On a Farm

I never thought I’d see the day with a tractor comin’ my way… Believe me when I say, “I’m building movements!!!” This past weekend (May 15-17) Tameka “Floetic Prodigy” Dean, Britnee “Superwoman” Richardson, and Paul Ayo ventured to the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition's: Be the Change Youth Convergence. The conference was a three day event that featured progressive organizations from all over the state of Georgia and a little group from the town of Milledgeville, A.A.C. (Art as an Agent for Change). The overall goal of the convergence was educating youth about effective activism in their community and movement building. The weekend’s grounding text was a speech by Martin Luther King Jr called “Beyond Vietnam,” where King called for eternal hostility to militarism, racism, materialism, and poverty.

A.A.C. was featured twice on the schedule. The first program involved leading a workshop, where participants created PSA’s for the Be the Change Youth Convergence.



The next day A.A.C. performed a poetic showcase featuring Tameka and Paul Ayo. Britnee Richardson was on camera documenting the performance.


Paul Ayo’s Reflection
I didn’t know what to expect when I first made the trek down to Koinonia Farms in Americus, Ga. Koinonia was founded in 1942 by Millard Koinonia is an intentional Christian community founded by two couples, Clarence and Florence Jordan and Martin and Mabel England in 1942 (http://www.koinoniapartners.org/History/brief.html). The farm was an excellent mix of simple living combined with a mission that embraces the spirit of communion rather than dominion over one’s surroundings. I embraced this spirit, and it gave me a chance to spit a few poems to goats. They enjoyed “Circles” and baa’d at the end.

On a more serious note, the experience was eye opening and established a conduit for me and A.A.C. to connect with other progressive organizations. I met folks from the Ruckus Society, Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, Alterna Community, UGA, Georgia State, Lagrange College, North Carolina, Chicago, California, and the list goes on. Attending the conference further imbued my drive to educate, inspire, and entertain, and being the change is the little spark that shines the way.