Still Rising by Mellissa Craig

(This month’s blog post is contributed by Mellissa Craig, dancer, teacher and activist at JDPP and throughout Hartford, JDPP’s ArtsReach Supervisor, and A Response and a Call Series Curator and Host. She is also a Visiting Lecturer in Theater and Dance at Trinity College. Mellissa reflects here on her recent trip to Benin in West Africa.)

This past January, I embarked on a journey to reconnect with ancestors from the continent of Africa and reconcile with the long, painful legacy of the slave trade.

When I stepped out onto the soils and shores of Benin, I felt a beautiful electric current run from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. It was magical and emotional. I could not speak the native languages of my host and new friends, but anytime we were dancing or drumming together, the need for words evaporated and we communicated solely through the rhythm in our feet and the ancestral connection through the drums.

The experience fully affirmed for me the power of movement and music to bridge societal and generational gaps and bring healing to our world. Click here for a short video.

Black History Month recognizes the innumerable contributions of Black individuals throughout our nation’s history. It offers an opportunity to discover and appreciate the often-overlooked figures whose drive, innovation, creativity, intellect, and expertise have shaped our society, and whose stories might otherwise be erased.

I am thankful to be honoring Black History in my own way here in Hartford and abroad, using dance, music, movement and story to leave my own indelible mark. I give honor to my parents and their parents, and the generations of parents before them—named, unnamed, forgotten, and remembered. I am thankful JDPP has held space for me on so many beautiful stages and in such transformative projects over the years.

Throughout the course of history, humans have created systems and labels that contribute to a global legacy of superiority and inferiority. Let’s make a promise this Black History Month to instead build beloved communities, amplify stories of all people, and use music and dance as our tool of choice to affect change.

“Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.”

-Maya Angelou “Still I Rise” (excerpt)

Don’t miss JDPP’s next R&C event on March 13 at 4:30pm at Rittenberg Lounge, Mather Campus Center, Trinity College, titled ‘Motherland Musings’ when Mellissa will share her Benin experiences and their impact more fully with slides and video footage as well. More information to follow.