Artists Network, Blog, Civic Engagement, N4 Africa, Summer of Impact

Narrative 4 Presents “Summer of Impact”

July 8, 2020

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Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

– James Baldwin

The time is now to embrace dialogue and the need for change here in the United States and around the world.

To that end, we are proud to present a “Summer of Impact” that will highlight the transformative work of our students, educators and artists with a variety of events and campaigns designed to amplify narratives that need to be heard.

The Narrative 4 Summer of Impact is generously underwritten by Karen Hollins and The Elizabeth Foundation. We invite you to lean into the times and learn how you can join our movement to create a more empathetic world.

Narrative 4 is pleased to launch a Summer of Impact with Apeirogon an event designed to highlight the mission and work of Narrative 4 through great literature.

Watch New York Times best-selling author and N4 co-founder, Colum McCann, in conversation with Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan, the two main, real life characters in McCann’s new novel, Apeirogon.

The event is moderated by N4 student ambassadors Malak Lahham from Nazareth, Israel, and Sinead O’Reilly from Wexford, Ireland. World renowned violinist, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, makes a special appearance to perform music he wrote and recorded based on the novel’s themes.

Hotel Everest is a documentary about individuals who have the courage to overcome ancient hatreds, fear and mistrust to strive for self-determination and peace. It follows the story of Israelis and Palestinians who come together to understand the humanity in “the other,” forge connections that promote empathy, understanding and, in their wildest hopes, peace.

Hotel Everest is not a historical account of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict but a contemporary, experiential film about living within it. The film’s director, Claudia Sobral, and one of the film’s protagonists, Eden Fuchs, joined us for a conversation and live Q&A moderated by Greg Khalil, co-founder of Telos Group and N4 Board Chair.

For more information, please visit:
Hotel Everest – http://www.hoteleverestthemovie.com/
Telos Group – https://www.telosgroup.org/

The incredible students, educators and administrators in the N4 family know that reading great literature has proven to be directly tied to an increase in civic engagement. To that end, we are amassing a vast network of artists who have the tools to transform education by using their considerable talents and connections to strengthen and diversify every facet of Narrative 4.

One such artist is N4 founding member and co-chair of our artists network, Ishmael Beah. Ishmael’s new novel, Little Family, will be the focal point of this event as we dive into what it means to turn empathy into action in the Joe Slovo Township of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Several students and educators from the region who are determined to change the narrative of this community by turning trash into treasure will join him during this highly interactive event.

Join Ishmael in conversation with N4 Manager of African Operations Buchi Onyegbule, Zuki Allah, and N4 Student Ambassadors Yamkela Vayo and Babalwa Tetyana. ⁣

For more on the “Trash to Treasure” Empathy into Action campaign visit https://narrative4.com/civic-engagement.

In the opening session of migraré, our three-day story exchange about race and identity, N4 Director of Marketing and Communications, Felice Belle, talks to Lama Rod Owens about why conversations about race are challenging for so many and how educators can resource themselves for this difficult and necessary work.

Lama Rod Owens is a Buddhist minister, author, activist, yoga instructor and authorized Lama, or Buddhist teacher, in the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism and is considered one of the leaders of his generation of Buddhist teachers. He holds a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School and is a co-author of “Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation.”

For more information about Lama Rod Owens, visit https://www.lamarod.com/ and check out his new book, “Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation Through Anger“.

“migraré translated: I will move.

Every moment in the grand march of history is sacred and exciting. But there is no moment as sacred and exciting as the moment of Now. Today we can choose to remain calcified and static and frozen in who we think we are, in old identities, in old models. Or, we can move into the creation of new languages of being, new structures of being, new ways of seeing into each other’s suffering and into each other’s beauty. Not only can we do these things, we can save ourselves in the process, redeem ourselves in the sanctity of brother, sister, neighbor, planet, place, family.”

—Darrell Bourque, author of migraré

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Watch N4 founding artist and poet Darrell Bourque in conversations with painter Bill Gingles, N4 Master Practitioner and poet Faisal Mohyuddin, N4 board chair and co-founder of the Telos Group, Greg Khalil, and N4 Global Student Ambassador Malak Lahham.

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Read migraré by Darrell Bourque
Read by The Displaced Children of Displaced Children by Faisal Mohyuddin,
Check out the work of painter Bill Gingles, http://www.billgingles.net/
Learn more about the Telos Group, https://www.telosgroup.org/

Like great art and literature, Narrative 4 takes all of us into the depths and complexities of other souls and enables virtual strangers to inhabit the depth and complexities of their own. In the end, it awakens us to the beauty, tragedy, humor, wonder, variety, commonality and endless possibilities of human interaction.

Join us for our 9th annual – and now virtual! – celebration of music and literature, entitled “Synchronicity,” featuring music and words from Sting, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, Rosanne Cash, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Ishmael Beah, Darrell Bourque, Assaf Gavron, Ruth Gilligan, Marlon James, Colum McCann, Rob Spillman, Babalwa Tetyana, Terry Tempest Williams, Lila Azam Zanganeh, and many others! These renowned authors and musicians will weave a symphony of sounds designed to add an exclamation point to our Summer of Impact, while also launching the academic year ahead.

This evening will lay the foundation for our global arts network, which has been created to harness the power of stories to build capacity for compassion. The music of the world suggests that stories lead to action and ultimately to enormous change. Watch as lyrics and poetry help build greater trust in our world, one synchronistic story at a time. Spiritus Mundi.