CULTURE
throughout moore’s artistic career and is especially relevant to the goals of Black Women Rock. This May, moore is taking her Black Women Rock production to San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. One of her ultimate goals is to book a 10-city international tour. moore has relied on her network of multitalented,well-connected artists and friends to bring her creative ideas to life and now she’s got it down to a science. She even received a handwritten message from Betty Davis a few years back acknowledging the success of Black Women Rock and thanking her for honoring her career. But there is still work to be done. moore is in the midst of teaching a Black Women Rock curriculum to a women’s class at Skyline College in San Bruno, Calif. She is introducing her students to the musicians who she frequently collaborates with and challenging them to find common threads between their experiences and the themes discussed throughout music from black women. By centering the performer’s stories within larger discussions of inequality, police violence, and feminism, moore hopes to inspire another generation of women to find creative ways to document their stories and respond to their surroundings. The next frontier for black women KAHN SANTORI DAVISON
58 March 14-20, 2018 | metrotimes.com
artists is traversing avenues of ownership so that they can not only be independent artists, but also build tangible communities and own spaces that are big enough to hold and sustain their ideas. Just imagine how much progress would be made in the local music scene if the women secured a venue or practice space of their own. At Bert’s, Sabrina Nelson takes a seat at the table next to moore. The artist and curator has come to retrieve a small bounty of stacked bracelets, a leather cuff, and a few rings that she loaned to moore for the shoot. As she re-adorns her wrists and hands, she chimes in on the idea of creative autonomy. “If you buy spaces then you don’t have to worry about people telling you to leave,” says Nelson. Black Women Rock starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 17 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit; 313-494-5800; thewright.org; Tickets are $45. The Sisterfire Community Festival will be held at the museum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 18. letters@metrotimes.com @metrotimes
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