Ana Tjoux’s Chaos Theory and resisting ‘Garbage Culture’

Hey fierce listeners!  Welcome to MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman. I’m Charlene Sayo, your host for the next half an hour and every week, I have the honour to have lively conversations with unique, trailblazing women in the arts, sciences, literature, music, politics, activism, feminism and more.

Today’s episode is not only an exciting one, but a very special one because this is the last episode the month-long series, Women in Hip Hop.  For the entire month of November, I’ve featured conversations with some of hip hop’s most provocative and ground-breaking artists: Kinnie Starr, Maya Jupiter and Asa Lianess.  Tonight’s finale is all about the politically-charged, French-Chilean super-fierce, super-star MC, Ana Tijoux.

What makes this episode different than past episodes is, aside from my interview with Ana, I’ve included a portion of a Q and A that Ana did at a recent national conference in Los Angeles titled “Women on the Wave” organized by AF3IRM, a transnational feminist organization across the United States.  And if you don’t know anything about AF3IRM, be sure to check af3irm.org as they are currently doing actions across the United States until December 10^th in commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.

For the next little bit, you’ll hear Ana sharing her thoughts on feminism, art for social change and her definition of garbage culture. I spoke with Ana in Los Angeles on the last day of AF3IRM’s “Women on the Wave” summit.

***Special Thanks to AF3IRM***

BIO

Ana Tijoux was born in France to parents exiled from their native Chile by the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.  Ana returned to Santiago in 1993 and by the late 1990’s was well known throughout Latin America as MC of the hip hop group, Mazika.  A solo artist since 2006, she has thrilled audiences internationally with her politically hard-hitting lyrics and signature flow, earning the title, “South America’s answer to Lauryn Hill” (The New York Times).  This year she has travelled throughout the USA—performing at Austin City Limits and SXSW, among others, while making time for interviews on programs such as Democracy Now!—in support for her latest album, Vengo (2014).

myspace.com/anitatijoux

@anatijoux

Intro/Outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

 

Asa Lianess: On Love vs. Sex and Being Real in Hip Hop

Hey fierce listeners!  Welcome to MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman.  My name is Charlene Sayo, your host for the next half an hour and every week, I have the honour to have lively conversations with unique, trailblazing women in the arts, sciences, literature, music, politics, activism, feminism and more.  Today’s episode is the third installment of the month-long, Women in Hip Hop special series where I feature conversations with Maya Jupiter, Asa Lianess, Kinnie Starr and Ana Tijoux.

For this episode, I have Philippine-born, Los Angeles-based artist Asa Lianess.  I sat down with the MC, poet, singer, and henna-artist in October during the Woman on the Wave National Summit organized by AF3IRM, a transnational feminist organization.  For this episode, Asa shared her thoughts about underground hip hop, sisterhood and spirituality.

BIO

Photo by Cisco StreetLenz

Asa Lianess is a member of the Los Angeles-based, all female hip hop collective, Earthstonez.  Asa is the founder of Global Oneness Arts and Culture, Henna For A Cause, and the Coordinator of SEDARVP Ghana’s Women’s Empowerment Program.  She is also a human rights advocate, poet, singer, MC, and henna artist whose art reflects healing, awareness, inspiration, innovation, elevation, empowerment, and love.

soundcloud.com/asalianess

earthstonez.bandcamp.com

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

Kinnie Starr: Lifelines, Hip Hop, and Half-blood Old Blues

Hey fierce listeners!  Welcome to MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman.  My name is Charlene Sayo, your host for the next half an hour and every week, I have the honour to have lively conversations with unique, trailblazing women in the arts, sciences, literature, music, politics, activism, feminism and more.  Today’s episode is the second installment of the month-long, Women in Hip Hop special series where I feature conversations with Maya Jupiter, Asa Lianess, Kinnie Starr and Ana Tijoux.

