These profound words of the Lakota people inspired me to create the Global Education Center and are the foundation of all of our work. We are all brothers and sisters, valuable members of our families and communities, each of us special in our own unique way. It is our individual uniqueness and our collective commonalities that build a welcoming, inclusive community. Based on years of work as an anti-bias educator and a teacher, parent volunteer and school administrator, I founded the Global Education Center to help teachers create safe classrooms for all of their children and families and to support minority and international artists with resources that enable them to share their culturally unique traditions.

I LOVE THIS WORK! Every day is exciting, inspiring and fulfilling. Taking hands-on cultural museums into schools throughout Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky and watching children’s global awareness and cross-cultural understanding bloom as they handle artifacts, fabrics, baskets, toys, games and instruments from different cultures and then watching it click when they realize the similarities all cultures share is heart-warming and affirming. Listening to their conversations as they explore the world and answering questions to help them better understand our oneness as well as our different lifeways and cultural expressions keeps me youthful, intellectually hungry and passionate about human rights.

Children and youth in all school environments – public, private, urban, suburban and rural – come alive to the rhythms of Life as we share music and dance traditions from around the world. Sometimes we have to convince children and teachers that it is ok to show appreciation through whoops, hollers and some crazy seat-dancing, but once they get the vibe of the cultural celebration, the rafters shake and the school teems with the excitement of the world’s diversity. My heart nearly explodes with love and pride as I watch the many artists connect with their audiences, sharing traditions from their own cultures as well as the traditions of others. It is magical!

In these divisive times, I am even more committed to and proud of the work of the Global Education Center in providing a home where all members of our community can come together in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, where everyone is considered a member of our Global family. The year 2020 marks the 24th year of Global Education Center’s important place in the artistic fabric of our community. We are necessary, we are relevant, we are strong, and we are here to stay. When children and adults hear the nasty rhetoric that minimalizes members of our community, or when they experience a moment of fear or invisibleness, we want them to know that we are here for them. We are here to empower them through the arts to dispel myths, alleviate fears, and dismantle the many isms that marginalize so many of our citizens. We are here to let them know that we are all brothers and sisters, members of a beautiful Global family that communicates through care, respect and Love. We ALL belong here. Mitakuye oyasin. We are all related. We always have been. We always will be.

Ellen Gilbert
Founding Director
Global Education Center

“We need equity. We need allies. We need to feel safe, here, in our home.”
 
These were among many statements collected in an open community forum for members of our immigrant and refugee communities to come together and talk about identity and needs. These recorded statements, along with stories of four immigrants and refugees collected at writing workshops, formed the narrative for Global Nashville Project’s contemporary dance, “Braid”, a community-based arts project made possible in part by funding from Metro Nashville Arts Commission. Ellen Gilbert and Global Education Center were essential community partners in this intersection of arts and social justice. Global Education Center artists Carlos Duran (composer), Alejandro Rivera (dancer), Camila Fyler (dancer), and Charlie Gilbert (interpreter) were vital collaborators in bringing this work of art to life, and Ellen was a potent force for reaching out to sponsors and connecting with diverse communities to have a voice in this project.

In just eight intense weeks, this team of a more than a dozen dancers, interpreters, composer, choreographer, and project manager collected and wove together recorded statements and stories, created an original score, choreographed and rehearsed an 11-minute dance that premiered at Celebrate Nashville in October 2017, and was also performed at Global Education Center’s Ballet Plata y Oro on October 28th. “Braid” weaves together statements of identity, false stereotypes, needs, and personal stories of members of Nashville’s international communities. Audience members where called to action with follow-up Action Steps to support our immigrant and refugee communities. Thanks to Global Education Center’s partnership, Global Nashville Project included Nashvillians from Somalia, Kurdistan, Mexico, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, Kenya, France, Taiwan, Burma, Colombia, Puerto Rico, and of Filipino, African-American, and US mainland American heritage. And thanks to those who witnessed “Braid” and accepted the challenge to put emotions into action, 11 people participated in various one-time or ongoing activities to further support immigrant and refugee communities in Nashville.

