- Welcome to Kalamazoo Lively Arts.

The show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant creative community and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

- [Voice Over] Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

I'm Jennifer Moss, here at Miller Auditorium.

On today's show, we meet Kyle Brautigan, a poet using his art to change the world.

But first, we check in with Yolonda Lavender, Executive Director of Soul Artistry and explore her storied singing career and the advice she has for creatives in pricing their worth.

♪ Sing, me a song in my favorite key.

♪ ♪ Welcome me to love.

♪ (audience cheers) - Well, I'm here with performing artist and CEO of Soul Artistry, Yolonda Lavender.

Now you also served as the executive director for the Black Arts and Cultural Center, right?

So in your time there, what did you learn and what did you kind of want to change or, or improve?

- I learned so much during my time as the executive director at BACC.

I had a lot of personal growth there.

I always think about it now as my incubator space to develop myself as an executive, as a person that really is like leading in the art space, not only in Kalamazoo, which that appointment at BACC provided me the opportunity to branch out more outside of Kalamazoo, so I'm so grateful for that, but I really learned a lot about the importance of spaces for BIPOC artists and communities and the need for that.

And so that really has propelled me to a lot of the things that I'm doing now.

- Do you remember when you, you came up with the idea to create Soul Artistry?

- Oh my goodness.

I do remember the exact moment.

It really came out of a need, which a lot of black and brown creatives are often developing and building the opportunities that they want and need that are not there for them.

I remember when I was first starting out in Kalamazoo because I was not in the school of music at Western, or like connected to any event venues in the community that I had a hard time with being able to, you know, have spaces to perform and, and showcase outside of fire, historical and cultural arts collaborative, which is the first place that I performed outside of church, which is where I got my start when I was five years old.

And so it developed into more than just let me create a showcase for myself and I, my first album is called Soul Artistry and I was like, Hmm, this could, you know, maybe be like the brand or the thing.

So yeah, it just has continued to snowball from there.

And now we're doing, you know, so many things that, again, I just am so, so grateful for.

- And I think you do something called the featured artists of the month, right?

- The featured visual artists each month in The Space in Kalamazoo, which is super intentional to make sure that there's opportunities for artists to be able to showcase their creativity, but also being compensated is super important for me and the entire premise of soul artistry.

- When you're looking to curate a show, what are some of the things that you look for?

- I'm looking for the artist who normally does not have the opportunity.

The artist that is amazing and talented that no one knows about.

I'm intentionally looking for black artists, artists of color, artists who have historically been excluded from opportunities.

I'm looking for someone who is like nervous or shy about like, oh, I don't really know if I want people to see or hear, you know, my stuff yet.

Those are all the artists that I'm looking for.

Because again, I, I was that artist.

- It's interesting because you go from this five year old singing in church, and then you become a national recording artist.

How does that happen when you're in Kalamazoo?

- Exactly.

That's a good question.

I think God was like, yep, you're gonna be in Kalamazoo and you still will open for Erykah Badu and be on the same stage as The Spinners and En Vogue, all of these people.

And a lot of those experiences were when they came to Kalamazoo.

So it wasn't even that I, you know, was like going out out.

- They came to you.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Which is like, you know, I'm just grateful because that's the way that, you know, I've been able to live life.

- And you know, what I love about you is that, you know, with Soul Artistry, you're always looking to help other artists right?

In some way, possible.

- Yeah.

Very, very important again, because I'm always thinking about like, what, what did I need that I didn't have when I was first getting started and coming up?

So yeah, someone would've been like, listen, I know that $25 seems like a lot to you to come and sing, you know, a couple songs, but here's what, you know, what that looks like and what you should be asking for over time and consider like how much time you rehearsed and you know, what you had to prepare all of that.

So if someone, you know, would've been able to get to me sooner and help me understand that, then you know, who knows what the outcome would've been.

So the business of artistry is really important for me to at least share the basics of that.

Sometimes feel like I'm an anomaly because I am a true creative, but I also have a deep passion for like the business side of the artistry.

And so I always want to alleviate that from other artists who are like, no, I just wanna paint.

I just wanna sing, write the poetry.

I don't wanna worry about, you know, that side of it.

And so I wanna be able to assist them with taking that part on so that they can just be able to have the space to be able to create.

- How do you figure out what your value is?

- So what I normally tell folks is like think about the different stages and process that has gotten you to the point that you're at now.

Like, did you take some classes?

Did you go to school for this?

Like, you gotta consider all of that.

And then look around at other artists and creatives who are doing similar or like things to what you're doing and what are they getting paid?

How much are they able to, you know, negotiate and bring in?

So that gives you an idea of like, oh yeah, I gotta bump this up a little bit.

