How can art, created from shared dialogue and discussion, help us to understand America’s responsibility and power in the world? How can we use the power of poetry to critically contemplate and move beyond America’s guiding mythologies, to construct a radically empowering and new definition of citizenship? These were the questions that guided prolific poet Sekou Sundiata - as he grappled with what it meant to be an engaged and critical citizen in a post 9/11 world. Sundiata passed away in 2007, but his questions remain highly relevant today.

This Olio will explore the life, work and unique methodologies of civic engagement that were pioneered by Sundiata. We will use those methodologies to write, share stories and think/work