WHAT:
Holding the Moment: A New Speakers Series
Featuring: LaToya Brackett presenting, “They Want Our Rhythm, but Not Our Blues: African American Innovation through Pop Culture”
WHERE:
Rainier Arts Center
3515 South Alaska St
Seattle, WA 98118
WHEN:
Saturday, November 8, 2025
at 7:30pm
TICKETS:
In-Person
FREE ($15 suggested donation)
Limited Seats—RSVP in advance to guarantee seat
On-Site Box Office: Opens one hour before curtain
Live-Streaming
FREE ($15 suggested donation)
Info & Tickets: mirrorstage.org/events/past-productions/holding-the-moment-Nov-8-2025
ABOUT LATOYA BRACKETT
LaToya Brackett (she/her) is an associate professor of African American studies at the University of Puget Sound, where she also serves as a member of the leadership team for the Race & Pedagogy Institute. A scholar with two degrees in Black studies, one from Cornell University and the other from Michigan State, she is an interdisciplinarian who centers the Black experience. Brackett lives in Tacoma.
The freedom often denied to African Americans to move and express themselves has meant that they have had to be especially creative in building their culture. The innovations created under oppression are often appropriated by the oppressor—they want our rhythm. And such culture and creativity has been forged from their everyday struggles—but they do not want our blues.
Reflecting on music, sports, language, food, and even hair, this talk calls audiences in beyond the rhythm to recognize the blues that made African American popular culture. It serves as a guide to appreciating the art of Black pop culture by understanding how and why African American culture was created, and when and where it appears across multiple platforms of popular culture—never without a unique artisan style.
ABOUT HOLDING THE MOMENT
Holding the Moment is a new speakers series featuring artists, educators, journalists, and activists from Humanities Washington’s Speakers Bureau whose interactive presentations explore identity, memory, politics, and art—connecting personal truth to collective liberation. From confronting anti-LGBTQIA+ rhetoric to exposing cultural appropriation and reclaiming erased histories, each presentation invites us to resist oppression and build belonging. Free and open to all ages, each 90-minute event includes time for Q&A.
About Humanities Washington
Humanities Washington is a nonprofit organization dedicated to opening minds and bridging divides by creating spaces to explore different perspectives. For more about Humanities Washington, visit www.humanities.org.
About the Speakers Bureau Program
In communities throughout Washington State, Speakers Bureau presenters give free public presentations on history, politics, music, philosophy, spiritual traditions, and everything in between.
Their roster of over 30 Speakers Bureau presenters is made up of professors, artists, activists, historians, performers, journalists, and others—all chosen not only for their expertise, but also for their ability to inspire discussion with people of all ages and backgrounds. Hundreds of Speakers Bureau events take place each year. Find a Speakers Bureau event near you.
To reach as many Washingtonians as possible, Humanities Washington partners with a wide range of organizations, including libraries, schools, museums, historical societies, community centers, and civic organizations. Qualifying nonprofit organizations are encouraged to host a speaker.
The Speakers Bureau program is made possible with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Washington via the Office of the Secretary of State, the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, and generous contributions from other businesses, foundations, and individuals.
ABOUT MIRROR STAGE
Originally founded in 1991, Mirror Stage is a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts company that believes the power of story and art holds the key to bringing people together in imagining and embodying a better future. We challenge assumptions, bias and prejudice, increasing equity and inclusion while encouraging more thoughtful reflection on today’s issues. Mirror Stage nurtures unique artistic voices, centering those who have been most oppressed by society’s inequitable systems and structures. Mirror Stage gets people talking, as well as thinking. Learn more about the history of Mirror Stage.
Mirror Stage gratefully acknowledges the support of 4Culture, Allen Family Philanthropies, ArtsWA, the City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the EPS Fund, Humanities Washington, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Posner-Wallace Foundation.
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