It didn’t take long for Global Education Center director Ellen Gilbert to say yes to the invitation to be a community partner, to schedule Global South for the forum and writing workshops, and begin connecting me with potential artists. Admittedly, when Ellen first recommended Carlos as a composer, I was wary that a percussionist might not be able to provide the type of musical score, with sustained notes, I had imagined. But Ellen was spot on, and the process of working with Carlos was the most amazing and enjoyable experience I’ve ever had collaborating with a composer. Not only did Carlos bring considerable musical talent, vision, and professionalism to creating an original score and overlaying the recorded voices, (not to mention patience for the many additions/revisions I made in the vocal narrative!) but his experience as an immigrant from Venezuela, his attending and participating in the community forum to collectively create statements that framed the narrative, and the heart and understanding he brought to this work was extraordinary.
 
Ellen and Global Education Center have had my respect and admiration and support for many years. But in collaborating on a community project, I’ve grown closer to seeing from the inside what it means to be involved in the Global Education Center family. It is just that; a family. These are artists who create together, who care for each other, whose lives intersect beyond just Global Education Center’s extensive cultural programming. These are people who believe deeply in the importance and power of building bridges of understanding through the arts, and who bring the best of themselves to their work. And in doing so, they make our community and our world a better place.

Line Breaks Literary Reading Series, curated by poet Thandiwe Shiphrah, has been supporting local and visiting poets and storytellers from different cultures by hosting readings, writing workshops, performances and special events for more than 15 years. In 2018, Line Breaks welcomed, Xanath Caraza, a nationally and internationally renowned Mexican poet and recipient of the 2015 International Book Award for Poetry, to recite poetry from her latest book, Conjuro, and host a writing workshop that focused on the journey through the multicultural identity of Mexicans, especially focused on the influence and impact of African culture in Mexico as the Third Root of Mexico. 

We caught up with Ms. Caraza to dive a little deeper into how the Third Root of Mexico has become central to her narrative and theme in her poetry and the importance of understanding and revering multicultural identity.

Please define The Third Root of Mexico for those who have never heard of it.
 
The understanding of the complexity and diversity of Mexico is still a work in progress for Mexicans and the world. There are three main roots in what we understand as Mexico, the first root is indigenous.  This includes sixty-eight indigenous languages spoken today in Mexico, therefore sixty-eight cultural manifestations through music, art, food and more.  What is customarily referred to as the second root of Mexico is its European ancestry, mainly from Spain.  In history classes in Mexico reference to the third root is African ancestry, which is as diverse or more so than the original indigenous cultures from Mexico.  The third root is a mixture of many African cultures that were brought to the Americas during colonial times and shaped our understanding of what Mexico and Latin America are today.  Music, art, clothing, literature, and many historical events in Mexico and Latin America have their origins within African cultures, brought by those who were enslaved and survived the Middle Passage to the Americas.
 
How have your cultural background and family history sparked your interest in exploring The Third Root and in writing in three languages?
 
In terms of the multicultural aspects of my work, I’m concerned with linguistic expressions, education, race, women’s rights, origin and history.  For my first poetry collection, I was able to convince my mother to help me translate “Mujer” into Nahuatl, “Sihualt”.  Showing the poem in Spanish, English and Nahuatl is a definite opportunity to celebrate my indigenous roots and the fact that the US is also part of me.  I also tried to include Nahuatl as much as my ability to use the language allowed.  I have always explained that I don’t speak Nahuatl fluently; I wish I did.  However, I grew up listening to it and I do remember sounds, and mostly rhythms, of the Nahuatl language. They were green sounds, from the open spaces of my grandmother’s indigenous community.  Consciously, I’ve included them, because I’m proud to belong to one of the oldest original groups of people in the Americas. Here is a stanza of “Mujer / Sihuatl”, and you can here me read the poem here.

