Join the East Side Freedom Library April 1 for the second iteration of  The Kaleidoscope Project (MN), which includes public readings of poetry  inspired by deep reflection on empathy, solidarity, and intercommunity  healing.  

TKP, developed by creative writer/interdisciplinary artist Rebecca  Nichloson, engages creative writers from historically marginalized  communities in immersive virtual experiences centered on building  solidarity and empathy between different communities across Minnesota.  The methodology utilizes a human-centered design approach to foster a  deeper understanding of the challenges each community faces and  generates social justice/social equity-informed poetry that supports  community-engagement and social change.  This cohort includes readings by: Rebecca Nichloson, Anthony Ceballos,  Wilt Hodges, and Duaba Unenra.  

Anthony Ceballos received his BFA in Creative Writing from Hamline  University in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 2016 he was selected to be a Loft  Literary Center Mentor Series mentee. His poetry has been featured in  Yellow Medicine Review, Midway Journal, Sleet, Writers Resist and  upcoming from Great River Review. He lives, breathes and writes in  Minneapolis, Minnesota. He can be found penning staff recommendations at  Birchbark Books and Native Arts.  

Duaba Unenra is a survivor of the reconstruction process in New Orleans  following Hurricane Katrina. He is an artist, community organizer, and  scholar who looks at how forces of neoliberalism took advantage of  openings created by environmental disasters in Haiti and New Orleans to  reinforce anti-Black, anti-poor, anti-woman, and anti-queer living and  ways of being. Unenra engages in mutual aid and building counter-sites  as social tools for self-determination and healing in Black, Indigenous,  Brown, and other communities, including in institutions of higher  education.  

Wilt Hodges is a poet, essayist, and community reporter. He received his  degree from Columbia University. A past Minnesota State Artist Grant  recipient and Givens Fellow, he resides in Saint Paul.  

Rebecca Nichloson (She/Her) is a creative writer, singer/songwriter,  playwright and theatre maker. She is the author of numerous creative  works, including Mara, Queen of the World (an acapella musical), The  Wild, Bold Enlightenment of Velvet the Mistress, Cooking With Keisha (or  Anatomy of Pie), and Jill, Jack & the Martian Lady, among others.  She holds an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University, an M.A. in  English Literature, and a B.A. in Business Administration. She was also  the recipient of a 2020 Commission from the Cedar Cultural Center for  which she created Multicolored Musings: Jewels of Love, Loss, &  Triumph and received a 2020 honorable mention from the McKnight  Foundation (Spoken Word). www.RebeccaNichloson.com.

View the video here: https://youtu.be/uMotuxjgCBM