Sneak Peek: Ashleigh Gordon Podcast

Ashleigh Gordon: Castle of our Skins comes from a poem by Nikki Giovanni, and that poem is called Poem (for Nina), as in Nina Simone. And to paraphrase, it says, "We are all imprisoned in the castle of our skins." And if that's the case, treat our skin-- this castle-- as being a warm, welcoming, invitational place to live. Adorn it with beautiful things, really celebrate and honor it. So, celebration, beauty, excellence, Blackness, are really wrapped up in that poem, and are really wrapped up in this organization, as being foundational to our mission. And Anthony Green-- pianist, composer, social justice activist…, and I think the universe had positioned us to be classmates at New England Conservatory, to really found this organization, but we very much wanted to have a space where we could support one another, artistically, as fellow Black musicians…and wanted to have an opportunity to learn more about ourselves, and about our ancestry and our lineage. So, having the space to honor all of that--very much an exploration, and now collaboration is really wrapped into the journey of Castle of our Skins.