Location: East Cleveland Public Library
The Schubert Center is a community partner for this event.
The National Rites of Passage Institute (NROPI) and the Youth Resiliency Institute (YRI) present a community screening of Lom Nava Love, a documentary centered on the work of Baltimore-based public housing community organizer Shirley Foulks and the residents of Baltimore, Maryland and East Cleveland, Ohio. The film is directed by East Cleveland native/YRI co-founder Fanon Hill, with original music performed by internationally renowned singer-songwriter/YRI co-founder/East Cleveland native Navasha Daya.
Through the support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which provided funding for the film’s production, Hill captured the spirit of Foulks’ approach to organizing, which emphasizes the inherent power of black families through creative reinforcement and personal discovery, and focuses on understanding rather than seeking to “fix” the families.
Operating in East Cleveland, Ohio in partnership with the National Rites of Passage Institute and Baltimore, Maryland the Youth Resiliency Institute not only works with families in both cities, but connects those families across state lines, that they might combine their strengths as they strive to push themselves, and their children, beyond the horizons delineated by institutional and social structures.
Following the screening, W. Paul Coates (Black Classic Press founder, father of author/MacArthur Fellow Ta-Nehisi Coates & former Black Panther) will lead a discussion with documentary director, Fanon Hill, Foulks, and artists from East Cleveland.
A selection of songs from the film’s soundtrack will be performed by Daya along with other special performers including Grammy award-winning percussionist Moziah Saleem.
Dr. Robert Hill, author of The Strengths of Black Families, will be honored at the screening.
The screening will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Sat., May 6, at the East Cleveland Public Library, 14101 Euclid Ave. This event is free and open to the public!