For this episode, I have the multi-lingual, multi-talented, highly experimental, politically-charged, Juno-award winning Kinnie Starr.  The Calgary-born, BC-based artist was recognized as pioneer in Canadian hip hop by Toronto’s Manifesto Festival in 2011. Her music has been described as “edgy and enchanting” by the New Yorker, and the Record Magazine has described Kinnie as being a “sensual, spiritual, self-possessed [artist]…blazing her own influential trail.”  I caught up with Kinnie last week in Vancouver during her tour for her latest album, From Far Away, where she discussed social justice over the music industry, her environmentalism, how hip hop correlates with her Indigenous ancestry, and retiring from the music industry.

BIO

Kinnie Starr is one of Canada’s most adored and critically acclaimed underground musicians. Widely known in hip hop circles as an artist with a strikingly authentic voice, Starr has been blazing trails since 1996 with her beat slamming recordings, outspoken race and gender politics, intelligent and edgy visual art.

Hailing originally from Calgary, Alberta, the multi-lingual artist pushes artistic boundaries by ignoring them. The mixed-blood Mohawk uses her degree in women’s studies, her love of hip hop and street art, and her untrained intuitive talent as a pulse in all her music.

In 2010 Starr won a Juno for her production on Digging Roots’ second album, “We Are”, and she was nominated at the APCMA’s for her video, “It’s All You,” produced by Big Soul Productions. She also played the Olympics in Vancouver, BC with The Borealis String Quartet. In 2011 she was recognized as a pioneer in hip hop alongside Michee Mee by Toronto’s Manifesto Festival.

kinniestarr.ca

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

Maya Jupiter: The Chicana MC From Down Under

Hey fierce listeners, welcome to MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman.  My name is Charlene Sayo, your host for the next half an hour, and I’m very excited to kick off the very special Women in Hip Hop series. Over the next month, you’ll be hearing conversations with Maya Jupiter, Asa Lianess, Kinnie Starr and of course, Ana Tijoux.

For the premier episode of MsRepresent’s Women in Hip Hop series, I have Maya Jupiter, a Mexican-born, Australian-raised,Los Angeles-based rapper, artist, and activist.  I spoke with Maya while I was in LA during the epic Women on the Wave National Summit organized by AF3IRM, a transnational feminist organization, where Maya shared her definition of hip hop, the hypersexualization of women in music, her thoughts on mainstream hip hop, Brazilian dancing and more.

BIO

Photo by Osher Gunsberg

The Chicana From Down Under.

Born in La Paz, Mexico to a Mexican Father and Turkish Mother, Maya grew up in Sydney, Australia. It was in Sydney’s Western Suburbs where she first fell in love with Hip Hop.

Maya’s love of writing rhymes helped her express her fear, pain, joy and hope as a teenager and later on she realized the power music held in using it as a tool to make a positive difference in her community.

It is with this ideal that she co-founded Artivist Entertainment, an entertainment company committed to creating and supporting art and music that inspires positive social change alongside Quetzal Flores, Veronica Gonzales, Alberto Lopez and Aloe Blacc.

Maya has release two solo albums, the latest created with Quetzal Flores and Martha Gonzalez of Grammy Award winning, EastLos rock band Quetzal and her husband, singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc. The album is inspired by Son Jarocho and stays true to Maya’s love of hip hop, dancehall and soul, made up almost entirely of live instrumentation, including Mexican harp, tarima and jarana. Her lyrics are powerful, vibrant, and uplifting.

Maya’s first album ‘Today’ debuted in 2003 on Mother Tongues, the first label dedicated solely to women in hip-hop. She later performed with Latin Jazz band Son Veneno, formed a group called Foreign Heights, presented and produced several hip-hop radio shows including the national ‘triple j’s hip hop show’ and her own ‘Black Beans, Brown Rice’ Radio show on http://www.radiosombra.org and was a VJ for Channel [V] Australia.