- Self-care is super important.

Right?

- Yeah.

- How?

Describe what that looks like.

- It looks like me being comfortable with telling people, no.

It looks like me recognizing what it is that I'm sacrificing by not telling people no.

Or by continuing to push myself and just go when I know I have nothing left to give.

It looks like me understanding that rest is resistance.

It looks like me being okay, even though people might not understand it.

And then also, I, I want my experience as a creative of going from like this little girl who is five years old singing in church to leading this awesome company that has several clients and is doing, is running like an art gallery and has all of these, you know, different opportunities, like the, the process and journey from that five year old, you know, little girl to who I am and what I'm doing now was not an overnight thing.

And I had to like, keep, you know, reinventing and figuring out what works best next.

And you know how to do things differently, who to say yes to who to say no to.

But I want folks to know that I'm open to sharing what that process and experience was.

So like hit me up, ask me like, I'm, you know, willing to, to share all of that because it's important to me that I'm not the only one that I'm not the only one, but that I'm, you know, bringing other people in, pulling them up, making sure that they have the opportunities as well.

- Sometimes you don't see it when you're in it, but I think Soul Artistry's already doing that, you know?

- oh, wow.

- It's, it's getting bigger and better.

Yolonda, it's always fun talking to you and find out what you're doing.

Thanks again so much for the conversation today.

- Thank you.

- Dear America, we hold these truths to be self evident.

Well, these truths America holds still need to be evident to self that all men, as in human, are created equal.

Penned by Thomas Jefferson from the July 4th, 1776, Declaration of Independence, where in the 13 states of the United States had been colonies of Great Britain.

This declaration phrase was highly disregarded by this American nation because black people were still slaves until 1865, 2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

So instead of changing and including us in the original, you decided to make change by excluding us and giving us our very own.

Kind of like, we can no longer take a stand by doing the Kaepernick.

- Well, today I'm talking with Kyle Brautigam who is also known as Spoken Servant.

You know, thank you so much for talking with me here today.

- You're welcome.

You're welcome.

Glad to be here.

- You know, Kyle, you, you are a lot of things.

So, so describe yourself.

- I'm a father, you know, I'm a, I'm a husband, I'm a leader, I'm a world changer, and I'm also a poet as well.

- And you came from a pretty large family.

- I grew up with about 19 brothers and sisters, man.

It was cool.

It was definitely different though.

As well, seeing that I was, you know, adopted into a family, there was people that were in my family that were, there was white and there was black.

But because I was adopted at a young age, it's kind of all I knew.

- I read somewhere where, where you said you weren't even supposed to be alive.

What, what, what do you mean?

- So with that, so when I was actually born in Detroit and when I was born in Detroit, my mom was into some things, you know, that wasn't really necessarily good for her health.

And, you know, she dealt with, you know, drugs and, and stuff like that.

And I was actually a crack baby.

I was two pounds, four ounces.

I was supposed to be dead at birth.

I was on, on life support.

I practically lived in the hospital.

And so, yeah.

And so just with that, I, I shouldn't have been alive.

I was a preemie you know, and the doctors ever since birth happened, I wasn't supposed to make it in life period.

And so, and so I'm, I'm just glad to be here now.

- When did you learn to express yourself like through poetry through rap.

- Man?

I, I remember I used to listen to Lil Wayne and, and you know, these and these, these other rappers, but their lyrics were just so intriguing to me because there was a lot of metaphor and similes and just different wordplay.

It was just so intriguing.

I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so cool.

And, and for some reason I already loved words in general.

I just love using words in different ways.

And there's certain ways to kind of, you know, kind of help people see stuff differently.

- You know, Kyle, I love the story that you told about Mrs. Johnson.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

I made a deal with, I said, look, Ms. Johnson.

I said, look, so we had a book, we were reading called The Outsiders.

And I'm just like, I don't even like reading.

I don't wanna read it.

I'm good.

Like, Ugh, I need like, and, and, and she would always find me writing in class, you know, not focusing basically, but in that time I'm like, man, like I really don't wanna do the project.

She's saying like, what if I come my own project?

And so I, I went up and made a deal with it.

I said, look, Ms. Johnson for extra credit, do you think that if I write a rap on this book, do you think that I can, and not only write it, but perform it?

- Yeah.

- Do you think that I could, you know, get graded on that and, and you let me know what you, you know, think or whatever.

And she said, yes.

And I was just, I was so happy because I enjoyed writing.

I was like, oh yeah, now, I really wanna read, you know, I need to know what the book says.

I need to know all this stuff.

And so that was actually motivating for me to be able to do that because I was connected to something I was already passionate about.

I kept doing it.

Yeah.