Rayo de luna
Vientre fértil que devora y da vida
Hoja que cae con el otoño
Manos que peinan, manos que hornean, manos que limpian
 
Ray of the moon
Fertile womb that devours and brings life
Leaf that falls in autumn
Hands that comb, hands that bake, hands that clean
 
Sahuantli tlen messtli
Sihuayo tlamantiketl tlen tlapasulmana uan texmaka tonenlis
Sihuatl tlen uesi ika ne meestli
Majtli tlen tshiljuia, majtli tlen tlaikxitia, majtli tlen tlapopoua

I have also tried to celebrate my African heritage through my writing. “Yanga” is a poem where I celebro las palabras, la gente, la ascendencia and Louis Reyes Rivera.  Meeting Louis Reyes Rivera in Kansas City was a life changing experience for me.  He was a professor, an excellent performer, a Latino, Puerto Rican, and not just Latino, African Latino.   The combination of everything that makes up who he is was key for me.  In a manner, he summarized in life, right in front of my eyes, what I was looking for.  As I have mentioned before, I have an indigenous background and Spanish, too. As well, I know I have an African background, both from northern Africa and because of the fact that I am from Veracruz, and it is through the Port of Veracruz that the people who were enslaved were brought to Mexico.  I likely have African blood for that reason, too.   When I heard Louis Reyes Rivera read his work, I was completely moved. He read from his book, Scattered Scriptures, both in Spanish, English, Spanglish.  The rhythms he produced in front of me were incredible.
 
Could you talk a little about some of the cultural manifestations in Mexican culture, such as myths, historical figures, and indigenous stories and beliefs?
 
Yanga is one of my favorite historical figures from Mexico.  In Veracruz, we learn about Yanga early in grammar school, and as mentioned in the poem there is a town named after him.  At the University of Missouri-Kansas City I took a course, where I decided to write my final paper about African influences in Mexico.  I prepared with a great deal of sources, and I was also invited to present about African Mexicans at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City.  There are other African historical figures in Mexican history, but Yanga had already been playing those drums for me for a long time.  I try to imagine him, first surviving from wherever he was caught in inland Africa and taken to the coast, most likely in West Africa.  Then it impacts me to think about the fact of having survived the actual Middle Passage from West Africa to Cuba most likely.  Finally, he must have traveled from Cuba to Veracruz, still in the worst of conditions.  Then can you imagine being sold at the slave market in the port of Veracruz, having lived in terrible conditions?  Finally, in spite of everything, he had the courage and both the physical and mental strength to escape and along the way organize other runaway people who had been enslaved.  In the end, their settlement was attacked at least one time that we know of.  This settlement was finally recognized as the first free zone in the American colonies. Of course, the scary side of the story is that if any of the new free African men were caught outside the limits of the village, they could be returned to slavery. However, I think that what he did was amazing, and very important for Mexican and Latin American history.  He should be celebrated much more frequently.  Now, in relation to my word selection, I believe, or at least want to believe, that those are the words that Yanga most likely said aloud, too. That was his language and through my voice he is with us. I don’t have anything of his, but it is his words and his courage that needs to be remembered.  Here is a link where you can hear me read “Yanga” in Spanish.
As for the sound-driven form, that was thanks to Louis Reyes Rivera.  If you listen to him, you’ll see what I’m talking about, and his words, “Never be afraid of the inner sounds you hear.” 
 
 
Another historical figure from Mexico is the female pre-Hispanic poet Macuilxochitzin.  I have written two different poems on her. “Macuilxochitzin”, the first poem from my book Conjuro (Mammoth Publications, 2012) is a poem in which I want to celebrate women and pre-Hispanic poets.  Macuilxochitzin is the only female, Aztec poet historically recognized.  We have a fragment of a poem from her; we know her name and we know that she was a female poet. Here is a stanza of that first poem. 

Macuilxochitzin,
poet with obsidian blood
Let the chants begin!
Let the dance start!
¡yn in cuicatl!
¡yn maconnetotilo!

The second poem I wrote on Macuilxochitzon is titled “Tejedora de palabras / Weaver of words” from my book Ocelocíhuatl (Mouthfeel Press, 2015) and you can hear me read the poem in the following link, what is more, see an image that the Smithsonian Latino Center created based on Macuilxochitzin.  Here is the link for my bilingual poem “Tejedora de palabras (in Spanish) / Weaver of Words (in English)”.  

One more historical figure I would like to mention is La Mulata de Córdoba.  She was an African Mexican healer and midwife from the state of Veracruz, Mexico and born as a free individual around 1780 at a time when many African Mexican people were enslaved.  You can read more on La Mulata de Córdoba here, and hear my bilingual poem based on her in the following links: “Vestida de cempasúchiles” (in Spanish) and “Dressed in Marigolds” (in English).
 
