The Exploration of African Myth:
Drumming and Storytelling with Dr. Kwame Scruggs
A Three Salon Series
Saturdays, September 5, 12 & 19
10-11:30am PDT /
1-2:30pm EDT
Salons will take place online via Zoom — registration link emailed in advance to participants.
Painting by Kwame Scruggs
When Kwame Scruggs first encountered Joseph Campbell’s work and the line, “Follow your bliss and doors will open where there were no doors,” he asked himself: “What is my bliss?” What Kwame heard, loud and clear, was: “play my drum and tell mythological stories.”
And follow his bliss, he did.
Kwame Scruggs now has a Ph.D. in mythology, is on the board of the Joseph Campbell Foundation, and has mentored African-American youth in Akron, OH for the last two decades with his drums and his storytelling. You can see some of the power of this method in the documentary on his program, Alchemy Inc., in the feature-length documentary, “Finding the Gold Within”, available now to stream online on various platforms.
In this salon series, Kwame will lead us through a similar journey that he uses with his students of all ages.
Over the course of three salons, we will become immersed in Kwame’s mythic storytelling and drumming as we work through a single African myth in three parts. As he tells us the myth, Kwame will pause in the storytelling and seek responses and dialogue from the audience.
We will navigate full audience participation online, inviting both personal written responses and those shared with the group.
Registration for this salon guarantees presence for all three live salons and video recordings, as well as opportunity to ask questions during Q&A.
We can’t wait for this unique opportunity to join with Kwame’s art and scholarship in this way. Please join us!
Register:
A few notes about these Salons:
Scholarships/Discounts: If you could use a scholarship or discount in order to participate, please send an email with a short note. We won’t ask questions and would love for you to be able to join.
Online Attendance: Zoom link for salons will be emailed to all registrants approx. 24hours in advance of event. Household members are welcome to join on a single registration.
Recordings: Recordings of events will be password protected and emailed to all registrants.
Kwame Scruggs Ph.D.
About Kwame Scruggs
Kwame holds a Ph.D. in Mythology and is the founder of Alchemy Inc., an organization using mythological stories to transform the lives of adolescents and the backdrop for the feature-length documentary, “Finding the Gold Within.” In addition to numerous teaching positions, Kwame has been a featured speaker at the C. G. Jung Foundation for Analytical Psychology of New York City, and is a board member of The Joseph Campbell Foundation.
Kwame has over 20 years of experience using myth in the development of urban male youth and adults. He holds a Ph.D. and MA in Mythological Studies with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and a MS degree in Technical Education with an emphasis in Guidance and Counseling from the University of Akron. In 1993, after being formally initiated into the Akan System of Life Cycle Development (African-based rites of passage), Kwame became a facilitator of this process.
Kwame is the founder and director of Alchemy, a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio established in 2003. Alchemy uses mythological stories to engage urban adolescent youth. In 2012, Alchemy was one of 12 programs to receive the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities—the nation’s highest honor for after-school and out-of-school programs. Alchemy was also the backdrop for feature-length documentary, “Finding the Gold Within.” Kwame is a board member for The Joseph Campbell Foundation.