Maya’s Artivism began in her early twenties when she facilitated Hip Hop workshops with at-risk youth in Sydney’s south and west, teaching young people how to write, record and perform songs. In 2012 she was an official Ambassador for ‘The Line campaign,’ an Australian government anti-violence initiative.

In Los Angeles she volunteered as a mentor with Peace Over Violence’s Youth Over Violence Summer Institute, facilitating a song writing and recording internship around songs that discussed healthy relationships. in 2014 she became a spokesperson for their Denim Day Campaign bringing awareness to Sexual Violence and was recognised with the Voice Over Violence Humanitarian Award.

She volunteers with Tiyya as a writing instructor for the Storytellers writing course dedicated to refugees and first and second generation immigrants of Los Angeles and she has co-facilitated a Youth Radio Internship at Radio Sombra, teaching high school students from Boyle Heights how to present and produce their own radio shows.

Currently Maya is writing new music produced by Quetzal Flores and Aloe Blacc. Her latest release ‘That Ain’t Me’ is a fierce rebuttal to popular media’s image of beauty which is demonstrated in the video when she pulls out her extensions, rips of her false lashes and discards the push up bra among other things.

Look out for her new single Insha’Allah available soon.

mayajupiter.com

@mayajupiter

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

 

Audrey Siegl: “We are moving what is considered immovable.” The Musqueam Warrior on Indigenous Matrilineal Societies, Women’s Leadership and Idle No More

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman.  I’m very excited to introduce my guest, Audrey Siegl (ancestral name sχɬemtəna:t), a Musqueam warrior and protector involved with Idle No More.  Audrey is also a prominent figure in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side where she organizes against gentrification and advocates for accessible housing for marginalized communities.  This past summer, Audrey caught the attention of the media and public as she was a leading force against the eviction and tear down of tent city in Vancouver’s Oppenheimer Park.  This fall, Audrey is running for City Council with the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE).  Her platform includes homes for all, protection for women and Indigenous Sovereignty.

For this episode, Audrey discusses matrilineal Musqueam culture, the effects of colonization on Indigenous women’s power, the impacts of homelessness on women and women’s leadership in the Idle No More movement.

BIO

Until recently Audrey Siegl (ancestral name sχɬemtəna:t) lived in East Vancouver, where she was raised by a single father of East Indian and British heritage, and by her mother’s Musqueam family. In recent years she has moved back to the Musqueam Indian Reserve in a process of reconnecting with maternal and ancestral ties, where she has worked in the Musqueam Language and Culture Department to revitalize hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language.

She currently lives and works on the reserve, located south of Marine Drive near the mouth of the Fraser River, where she gives tours of the cultural pavilion and gallery, as well as the Chinese market gardens. The reserve is a beautiful but very small portion of traditional Musqueam territory. In recent years Audrey has been an active in the Idle No More movement. She was also involved in organizing the protection of c̓əsnaʔəm (Marpole Midden) in 2012, and most recently the homeless Tent City in Oppenheimer Park,Vancouver, B.C.

Audrey uses her voice to draw attention to growing inequalities in Vancouver, which she sees as having roots in the system of colonialism, a system that creates dispossession from the land, and which values the lives of certain people and communities at the expense of others. She wants to work to radically change Vancouver as we know it and to build a city where basic needs and humanity come before corporate profit and corporate politics.

@Goldmund8

cope.bc.ca/audrey

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

 

Safia Elhillo: Finding ‘Home’ Around the World

Hey fierce listeners!  Welcome to the last episode of MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman, the New York series.  Over the summer I spent some time in the Big Apple where I had the amazing opportunity to hang out with super fierce women in the arts and activism.

For the final New York episode, I have Safia Elhillo, a spoken word artist who was a finalist in the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam and has graced the stage with luminary artists such as Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots, Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Immortal Technique, Faith Evans, and Sonia Sanchez.  I met up with Safia at Barnes and Nobles where she shared her experiences as a transnational immigrant poet, and discussed language fusion, Egypt and the Arab Spring, the myth of the tortured artist, Wu-Tang Clan and odes to Egyptian Pop stars.