How do the indigenous, Spanish and African aspects of Mexican culture intersect and what influence do they have on modern Mexican society?  
 
The first aspect that comes to mind is music, especially el Son Jarocho in Veracruz, a combination of African rhythms, Spanish instruments and in many occasions Indigenous verses.  Food is another cultural manifestation also in the state of Veracruz.  We have dishes heavily influenced by African cultures, Indigenous cultures and Spanish culture. In terms of art, Israel Nazario, from the city of Oaxaca, is a contemporary Mexican artist.  Among other topics in his painting, he is depicting the African Mexican diaspora from la Costa Chica de Oaxaca.  I have used some of his painting to respond with my poetry.  For example, “De tus manos/Out of Your Hands” and “Matilde en la hamaca/Matilde in the Hammock” are two poems from my book Corazón Pintado (2015) where I respond to Nazario’s African Mexican images.
 
What would you like your readers and audiences to know about the homeland and experiences of your ancestors and their influence on you as a daughter, a writer and an American?
 
In my writing there is a great deal of memory.  There is the impulse or desire to leave a trace in the world, in my particular case with words.  I’d like to share with my readers what I have experienced, seen, felt.  Alongside my memories, there is the memory of my people, my indigenous roots, my African roots, my Mexican roots.  I am proud of them, I am part of them, in my veins runs indigenous and African blood. 

If you would like to know more about the Line Break Literary Reading Series or to get involved, please click here. You can also learn about more upcoming programs and events in Global Education Center's Third Root of Mexico series by visiting our Events tab. 

These profound words of the Lakota people inspired me to create the Global Education Center and are the foundation of all of our work. We are all brothers and sisters, valuable members of our families and communities, each of us special in our own unique way. It is our individual uniqueness and our collective commonalities that build a welcoming, inclusive community. Based on years of work as an anti-bias educator and a teacher, parent volunteer and school administrator, I founded the Global Education Center to help teachers create safe classrooms for all of their children and families and to support minority and international artists with resources that enable them to share their culturally unique traditions.

​I LOVE THIS WORK! Every day is exciting, inspiring and fulfilling. Taking hands-on cultural museums into schools throughout Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky and watching children’s global awareness and cross-cultural understanding bloom as they handle artifacts, fabrics, baskets, toys, games and instruments from different cultures and then watching it click when they realize the similarities all cultures share is heart-warming and affirming. Listening to their conversations as they explore the world and answering questions to help them better understand our oneness as well as our different lifeways and cultural expressions keeps me youthful, intellectually hungry and passionate about human rights. 

​Children and youth in all school environments – public, private, urban, suburban and rural – come alive to the rhythms of Life as we share music and dance traditions from around the world. Sometimes we have to convince children and teachers that it is ok to show appreciation through whoops, hollers and some crazy seat-dancing, but once they get the vibe of the cultural celebration, the rafters shake and the school teems with the excitement of the world’s diversity. My heart nearly explodes with love and pride as I watch the many artists connect with their audiences, sharing traditions from their own cultures as well as the traditions of others. It is magical!

In these divisive times, I am even more committed to and proud of the work of the Global Education Center in providing a home where all members of our community can come together in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, where everyone is considered a member of our Global family. This year marks the 22nd year of Global Education Center’s important place in the artistic fabric of our community. We are necessary, we are relevant, we are strong, and we are here to stay. When children and adults hear the nasty rhetoric that minimalizes members of our community, or when they experience a moment of fear or invisibleness, we want them to know that we are here for them. We are here to empower them through the arts to dispel myths, alleviate fears, and dismantle the many isms that marginalize so many of our citizens. We are here to let them know that we are all brothers and sisters, members of a beautiful Global family that communicates through care, respect and Love. We ALL belong here. Mitakuye oyasin. We are all related. We always have been. We always will be.

Ellen Gilbert
Founding Director
Global Education Center
​

Tirra Hargrow
Teaching Artist/African Dance Teacher
​Global Education Center

​The Line Breaks Literary Reading Series ended its 2016-17 season in May with an intimate gathering of local musicians and spoken word artists and a delightful collaboration between Global board member and visiting storyteller Naoko Ozaki and roster artists, Thandiwe Shiphrah, and Daniel Arite. The three collaborated on the beloved Japanese folktale “The Crane Returns a Favor” in a performance for Family Festival Day at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. 

