Dear beloved AMP Community, 

The light feathery seeds from a dandelion catch a gentle afternoon breeze. The coconut, filled with its sweet nectar, can root on the driest of foreign lands after bobbing a thousand miles on the open sea. Regardless of how it travels, each seed starts its radical, decisive growth, sprouting exactly one root and a single set of leaves. With those, it transmutes soil nutrients sunlight into power. It expands, growing equally down into the darkness and infinitely towards the light.  

The AMP Speakers Bureau has a new name, AMP Seeds. AMP Seeds helps disperse the seeds of brilliance within our network and germinate liberation through a twice yearly event series, the Seeds Series, as well as the Presenter Program. Originally, the name AMP Seeds emerged from the Chrysalis as the idea of organizing regional conferences. Living through the pandemic has challenged us to be more mindful of sustainability, develop skills for connecting virtually, and deepen our rootedness in Detroit. 

By supporting a roster of visionary movement-builders and producing engaging events that celebrate the genius and power of the AMP network, AMP Seeds will continue to co-create meaningful, inclusive spaces for education, joy, healing, inspiration, and transformative dialogue. 

Love and liberation,
AMP

This Fall, AMP Seeds will imagine new possibilities for ourselves and our communities through four virtual events showcasing conversations, performances, and a short film premiere in collaboration with liberatory media-based organizers Ross Gay, the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, Junior Mintt, and more. Together, we will celebrate poets who relish the small, filmmakers fighting barriers, abolitionists creating safety and performers whose practices nourish liberation with joy and radical care. 

Learn more about each event and RSVP by clicking on the name: Wisdom of Small Joys, Reimagining Safety, Dismantling Barriers with the Undocumented Filmmakers Collective, and Performance as Resistance.

• HR Director – Support 30 core AMP staff alongside 50+ staff from fiscally sponsored projects with a human-centered approach. Apply by August 20th
• Sponsorship Coordinator – Collaborate with AMP between now and July 3, 2022 to help shape and implement a strategy to raise $60K for AMC and AMP Seeds in 2022. This is a part-time, remote contract. Apply by August 15th.

• Resources on Disability, Ableism, and Audism from Detroit Disability Justice 
• Detroit Disability Power is kicking off a series of Community Conversations about the intersection of ableism, racism and ageism. RSVP for Growing up with a Disability on Aug 11th 6-8 pm EDT and/or learn more about other four events. 
• Did you know dandelions thrive on all seven continents? Little Dandelion Seed of the World is a lyrical children’s book about how some of the most resilient and adaptable plants travel far and wide.
• Feedom Freedom Growers and Taproot Sanctuary Growing Community Care Through Gardening. Catch a sneak peak of AMP Seeds speaker, Myrtle Thompson Curtis, talking with fellow east-side residents, en sawyer lee, about their common ground through Grace Lee Boggs, gardening and visionary organizing. 

• Curated and hosted by culture writer and producer, Imani Mixon, SUBJECT MATTERS is a new dialogue series that responds to contemporary socio-political truths within the context of individual artistic practices from Kresge Artist Fellows, Gilda Award recipients, and Eminent Artists. 
• Help AfroFuture Youth raise $17K to support Black youth rooted in Detroit to travel for continued education and training. 
• Apply to The MediaJusticeNetwork Fellowship! The MediaJustice Network Fellowship is an 8-month political education and skill-building intensive that builds the leadership of the next generation of media and digital justice organizers, educators, and advocates.