Event Recap: CNK's PowHER Forward Workshop on 'Creative Activism'
Images: CJ Martin for CNK Daily
When kickstarting the PowHER Forward mentor series, our goal was to be intentional about topic relevance and how our workshops would not only teach important information but spark conversations. All it truly takes is a spark and an inclusive space where young women and men feel heard and seen. The foundation sits on nurturing the authenticity that lives deep down, but is sometimes lost by the pressures of being a teenager in present day America. Our first workshop landed on a very important topic that merges the worlds of art and advocacy, while unlocking the vast domain of how we can utilize our creative expression to impact change. Welcome to Creative Activism.
We greeted the girls at BeSocial with smiles, hugs, and laughs as they settled in for breakfast. Our class began with none other than Amanda Wicks, creative activism extraordinaire, explaining how we could be activists in our own ways. More importantly, she asked our mentor class what activism means to them and how to incorporate those feelings into owning their impact. Using art as the landscapes for sparking the conversation about activism, Amanda led the class by teaching the different styles that artists Bisa Butler, Lavett Ballard, and Kehinde Wiley used within their creative mediums to send a message.
Needless to say, we were all engaged and even reflecting on the ways we own our impact through the vehicle of creativity. Through embracing a good activity of soul searching and writing what is truly important in our eyes, the ladies began to connect with each other on what each one valued in relation to their own experiences. A discussion around things that they hold deeply quickly transformed into the sparks of applying the lesson into their own daily lives. Amanda reinforced that creative expression, like art, is not always meant to just serve as pretty strokes on a canvas. It can also be positioned to invoke a powerful feeling or see something through a different lens, a new perspective. The beauty of perspective is that we can have more than one.
We can all actively do something to improve something else, and that doesn’t have to equate to a grand gesture. The ladies in our PowHER Forward mentor workshop were able to sit in the front row of what representation can really look like. This wasn’t staged through a celebrity, but through a woman that they may meet anywhere in Houston. Our instructor, Amanda, has a beautiful way of infusing her own important messages into her distinctive artistic expression. We love that while she was teaching about activism, she was also giving us a big lesson around authenticity.
Our unique avenue of teaching young women in this program is to understand them as people and any challenges they may be facing. Through the time spent in class, we are able to build connections and provide support in ways that may open doors to more mentoring opportunities, while ultimately letting these amazing young women know that their dreams are special. We want our CNK network that are trailblazing paths as leaders, dreamers, and innovators to help us build an equitable environment for the next generation. In order to do that, we have to share our experiences and keep doors open for them as we walk through, one step at a time.
“We want our CNK network that’s trailblazing paths as leaders, dreamers, and innovators to help us build an equitable environment for the next generation. ”
A very special thanks to Social Status’ BeSocial for allowing us to use the space for community building, Rastaclat for powerful messages we could literally wear, DJ Yobi Yobz fo the vibes, and Tradeblock for being an amazing sponsor.
For more information regarding the PowHER Forward Mentor series, email us directly at cassidy@cnkdaily.com.