And that's when I knew, like, you know, nothing's going to stop me.

Nothing's going to stop me.

And I'm gonna keep writing.

I'm gonna keep speaking because this is something I'm passionate about.

>> Land of the free home of the brave.

White police man continues to put our black men in the grave.

Also white men love to keep us enslaved Doing free labor in the prisons where this is the System and systematic got you in 2020 feeling like a runaway slave.

It's sad because we'll never be good enough no matter how much we measure up.

We can have a lot all the degrees be educated and all suited up what a fresh taper in the lineup and still find ourselves in the back of the line, not feeling good enough.

City struggles.

Real grown-up.

We already had a rough being tought by our parents when you confronted By the police, no matter what don't acts tough, we're taught not to retaliate even though most times they'’re the ones who initiate and intimidate.. - Like you said, when you saw the knee in, in George Floyd's neck, something rose up.

- Yeah.

- In you.

And tell, tell me about that.

- Man.

On emotional side, it was, it was anger.

It was.

I can't because of my own experiences.

I can't stay silent no more.

I saw myself.

I was frustrated.

I was hurt.

I was, it was almost like I died in that moment.

You know, I realized that those same people who are dying, can't get back up to tell how they were feeling in that situation.

So now we just have a one sided conversation where you just heard from the person who's alive, but what about the person who is dead and what makes it even more magnified is the fact that they were still innocent.

So just being able to hear a story from an innocent perspective, the emotions and the feeling that they were going through.

I like, I needed to portray that.

It just opened up so much for me and now, and it helped me uncover and discover, like, I need to advocate for black people.

I'll be that voice.

Lord use me, like use me.

I'll be that voice.

I don't care wherever you want me to go, wherever you I'll go.

You know what I'm saying?

So that's kind of how that, yeah.

I'm getting passionate now about it.

'Cause I just, ugh, just so much.

Yeah.

Just so much.

It's so much to say.

- Your rap, Speak Up, right, was born from that.

- Basically we have a responsibility and not just as black people, but as believers, like not even just black, but as believers.

So that includes everybody who's a believer, you know, and understanding that Jesus and justice coincide, you know?

And so the thing is like a lot of times we try to separate it or make it political, you know, but no Jesus stood for justice.

And then on top of that, my encouragement was to, to talk to white folks and say, Hey, we've been speaking up all along.

We've been talking, we've been speaking up, we've been doing this and that, but we need your help.

We can't do without you.

And just include it all, you know, mainly white folk, but then believers that look, it doesn't matter where we're white, black, whatever.

We all need to speak up.

>> America wants you to think it through like old news.

So let'’s educate ourselves instead of walking around.

Like we have no clue that That'’s why I presented evidential facts not fiction to help change your view.

So don't compare your experience to ours and act as if racism isn'’t systemic, doesn't exist or is it true and don't be quick to dismiss what you don't understand.

I haven't experienced yet.

That's my challenge to you.

- What did you perform at the Kalamazoo poetry festival?

- I performed this, this poem called Home and I didn't want to be surfaced with it, you know?

Cause I could be like, oh, home is where a bed is and a house.

I love trees and you know, I want a yard and my kids playing around and, but I was like, man, what if I think about home?

What is home really than me?

So then I just begin to ask God like, God help me with this.

Like, and, and it is funny because in the middle of me preparing a poem, God was pulling stuff outta me that I didn't even know was in me.

And so I was just like, you want me to talk about stuff I ain't even dealt with yet.

Yeah.

Cause you gonna deal with it in this poem.

So, so yeah.

- And can you do that?

- Yes.

I can do that.

Three months premature.

I was birthed on this earth.

My home should have been a place of love and acceptance, but without my mama's presence, home for me was a place of abandonment and rejection.

Forced between the choices of extinction or adapting.

Had to learn to live in the cold hospital I was in because it was the only place that would take me in.

Taken away from my mama while she was dealing with drama, cocaine, running through her veins, which became her affliction.

It was infused into my DNA.

I was born fighting addiction.

So there was me left alone with no mother in a home, in a sterile hospital where I almost went flat line.

They transitioned me to foster care where they gave me all my meals, man.

They kept me alive.

I was in the system until about 18 months on a timeline.

Finally in an adopted home with 19 brothers and sisters, the minority was white, but the majority of us were black.

It seemed so unfamiliar.

People in the all white town used to look at us.

So intently and peculiar.

A lot of times they would look, question, and laugh.

I felt like a chameleon forced to switch how I talk and how I act just to adapt.

It made sense that I had a lot of sisters and brothers, but what was confusing, a lot of them were from different fathers and different mothers.

And because my parents were white, it still felt foreign.

Just wanted to feel accepted.

