Green Drinks Hartford

03/27/2019

One of the many great exercises we were challenged to engage in. Try it yourself with a trusted friend if you're feeling safe and secure enough for this challenge.

03/26/2019

As a collective, we were asked to list the types of oppression we could identify. Can you think of more?

03/25/2019

You can check out how Re-Center encourages us to do this by visiting their website: http://re-center.org/

03/24/2019

Derek and Jason's talk was really more of a workshop. They managed to take the serious topic of Equity and make it into an approachable exercise in which all of the audience members could engage.

Derek: "Did you know: It takes 10,000 hours to be an expert in something. Unfortunately for us, since we live in an environment nourishes inequality, that means we are experts in systems of oppression.

The current inequalities did not happen by accident. They were carefully crafted over time, on purpose, with a specific intention. That’s the way it was designed."

More snapshots to come!

03/22/2019

Most of our guest speakers have been awesome about presenting a call-to-action. Here are the ones from Chispa. You can find more ways to support through their website: http://www.conservationeducation.org/

03/21/2019

You can find Chispa on Facebook! Chispa Connecticut: https://www.facebook.com/ChispaCT/

03/20/2019

Just a small recap from our February event. Alex had many great things to say! More recaps coming soon.

08/14/2018

August 8th Green Drinks: Meeting Minutes

At our last meeting, we had Orice Jenkins, Tangsauce and Asaad (DJ Stealth) take the stage and talk about their experiences as Hartford-based musicians. These notes are paraphrasings of the conversation that went down. Here are the highlights:

Question 1: What was the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Orice: Alicia Keys was on TV on New Year's eve 2007/2008. After seeing her, I wrote my first song that night. I kept going after that. I used the guitar that my grandmother gave me to write the song.

DJ Stealth: [Had a multitude of experiences that I had trouble documenting in real time. Here's what I caught] I learned how to make mixtape when I was seven, how to beatbox soon after that. I started trumpet lessons in the 6th grade. As a teenager, I was hand-selected to play with the band on Chicago. I've been playing ever since I was a kid.

Tang: I was the person that did door-to-door electricity sales. But I didn't wanna do that anymore. I was a b-boy already at that time, so I just started a rap the day I left that job. I had a lot of feelings, of course. A couple days later, I decided this is what I wanna do for the rest of my life. This was November, 2010.

Question 2: Community seems to play a strong role in all of your decisions. Do you think you would be where you are without that support? Or is music intrinsic for you?

Tang: I like to express myself a lot, but I would not be where I am now without community. In Hartford, there is a very special opportunity that can be found. I just put out what I want, and people were generous enough to give it to me.

Orice: A professor at UHart gave me 10 minutes of advice, and it forever changed my life. I think I need to pay him. Various professors helped me in many ways to get me to this point. It's definitely a community.

DJ Stealth: I had started realizing the community that was around me. I started taking lessons at the conservatory. I finally joined the Artist's Collective at the urging of my supervisors. I learned how to produce, record, engineer, etc. All of this was self-taught before I even realized people actually taught these things in classes.

Question 3: Plateaus can happen at a certain point. Do you feel there's a ceiling by staying in Hartford compared to trying for new opportunities in New York, etc?

Tang: My family is here. This is where I learned everything that I know. This city has given me these opportunities. You can do what you gotta do out here. So Hartford is not a limitation. If you can't do it out here, you won't be able to do it anywhere.

Orice: This. I got a #11 album on iTunes from Hartford. Is there a ceiling? Maybe imaginary that we place on ourselves. There are niches for everyone. There are elders here. Community here. The only ceiling is imaginary. I mean, I suppose some people have to leave to make it and that's ok, as long as they don't disown their origins.

DJ Stealth: Yes, to a degree. But it's not the fault of the city. That's just the general climate of Hartford. To do this without leaving Hartford, you'll have to take advantage of the internet to its fullest extent. When we go out to other cities and perform, we're not trying to go there. We're trying to make elsewhere come here.

Question 4: You may know the quote from Nina Simone “The duty of an artist is to reflect the times.” How do you relate to that quote and how does your music reflect this?

Orice: I'm amazed by artists like Nina Simone and Nat King Cole and Stevie Wonder. Do I wanna be as vocal as Nina? I wanna uplift people. I don't wanna depress people. I love my life. I'm blessed and empowered and I wanna celebrate the greatness we do have. At the same time, this is a poor city in one of the richest states.