BIO

Safia Elhillo is Sudanese by way of Washington, D.C., currently living in New York City. Safia is an alum of New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study with a concentration in “Poetry as a Tool for Therapy” and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies, and is currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at the New School. She has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC and the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway, and has shared the stage with ?uestlove and Black Thought of The Roots, Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Immortal Technique, Faith Evans, and Sonia Sanchez. She is a founding member of Slam NYU, the 2012 and 2013 national collegiate championship team, and was a three-time member and former coach of the DC Youth Slam Poetry team. Safia appears on season 3 of Verses and Flow on TV1, and was a finalist in the 2011 Women of the World Poetry Slam. Her chapbook of poems, The Life and Times of Susie Knuckles, is published by Well&Often Press. Safia is a Cave Canem fellow and a poetry editor at Kinfolks Quarterly: a journal of black expression.

safia-mafia.com

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

 Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

“The Excuse” by Safia Elhillo. Produced for Verses and Flow, TV One.

“Egypt” by Safia Elhillo.  Film courtesy of Joe Amodei.

Defining Progress: Street Artist Gilf! on Gentrification, Art, Activism and the iconic 5 Pointz Mecca

Hey fierce listeners, welcome to another episode of MsRepresent: Behind the Face, a Fierce Woman, the New York series.  Over the summer, I spent some time in the Big Apple where I had the chance to hang out with awesome women in the arts and activism.

For the third episode of the New York series, I met up with Gilf! a Brooklyn-based artist whose politically charged work has not only gained her a loyal following, but has also put her front and centre in the gentrification discourse.  Earlier this year, Gilf! caught the attention of art lovers, activists and social-media aficionados when she dropped her “Gentrifcation in Progress” banner over the iconic Queens, New York graffiti mecca, 5 Pointz.  For this episode, Gilf! discusses America’s wars of occupation, gentrification, art, politics, activism and the art of smashing kitchens.

BIO

Gilf! in “Define Progress” for Surplus Candy.

Based in Brooklyn, gilf! is one of NYC’s most recognized and provocative female street artists. Her focus is on creating bold typographic public works that inspire thoughtfulness, while simultaneously motivating progressive change within communities. Earlier this year, the artist garnered national media attention when she installed a colossal banner resembling police caution tape that read ‘GENTRIFICATION IN PROGRESS’  at the former graffiti mecca 5 Pointz in Queens, New York. Since receiving her bachelor’s degree in Fine Art from the University of Wisconsin Madison, her work has been reviewed in Blouin Art Info, New York Magazine, New York Daily News, Brooklyn Street Art, and Wooster Collective. She has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the US and abroad including shows at Jim Kempner Fine Art in New York, Seyhoun Gallery in Tehran, Iran, and CAVE Gallery in Los Angeles. Through her travels, murals, uncomissioned street work, gallery installations, and curatorial projects she continues her dialog of mindful and constructive revolution.

gilfnyc.com

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

Aja in Wonderland: Aja Monet on the Politics of Poetry, Social Transformation and Tupac Shakur

For the second episode of the New York series, I have the current “cool girl” of spoken word poetry, Aja Monet, the youngest winner of the legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Café Grand Slam.  Since winning the coveted title, Aja has performed all over the United States, France, the UK, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bermuda, and Cuba.

In 2012, she collaborated on a book with iconic poet and musician Saul Williams, called Chorus: A Literary Mixtape and has smoothed into music, producing her first album, Scared to Make Love, Scared not To.  For this episode, Aja talks about living in Paris, the role of the poet in social transformation, music and Tupac Shakur.

BIO

“The true definition of an artist” is how the iconic Harry Belafonte describes Aja Monet who  is a poet, performer, and educator from East NY, Brooklyn. She is best known as the youngest individual to win the legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Café Grand Slam title.  An internationally established poet, she is recognized for combining her spellbound voice and powerful imagery on stage, captivating audiences across the United States, France, the UK, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bermuda, and Cuba.

