Melany Bell and Tha Def Chef talk to Trae Holiday about The Covenant.
This week on the Day with Trae, host Trae Holiday sat down and talked to Melany Bell, a Seattle-based poet and writer from the African American Writers' Alliance (AAWA), and Tha Def Chef, a chef focused on giving back to the community through delicious food. Both guests and your host are ambassadors for the Covenant, a collective of anti-racist & anti-bias community organizers whose mission is to uplift the black community locally and globally. One of their main goals is the commitment to ending gun violence.
"It just kept getting closer and closer and closer to home. From Emmett Till, Rodney King, to George Floyd, and now here in Seattle, where we used to not have to experience this close to home, and it seemed so far away we didn't have to address it," Bell said. "But now, we absolutely, all over the nation, every voice needs to be heard."
Tha Def Chef, who is also an ambassador, highlighted the organization's plan for 2024.
"We'll be at your various performances, various athletic events, parades, jamborees, family fun days, anywhere where the children and the families are going to be," Tha Def Chef said. "We're going to find a way to be there and do this outreach."
This Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Covenant will be at "The Power of Black Narratives: Claiming Your Story" at the Garfield High School campus in the Central District of Seattle. This event will hold over 18 workshops, including one from the AAWA, an organization offering a space for Black writers to improve their literary skills and, hopefully, get published.
"We're all focusing on how can we help with the arts," Bell said. "How can art really heal and transform our life experience and help us do more than we thought we were capable of?"
A complete list of workshops and events can be found here. Tha Def Chef will also be providing catering for the entire event. The Power of Black Narratives: Claiming Your Story" will start at 9:15 a.m., followed by a rally and march at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m., respectively.
Additionally, Bell will be hosting “Awoken,” a spoken word installation where you will be able to hear Bell’s work. The event, which will be held at 200 Mercer St on January 30th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., will feature Yogi and yoga instructor Trevor Taylor.
For the entire conversation between Holiday and Melany bell and The Def Chef, click here.
Make sure to catch #TheDayWithTrae hosted by TraeAnna Holiday every Monday - Friday at 11 a.m. across all Converge Media platforms.
