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Cancelling Miss Rona

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Miss Rona's.so.extra.
A blog about the research, development and implementation of a creative communication campaign integrating the arts to support Black communities in Vermont to prevent COVID-19 transmission
​and to stay healthy and resilient
.
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This work is made possible with lots of love, elbow grease and volunteers from the Clemmons Family Farm and with a grant from the Haymarket Foundation.

Arts and Activism: Building Trust, Empowering Black Communities, and Holding Public Health Institutions Accountable

7/21/2020

1 Comment

 
July 21, 2020. Hi Everybody! We've been gathering a ton of information about COVID 19 prevention and wellness behaviors and communication campaigns among Black/African-American communities across the US. It's inspiring to see how Black artists have stepped up and joined the effort to help their communities.  We'll soon be holding a Zoom meeting with our network of collaborating artists around Vermont to share the information and many examples we've gathered and to start some early brainstorming. We'll keep you posted on how that meeting goes.

Today we want to highlight the work of an Atlanta-based artist, Sherri Daye Scott, who is leading the same kind of work there that we are starting here in Vermont. She calls her art-public health campaign "Big Acts, Small Acts". We are sharing below an excerpt from Sherri's recent interview and the link for you to listen to the entire 4-minute broadcast on NPR.  These hyperlinks give more information about the Tuskegee experiments and Henrietta Lacks that Sherri references in her interview. They are examples of racism in the medical and public health systems and they explain part of the reasons for some Black communities' lack of trust in these systems.  In the context of Vermont's work to prevent the spread of COVID 19 and to help Black residents stay healthy, it's clear that there is going to be a need for trust and empowering communication between our Black communities and the medical and public health practitioners in Vermont.

Sherri's work in Atlanta and our work here in Vermont are only one part of the solution.  For real impact, we need other community partners! For example, Dana and Jake of Sundog Creations just reached out to us to offer PRO BONO video and webdesign services. Are we happy about that? OH, YES WE ARE! We are happy because with Jake and Dana's help we'll be able to share all of the information and resources we've been collecting in an attractive and user-friendly way. We are a small team, volunteer-led, with limited funds for this work. So i
f you are interested in offering some pro bono services, helping us mobilize funds, or helping us to connect to others to expand this important work, please reach out to us at contact@clemmonsfamilyfarm.org

Meanwhile, enjoy a virtual trip to Atlanta (below) to learn what artist Sherri Daye Scott is doing!
Sherri Daye Scott: "...the truth is there is a longstanding distrust in the African American community of the health care system and medical science. And it's rooted in good reason. You know, the Tuskegee experiment, where generations of Black men were allowed to live with syphilis for testing and studying purposes long after penicillin had been invented - you know, that's very present today in the mind of Black families, particularly here in the South. You look at Henrietta Lacks, you know, whose DNA was used to develop vaccines and testing. And yet she was never properly cared for. You know, these stories are very present. So the issue, I think, a lot of times when we see these kind of medical messages going out - they're coming from sources that have not already built equity in the community. And so I think what we were able to tap into just by - I live in southwest Atlanta. A lot of these artists live and work in southwest Atlanta. Their work has been up in these communities for years. You know, so by just tapping into, hey, we're your neighbors and friends, and we're telling you this, taking the time and effort to push this message out to you, that resonates, I think. And I hope to see other cities, other grassroots efforts take this model and fly with it, too."
Listen to Sherri's full interview on NPR below. It's great!
Atlanta Artist Spreads COVID-19 Information Through Her Art July 18, 20207:58 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Saturday 4-Minute Listen Download Transcript NPR's Scott Simon speaks to artist Sherri Daye Scott about her grassroots campaign Big Facts, Little Acts, which spreads public health information through art.
1 Comment

Masks Can Be Beautiful...

7/13/2020

2 Comments

 
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Artist: Malik Seneferu: maliksart.com

​July 13, 2020. Hello everyone! It's Edom again, the new Clemmons Family Farm student intern hard at work! Hope you all are continuing to stay happy and healthy. I have enlisted three other incoming first year University of Vermont medical students (Kristen Wright, Mia Exume and Erik Zhang) who have volunteered to work with me, Lydia and the Clemmons Family Farm. We are compiling data about Black Americans' current practices, attitudes, motivators and barriers related to COVID 19 prevention and wellness. We are also looking at other COVID 19 prevention and wellness campaigns for Black/African-Americans in the US to learn from others before we dive into creating our own campaign for Black Vermonters with some of the Farm's collaborating artists.

We are finding a literal treasure trove of countless talented artists across the U.S. who are using their gifts to spread the message regarding COVID-19 and how to stay safe and well.

