Theme: Resilience: Bridging Divides

On August 4th, TEDxNashville will be at the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) in Nashville. This event, "Resilience: Looking Within," will be a night full of ideas worth spreading, performances, and exclusive, after-hours access to the museum ($25 value) before and after the show. TEDxNashville is excited to invite you to our third night in a collection of events as a part of a yearlong series on resilience. Join TEDxNashville and our emcee, Sugarland’s Kristian Bush, at Nashville’s newest must-see museum and event space, the National Museum of African American Music.

National Museum of African American Music
510 Broadway
Nashville, Tennessee, 37203
United States

Marie Shields

Poet

Marie (Mar - ee) Shields, the 2021 Nashville Youth Poet Laureate, is a senior from Overton High School. She is a writer, poet, and trombonist. She loves science fiction and creative writing. She likes to focus her writing on the morality and temperament of humanity. She loves sushi, making people laugh, and anything related to theoretical physics. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate is a joint program of the Office of the Mayor, Metro Arts: Nashville Office of Arts + Culture, Nashville Public Library, Metro Human Relations Commission, Nashville Public Library Foundation, Urban Word, and Southern Word. The Nashville Youth Poet Laureate program aims to identify young writers and leaders who are committed to civic and community engagement, diversity and inclusion, and youth voice across Nashville.

Michael and Tanya Blount Trotter

Singer/Songwriter

Since forming in 2014, The War And Treaty have amassed a following as eclectic as their sound itself: a bluesy but joyful fusion of Southern soul, gospel, country, and rock-and-roll. Known for a live show nearly revival-like in intensity, the husband-and-wife team of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter endlessly create an exhilarating exchange of energy with their audience, a dynamic they’ve brought to the stage touring with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and John Legend.

Tamar Smithers

Senior Director of Education and Exhibitions at NMAAM

Tamar Smithers is a professional actress, singer, arts administrator and educator. She has over 10 years of experience in the arts administration and higher education fields. As Senior Director of Education and Exhibitions for The National Museum of African American Music, she is instrumental in creating culturally specific programs and curricula for all ages. In this role, she is committed to arts engagement and audience development and oversees all educational/curatorial programming while developing and fostering relationships with local schools, sponsors, and other non-profit organizations both locally and nationally. Tamar has served as Secretary for the Eastern Great Lakes chapter of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, and currently serves on the Association for African American Museums Membership Committee, Board of Directors for The Nashville Repertory Theatre, and Music Makes Us Advisory Council for Metro Nashville Public Schools.

The War And Treaty

Musician

Since forming in 2014, The War And Treaty have amassed a following as eclectic as their sound itself: a bluesy but joyful fusion of Southern soul, gospel, country, and rock-and-roll. Known for a live show nearly revival-like in intensity, the husband-and-wife team of Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter endlessly create an exhilarating exchange of energy with their audience, a dynamic they’ve brought to the stage touring with the likes of Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell, and John Legend.

Valerie June

Singer/Songwriter

Tennessee-born and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Valerie June has been recording and performing since she was 19 years old, climbing from Memphis coffee houses to national TV performances and getting name-checked by Bob Dylan. Her latest album The Moon and Stars: Prescriptions for Dreamers (Fantasy Records / Concord) weaves a tapestry of folk, soul, gospel, country, blues, psychedelia, and symphonic pop, performed by an accomplished lineup of musicians with a dizzying palette of instruments (flute and banjo, mbira and Mellotron, saxophone and synth) absorbed in free-flowing experimentation. The album (co-produced with Jack Splash), is acclaimed by fans and critics alike and received 2021 Americana Honors and Awards nominations for both Album Of The Year and Song of the Year. June’s first book, Maps for the Modern World, is a collection of poems and original illustrations, available now through Andrews McMeel Universal Publishing. info