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Hi! Happy weekend.
Our cover story this week is on Voices of the Unarmed: Justice, Love, Resilience, a sweeping, immensely thoughtful Valentine’s program from the Durham Symphony Orchestra.
It’s a dynamic program: Voices of the Unarmed features the work of three Black composers—one of whom, Herman Whitfield III, was killed while in police custody—and includes a community conversation on issues raised in the work, featuring local organizations like the Religious Coalition for a Nonviolent Durham, Restorative Justice Durham, and Durham’s HEART program.
It’s hard to capture the scope of the material without reading the full story, beautifully written by freelancer Tasso Hartzog, so please read the whole thing. Recent events have made me grateful for the work of cultural institutions like the Symphony that take on hard topics—the way art should!
Below, find more from the culture section this week, including a roundup of Black History Month events, a look at an exciting new publication from local young Latino artists, and a new sweet spot in Durham’s Brightleaf Square.
Also: This week I dropped by WCHL’s Live & Local Music Hour, alongside fellow local music lovers Brian Burns (WUNC Music) and Ryan Cocca (Super Empty). I was nervous about being on the radio but it turned out to be a delightful experience—here’s the new local song I recommended, and you can listen to the segment here.
Durham Symphony Orchestra Maestro William Henry Curry with Coretta Scott King. Photo courtesy of the Durham Symphony Orchestra.
elsewhere in the culture section
It’s Black History Month: Here are five ways to recognize it in the Triangle, including a few documentary picks and two quilt exhibitions. Sidebar: In writing this roundup, I learned that the incredible Black artist Elizabeth Catlett lived in Durham for two years, where she taught public school and fought for equal pay for Black schoolteachers. (Sometimes, history really does feel like a flat circle.). NCCU’s museum will be highlighting works by Catlett this month.
Here are our INDY Selects—the things we recommend doing in the Triangle this week. More next week!
Chase Pellegrini de Paur introduces readers this week to Nuevo South, a new magazine made by Latino youth and cultural workers in Durham. It’s a beautiful document, full of comics and photo essays. You can purchase a copy at the Scrap Exchange, the Regulator, or Tienda Don Becerra, or subscribe online.
Here’s what contributor Dorian Gomez says about putting the magazine together:
“My grandmother used to make some of my clothes,” she says. Similarly, creating a magazine involves “being able to craft something that is also connected to history, that is your history and other people’s histories, a record of the fact that we exist and we will exist.”
Finally, if you missed it, here’s Lena Geller’s profile of Afters Dessert Bar, an idiosyncratic sweets shop in Brightleaf Square.
ICYMI: Talking college sports. Glenn McDonald recommends movies to go see (I’m seeing I’m Not Here this weekend!), and mocktails to seek out in Durham.
— Sarah Edwards —
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