Cultural Organizing

The Recipe for Culture video highlights the amazing work supported by Cultural Organizer Je Naé in 2020, including biweekly virtual Spiritual Soirees and Happy Hours centering healing, collective joy and resilience during the pandemic; the Culture Cohort supporting five culture workers in the South, culminating in the 48-hour virtual Cultural Bazaar; Parties at the Polls to celebrate voter engagement and voting rights; and much more.

In 2021, Je Naé is partnering with the Marigold Project to take Highlander’s cultural work “On the Road Again”, with a listening tour and cultural exchange visiting communities in North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and more in June and July.

Highlander is also partnering with SONG Durham and DonkeySaddle Productions this summer to bring a reading of “There Is a Field” July 3. The play, written by Jen Marlowe, tells the story of a 17-year old Palestinian boy (and a friend of Jen’s), Aseel Asleh, who was killed by Israeli police. Through Aseel’s sister Nardeen’s struggle to cope with the murder of her brother, the play offers an intimate view into the daily racism and violence faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel, and contributes to the vital conversation around the systematic devaluation of Black and Brown lives in the United States. With the solidarities and political convictions the play inspires, we’ll plug people into social justice campaigns locally to put an end to the injustices the play exposes.