She has showcased at world-renowned venues including On Broadway at the Town Hall Theater, Apollo Theater, Paradiso in Amsterdam, and countless others. Aja Monet was invited by the UN Youth Delegates to perform for ambassadors, national politicians, diplomats, and directors of various agencies at the United Nations in New York City. As well, she was invited to perform for NAACP’s Barack Obama Inaugural event in Washington DC.

Aja Monet’s work has philosophical impact on perspective and critical thinking as she seeks to pose questions about the power of the imagination and metaphor in developing transformative visions on internal worlds and how we engage with global issues. Largely influencing the spoken word community, Aja Monet uses poetry to empower and encourage holistic healing in youth education. She works with inner-city youth as a Teaching Artist for Urban Word NYC as well as Urban Arts Partnership in NYC where she encourages her students to delve into creative outlets to harness meaning in the world and to transform it by transforming selves. She was invited by Cook County Commissioners of Illinois to perform for elected officials and visited numerous youth institutions, developing voices as an alternative to violence using poetry as a transformative force.

Influenced by all areas of the Arts, Aja Monet has worked closely with visual artists as well and was invited by contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas and scholar Deborah Willis to speak at Musee du Quai Branly for NYU’s Black Portraitures Conference in Paris, France where she addressed international scholars, artists, and performers on the role of the poet in contemporary society.

A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College (2009), Aja Monet received her BA in Liberal Arts and was awarded the The Andrea Klein Willison Prize for Poetry which was established to recognize undergraduate students whose work in poetry “effectively examines relationships among women, especially in the context of justice for everyone.” She then went on to receive an MFA in Creative Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2011). Her Graduate thesis was also her first compilation of music and poetry. Entitled Scared to Make Love/Scared Not To, it is a testament to her creative lens and a social commentary on the discussion of love.

Aja Monet independently published her first book of poetry, The Black Unicorn Sings (2010). In 2012, she collaborated with poet/musician Saul Williams on a book entitled, Chorus: A Literary Mixtape (MTV Books/Simon & Schuster). She is currently working on new music and a ebook of poems to be released online June 1st, 2014 entitled, “Inner-City Chants & Cyborg Cyphers.”

ajamonet.com

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

“She Sweats” by Aja Monet.  Directed and produced by Camovement for The ArtWorks Collection.

“Us” written and produced by Aja Monet, from the album, Scared to Make Love/Scared Not To.

No Middle Road: Feminist Writer Ninotchka Rosca on Prostitution, Feminism, Art, and Social Transformation Models

I’m very excited to announce that for the next few weeks, I’ll be airing the New York episodes.  Over the summer I spent some time in the big bright big Apple where interviewed awesomely fierce women in the arts and in activism.

For the premier episode of the New York series, I’m very happy to introduce Philippine-born, award-winning novelist, journalist, feminist, activist, intellectual and yogi, Ninotchka Rosca.  Her second novel, Twice Blessed won the prestigious American Book Award in 1993.  Her writing has been described as “Kafkaesque,” with The New York Times applauding her work as having “the pungent force of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.”

A former political prisoner under the Ferdinand Marcos Dictatorship, Ninotchka was forced into political exile to the United States in the 1970’s.  Since then, Ninotchka has worked with Amnesty International, the PEN American Center, and drafted landmark statements on women and human rights at the UN’s Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and at the UN’s World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.

When she’s not working on her current novel, Ninotchka works with the Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Refeudalization and Marginalization (AF3IRM), a transnational, four continent feminist organization in the United States.

For this episode, Ninotchka discusses third wave and transnational feminism, social transformation models, prostitution, the Nordic model, Karl Marx, Gerda Lerner, Picasso’s Guernica, and the role of art and the artist in social transformation.

