Our ancestors and freedom fighters intentionally and expertly used ecology as a tool for liberation. From the engagement with the physical geography, to information gathered from the movement of celestial bodies, to the symbiotic relationship built between us and the animals in these environments, we have forged a pathway to our freedom.
Join us on Saturday, October 10th for “Sou Sou! Saturdays: Heat, Marronage & Liberation”, presented in collaboration with artist Lizania Cruz and her Adobe Creative Residency at MoMA, for an intergenerational exploration of the links between ecology and resistance through storytelling, collective artmaking, conversations and heat generation through movement.
FEATURING:
📚 Storytelling with malika lee whitney & hasan bakr
We will revisit and reimagine the role of the mosquito as a character in folktales that link West Africa to the Caribbean.
🗺️ collective mapping with lizania cruz
Through collective mapping of our stories and practices, we will explore the use of ecology as a tool of healing.
🎤 PANEL CONVERSATION featuring luis rincón alba AND djassi dacosta johnson
A panel discussion will engage the integrated topics of heat, marronage and liberation through plant knowledge and carnival characters such as Dame Lorraine and Jonkonnu.
🎉 FETE led by okai musik
We close the day with a Fete that allows the embodiment of heat as a tool for individual and collective liberation.
📅 Saturday, October 10, 2026
🕚 12 PM – 5 PM
📍 CCCADI Ilé Oyin (208 E 126th St.)
💫 FREE | RSVP REQUIRED
About Sou Sou! Saturdays:
Inspired by the financial resource-sharing traditions known throughout the African Diaspora by such names as "Colecta", "Box Hand", "San", "Partna", or "Sou-Sou", this family-based art and education program reinterprets Sou Sou as an exchange of cultural resources. Sou Sou! Saturdays celebrates and honors our connections by upholding our traditions of collective growth, mindfulness, celebration, and creativity with families of all ages.