What Is Black Creativity?

by Anthony R. Green

This season, Castle of our Skins launched a new initiative for collegiate music students belonging to Black Student Unions (BSU) in the Boston area. The COOS BSU Intercollegiate Fellowship gives its participants a chance to speak candidly in a safe space about issues concerning their respective post-secondary experiences, gain access to professionals who can advise and provide invaluable career tidbits and reality pills, form a community that transcends Boston's seemingly separate institutions, and more. This season's fellowship will culminate in an upcoming concert titled What is Black Creativity?, which is curated (with guidance) by the 8-member cohort of the inaugural fellowship. 

While Black Student Unions did not exist when Ashleigh and I were attending New England Conservatory (nor while I was a student at Boston University before meeting Ashleigh), they have been thriving since their relatively recent inception. BSUs that focus on music-related issues have enacted positive, important change amongst Boston institutions, including more open discussions and policy changes relating to curriculum, mental health, representation, and more. However it really was not until the development of the BSU Intercollegiate Fellowship that members from various BSUs across Boston worked together on a massive project. I had the pleasure of speaking to the cohort in the fall of 2021, and I immediately recognized the need for such a fellowship, along with feeling the incredible energy and urgency from the students. Castle of our Skins is excited about continuing this fellowship in the future and building upon what was started, experienced, and learned. 

This upcoming concert promises to be a creative exploration not to be missed. This concert will take place Saturday, 12 February 2022, at 8PM. The venue is the Calderwood Pavilion (at the Boston Center for the Arts): 527 Tremont Street Boston, MA 02116. The event is free but a reservation is required! Make your reservation today, and bring a friend ... or two ... or three ... or four or more!! And keep an eye out for the next fellowship to start during out tenth season!