Book Reading: “Jelani’s Search for The Perfect Life-Saving Energy”

In honor of Black History Month, Artlink and Emancipation Arts LLC present a public reading, discussion and activities associated with the book “Jelani’s Search For The Perfect Life-Saving Energy” by Arizona author and artist Clottee Hammons.

“Jelani’s Search For The Perfect Life-Saving Energy” demonstrates some of the ways that young children perceive and process adult depression, and the effects it can have on them and their families.
Because Black people are typically left out of the historical narrative of Arizona (and the Southwest), the multi-faceted, ongoing “Great Migration –Indiscernibles in Arizona” Project was launched by Emancipation Arts LLC. People of African descent are “Indiscernible” in Arizona; rarely seen as Freedmen, refugees and migrants or otherwise valued as contributors to the infrastructure of the state.
Discussion of the situational and genetic causes of Depression for Black parents in Arizona is seldom a topic of discussion, with alternatives to medications rarely explored.

“Jelani’s Search For The Perfect Life-Saving Energy” is accompanied by structured activities intended to increase and strengthen intergenerational communication, under the title, “Always A Way To Say…I Love You”;which offers varying methods of expressing joys and concerns utilizing the Arts. Through guided exercises with acclaimed local artists (visual artists, poets, dancers, Master Drummer, DJs, breathwork and physical coaching), participants will explore a variety of methods for self-expression and self-care in safe space.