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Signe Harriday

@svharriday

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Ancestral listening meeting ecological return. It is a blessing to continue on this journey in collaboration with some of the most brilliant, mindful soulful and generous people ever @toshireagon @dmpurifoy and Danielle Spurlock.

EcoTones Directed by @svharriday presented by @carolinaperformingarts
November 7th

Get your tickets in my stories or at @carolinaperformingarts 💜

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Our theater institutions are at a precarious moment as funding is shrinking, press coverage is disappearing, venues are disappearing, and theaters are producing smaller and fewer works as they manage their budgets. We have learned what we're capable of when we care for the whole of our community. This is not a moment of despair, but of exploring ways of taking action to shore up our ecology.

In the spirit of @franktheatre's “Frankly Speaking” series, please join us for a lively discussion with local arts leaders on July 8, 6-8 pm, at @mixedbloodtheatre!

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Home is the poem. So happy to be back in Durham. Our Ecotone’s work in progress is a blessing every time! 💜

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Opened one show & closed another… all in the same weekend! My only prayer was that I be fully present for such an artistically abundant time in my life so that I could give every project my all! God made sure my prayers were answered! The love has been overwhelming & my heart is full. My artistic evolution is a reflection of those who’ve believed in me enough to show up for me, and invest in my work; and for that, I am eternally grateful. Thank you @phousetheatre for investing in me. Thank you @guthrietheater for letting me show out on your main stages! Thank you @mrjdjude @svharriday @_dmosley, Dana, and the entire creative team for bringing my baby to life! We’ve left a much needed mark of love on the Twin Cities with “A Lesson in Love” and now I get to continue embodying love in “Primary Trust.” See yall at Wally’s ❤️🫶🏾
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#HappyOpening #HappyClosing #ALessonInLove #PrimaryTrust #LoveIsThePoint ❤️

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Cookin up some much needed love over at @phousetheatre !! And it’s all we will be serving from 9/26-10/19 in the world premiere of my baby- A Lesson In Love! Come on and get some of this lovin! #WorldPremiere #iWroteAPlayAboutLove #LoverGirl #ALessonInLove #LiL #Gratitude #ThankYouGod ❤️

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Last Sunday, we hosted our final community offering: a sunsetting celebration with rituals of remembrance of what has come before & what will be, honoring the love that is the Million Artist Movement!

𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛: 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬/𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

We came together to reflect. eat. sing. make a timeline. hug. converse. take pics/selfies. write love letters. move through varying emotions as we acknowledge these moments of transition.

𝗔𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

For all of us, it was incredibly profound to see the myriads of quilts we (with community) have created over the years. Hugging the Black gates of the church, dancing with the wind, the quilts moved with lifeforce energies, reminding us of the many hands, the many voices, the many imaginations that have touched the heART that is Million Artist Movement. The quilts are a vessel, holding the complexities of what our community has felt and experienced navigating systems of harm—not only harm from police brutality but also from the violent ways we have been conditioned to treat ourselves and one another. A rainbow of thought & feeling, hopes & dreams, grievances & disappointments, pain & Joy, the quilts are a tapestry of the beauty that manifests when we remain committed to creating a world where love (like our Joy) can thrive.

“𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝; 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨.” —𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧

“BE THE CHANGE” is written in big, bold words on our t-shirts along with the Power Tree which represents the framework for our movement. A call to action: to live & embody the love that waters the seeds of loving Possibility.

“𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮” —𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫

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MAM has no physical location and as our MAM song says we find ourselves, “in streets and schools and everywhere,” the people call us. We have hosted and attended hundreds of gatherings, protests and rallies over the past decade. Our first gathering was 12-13-14, at a protest outside the Minneapolis Government Center, was where we created the first Power Tree Quilt. This was followed by our first official Power Gathering event in 2015.

Each year, MAM Stewards collectively host Power Gatherings throughout the Twin Cities. These were active community gatherings focused around conversations, art making, and taking action to solve problems. The purpose was to create and support art that speaks powerful messages of resistance to oppressive systems and institutions; imagine true justice; and supports the liberation of Black, Brown and Indigenous people. Connecting to one another through art and political education allows us to see our contributions to the larger movement for Black Liberation.

In addition to Power Gatherings, MAM has hosted Community Art Making, Power Tree Quilting, Sowing Sessions, Political Education Events and more. We hope you can join us for food, music, artmaking and rituals of remembrance at our upcoming Summer Sunset Celebration.

Share an interaction, story, or memory on our quilting timeline as we begin our collaborative archiving of MAM.

Summer Sunset Celebration
Sunday, July 13, 2025, from 5 - 8 pm
Gospel Temple
247 Grotto Street N - St Paul

RSVP is available two ways - qr code or bit.ly. bit.ly/MAMSunsetRSVP

#mamsunsetcelebration #powergatherings #artmaking #politicaleducation #collaborativearchive #blackliberationmovement #millionartistmovement Group of people gathered in a room smiling.

