The Musical Migrations of MFA Kera and Black Heritage - 10/16

Singer/songwriter MFA Kera, accompanied by cofounder of their musical group Black Heritage Mike Russell, discuss and share live examples of the multiple ways her life and music perform blackness.  MFA Kera was born in Madagascar, raised in Senegal, vocally trained in France, and resided in the U.S. and Japan before settling in Germany. Kera continues to perform a wide range of musical genres across the world, and her musical migrations very much shape her diverse view of identity.

In a series of guest lectures interspersed with live music, Kera and Russell will address issues of how music articulates the tensions of post-colonialism, how their musical group represents race and ethnicity musically, how their identities as black performers from the U.S. and Madagascar/Senegal signify in the U.S., and how they have used music to educate others on global environmental disasters. All events are free and open to the public. 

October 16 | 1.30 pm | Brooks Rogers Auditorium
Part 1: Guest Class Lecture & Performance by MFA Kera and Black Heritage
Part 2: Solo Embodied Performance & Lecture by Rashida K. Braggs, associate professor of Africana Studies

October 17 |11:20 am | Brooks Rogers Auditorium: Guest Class Lecture & Performance
October 17 |1:10 pm | Brooks Rogers Auditorium: Guest Class Lecture & Performance

Sponsored by the W. Ford Schumann ’50 Performing Arts Endowment, the Lecture Committee, Oakley Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, CLiA, Africana Studies, Music, and The Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures