Close Modal 2025 Soul Speak: Are We Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams? “What Do We Leave Behind, Carry Forward, and Need to Move Ahead?” Soul Speak invites you into an intergenerational dialogue where elders and youth exchange wisdom, reflect on legacy, and imagine the future together Michele Avery and Yvette Modestin, the creators behind Crown of Times, return to the Museum of Science with another edition of ReRooted Productions, Soul Speak, a series dedicated to community dialogue.Join in an engaging intergenerational conversation infused with Black culture, memory, and the sharing of wisdom. This dialogue brings together elder and young voices to exchange stories, lessons, and aspirations, uncovering what we have inherited and what we need from one another to move forward. It’s an invitation for participants to reflect, connect, and continue the discussion beyond this gathering. Together, we will delve into how culture is preserved, challenged, and reimagined across generations. Register for the Event Date and Time Monday, October 20 | 7:00 pm Audience Adults 18+ Location Blue Wing View Map Price Free with Pre-Registration Language English Register for the Event Date and Time Monday, October 20 | 7:00 pm Audience Adults 18+ Location Blue Wing View Map Price Free with Pre-Registration Language English Michele Avery and Yvette Modestin, the creators behind Crown of Times, return to the Museum of Science with another edition of ReRooted Productions, Soul Speak, a series dedicated to community dialogue.Join in an engaging intergenerational conversation infused with Black culture, memory, and the sharing of wisdom. This dialogue brings together elder and young voices to exchange stories, lessons, and aspirations, uncovering what we have inherited and what we need from one another to move forward. It’s an invitation for participants to reflect, connect, and continue the discussion beyond this gathering. Together, we will delve into how culture is preserved, challenged, and reimagined across generations. Featuring ReRooted Productions Led by Yvette Modestin and Michele Avery, is the driving force behind the impactful play Crown of Times and the popular immersive exhibit What's Hair Got To Do With It? Their collaboration combines two decades of artistry and activism dedicated to amplifying the voices of the Black community. Image Banjineh "Op.timus" Browne Progeny – conceived from the union of Karlai Holden & Gbatoh Browne. The proud Poppa of Solwazi Neklun. A Nana Kru, Seaside Grebo Pan-African, Bostonian who teaches in the Public School system. An educator, an artist, steeped in oral tradition & architect of the Foundation Movement — Op. uses Hip Hop & school as tools to cultivate & illuminate stories of resilience & resistance. Image Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd Chioma Nnaji, MPH, MEd is a longtime community health activist and the Program Director at the Multicultural AIDS Coalition (MAC) in Boston, the largest AIDS-serving organization in New England dedicated to mobilizing communities of color to end the HIV epidemic. In her role, she develops culturally grounded programs, leads community organizing efforts, and advocates for equitable health policies. She also trains public health and clinical professionals using anti-racist and cultural competency frameworks, while advancing community-driven research initiatives. Currently pursuing a PhD in Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston, Chioma is deeply committed to ensuring that the voices and needs ofcommunities of color are central to health policy, research, and service delivery. Image Vanessa Silva Vanessa Silva is a first-generation Cabo-Verdean American from Boston whose leadership is rooted in service, education, and collective healing. She facilitates public health research focused on social and health inequities affecting historically underrepresented groups and washonored with the 2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Leadership. Vanessa also serves on the impact team at GBH for the documentary Critical Condition, leading national outreach to public health and medical organizations around racially biased medical algorithms. Her creative practice, rooted in Afrofuturism and liberation, includes published poetry in Black Fire—This Time, Volume 2, collaborations with Black Arts Movement pioneers, and film narration. Her work has been exhibited internationally at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Jeu de Paume in Paris, and Visual Arts Vienna. Most recently, she performed in Crown of Times at the Museum of Science, Boston. Image Dr. Carroy ‘Cuf’ Ferguson Dr. Carroy ‘Cuf’ Ferguson is a tenured faculty member who has been teaching at UMass Boston since 1979. A practicing clinical psychologist, he co-founded two organizations, Interculture, Inc. and Associates in Human Understanding. He incorporates his experience in clinical psychology and counseling into his instructional activities by aiming to assist students in better understanding themselves as learners by examining their own personal circumstances, particular situations, and socio-cultural influences.
