Mo' Roots Fest


 
CELEBRATING THE LIFE, LOVE, & LEGACY
OF MONICA HASTINGS-SMITH


SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2023, 1-6 PM
LIBERATION PARK / BLACK CULTURAL ZONE
7101 FOOTHILL BLVD, OAKLAND
 
 
In partnership with Black Cultural Zone, as part of Oakland Juneteenth Liberation Weekend, we invite you to gather as an intergenerational community to honor and celebrate Monica Hastings-Smith, our mentor, auntie, and musical director, who transitioned to the ancestor realm in June 2021.

Drawing on Monica's life, love and creativity, we will gather to celebrate their legacy and carry it forward. As we continue to learn and grow with Teacher Auntie Monica as our ancestor, BoomShake members, collaborating artists, and community participants will showcase songs, stories, musical compositions, performance pieces, visual art and poetry.
 
FEATURING
Performances:
KeidraOnstage
BoomShake 
Chinyakare Ensemble
Feline Finesse
MJ’s Brass Boppers
DíaPaSón


Art & Altar Installations:
Julia LaChica
Vivian Adriana Renteria


Interactive Activities & Workshops:
Asé Arts
Abundant Beginnings
Black Banjo Reclamation Project
BoomShake
Manzanita SEED
Maaso Medicina & Floripondio


Dancing
Drumming
Food Vendors

 
                      Bring your drum, love offerings for the altar, and a blanket for the lawn!


Mo' Roots Fest 2023: Call for Artists & Performers

We invite performers, healers, artistic and cultural educators, visual and installation artists, vendors, and

cultural creatives to propose offerings (cultural/artistic workshops, interactive activations, lives

performances, food, healing & wellness activities) inspired by this years ‘Dynamic, Daring, Delightful

Dandelion’ theme and/or Monica’s life, love & legacy. 


Invited participants will receive a modest honorarium, or may choose to donate theirs to the community pot.


Please submit interest by March 22, 2023.


June 10, 2023

1 - 6PM

Liberation Park, Oakland, CA


DANDELION SONG

By Monica Hastings-Smith, ZioraMmachi Bender-deMoll, Johnnie Mae Taylor, Akira Pearl Williams-Rawlings,

Come pick some dandelions in the forest with me

We’re making medicine

We’re making tea

We dig the roots

We pick the leaves

Come and pick some dandelions in the forest with me

 

APPLICATIONS CLOSED
 

Save the Date: Mo' Roots Fest 2023

 


Please save the date for our second annual Mo' Roots Fest:

‘Dynamic, Daring, Delightful Dandelion’

Celebrating the Life, Love, & Legacy of Monica Hastings-Smith

  • June 10, 2023

  • 1 - 6PM

  • Liberation Park, Oakland, CA

 

BoomShake Music, in partnership with the Black Cultural Zone, as part of Oakland Juneteenth Liberation Month invites you to a community arts & culture gathering sparked by the seeds, roots, and branches of artist, teacher, mother, and friend Monica Hastings-Smith aka Mo’ Clearly, who transitioned to the ancestor realm in June 2021.


This year’s theme ‘Dynamic, Daring, Delightful Dandelion’ is inspired by ‘The Dandelion Song’, which was co-created by Mo’ and her 4/5 year-old forest school music students in 2018. The song celebrates the beauty, richness, and resilience of the Dandelion. Although many in society view them as weeds to kill and get rid of, Dandelions have many medicinal and healing benefits and are experts of survival.

 

Mo' Roots Fest


Celebrating the Life, Love, & Legacy of Monica Hastings-Smith
We invite you to gather as an intergenerational community to honor and celebrate Monica Hastings-Smith, our mentor, auntie, and musical director, who transitioned to the ancestor realm in June 2021.


Date: Saturday, June 18, 2022
Time: 1:00–6:00 pm
Location: Liberation Park, 7101 Foothill, Oakland


FEATURING


Performances:
*Afro Peruvian Coalition
*BoomShake
*Gbedu Town Radio
*Manzanita SEED Elementary
*MJ's Brass Boppers


Art and Altar Installations:
*Julia LaChica
*Lola Caballero
*Vivian Adriana Renteria
*Afro Urban Society


Interactive Activities and Workshops:
*Abundant Beginnings + Mitali Purkayastha
*Girls Rock Camp
*House/full of BlackWomen
*Kulture Freedom Trivia Tournament


Dancing
Drumming
Food Vendors

Drawing on Monica’s life, love, and creativity, we will gather to celebrate their legacy and carry it forward. As we continue to learn and grow with Teacher Auntie Monica as our ancestor, BoomShake members, collaborating artists, and community participants will showcase songs, stories, musical compositions, performance pieces, visual art, and poetry.

RSVP