Social Justice
Topics around social justice have been at the forefront of much of Mikemetic’s work. In the early 90s he was active in bringing awareness to the unjust extended incarcerations of American political prisoners such as Mumia Abu Jamal and Leonard Peltier.
Since 2009 Mikemetic has been consistently involved in social justice programming to engage both youth and adults by bringing awareness to a variety of topics from the school to prison pipeline to community gun violence to much more.
Drums No Guns
Drums No Guns is the creation of former Richmond Public Schools teacher Dr. Ram Bhagat, and is a platform to use drumming and rhythm as interventions in communities that are disproportionately affected by gun violence. I have spent many years working with Dr. Bhagat as a collaborator, supporter, and graphic designer for Drums No Guns. The organization continues to do progressive work engaging youth trauma victims in Richmond Public Schools.
Mikemetic has also helped Drums No Guns by designing flyers and other promotional materials to help bring awareness to the organizations work. The flyers here were designed by Mikemetic for three different DNG events and workshops.
Performing Statistics
In 2015 I was invited to be part of the inaugural Performing Statistics artist team that worked with incarcerated youth to establish their own voices for self-advocacy. You can read more about my contributions and recordings on the Alternate Roots website.
What is Performing Statistics?
Performing Statistics, a project by ART180 and Legal Aid Justice Center, connects incarcerated teens with an incredible group of artists, designers, educators, and aligns them with Virginia’s leading policy advocates to transform the juvenile justice system.
Screenshot courtesy of styleweekly.com
ACLU of Virginia
In the Fall of 2018 I had the distinct honor of being invited to be a speaker at the Board Annual Meeting and 50th anniversary celebration of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. While the theme of the meeting was Women In Prison, I was selected as a speaker because of my work as a youth advocate, community activist, and creator of alternative media. I read some passages from my book Hood Hiaku and was able to connect various elements of urban life into relevant material that supported the theme of the event.
The Color Line
"The Color Line" was Executive Produced by Mikemetic and Dr. Ram Bhagat for VCU School of Education, EDLP 712: A Social Justice Perspective for Leaders. It highlights the legacy and ongoing systemic problems in healing racism’s devastating historic legacy. It was narrated by Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates of The Conciliation Project.
-Creative Team-
Ram Bhagat - Project Director/Producer
Dr. Tawnya Pettiford Wates - Script/Narration
Ram Bhagat - Drums & Percussion
Meoleake Jones - Berimbau
Production Team-
Mikemetic - Executive Producer
Mikemetic - Audio/Video Editing
Grant Freeman - Dramaturg
James Dangle - Recording Engineer
