Humanity: The Conversation
Wednesday Dec 15th
12:30PM PST/2:30PM CST/3:30 EST
VCBynum Arts and Education Movement in partnership with Viewpoints with Flavor present a conversation about Humanity 2021.
We are excited to present our second annual community fundraiser.
Humanity: The Conversation 2021
The conversation will be streamed on Viewpoints with Flavor
and Vania C Bynums Facebook channels
Humanity: The Conversation 2021 is about the We Inspire Humanity virtual performance.
Co-moderated by Twanda Hill and Vania C. Bynum, the discussion will highlight the focus of the performance, new artists, and how it all began. We will also share the inspiration for this year's Humanity: An Evolving Perspective 2021 - a performance and fundraiser to benefit Special Moments for kids and a local artist who is battling cancer. Our kick-off is Saturday December 18th at 4:00 PM (PST), 6:00 PM (CST), 7:00 PM (EST).
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Humanity: The Conversation will be live streamed on CD Forum's Facebook, YouTube & Twitch pages. This panel discussion will be co-moderated by Vania C. Bynum and Twanda Hill. Panelists include Yvonne Matthews, Laura Cook, and .
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Meet the panel below and explore our web site for more information on how to support the community and attend the event on December 18th. We look forward to sharing with you.
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Vania Clemons Bynum is a former computer engineer who utilizes the ingenuity of making software to create dance. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Vania has taught and choreographed throughout the Greater Seattle area. She has performed in the Paramount & Moore Theaters, Intiman Theatre, Benaroya Hall, the Meydenbauer and more. Utilizing dance as her form of worship, Vania directed the Adult Liturgical Dance Ministry at New Beginnings Christian Fellowship for 11 years. She also performed in The Black Nativity, Hip-Hop Back to Its Roots!, Dance This!, 7 Women 7 Stools, and American Jazz Nutcracker.
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Vania’s works have been supported by the City of Seattle, 4Culture, Central District Forum, Bossak Heilbron, Microsoft, and the Allied Arts Foundation. Vania also choreographed works for Northwest Tap Connection, Bellevue Lyric Opera/Bellevue Youth Theater, Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, Jerboa Dance, and Hal Jackson Talented Teens.​
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In 2018, Vania created a new work in progress, “Dancing Our Truth” for CD Forum’s Showing Out: Contemporary Black Choreographers. She performed in a Special Evening with Stephanie Mills and Friends 2019 concert. True to her love of helping others, Vania is produced Humanity: An Evolving Perspective on November 8, 2020 and December 12, 2020 to benefit families in need and continue the conversation on social justice. We bring Humanity back with a new perspective and a goal to help families for the holiday and an individual artist. www.vaniacbynum.com
Twanda Hill celebrates 24 years in business this October. She is best known in the Pacific Northwest but also has a satellite office in Phoenix since 2014. She specializes with small businesses providing systems and strategies for opening, sustaining and growing their businesses while understanding the Digital Marketing Maze. Twanda Hill has also enjoyed work as a speaker and workshop facilitator offering expertise on entrepreneurship, event planning, social media and women’s empowerment. She shares stories using her life experiences as the laboratory for growth and connectivity. Twanda brings high energy and charm to the mic, while delivering messages of authenticity and alignment. What makes Twanda Hill unique is her capacity to blend in with your organization, working as part of the team to fill critical gaps and allow your organization's goals to be met efficiently and professionally. It's a virtual world! We are here to help you! www.twandahill.com
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Humanity Conversation 2021 artists
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Yvonne Matthews, singer, songwriter, musician, minister of music, and educator, recently toured Europe and debuted her inaugural solo CD, GLAD, in February 2020. She finds herself, on many occasions and events, in the company of and on the stage with many great music artists. After garnering over 1 million views on her music videos, GLAD, and over 603,000 views on I OWE YOU ME – both on her Yvonne Matthews Music Facebook artist page, and her Official Yvonne Matthews Music YouTube channel, this Gospel Music artist moved forward by releasing a Christmas EP. You can see Yvonne musically ministering daily during her Pop-up Praise Moments or monthly on her Live Front Porch Ministry events on her Yvonne Matthews Music Facebook page and her Official Yvonne Matthews Music YouTube channel. Additionally, you can get hard copy CDs by emailing a request to yvonnescd@gmail.com.
