Being present in the moment means giving your full attention to something or someone, but the present is always suspended in tension between the weight of the past and the promise of the future. In Episode 3, Glenn revels in Black joy in the presence of Bisa Butler’s intensely vibrant quilt Kindred. With artists Kaitlyn B. Jones and Camry Ivory, Glenn pulls at the threads of slavery and pieces together how its legacy makes us all kindred—part of one large dysfunctional, extended family.

Guests

Kaitlyn B. Jones, artist, curator, writer, and archivist, discusses the extraordinary stories of ordinary Black experiences and how museums can hold multiple truths at once.

Camry Ivory, visual musician and inventor of the instrument Coloratura, introduces Afrofuturism and the power of hope.

Host

Glenn A. North is an award-winning poet and community leader based in Kansas City, Missouri. He is currently the Director of Inclusive Learning & Creative Impact at The Museum of Kansas City. He has previously served at the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, American Jazz Museum, and The Black Archives of Mid-America. Having earned an M.F.A. in Poetry from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Glenn also conducts Ekphrastic poetry workshops and uses poetry to address issues of social justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and self-empowerment.