As we all know, we are not only living through a pandemic, we are also living through a turbulent social climate that puts many of us Black people between a rock and a hard place. While the systemic racism within medicine has put our Black community in a dangerously vulnerable position with COVID-19, the continued social injustices make it difficult for our community to follow some of the so-called "simple" guidelines, like wearing a mask, to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Today I am sharing a visual art piece that was created by artist Malik Seneferu in collaboration with the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Malik created posters with colorful images and the words “Masks can be beautiful” to address many of our Black community members' concerns about face coverings (i.e. that they can perpetuate negative stereotypes of Black people as untrustworthy, suspicious or criminal). What I personally admire about Malik’s work is his message to change the way we all see masks-- from something that makes us appear threatening to something more positive: something beautiful or even a heroic form of activism. Although there are continuous barriers in society and medicine for our Black community, educational art work like Malik’s posters are a good start to normalize COVID-19 prevention practices for everyone. I can't wait to see what our collaborating artists create with us for our new COVID 19 prevention and wellness campaign in Vermont.  We are almost ready to have a meeting with them to debrief on what I've been learning and to start the brainstorming!

For more information about the artist and his beautiful work, visit: maliksart.com/
2 Comments

Hello, Everyone!

7/10/2020

0 Comments

 
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July 10, 2020. Hello, everyone! My name is Edom Girma. I am originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and moved to the U.S. when I turned 18. I will soon be starting my first year of medical school at the University of Vermont! When I saw a Clemmons Family Farm student intern opportunity posted in the Robert Larner College of Medicine newsletter, I JUMPED ON IT. I am beyond thrilled because I will get to work with 5-10 of their collaborating artists to develop a creative COVID-19 prevention and wellness communication campaign for Black/African-American Vermonters.​​

Even though I've worked on health education projects in the past, none of them took the creative approach that the Clemmons Family Farm is taking to combine arts, science and communication to help our people. Right now, Lydia has me researching current prevention and wellness practices among Black/African-American communities around the US, what motivates different types of people to wear masks, socially distance, wash hands, etc. and also what can make it difficult or discourage us from doing these things. I'm also looking at other COVID-19 prevention and wellness communication campaigns for Black people around the US to see what we can learn from these examples. In a week or so, I'll be meeting remotely with some of the Farm's collaborating artists to discuss what I've found out and to start some creative brainstorming. I'm so excited about all of this and will be sharing my progress with all of you as I move forward.
​

By the way, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Colorado where I received a B.S. in Biology and a Master of Science at Drexel University College of Medicine. I am also an artist. During my spare time, I love to paint. I hope to not only deepen my understanding of public health but also how the arts can be used as a tool in medicine. This work is so important. Thank you to Haymarket People's Fund for their support for this exciting project. Tomorrow, I'll share some art with you!
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  • BHM 2023
  • What We Do
    • Our Programs >
      • Heritage Celebrations >
        • MLK Day 2023!
        • Kwanzaa 2022
        • Juneteenth 2022!
      • K-12 Ethnic Studies >
        • Field Trips
      • Creating Healthy Communities >
        • Beneath Our Skin
        • Cancelling Miss Rona
        • A Sense of Place >
          • A Sense of Place at NEFA-CCX
      • Art >
        • Farm2Art Program >
          • Summer 2016 Farm2Art Program
        • Culinary Heritage & Arts Program
      • Farm
      • Forest
      • Heritage
  • About
    • Our Team
    • About Us >
      • Our Vision
    • Who We Are >
      • Jack and Lydia's Living Legacy
      • How Jack and Lydia Found and Bought the Farm
      • Holding On to Our Legacies
    • When Are We Open?
    • Press Coverage >
      • Other News >
        • 2019 Visitors Survey: Sneak Preview
        • 2018 Updates
        • 2017 Updates
        • 2016 Updates
    • What Our Community is Saying >
      • 2018 Visitor Survey Findings!
      • Feedback from other Vermont communities
    • Subscribe!
  • Artists' Registry
    • Are You Looking for an Artist?
    • Why, Hello there, Artists!
  • Historic Buildings
    • Venue Rentals
    • Stay with Us!
    • Six Historic Buildings
    • The Barn House >
      • The Barn House Legacy
      • Stay with Us!
    • The Big Barn >
      • "Making History, Creating Place" Videos!
      • The Historic Water Cistern
    • The Main House >
      • About the Black Locust Trees
    • The Shop >
      • The Authentica Library
      • Shop Storytelling Videos
  • Please Donate!
    • Subscribe!
  • 2023 Calendar!!