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The Million Artist Movement (MAM) is a collective of Black-Brown-and Radical Artist revolutionaries and activists that believe in the role of ART in the campaign to dismantle oppressive racist systems. Since December 13, 2014, we have been in community with you and together we have built a steady base and foundation, creating space for people, power, knowledge, herstory, ideas, and art to come together in our collective movement for Black Liberation. For the past year, we have been in discussion with MAM Stewards around capacity and the future of MAM and have determined it is time to sunset the organization by the end of 2025.

MAM is an artist cooperative, and we have and always will be centered on people and adapt to our present moment. It is clear that current structures of power aren’t interested in protecting artists, creatives, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and disenfranchised peoples. We will continue the struggle for liberation and build structures of solidarity amongst ourselves. The MAM collective is actively resisting white supremacy, patriarchy, and oppression and we are deeply rooted in our communities. While the formal iteration of MAM is coming to an end, our work will continue as we walk a path toward Black liberation with joyful resistance.

“Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone; who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.” Audre Lorde

You may have engaged with MAM in the past or present whether it was to organize an event, make a quilt, hold a quilt banner at a protest, or perhaps you saw our beloved quilts at this year’s Juneteenth celebration for the first time and wanted to get connected to our movement. Please join us in radical solidarity at our sunsetting ceremony for food, quilting, and rituals of remembrance of what has come before and what will come to be!

Sunday, July 13, 2025, from 5 - 8 pm
Gospel Temple C.O.G.I.C.
247 Grotto Street N - St Paul

RSVP is available two ways - qr code or bit.ly.
bit.ly/MAMSunset which is also accessible in our Linktree. #MAMsunsetcelebration #millionartistmovement

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Two weekends ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to celebrate the gift that is Black Queer Love amongst my dearest loved ones. What an honor it was to commit as a community member (and friend) to supporting the Divine Love that is Signe & Alice; what a Joy it was to witness them jump over the broom, sealing a promise of connection, care, and unity.

I’ve been thinking about love a lot lately and I have so much to say at some point. Today, I’ll let the words of Ancestor bell hooks be a guiding light for this post in reflection of all the beautiful lessons I have learned with/through the LOVE that is Signe Harriday. I’ll never forget meeting her at BLM meeting over a decade ago and being in such awe of her brilliance—one of the sharpest minds I have ever encountered coupled with such a deep, caring heART and generous spirit! I would be here all day trying to describe all that she has done and continues to do for community. Seeing her eyes light up in reverence of her partner was a precious gift that I will continue to hold on to as I grow in Love—especially navigating these streets as a single, hot Black Queer (that is, in fact, “looking” just to put that out there 😝).

It feels really important to talk about Love these days. not just an act of resistance. but as a Life force that serves all that has been and all that will become. Possible. May we choose wisely.

Remembering how bell hooks overemphasized that LOVE IS A CHOICE.

Love.

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Leo ♌️ season 2024

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Still living in the deep vibration of love @toshireagon curated and activated through all of us Friday night at “Over My Head I Hear Music” honoring Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon presented by @wisereagonarts and @strathmorearts. It was a day and night of miracles and the real photos soon come but I am grateful to have been in the number. My cells are transformed by the music we experienced. The sacred sound. And I was blessed to have listened to SNCC elders Marvinia and Charles Neblett and Rutha Mae Harris (Baba Charles and Mama Rutha are the two living original SNCC freedom singers) share stories back and forth with divine Adisa Douglas and Amy Horowitz for hours in the green room. And it was a movement family reunion in the sanctuary. And the ancestors even sent one of my father’s high school classmates to greet me. My heart is full.

From my remarks:

“We are responsible for learning the incisive strategic listening that led Dr. Reagon to sit with Fannie Lou Hamer again and again and to record because she knew we would all need to know what Fannie Lou Hamer knew and knows which is what Berniece Johnson Reagon knew and knows. Which is that there is a sound. There is an old sound and we have to know it. There is a sound, and in the radius of that sound everything is possible. In the radius of that sound the threats of plantation owners, the guns of white supremacists, the dogs the fire hoses are imperceptible in the vibration of the love that is flowing through. There is a sound and we have to make it. There is a sound and Toshi heard it in the womb even before she was born and she won’t let us stop rehearsing until we find it, y’all. Because in the truth of that sound no one ever dies because inside that sound, that congregational sound that Fannie Lou Hamer and Bernice Johnson Reagon practiced and exemplified we are not individuals, we are not bound to one lifetime, we are not expendable, or scarce in any way. Inside that sound we are what we always have been. We are love. There is a sound and we have to study it like Dr. Reagon studied Fannie Lou Hamer. Because we have to know that sound when we hear it, know it when we feel it. And show up. “

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My life would not be the same without having had the wonderful, beautiful experience of this production.

To all of my friends that I’ve made through this show, thank you for being apart of it. I am so lucky to have met all of you, and wouldn’t trade you guys for anything.

For all of you, my essay will always be formatted 💚🌳✨

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