PRONK! 2020 LIVES!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 10/7/20

CONTACT: Matt Garza, Jess Brown, Anthony Andrade or Iliana Saavedra at providencehonkfest [at] gmail [dot] com

ANNOUNCING THE 13TH ANNUAL PROVIDENCE HONK FESTIVAL (PRONK!) COMMUNITY AND ACTIVIST STREET BAND FESTIVAL IN PROVIDENCE

www.providencehonkfest.org

For the first time in PRONK! History, PRONK! 2020 is 100% BIPOC led. Recognizing that PRONK! has been slow to cultivate a space that feels relevant to and representative of our vibrant BIPOC community, the white members of our collective shifted into support roles this summer so that Providence Honk Fest can move closer towards our potential to strengthen Anti-Racist & Reparations work in Lil Rhody. We believe that BIPOC artists, activists and leaders have untapped wisdom and it’s time to make shifts, invite changes and practice humility if we want to imagine and rebuild a better world together. For us, this means that our series of MINI-PRONK! 2020 will focus less on the being a giant street party and more on collaborating with and supporting the BIPOC artists, activists and community organizations that are already doing the work. PRONK! exists on the backs of our ancestors and elders who taught us how to claim our human right to gather, even in the harshest conditions; to practice community health and well-being; to speak truth to power. This is how we show care for our community -- by making change and putting in the work.

This year, we cannot PRONK! like we usually do...AND we’re still excited to host a MINI-PRONK! 2020 series to ensure that we practice community health and safety, while celebrating and supporting the local BIPOC-centered activism and artists that have been working tirelessly to move our community forward in the Anti-Racist movement that we inherited from our ancestors. This time, our local brass band community is invited to join in as part of the audience too as we feature BIPOC & Femme-centered percussion artists and ensembles for each of MINI PRONK located at The Haus of Glitter Performance Lab + Parq (formerly known as the Esek Hopkins Homestead + Park) through our partnership with the PARKIST Artist Residency through the Providence Parks Dept. and the Dept. of Art Culture + Tourism.

"As 20th generation Rhode Islander/Narragansett, whenever community can come celebrate, commemorate, and acknowledge the first peoples of this country, ancestors smile. We are telling stories and singing songs of the forgotten. Pronk is a real opportunity to get the recognition correct and have these artists take their place in the continuum of revolutionary arts practice. "

- April Brown, co-director of the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading

THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN TWO WAYS:

1. Physical Distance (limited capacity) and virtually! Those who want to attend in-person (masks required) are invited to register on eventbrite (see links below) and make a donation to our fundraiser!

2. Virtually: We will ALSO be on PRONK!'s facebook and instagram LIVE for all MINI-PRONKS! so that our wider PRONK family can connect with the voices of artists and activists AND so you can spread the word about our fundraiser! We are trying to raise some COIN for our BIPOC Community Spotlights!

Each MINI-PRONK! 2020 will feature local bands and percussion ensembles that include at least 50% BIPOC performers OR are all Femme/Womxn OR are an LGBTQ+ affinity space: The Blackout Drum Squad, The Clam Jam Brass Band, The TAPA Drum Ensemble, Eastern Medicine Singers & Sidy Maiga

DONATIONS: SUPPORT BIPOC COMMUNITY ACTIVISM

Instead of our annual fundraiser to MAKE PRONK! HAPPEN, we are using our MINI PRONK! eventbrite registrations + our facebook fundraiser to SUPPORT LOCAL ART+ACTIVISM:

• 75% of ALL eventbrite registrations + fundraiser donations go to our BIPOC Community Spotlights:

  • Movement Education Outdoors

  • The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading

  • RIBS: RI Black Storytellers

  • black earth lab

  • YIA: Youth In Action

• 25% is going to the BIPOC artists, activists + elders who are making PRONK! happen!