Not forced to fit in.

Still was desiring those skin to skin hugs, that emotional connection.

So then my next home became a piece of paper and a pen where I could write down every thought I was thinking, feeling, and imagining.

Fast forward had my own apartment was feeling real grown.

Until I realized it still didn't feel like home.

I was still looking for a place of love and acceptance until one day I got saved and God blessed me with his presence.

Even though at the time my biological parents were still not present.

You see, he opened up my heart and gave me eyes to see that he has always been there and he promised to take care of me.

He even blessed me with a wife and two children, my little special family.

You see, I found a true home, which is only found in him.

Peace, healing, joy, love, acceptance.

It's all found in Jesus Christ.

It's where I move.

Have my being and I learn to live life.

So no matter how many homes we've all had in this life, I now know that it's only temporary.

Jesus died so that we can realize there's the place that he has for us eternally.

And then he rose again so that no matter how much you are rejected by the people of this world and what the world may give.

His doors are always open for you to find your home in him.

- How do you even write something like that?

- Sometimes it comes in pieces or sections.

The rhythm is key to me.

So actually rap was actually helpful in my poetry because rap, there was beats and a lot of beats and stuff I would just listen to.

And I would just, and that, and then I find myself making my own beats in my own mind.

So as I go through the memorization process, a rhythm has to be key in a poem, a rhythm.

And then for me, you don't always have to rhyme, but I rhyme because rhyming for me helps me memorize my poem.

- Kyle, I just wanted to thank you so much for talking with me here today and.

- Thank you to you.

You did an awesome job.

- Thank you, Kyle.

It's so much fun researching you.

I can't even tell you.

Yes.

You've had a wonderful life.

I mean it talk about overcoming obstacles.

You're an inspiration.

- Amen.

We praise God.

- Praise God.

- Thank you for joining us on this week's episode of Kalamazoo Lively Arts.

Check out today's show and other content at wgvu.org.

We leave you tonight with a performance by Kyle Brautigam.

I'm Jennifer Moss.

Have a great night.

- Dear America, we hold these truths to be self evident.

Well, these truths America holds still need to be evident to self.

That all men, as in human, are created equal.

Penned by Thomas Jefferson from the July 4th, 1776, Declaration of Independence, where in the 13 states of the United States have been colonies of Great Britain.

This declarational phrase was highly disregarded by this American nation because black people were still slaves until 1865, 2 years after the emancipation proclamation.

So instead of changing and including us in the original, you decided to make change by excluding us and giving us our very own.

Kind of like, we can no longer take a stand by doing the Kaepernick kneel, but we should be thankful that we are now finally allowed to sing the negro national anthem in sports as if we should be appeased.

While we still have to work three times as hard for justice, twice as hard for our rights and still pay a lifetime fee for freedom, when one unarmed innocent brown and black man at a time killed when a penitentiary.

Now I don't know about y'all, but that sounded like slavery to me in the 21st century.

So within this Declaration of Independence, we were able to have independent government and be independent in states.

But why was it still an independence of equality and race?

Unless of course I'm considered in your eyes, three fifths of a human to compromise as if I'm not a whole person.

Last time I checked, I live the way you live.

I breathe the air, you breathe.

I still have all the same body parts and limbs.

So now it boils down to the elephant in the room, which makes up a fraction of the difference, the color of our skin.

Now if one of y'all walk around here one more time talking about you, don't see color or you're color blind.

I'm going to say it's because you can only see a fraction of the difference.

And if you need proof, put your glasses on and adjust your lenses and allowed in the backlash of flashback to George Floyd, Brian Taylor, or Ahmaud Arbery, and allow the full fraction of 2020 to uncloud your vision.

So with the three fifths compromise that Emancipation Proclamation and the Declaration of Independence, we stare, Dr. King crying out that equality is still not a thing.

And we just wanna make sure that you're convinced and hold you accountable to what was written back then.

So allow me to remind you of the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

These are federal legislation, which prohibit voting rights based on racial discrimination.

So I wonder if in Georgia, do these legislations still apply when voting polls or being shut down and people are forced to wait and in line while being denied a desire for food and water, which then became a crime.

They say history repeats itself because this is happening in our time while America is still singing a national anthem, like a sweet, sweet alibi.

So America, today we celebrate Dr. King for being active in civil rights and voting laws, which was not minute.

Today we all honor Dr. King and salute.

Today we will all pay a great tribute to a civil rights activist, a job he shouldn't have had to do.

America, was celebrating Dr. King when really we could have been celebrating, you.

Sincerely, people of color.

Thank you.

- [Voice Over] Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.

♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ Fall back in love eventually ♪ ♪ Can you whisper ♪ ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