In January 2022, Taylor McTootle, the former Director of Education at Castle of our Skins, approached me to develop an Edu-tainment program that showcases the marimba alongside Black history and culture. It was my first time designing a COOS Edu-tainment program and it was important to me that young people learn about the music and culture of early Africans in America, particularly spirituals and their involvement in self-emancipation. I also wanted the program to be engaging

Did you feel a sense of community, connection and belonging when you attended your first Castle of our Skins’ event?

Castle of our Skins honoring Fredrick Douglass with a performance at the Museum of African American History. Heather Diehl for the Boston Globe Castle of our Skins (COOS) and the Museum of African American History (MAAH) proudly announce a new artistic and educational partnership entitled Black Voices . Launching December 2025, the collaboration brings to life the music, stories, and legacies from across the African diaspora—through immersive concerts, family-friendly worksh

MassQing refuses the coloring of perpetration by instead coloring ourselves boldly, with the paint we wear impossible to ignore. After generations of trauma in the name of color, MassQing is the healing practice we can use to redefine our relationship with the light that shines into our life.