Global Education Center is looking forward to more exciting readings, performances, special events, partnerships and collaborations. The Line Breaks season starts again in October 2017 and we’re busy making plans.  We hope to see you in the audience!

Thandiwe Shiphrah
Director of Literary Arts & Community Engagement
Global Education Center

For years, I didn’t know that I was searching for a place to write. I had grown so distant from my creative process that I hid my own writing from myself. It certainly was not something I could bare to revise. So when I stepped outside of my comfort zone in February 2011, I entered Nashville’s, Global Education Center, which welcomed Nikky Finney through their Line Breaks Literary Reading Series to read her poetry and conduct a free writer’s workshop. Using her just released collection, Head Off and Split, Ms. Finney opened the creative doors for workshop participants by using prompts from poems and then urged those interested to continue to meet and write. In honor of the Line Breaks originator, Thandiwe Shiphrah, the Line Breaks Poetry Collective was formed and has met monthly ever since.

In the beginning, I felt like a fool. I didn’t know what I would say, what level of expertise the other poets and writers held, all kinds of defeatist thoughts snaked through my head, but I jumped out of my comfort zone and showed up.
 
What I found was a group of mostly women writers who decided to give themselves two hours a month to write from the depths of their lives. When we shared our writing, which was mostly in the form of poetry, my perception of the world expanded as I came to see the world through lenses other than my own. Little did I think that writing poetry, consistently, with others, could enrich my life so, but it did. I learned poetic styles of writing. I learned about new poets and writers and workshops and open mics. And I grew to care about my fellow poets, each of whom have found a place of fond importance in my heart.
 
What has evolved is an ever-expanding group of writers who dedicate time to nurture their self-expression through the craft of poetry. Members of the Line Breaks Poetry Collective have been invited by the Director of the Global Education Center, Ellen Gilbert, to read at various multicultural functions. As well, Thandiwe Shiphrah continues to develop the Line Breaks Series, which features poets from across the country and presents additional performance and workshop opportunities for the entire Nashville community.

I didn’t know that what I’d get in return were pieces of myself that I’d been mortgaging off to everyone else. Over the years, I’d successfully dispensed myself to family, work, and anything I’d made into an obligation that was more important than connecting to the center of myself. Call it spirit, or soul, I learned how to travel the avenue of the written word through my journal back towards my own sources of happiness.

Since our first meeting in 2011, Line Break poets have gone on to read their poetry at a variety of venues throughout Nashville and beyond. The Nashville network of poets and poetry events has evolved and with it a greater sampling of the work produced by the women known for their participation with the Line Breaks Collective.
 
And this happiness, this deep feeling of connection to worlds so much larger than the ones between my ears, is a gift I want everyone to experience. For that reason, after years of writing, I suggested we record some of our poetry so that others might be encouraged and hopefully be inspired to write for their own foolish emancipation.
 
To give back to the Global Education Center, the Line Breaks Poetry Collective agreed to record some of their poems created within our Saturday morning meetings as an education and outreach tool for individuals, schools and groups interested in this creative process. The result is a CD compilation titled Domestic Disguises. You can hear samples of it by clicking here.



For those of you interested in joining an informal, writing group, that is dedicated to learning more about the craft and creative nuance of writing, please arrive the second Saturday each month when we meet upstairs at the Global Education Center from ten a.m. to noon.  Each month, one of us is asked to lead our workshop through a series of writing prompts. By using other poems, poetic styles, images, words, and/or objects of nature, and allowing what needs to be written to come through, we are all surprised and inspired by what is written and learn from what we share. Sometimes we’ve had conference calls with poets if one of us couldn’t show up. We do our best to support and accommodate our schedules.

We are more than poets. We are a family of writers who have found common ground through poetry. We have learned to listen and critique with kindness. We have cultivated sound foundations, urging each other to write and speak her truth.​

We all have big lives. Everyone wants a piece of you. If any part of your soul whispers that you reserve a portion of yourself by way of writing; if that fool needs convincing, call me, (615) 727-4432. 