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Laura A. Cook is the Founder and current CEO of Special Moments. After working in management for 17 years for a fortune 500 Transportation Company - UPS, she focused her energy on raising her 2 young boys. An entrepreneur at heart, Laura expanded her focus to include travel, event planning and children. Inspired by her passions, Laura formed an organization that would include all three. Special Moments, a nonprofit organization for kids was formed in Nov 2011.
Laura attended the University of Washington and received her BA in Political Science in 1990. She was also a participate of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship program & attended the University of Texas at Austin's LBJ School and then UW's Graduate School of Public Affairs where she received her (MPA) Master in Public Administration emphasis on Public Management in 1993. Laura now looks forward in a long endeavor to help disadvantaged children and make a difference in their lives. Special Moments transforms memories one child at a time.
Humanity Conversation 2020 artists
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Vernet Clemons Nettles, EdD is a parent, educator, and poet. Currently, she resides in Montgomery, AL. She has served in various capacities of church service, including Youth Department advisor, Sunday school and Bible Study teacher, and Director of Christian Education. While working on her devotional, she has spent the last three years sharing daily prayers on her website Another Day’s Journey - www.vcndailypray.com. The scriptures and prayers focus on spiritual growth and connecting with God. Professionally, Dr. Nettles works in the Montgomery Public Schools System and as an adjunct English Instructor for a local university. Having worked in education since 1990, she has focused her career on facilitating services for students considered underserved and less likely to succeed.
Visit https://www.vernetcnettles.com/ to experience her amazing poetry and check out her books
Robert Moore, from Hamden, CT, began dancing at New England Ballet and continued at Dee Dee’s Dance Center and New Haven Ballet. He is an alumnus of Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts, the Ailey Summer Intensive, Cunningham Trust Workshop, Jacob’s Pillow’s Commercial Dance Program, and the Complexions Intensive. Robert graduated magna cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program and has danced with Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre, The Steps Repertory Ensemble, AATMA Performing Arts, Whidbey Island Dance Theatre, Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, Karin Stevens Dance, the Guild Dance Company, Kinesis Project Dance Theater, The Gray, PRICEarts, Coriolis Dance, Khambatta Dance Company, and Spectrum Dance Theater.
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Melba Ayco, founder and Artistic Director of Northwest Tap Connection, is a Gullah-Geechee and Creole Storyteller, Tap Dance Historian, and Choreographer. Born in a small town on the north shores of New Orleans, she describes her life as a three-part harmony: born into segregation, survived integration, and enlightenment through cultural diversity. Her life commitment is to define and share the African American experience through the performing arts.
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Ms. Melba is the creator of African American Odyssey, a touring performance inclusive of spoken word, dance, and music that expresses the history and struggles of African Americans from a place of pride. Her new work, Odyssey, explores the common threads of culture, inclusive of dance, music, food, art, and traditions of African Americans and people of African Diaspora. Odyssey is a work-in-progress and the inspiration for creativity in the realms of dance, spoken word and storytelling. Odyssey 1 was presented at Seattle Theater Group’s 2015 production “Dance This – the Brazilian Connection.”
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Through her dedication to the community and offering opportunities for growth and enlightenment for people of all ages and backgrounds, Ms. Melba has made a lasting, positive imprint on the greater Seattle area. To this end, she has received numerous accolades including the 2009 Mayor’s Art Award, the 2017 African Town Queen Award, and the 2017 Martin Luther King Medal of Community Service Award for District No. 2 of the City of Seattle.
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