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Alexis

@lex_kenney

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(Afro)Carolina woman
Culturalworker/Rootworker @kongo.cafe

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I’ve spent the past few years digging through archives, recording the stories of elders, and apprenticing with the land of my mothers’ people in Eastern NC. Much of that journey is documented in my newsletter, but there is also a plethora of language, recorded interviews, and research that I’ve conjured up outside of that space through a fellowship with the Crossroads Fellowship at Princeton University.

This post is an invitation to my community to hear more about this memory work through my project, “Psalms by the Riverside: An Archive of Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church and Black Greenville (1860-1968)”, in conversation with a few other Crossroads Fellows who have been conducting similar research around Black spiritual lineages and traditions in the states.

The panel session will be held on December 10th, 2024 at 4:30pm EST. You can register to join us at the link in my bio. by @lex_kenney

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2 years ago

6 years ago, my HU Resist comrades and I occupied the Howard administration building for 9 days. We took lessons from the HU student movements in 1968 & 1989, and did our best to contribute to the Black radical tradition at Howard.

Last week @ujima.first posted about lessons learned from HU Resist’s organizing, and as students across the country continue to mobilize and occupy for Palestinian liberation, I wanted to offer a word of support, analysis, and lessons that I learned during my time helping lead a mass student movement.

I heard that Israel is now bombing Rafah, a place where Palestinians have taken refuge. Now more than ever, we must find ways to connect our struggles for liberation.

Solidarity to Palestine and all students occupying for Palestinian liberation. None of us are free till all of us are free.

Link to the newsletter is in my bio. by @lex_kenney

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2 years ago

Just sent out my latest newsletter. Here I wrote about the connections between Afro Carolina & Palestine after attending a screening of Silver Dollar Road @haytiheritagecenter

Please share widely & check out the link in my bio for the full article. #FreePalestine by @lex_kenney

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3 years ago

Made a stop in dc for a sweet visit with @rai_lana and pop my head in @sankofadc. Feels like it’s been three lifetimes since the year I worked there when I was finishing up at Howard.

DC felt both the same & so different. I was unaware that they are still under active military occupation with armed troops stationed at metro stations and throughout the city. I feel so much grief and love for my friends and comrades in DC who are living within the belly of the beast. It seems that the next stage of authoritarianism has already begun in dc, and most likely will spread in the coming years. As I’ve been grounding back at home this week, I’ve been ruminating in the back of my mind what it looks like to prepare for that coming. by @lex_kenney

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Speaking, Learning, Listening & Communing at the Crossroads Project Conference on Black religious histories, communities, and cultures last weekend.

It was such a treat reconnecting with my Howard sister @kimberlyfmonroe, being in conversation with @hess2love & @j.t.roane, and meeting all the other brilliant fellows❤️

In these times, and with the amount of work there is to be done, it’s so easy to move from one project to the next. I’m grateful to the crossroads program for bringing us out of our silos, and inviting us to both celebrate and be with each others’ work.

You can learn more about my Crossroads Program community stories project, Psalms by the Riverside: An Archive of Sycamore Hill Missionary Baptist Church & Black Greenville (1860-1968), at the link in my bio. by @lex_kenney

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5 days ago

by @lex_kenney

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5 days ago

Meet Alexis McKenney, one of the workshop facilitators for our upcoming event, ACT: Art, Community, & Triumph - Embracing Racial Equity in the Food System. ACT intentionally centers the experiences, creativity and leadership of Black, Indigenous and People of Color while welcoming people of all racial identities who want to thoughtfully engage in the space.
Attendees of this event will be able to choose from creative, hands-on workshops, share a meal, and connect with others as we explore our relationships to food, land, our bodies, and one another.

Engage with Alexis McKenney’s work and wisdom with us on Sunday, Oct. 18th!
⏰ When: 5:00–7:30 PM
📍Where: People’s Solidarity Hub – Sassafras Building
Free to attend, but RSVP is required. Link in our bio.

This event is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and North Carolina Arts Council.

