Buckeye Story Session! Ok now to share some of the latest updates on our current in progress work. This is our first private update for our members and sponsors so thank you for receiving this! 

One of the best parts of bbrp is the unique ways that our work intersects with community across the state of CA and the world. 

Intersecting with music organizations has been key to our success and it was been a great joy to connect with musicians who play a range of different folk genres from all backgrounds. 

In the case of Buckeye Gathering, we came into the community through crafting and engaging with Ancestral Arts Skills. Learn more about Buckeye here! http://buckeyegathering.net

Many of us here at bbrp specifically have connected to the banjo through our love of plants, animals and the cultural practices known for generations by our ancestors that have spiritually moved us toward creation of music. We have connected specifically to the gourd banjo in our build workshops in order to hand-craft custom instruments and learn techniques together. All of the workshops we have done have been in a similar style and have resulted in tack-head banjos that have utilized modern machinery such as electric saws, jointers and planers that have contributed to the precision of modern lutherie. It was in this past few weeks and months that we have really dived into creating instruments entirely by hand. 

At the forefront of this has been 2023 bbrp fellow Patrice Strahan who attended the Sacramento Banjo Build one year ago. Since then, Patrice has committed a lot of time and energy into her work of relating to the banjo and collaborating with bbrp. 

Although Patrice wasn’t able to be present at Buckeye this year, echos of this sentiment were pursued during our time there. I myself worked with a group of Black crafters to create an instrument by hand with the guidance and support of Ira Christian, a white ally and new friend who we had the opportunity to learn with at the Buckeye Gathering. 

This was actually an unplanned event— the type of thing spirit arranged that we just happened to remain present enough to receive the blessings and gifts available to us through collaboration. 

I had no idea that there would be a banjo builder at the gathering and that he wanted to share this knowledge. It has been quite some time that Ira began his work as a crafter, artisan and maker along with learning and teaching other ancestral skills like fire-making. 

Gatherings like this are often almost completely white spaces. Organizers are tasked with seeking solutions and change when it comes to diversifying spaces and focusing on the cultural aspects of the skills that are shared. It is still common at gatherings such as this to have many folks who hold knowledge from cultures outside of their own.

With that, many questions are raised for me: 

How can people who hold knowledge share it in ways that contribute to cultural return and reclamation for folks who have been systematically deprived of access to their own cultures?

How long will it take to change the culture of gatherings so that not only the teachers are in accordance with the cultural knowledge they hold, but can also teach to people from those demographics as well?

What does cultural sharing look like between members of Black, Indigenous and People of Color?

How do we center and honor Black space in situations where theres 500 attendees and literally 10 of them are Black or of African descent? 

Along with my questions I have very deep values that I share as part of bbrp that I feel should be elevated and considered in these conversations. 

I also sometimes have very big feelings when it comes to processing and expressing how I feel about cultural appropriation, cultural and land theft and the lack of representation that bbrp strives to fill in many spaces such as this.

First off, it’s ok for us Black folks particularly to have big feelings and emotions when addressing issues such as this. It can bring up a lot of anger, mistrust, confusion, grief and even rage. Bbrp holds space for this and honors the healing of this trauma in our work. I myself as an individual, hold space for these feelings and more that come up in myself so that I may honor and move through them in a productive way toward change and the necessary transformation that is begging to be addressed by our collective communities. 

So yes, I was filled with emotions when I learned that this workshop was happening and that I had no prior knowledge of it.

The other important value here is transformation. How can we transmute a difficult feeling or situation and replace it with something generative for everyone? This ultimately is where these questions led me at my time at Buckeye and this was the curiosity I came with in order to establish a new path of relational building that could support the bbrp and bring opportunities and skills to the Black folks present which included myself, who were there to learn and grow at this gathering.

Being able to communicate feelings, needs and requests with the leadership and with Ira was crucial in this situation to figure out what could be shifted in order to create space for Black Banjo Reclamation. Coming with curiosity is important.

Originally the banjo workshop was meant to be open to anyone and was a new experience for Ira as well. Everyone was to participate in creating one instrument by hand, sharing the work load and taking turns working on the various parts of the instrument.

We ended up deciding that bbrp would essentially facilitate the workshop and that it would be a space for Black folks. This is how most of our workshops have gone and that has been working out great for us. We have utilized the skills and knowledge that has been contributed by white artists and crafters who have felt the desire to be part of this work and create a new narrative and pathway for white people to disrupt the lineages of white supremacy that have existed in the colonization of the banjo. These are the types of cross cultural collaborations that we love to foster and build with our large and expanding community.

It feels good to be accepted despite not assimilating into pleasing and centering people who benefit from white privilege. It truly is not fun or productive to argue with white folks about racism and I will also admit, it’s not fun to teach people who haven’t put in the basic amount of work to understand why we are doing this incredibly important work. 

This is how we honor our energy— by following the joy and ease that comes with community rather than it being a burden and a savior complex to white folks. It has to be mutual and reciprocal. 

Our organization and our energy is here to serve our community and make it easier for us to access to traditional, cultural, earth-based and spiritual aspects of the banjo. We appreciate everyone who supports this and it makes a huge difference in the work for it to be supported by so many of you. This is the first post Im making that is for for our supporters so I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes, inside look at the BBRP. Please feel free to be in conversation with us, grow and build with us, and we encourage you to check out all the offerings we have for folks on the sponsor and member levels! Thank you sooo so much everyone!

~Hannah Mayree
Founder, collaborator