Free First Thursdays

"My name is Jaypix belmer.I am clear and mindful using my gifts of vision to amplify, preserve, connect and love."

Identifying as a non binary black, Indigenous person of color, Jaypix is a Boston based documentary photographer whose work captures the “visual soul of their subjects.” Born in Boston, Jaypix focuses on the unconsidered people and places in our everyday lives. Jaypix’s professional style combines innovative design and artistically bold portraits that shine a light on individuals, enabling confidence towards the pursuit of their own vision. Being able to capture a feeling rather than a moment is a unique aesthetic evident throughout their work. Jaypix has an extreme commitment to storytelling. Through dialogue, Jaypix establishes a strong relationship with the people they photograph, which results in creative image-making.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

DJ WhySham aka Your Community DJ is a 4x nominated DJ/Producer, Visionary, Activist, Traveler, Sister, God-parent and Dorchester Native. WhySham is the CEO of “Boston Got Next Entertainment and Bringing Back Boston (BBBMA) now known as “The Social Justice Trap Movement, Inc.'. She believes in bringing music, hardship and pain together while creating events as a release for collective trauma. WhySham is an On-air Radio Personality for SparkFM Online (Lunch Is Ova) on Thursdays at 1PM ET.

Photo courtesy of the artist.

VOICES 21C was founded in 2017 by André de Quadros of Boston University, and since then has undertaken four international tours to France, Israel and Palestine, and Mexico. In a relatively short time it has risen to national prominence for ground-breaking, transdisciplinary performances anchored in narratives. Its performances are marked by a creative use of space and body, improvised sound and compassionate engagement.

Photo credit Choralies 2019.

Eric M. Anderson is a Returning Community Member, Poet, Mentor, Chef, Director, Husband, Father, Human, a lifetime student of Restorative practices, and a self-proclaimed “street kid”. He has over eight years of leadership experience with Restorative practices, and community-based initiatives, and has an uncanny work ethic and knack for leadership that has built the foundation of his professional career. Eric describes himself as a “jack of all trades, but a master at none!” He is a diligent and dedicated worker, unafraid of grunt work, and resourceful and resilient in finding ways to take care of himself and those around him. After spending his late teens and 20’s inside the Massachusetts Correctional Systems, Eric followed his passion for cooking and was able to become a Culinary Supervisor leading the hot production at the Boston Convention Center in under two years. When work stopped due to COVID-19, he quickly pivoted and began working with his uncle at Frugal bookstore, a beloved Black-owned bookstore in the heart of Roxbury. After the bookstore was hit with a huge influx of sales in the summer of 2020, Eric found himself assisting across multiple facets of the business, from inventory to merchandising to the website. It was in this role that Eric first discovered his skill and passion for communications and media, catapulting him into his current position with the Transformational Prison Project (TPP) as the Director of Communications and Special Projects.

As TPP’s Director of Communications, Eric oversees all communications projects including the website, social media sites, and business pipeline, as well as helping to develop programming. Eric is also a lead facilitator and circle keeper for TPP, helping to lead circles in DYS and Nashua St Jail, as well as leading Circle Keepers/Facilitator Training. Over the last four years since returning to the community, he has spent time volunteering with Community Servings, Everyday Boston, Turn It Around Charlestown, and Heal Boston, as well as mentoring young men through Roxbury District Court’s CHOICE Program. He is a fellow with Communities for Restorative Justice and on the Board of Directors for Justice 4 Housing. Eric shares that Restorative Justice has taught him the value of accountability and helps him give back to his younger self. Eric has a particular passion for working with young people in DYS and helping them to navigate through the system and reenter the community successfully. “My job is to engage with people, hear what their desires, values, and dreams are, and find a community that will listen and is willing to help them.” Eric truly embodies the principle “Be who you needed when you were younger.”

2ruTh7 is a Massachusetts-based poet, writer, and social justice advocate. At 20 years old, he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. It was during time he spent in solitary confinement where he would ultimately discover his passion for poetry. Over the next several years, 2ruTh honed his abilities as a writer and performer and got involved in several social justice initiatives in, and outside of prison. In 2016, he founded EXPLANATIONS FROM EXILE — a writing project focused on addressing the devastating impact that violence and incarceration have had on communities of color. In 2020, 2ruTh received a BLS (bachelor’s in liberal studies) from Boston University through its Prison Education Program. Since his release on parole in the fall of 2022, 2ruTh presented at the 12th National Conference on Higher Education in Prison and has contributed as one of the principal collaborators in an upcoming music-theater production, THE SLAYING OF INNOCENCE — a Beth Morrison Projects production, set to make its world premiere in 2024. With Dr. André de Quadros of Boston University, he is the co-author of a peer-reviewed article, “Smuggling in Humanity – Musicking through Prison Walls,” shortly to be included in the leading publication, the Music Educators Journal. 2ruTh plans to release his debut spoken word project, ARS MORIENDI: Ruminations of a Rogue Prophet, in 2023.

Photo courtesy of the artist.