Staying Open to Positive Possibilities
Aminata Desert Rose on Multidimensional Awareness + Carrboro Show 12/7 + BE A PART OF MY NEXT PODCAST!
Y’ALL,
How are you feeling? My emotions have run the gamut these past couple weeks, from terror, to calm determination, to *maybe* finding space for some new possibilities to emerge in the midst of upset, chaos, confusion.
Simultaneously, something very kismet is going on with Jess Klein’s Big Table, because the guests I have been blessed to feature seem to be exactly who we need to hear from right now. The folks with the tools we need to navigate this moment.
A survivor of the New York City foster care system, Aminata Desert Rose Plant Walker Fire Woman, aka Dr. Amanda Kemp has been a lifelong poet-performer and advocate of justice. As a student at Stanford University, she was a leader in student movements to divest from South Africa and to press the university to revamp Eurocentric curriculum requirements.
Since her college years, she has worked with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, the Honorable Maxine Waters, and Niyonu Spann, and won numerous community awards.
As an artist, she has shared the stage and/or created with Danny Glover, August Wilson, Sonia Sanchez, Toni Morrison, George Wolfe, and Amiri Baraka. In 2007, she founded Theatre for Transformation to dramatize stories from African American history.
Dr. Kemp is also the bestselling author of Stop Being Afraid! 5 Steps to Transform your Conversations about Racism,and Say the Wrong Thing, a collection of personal essays about racial justice and compassion.
Aminata's wisdom is both grounding and expansive, and speaking with her at this time made me feel much more empowered. If you have been feeling, triggered, fearful, angry, unable to see what could come next, I invite you to listen to this conversation, follow Aminata’s Mother Tree Network Podcast and check out her books and courses.
Listen/Watch the Whole Episode:
BE PART OF MY NEXT PODCAST!
Special Announcement! For the next episode of JKBT: I’ll be answering questions from you! Ask me anything about my albums, songwriting process, tour life, anything you’ve heard me say on the podcast, my own spiritual/social justice journey, or even ask my advice on a challenge you’re facing in your life! To submit a question, hit REPLY to this email, shoot me a message at jess@jessklein.com or leave a comment below and I’ll consider your question for a special Ask Me Anything Episode to air in early December!
Join Me in Carrboro, NC 12/7!
SO excited to return to this gorgeous little arts space Saturday 12/7! Gathering with community and singing for people has been everything these last couple weeks. For this show, expect us to throw in a couple holiday tunes and jazz standards in addition to some new tunes I’m working on as I prepare to record early next year. Russell Kelly will be backing me up on electric.
Upcoming Shows:
12/7 ArtsCenter, Carrboro, NC
1/31 Eno House, Hillsborough, NC - co-bill with Wes Collins
3/19 White Horse Black Mountain, Black Mountain, NC - Dark City Songwriter Series w/Beth Lee
3/26 Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, NC - “An Evening with Jess Klein” - Interview and performance - Tickets go on sale in 2025
5/2 Trinity House Theatre, Livonia, MI*
5/3 WFMT Folkstage, Chicago, IL*
5/4 Bishop Hill Creative Commons, Bishop Hill, IL*
5/9 Venue TBD, Effingham, IL
5/10 Bluff View Concerts, La Crosse, WI
*co-bills with Jenny Reynolds
No Sunday Salon This Month
Beloved Subscribers, I am taking a month off from the 3rd Sunday Salon in order to prepare for the end of the year and regroup from this intense month. BUT I look forward to joining y’all Sunday, 12/15 for our December Salon! I have a couple ideas, but if you have a theme suggestion, please let me know in the comments or by replying to this email!