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Conoce a Alexis McKenney, uno de los facilitadores del taller para nuestro próximo evento, «ACT: Arte, Comunidad y Triunfo: Abrazando la equidad racial en el sistema alimentario». ACT se centra deliberadamente en las experiencias, la creatividad y el liderazgo de las personas negras, indígenas y de color, al tiempo que da la bienvenida a personas de todas las identidades raciales que deseen participar de manera reflexiva en este espacio.

Los participantes de este evento podrán elegir entre talleres creativos y prácticos, compartir una comida y conectarse con los demás mientras exploramos nuestras relaciones con la comida, la tierra, nuestros cuerpos y entre nosotros.

¡Acompáñanos el domingo 18 de octubre para compartir el trabajo y la sabiduría de Alexis McKenney!
⏰ Cuándo: 5:00–7:30 PM
📍Dónde: People’s Solidarity Hub – el edificio Sassafras
Entrada gratuita, pero se requiere RSVP. Enlace en el perfil.

Este evento está financiado en parte por una subvención de South Arts en colaboración con el Fondo Nacional para las Artes y Consejo de Artes de Carolina del norte. taken in People's Solidarity Hub - Durham by @lex_kenney

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6 days ago

In my latest @kongo.cafe newsletter, I reflect on accessing slow sweetness in the midst of challenging moments through herbal medicine making & violet leaf🌱

Link in bio by @lex_kenney

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18 days ago

Went straight from the lowcountry to the mountains last weekend where I joined @ncbloc action camp for Black organizers in North Carolina.

I gave my training, Collaborating with the Land towards Liberation & Healing, which is a culmination of the stories and strategies around land & liberation that I’ve been studying and experimenting with for the past few years. I got to talk about the historical context as well as current examples of the serious work that’s being done in places like Durham & DC. It was a powerful discussion with a powerful group of folks.

On the second day of the convening I got to join a work day @southsidecommunityfarm where there was of course indigo & hibiscus growing happily that we got to harvest. Lydia, one of the farm's stewards, attended my session the day before and it was a beautiful exchange of reciprocity to receive seeds and cuttings to bring back home to the piedmont region. I also got to share the hibiscus processing technique I learned from @faithfullfarms a few years back.

So grateful for @ncbloc holding space for praxis and beloved community within NC. For the first time in a long while I truly felt the legacy of NC ancestor, Ella Baker, in what took place last weekend from the mountains of NC in the wake of that powerful eclipse. by @lex_kenney

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2 months ago

Spent the end of eclipse season in the lowcountry listening, praying, cooking, connecting, and preparing to become the most potent, grounded, loving version of myself.

So grateful for @ferrettehouse for becoming a waystation for Black cultural workers doing our best to get free🌺 by @lex_kenney

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2 months ago

Photos from my research trip to the Papermaking Museum back in May for my fellowship with @handpapermaking

My advisor, Jerushia, led me in making paper for the first time and I found myself having a similar both humbling and gratifying experience with the papermaking vat as I have with the indigo vat over the past year.

While paper is now available in abundance, it wasn’t always that way. And for an afternoon, I got to immerse myself in the lineage of papermaking as craft- going through the process of making it and learning about its sacred use amongst indigenous peoples from Central America to Asia and West Africa. by @lex_kenney

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This weekend was full of sweet connection and African indigenous foodways. On Saturday I attended @_createyourpeace_ traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony @shrineoftheblackstar

On Sunday, @africanherbsmaam taught me and @ibelieveinsoil how to use the asanke, a Ghanaian type of mortar & pestle, while we drank hibiscus tea and tasted Ghanaian honey & spices she’d brought back from her recent trip to the continent. We cooked a delicious meal with calabash nutmeg, dawa dawa, and prekese. Spices that are central to indigenous west African cuisine.

Reaching back to the foods and customs of my African ancestors while being firmly rooted in the land and community here is, for me, the essence of AfroCarolina. I’m so grateful that I get to explore this praxis with friends & in community💗 by @lex_kenney

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3 months ago