You can find out more about the Line Breaks Literary Reading Series that has inspired the collective, by clicking here. 

Patricia Alice Albrecht’s fiction and poetry has appeared in the literary anthology, Wind Eyes, A Woman’s Reader and Writing Source, The Chrone Chronicles, Rattle, 360 Degrees-Art and Literary Review, Chest, A Magazine for Thoracic Surgeons, Calliope Magazine, Still, and Number One. A CD of poetry, A Touch of Pizzazz was recorded for fans of the internationally syndicated cartoon series, Jem & The Holograms in which she voiced the antagonist, Pizzazz. She is co-producer of Domestic Disguises, a CD of original poetry from the Line Break Collective of poets at the Global Education Center in Nashville, which was released in March 2017. She has facilitated workshops at Willow Oak Center for Arts & Learning, Springfield, TN, Tennessee Prison for Women, Poverty and the Arts, AKIVA School and an In- Service Program for teachers in Nashville. For more information, write palice@bellsouth.net
​

Montanez Wade was appointed to the board of the Global Education Center in 2016. She describes herself as “a whole brain sista living at the intersection of creativity, spirituality, and technology.”  Montanez is an artist and innovative educator with a Master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. She has taught computer programming for over ten years. For many years she directed the undergraduate research program for the Center of Excellence in Information Systems at Tennessee State University. Passionate about engineering education, Montanez is active in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) projects, and is called often to present workshops on the subject.  In 2017 she will be in involved with Westwood Baptist Church University Center on STEM classes. Known by many in the arts community as the “Soulful Story Weaver,” she shares stories and poems of hope, truth and inspiration. Her work teaches and challenges audiences to reach for their highest potential. For her, creativity is a tool for empowerment and liberation.
 
We asked Montanez to share some of her insights on living and working in community.

WORKING COLLECTIVELY WE ARE ABLE TO MAKE CHANGE COLLECTIVELY   AND INDIVIDUALLY
 
By Montanez Wade
 
 
For me, being part of a group has helped me to grow. In community I have been able to tap into my authentic self and reconnect to my highest self. My journey through life has been with many different communities. My communities have been places that I go to recharge, renew and revive my body and spirit and expand myself intellectually.
 
My journey through life has led me to become part of many different communities. Each has helped me to become a better me. Each has aided me in self and skill development.  My first community was with my mom and sister.  My mom was a first grade teacher who used creativity to teach students. She taught me to love myself. She shared with me her love of art. A believer in justice, she was always willing to speak up for those who were being treated unfairly.
           
            As a Girl Scout for about five years of my young life I worked with girls collectively, learning about camping, tying knots, first aid, archery, arts and crafts. When I transitioned from Brownie to Cadet I gained a lot of skills and increased my self-confidence. Scouts helped me to gain skills for navigating in the unknown areas as I learned to be a good observer.
 
            In high school my clique was comprised of girls who were focused on academics and girls who were artistic – musicians, writers, dancers and visual artists. These groups left deep imprints on my life. Their fellowship reinforced in me a love of learning and school and a love of art and writing. After school and during breaks I wrote poems while my best friend created music. To this day – forty years later—I still like to write while listening to live music.
 
            I know that without the group of friends I had while in college I would not have obtained my degree.  As an Electrical Engineering student, life became very challenging around the third year of study, due to the type of classes and the amount of homework required. To be successful required one to work in community. You had to learn to use your strengths and the skills of others.  Your classmates are your study partners for extended periods of time – sundown to sunup. When I was tired or felt like giving up, my friends encouraged me to hang in there. The group is where I grew intellectually and personally. In my Electrical Engineering group I was reaching for my highest potential as a student – my friends challenged me to become a stronger student. In this way, I was student, teacher and tutor. I gained a love for helping people understand challenging concepts, which is still a part of me. 
 
            In the arts, my improvisation community has taught me how to participate in situations where things are unknown. Learning to say yes is the most powerful lesson I learned. Doing improv, I also learned to trust my intuition and how to work with others even when I do not know in what direction we are going. I learned a lot about myself by simply playing with others.
 
In community, dreams become reality. I have been able to do more because of my communities. In creative groups dreaming becomes doing.  Communities are power sources.