Poetry and Music Fundraiser
November 4, 2023 @ Eagle Creek Academy, Lake Orion
Please join the Center for Learning and Childhood Development - Ghana for an evening of poetry and music to benefit our mobile clinic for children with disabilities in Accra, Ghana. Performances will feature nationally renowned poet Blessed Sheriff and West African percussionist Mark Stone. The event will also include a raffle of hand-crafted items from Ghana and a bake sale showcasing sweet treats made by local bakers. Throughout the evening, guests will also learn more about CLCD’s work and the impact of services provided by the mobile clinic on children with disabilities and their families. Light refreshments will be provided
about the artists
Nationally renowned poet Blessed Sheriff, West African Drum Performance by Mark Stone, Blake sale raffle prizes and more
Blesses Sheriff
Blessed Sheriff is a graduate of the Brown University Literary Arts program in creative writing and a native of Montgomery Country, Maryland. She writes to explore pathways towards healing and social change for vulnerable populations, particularly within the Black diaspora. She is a previous ProvSlam youth champion, and award-winning member of Word! - Brown University's CUPSI team. When she's not writing poetry, you can find her taking impromptu midnight beach strolls, hoarding chai tea, or attempting to graduate medical school at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine. You can check out some of her work here!
Mark Stone
Professor Mark Stone, Guba is an improviser-composer and performer-scholar with a passion for using music to bring diverse communities together. An internationally recognized percussionist, he has performed with the foremost musicians of Uganda, Ghana, South Africa, India, Trinidad, Ecuador, Brazil, and the United States. Also, an accomplished composer and improviser, Stone leads the Stone Sound Collective. His original musical style results from innovative performance practice rooted in knowledge of multiple world traditions. Through his dedication to the study of Dagara Gyil music, the Gyil Guba elders of Hiineteng, Ghana honored him with the title of 'Gyil Guba' in recognition of his 2016 completion of the Gyil Goba initiation.
Stone is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of South Africa, where he is pursuing a transdisciplinary study of performance praxis through research in musicology, embodied/enactive cognition, and indigenous knowledge systems. He is also a featured performer/composer and on the leadership team of the newly launched South Africa/America Music Exchange (SAME). Stone is a professor at Oakland University where he directs the world music program. He
created and serves as an adviser for the Master of Music in World Percussion Performance and the World Music Minor. Stone recently received OU’s Community Engaged Faculty Award, recognizing faculty who excel in community-based work. He is the Arts Area Leader for the OU/Pontiac Initiative and chair of the Percussive Arts Society’s World Percussion Committee.
As an American Baha’i, Mark Stone is dedicated to promoting justice and nurturing belonging through a world-embracing vision of humanity.
Read more about Mark at his website: https://markstonepercussion.com/
