Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of North Shore
Good Neighbor Podcast: North Shore
EP #47 - DeAma Battle: Preserving Heritage with Arts of Boston Dance and Music
Discover the inspiring journey of DeAma Battle, the creative force behind Arts of Boston Dance and Music, as she shares her incredible mission to empower children of color through the arts. DeAma's story begins on the stage at a tender age and transforms into a lifelong passion for cultural education and community building. She delves into the myths and misconceptions that have historically plagued educational systems, particularly for BIPOC communities. DeAma passionately argues for the potential of all children to learn and thrive when given the right opportunities and nurturing environments.
Throughout the episode, we explore the legacy of the Kwanzaa celebration she’s championed for nearly four decades, fostering cultural connections and community spirit. DeAma candidly talks about the hurdles she has overcome, such as challenging grant processes and contracts, and how these experiences have fortified her resolve. From managing dance and music productions to establishing an exhaustive archive of her company's history, DeAma's dedication is unwavering. Join us as we uncover the profound impact of DeAma's work and her relentless pursuit of preserving cultural heritage through the arts.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Yvonne Godfrey.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Today, joining us in our studio is the Amama Battle. She is the owner, founder and director of Arts of Boston Dance and Music. We are excited to have her with us and we're looking forward to learning about her studio, about her service. Diyama, how are you today?
Speaker 3:I'm fine and it's good to be with you you today.
Speaker 2:I'm fine and it's good to be with you. We're happy to have you here. Can you tell our listeners about your company?
Speaker 3:please Diama. Okay, well, the art of Black dance and music was established initially to bring about a better educational system, and we do that through the arts of dance, music and folklore, connecting cultures throughout the African diaspora.
Speaker 2:Beautiful. How did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:Well, it sort of fell in my lap. I've been on the stage ever since, I don't know age 10 or 12, something like that, and I started teaching at 14. And by then I realized that I had a profound effect on the youth, and so I kind of followed that dream to bring them closer to their cultural heritage.
Speaker 2:And you're still going forward in that.
Speaker 3:Yes, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's beautiful. So what are some myths or misconceptions in your industry, diama?
Speaker 3:Well, I imagine you know there are a lot of misconceptions. One is the fact that children of color can never learn properly, and it seems to be a factor that not all teachers are teaching equally.
Speaker 2:Could you elaborate a little bit more on that?
Speaker 3:Well, there are some of the BIPOC community, the children of color in the past have been zeroed out or singled out, I should say, and have not really learned at the same level as others in their class. So they're considered a special group or I forget the words that they used to use a special group of kids that were not doing anything worthwhile.
Speaker 3:So, they gave them a label, and that was the reason why I did start this program, because I knew those kids could learn. They could learn anything they wanted to learn. All you had to do was teach it right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay. So outside of work, what do you do for fun, deama?
Speaker 3:I don't have time for fun. I don't have time for fun, you know, I'm either performing or, you know, trying to encourage youth or encourage students. I don't really have big classes anymore, and so my main, I guess my energy, has gone towards establishing an archive of the company's material over the last 50 years or 60 years. One of those things that is like a feather in our cap is that we built and maintained a Kwanzaa celebration in the Martin Luther King School in Cambridge that lasted almost 40 years. Every year we were doing that, and so that was part of making that connection to the continent in different ways and from there branching out through the Caribbean and to South America as well.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's beautiful. Thank you, yeah. So let's change gears. Diyama, can you describe one hardship or one of life's challenge that you rose above and can now say, because of it, you're better and stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:Several. Several years ago we were about to apply for a grant through the state and our contracts were very basic and some of our artists didn't want to sign the contract and it sort of threw us in a hole because we were no longer able to qualify for those funds because we didn't have the number of artists as listed, because two had dropped out. They wouldn't sign a contract. They were very afraid that I was taking their material, which was totally on the opposite side of what we were trying to do, so they never really saw the bigger picture. Those connections would have been very important to us but as a result we didn't get the funding we applied for.
Speaker 3:But we had received a number of grants before that because we had management and management actually did all the fundraising and seeking out the proposal, seeking out the grants and seeing how we could fit in. But after a while obviously we couldn't afford to pay him and so we just had to let that go and try to figure out another way. So I ended up writing myself. I was able to get a couple of grants but to tell you the truth, the paperwork was horrendous. But I said all of that to say that I have moved ahead and moved above the obstacles that stood in our way of being able to progress to a next level in terms of funding progress to the next level in terms of funding.
Speaker 2:Okay, okay, and so, diama, can you please tell our listeners one thing that they should remember about Art of Black, dance and Music.
Speaker 3:Well, one thing about the company is that it is a teaching tool to open the pages of the history books. I should say, open the covers of the history books and replace some of the pages that are in it and, you know, to correct some of the ideas that have been taught in the past in our school systems.
Speaker 2:Okay and Deama, how can our listeners learn more about your business?
Speaker 3:Is there an email address, a website? Well, we don't have a website, but we have an email address which is my name de a m a battle va, tt Elliot, gmailcom. We also have a Facebook page, which is partially photographs and things that we've done videotapes etc. On Facebook, and it's split between my personal achievement and the company's achievement as well, because we're one in the same really. So it's like, yes, okay, so if they go on Facebook or if they check out the email, the phone number is 617-642-1870. And we're still working. We're working on the archives at this point and we've got half of the material at Schlesinger Radcliffe.
Speaker 2:Library and the other half I'm still working on. Okay, all right, dm, I really appreciate you being on the show with us today sharing and sharing some information with our listeners, and we wish you and Art of Black Dance and Music all the very best moving forward well.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much for the invitation and I'm so glad to connect and meet and know who you are.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPNorthshorecom. That's GNPNorthshorecom, or call 857-703-9406.