Dear Mr. McKeller

Valerie Stephens

Valerie Stephens, a native Bostonian, is a performing artist with a passion for history. Valerie has received a 2019 Bridge Award in Arts; a 2018 Boston City Council Resolution for her creative programming for little girls of color and her commitment to Nina Simone’s legacy; a 2017 NEFA Creative City Grant for creating the Elder Storytelling Performance Project; the 2016 Get Konnected! Boston Legends & Pioneers Award; the 2011 NAACP Image Award; the 2007 Urban Music Award in Blues; and a 2011 Urban Music Award in Jazz nomination, as well as Citations of Appreciation from Boston, New Bedford, and Springfield.

Valerie has curated a number of concerts: Women of the Village celebrating the female commonality in English, Spanish, and Xhosa; Sweet & Salty: Dressed to the Nines is a tribute to classic blues women. She has also produced a concert series dedicated to the musical icon Nina Simone and her commitment to social justice.

Stephens has also been contracted to research and create historical storytelling productions for the Boston Children’s Museum; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Science, Boston; the Springfield Arts Museum; and the Cambridge Cultural Council.

Her current projects include: Rewriting The Mammy Diaries, an exploratory tribute to the unnamed, often vilified women who raised this country; and I’m Not Your Preconceived NOTION (Or Mine), a personal journey.

“I love the stories of the everyday people, those whose names are never mentioned in media. They are the true tapestry of this country. Therein lays the strength. Therein lays my foundation.”

D. Ruff

D. Ruff is a spoken word poet, creative director of Boston Pulse Poetry, and has been a co-host of the “if you can Feel It, you can Speak It” Open Mic movement, held at Bella Luna / Milky Way in Jamaica Plain for ten years. He has been writing and performing for over 15 years. Most of his poems stem from personal experiences and observations, and therefore range in topics from love and heartbreak to inequality and culture. D. Ruff performs with inspiring passion in hopes that someone of color will also want to find a way to express themselves, find that “tribe” and do it all, with the intention of leaving all the hurt, pain, and negativity right where it was showcased.

Tim Hall

Tim Hall is an educator, poet, entrepreneur, and proud Motown musician from Detroit, MI. He’s shared a stage with musicians from around the US, including D-Slate, Nathan La Voz, Eric “Rainman” Gaston, Israil Ali, Kemistry, Kali Douglas, LaDarrel “Saxappeal” Johnson, Cymaron Dawson, and VaShawn Mitchell to name a few. He is currently a member of the It’s Complicated band, which is the official touring band for Nappy Roots. Tim Hall draws inspiration from his lived experiences, charting the nuances of blackness, masculinity, and the beauties of life. As a poet, Tim has opened for artists such as Neiel Israel, Regie Gibson, the Asia Project of BET’s Def Poetry Jam, and soul singer Lalah Hathaway.

McKersin Previlus

Growing up without the means for dance classes, McKersin overcame his troubled environment, persevered and became the dancer that he is today. With ethnic-Haitian dance already in his vocabulary, he started building a bigger arsenal with hip-hop, jazz, and tap. In college, he started trading work hours for classes and started studying ballet and modern dance intensively. Now, he is leading workshops throughout various parts of the country, oriented towards social justice and the roots of African-American culture and movement. Out of his many projects and goals, his main and current project involves building up men in the inner city to become emotionally intelligent while being agents of social change within their community, with the creation of a program called, Bridge 4 My Brothers.