We Are North Nashville: Podcast Launch
The following is a press release:
We Are North Nashville is a multimedia, interdisciplinary storytelling project, with a goal to gather, document, and share wisdom and sacred knowledge from North Nashville community elders. Led by artist, writer, and community organizer M. Simone Boyd with the support of Andrea Tudhope and Steve Haruch, project elements will include a podcast, essays, celebratory photo shoots, and special gatherings throughout the next two years. We Are North Nashville kicks off with a launch event happening Thursday, September 5 at Frist Art Museum (registration here), and more information can be found on the project’s website.
We Are North Nashville began in conversation. Neighbors talking to neighbors. Learning each other’s stories and seeing how those stories are connected both to the history of the neighborhood and to one another. The project gathers the stories of elders who have lived in North Nashville for 50, 60, and 70 years, but whose contributions to the community have not yet been documented in a cohesive way. The elders have lived through racialized terror, navigated the impact of innovation, and have somehow managed to survive and cultivate joy. The elders’ stories will be interwoven and contextualized in a series of podcasts and essays and shared during community events.
“I’ve spent hundreds of hours talking to the elders and I’ve learned so much from them,” said M. Simone Boyd, We Are North Nashville’s project lead. “I’m excited that we get to celebrate, amplify, center, and just honor the wisdom that we have here with us now.”
The first episode of the We Are North Nashville podcast, executive produced by Andrea Tudhope, will be made available beginning September 5 and features a minister, a Tennessee State University graduate who participated in the Nashville Sit-Ins, and an individual who was among the first students to integrate Nashville schools. Future podcast episodes will be released weekly, and other project materials will be released at later dates.
Funding for We Are North Nashville is made possible in part by Chrissy Washburn, The Frist Foundation, Just Economy Institute, Lathram Berry, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Tennessee Arts Commission’s Arts Build Communities grant, and friends like you. In Kind Partners include Frist Art Museum, Nashville Ballet and Germantown Inn. Unmanageable, a Nashville-based 501(c)3, is the nonprofit community partner, providing fundraising and administrative support for this project. All proceeds raised at the launch event will go to directly supporting the project, and a portion of all funds raised will go to the elders.