wrong because I couldn’t really draw
couldn’t really paint can really do any
of that until I got into her room and
she taught me and she Inslee saw
something in me dynein see it myself she
moving without the lesser group and into
the more advanced group I was like what
are you doing I don’t know what you’re
doing but
with it and that was amazing
I can draw really well now I can paint
really well no and I thought okay well I
want more of this so she came to me and
tell me okay well there’s a mural
project would you like to join I was
like yeah
so the first mill that we created was of
HP Jacobs who was an African American
well he was a slave until he got to
epsilon e by himself he went from a
the next mural that we did was in
downtown epsilon e this one was of the
hysterical woman of South Adams Street
this was teachers doctors sports figures
community organizers like both of
Sherman’s who helped organize drives to
get needs to her neighbors at all of our
availing z– there were huge crowds now
again I had never done anything like
that before so I was like and she want
me to present them it was like huh slow
down a little bit
but I did and I did stutter from time to
time but the community was so in in tune
with what we were saying that even
though I did stuttering I didn’t mess up
they were like keep going we know you
know that we mean good and all this
positive outlook from the community
brought all types of great things for us
like radio interviews and print coverage
I could tell a community we felt with us
by this time now I can see a change in
my students demeanor from being very
becoming very confident and a great
sense of pride in their work a great
sense of community and connection so
then we got the opportunity in 2016 to
do a collaboration project with the
University of Michigan
Lloyd Hall scholar art students so the
governor of the two sets of art students
created 3-dimensional luminary
sculptures that we ended up taking to
Grand Rapids and presenting in the form
of a pop-up array and a show that is
called our prize was an international
art competition that was early October
then in later that October the students
my students were invited to present
their three-dimensional pop-up parade
again this time downtown it’s the
landing for art makers event called FC
globe that I only got a chance to
present their sculpture pieces they got
a chance to design their own t-shirts
and decorate a storefront our latest our
community art project is called our
voices will be heard a title that the
students came with on their own it’s a
response to our recent presidential
election they decided they wanted to use
art to communicate their thoughts and
their feelings they wanted to do it in
the form of a peace march a silent peace
march now well I encourage them and I
was excited about the idea if something
just seemed to be missing so as I
thought about it I realized that these
students are at an age in their life
where they’ve never had to March they’ve
never had to protest anything there are
the recipients of the struggle the hard
work and the courage of their ancestors
and their elders so before we could do a
peace march we had to have a meet and
greet with in some of the community
elders and we did then in January at the
base of the water tower 200 people
showed up led by the students of EPs
land Community High School marched in
silence to downtown epsilon e to the
very spot the Fredrick Douglass spoke
150 years ago to the very day businesses
up their doors and exhibited their
artwork the community came out and fed
them and serve them hot chocolate also
earlier this year my fellow classmate
Cameron gray and I were invited to the
absolutely District Library to do
presentation for Black History Month
now that was like whoa because I went
from someone who couldn’t even draw to
presenting our projects at a public
library it was the community there was
amazing because again I didn’t mess up a
few times but this time was a little
more chilled back or laid back and it
was a lot more comfortable and I feel
like I was really relating to people
that were there because they genuinely
wanted to know what I was talking about
and that just felt phenomenal also the
sheep are also for the second year in a
row we presented at the EMU Eco Jessamyn
community activism conference and sorry
I was just phenomenal because last year
we were kind of to the side we’re a
little bit smaller but this year we got
our own room for it and that was like
wow we’re reaching out so far that they
genuinely wants to come and we weren’t
the first people to present and it was
with me and fellow colleagues and it
just felt amazing to know that what we
were doing was getting so far out we’ve
had a good year to epsilon II know we’ve
had a great year tip cilenti and now
we’re here at TEDx young or start with
you
art is important to everyone no matter
how old you are no matter what race you
are no matter your economic status at
this point in our history we are in
jeopardy of losing our arts we need to
support the arts for our children and
for all of us from its line of community
high school students and from all my
you [Applause]