BIO

Ninotchka Rosca, novelist, journalist and activist; organizer of women; works with AF3IRM.  Constantly jousting with windmills since the first serious book she read, when she was 7 years old, was Cervantes’s Quixote.  Author and co-author of 9 books and about 700 by-lined articles and essays.  Currently at work on her novel, “The Synchrony Tree” — about an ancient elemental who finds herself in New York city.

ninotchkarosca.com

ninotchkarosca.blogspot.com

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.

“Do the Right Thing”: Civil Rights Icon Minnijean Brown Trickey on Little Rock Nine, Ferguson and Resistance

Shortly after the historic, federally court-ordered desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, nine African-American students were confronted by the Arkansas National Guard who prevented them from entering the building on the first day of classes in early September, 1957.  Racial tensions soon erupted into riots and President Eisenhower ordered a division of the United States Army to escort the students, now known as the Little Rock Nine, safely into the building on September 25, 1957.

I had the opportunity to speak with Minnijean Brown Trickey, one of the original Little Rock Nine, who is also a Civil Rights icon, who continues her anti-racism and anti-oppression activism well into her seventies.

Now based in Vancouver, Minnijean shares her story about growing up in the segregated south, her thoughts on Ferguson, on doing the right thing, and why she’ll never stop resisting.

BIO

Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College. 2014.

Minnijean Brown, the eldest of four children of Willie and Imogene Brown, was born on September 11, 1941, in Little Rock (Pulaski County).  She is the sister of the late Bobby Brown, who was the president of Black United Youth (BUY) in Arkansas in the late 1960s.

Although all of the Nine experienced verbal and physical harassment during the 1957–58 academic year at Central, Trickey was first suspended, and then expelled, for retaliating against the daily torment.  On February 17, 1958, she moved to New York and lived with Drs. Kenneth B. and Mamie Clark, African-American psychologists whose social science research formed the basis for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) argument in the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas case, which held that segregation harmed the self-esteem of African-American children. She graduated from New York’s New Lincoln School, a private progressive school in Manhattan, in 1959.

Brown married Roy Trickey, a fisheries biologist, on September 21, 1967; they have six children. She attended Southern Illinois University and majored in journalism. She later moved to Canada with her husband, where she received a BSW in Native Human Services from Laurentian University and an MSW in social work from Carleton University in Ontario, Canada.

Minnijean Brown Trickey, right, and others of the Little Rock Nine leave Central High School under troop escort in September, 1957. National Park Service photo.

Trickey is a social activist and has worked on behalf of peacemaking, environmental issues, developing youth leadership, diversity education and training, cross-cultural communication, and gender and social justice advocacy. She served in the Clinton administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Workforce Diversity at the Department of the Interior from 1999 to 2001. She has taught social work at Carleton University in Ottawa Canada and in various community colleges in Canada.

Trickey worked for an interactive traveling trip called Sojourn to the Past, a ten-day interactive history experience through selected U.S. states with 100 high school students learning about the civil rights movement. She was also a guest lecturer at Arkansas State University (ASU) in Jonesboro (Craighead County). She was the recipient of the Mary Gay Shipley Writing Fellowship, as a part of ASU’s Heritage Studies PhD program. She is also the subject of a documentary, Journey to Little Rock: The Untold Story of Minnijean Brown Trickey.

Trickey is the recipient of numerous awards for her community work for social justice, including the Lifetime Achievement Tribute by the Canadian Race Relations foundation and the International Wolf Award for contributions to racial harmony. Trickey, along with the other Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates, was awarded the prestigious Spingarn Medal by the NAACP in 1958. In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented the nation’s highest civilian award, the Congressional Gold Medal, to the members of the Little Rock Nine. After living in Little Rock for several years, she returned to Canada in early 2012.

Biography courtesy of The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

Intro/outro music:  “Rainbow” by Emilie Simon.  Remix from the original.

Additional music: “A tua choradeira é meio salário em lenços” by Stealing Orchestra & Rafael Dionísio.  Remix from the original.