Tang: Why not look at the bright side? Who wants to live a negative life? I'm not ignorant to the realness of the situation. I just wanna add another color to the palette. Positivity is the goal, but it's not always the location. So Imma keep expressing myself, however that comes out.

DJ Stealth: I try to be as positive as possible. I don't really write anything introspective. I'm just writing music that's as interesting as possible. Music had always been about sonically pleasing people compared to poetry. It's just my background. However, I think you need to keep the hard conversations going however you can.
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We opened up the rest of the night to a Q & A. After that, the 3 artists announced their upcoming shows.

8/18 @ Red Rock – DJ Stealth (performing as MC Lion for this show)

9/20 @ RAW – African World Music with DJ Stealth

9/21 @ (Neville?) in Bridgeport – Orice Jenkins

9/24 @ Black Eyed Sally's – Orice Jenkin's Bday Concert

And finally, Tang told us about his one-man play which happened on Saturday, 8/11. It was a hit, of course. We look forward to seeing more from him, as well as all of the amazing talents we're blessed with here in Hartford, CT.

The next Green Drinks meet up will be announced soon. We hope to see you there!

08/09/2018

Thank you to Orice Jenkins, Asaad Jackson, and Tang Sauce for being a part of our panel discussion last night about being a musician in Hartford.

06/13/2018

Join us tonight at Chango Rosa to hear Dr. Katie S. Martin, Foodshare's Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to joining Foodshare, Dr. Martin was an Assistant Professor and Director of the Public Health program at the University of Saint Joseph and Assistant Research Professor at the University of Connecticut.

She will be talking about Foodshare's mission as well as their focus on tackling the root causes of hunger in our community.

Look for us on the second floor of Chango Rosa. 1 Union Place in Hartford. 6 pm - 8 pm.

05/05/2018

Our speakers this Wednesday are Jason Ramos and Debra Cohen.

Jason Ramos, one of two citizen sons of parents who recently faced deportation, will speak about the dangers facing our undocumented neighbors. Jason is an activist and advocate of social justice for everyone in our communities.

Debra Cohen, co-founder of Our Revolution CT Team (formerly known as the Bernie Sanders CT Team), will speak about her own experience as a supporter of our undocumented neighbors who face an ever-increasing threat of detention and deportation in the Trump Era. Debra will share ways in which supporters can become involved in the work to keep families together here in CT.

We hope you will join us from 6 pm - 9 pm at the Ho**er Brewery at 140 Huyshope Avenue in Hartford!

03/17/2018

Authentic Relating Games at last Wednesday's Green Drinks was awesome! A big thank you to Hartford Flavor Company, our facilitators Kim Crowley and Kristen Larson, and everyone who came out!

Join us on Wed, April 11 to hear Meg Hourigan speak about the Connecticut Food System Alliance! Location TBD.

03/13/2018

Tomorrow, we'll be playing Authentic Relating Games! What people have to say about them:

“Normally I’m socially awkward and have great difficulty making friends… With Authentic Relating Games however, I find it hard to walk away from a session without feeling like I’ve started at least one new friendship.”

"Authentic Relating has given me the tools to be honest with myself and others"

"This is the change we need in the world. Reach out, connect with me, let’s keep the love and spontaneity growing."

03/13/2018

Join us for Green Drinks tomorrow night to meet our fascinating facilitators, Kim Crowley and Kristen Larson!

Kim Crowley's heart-felt hope is that when people are truly seen and heard, we open up space to build together in deeper connection. She is a training and dialogue consultant whose life goal is to help people hear each other. She brings skills in dialogue facilitation, workshop design and delivery, teaching, conflict management, Non-Violent Communication, activity-based therapies, writing, and a variety of methods for structuring conversations around things that matter. Values infused in her work include curiosity, perspective-taking, social mindfulness, managing bias, co-creation, and building clarity.

Kristen Larson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, To***co Treatment Specialist, community organizer, Reiki practitioner, Cacao facilitator, Authentic Relating Games facilitator, and Creator of the Untold Stories Project. Her focus is on community connection, integrative and multicultural practice of compassionate healing and growth.

See comments below for event details.

02/28/2018

We're incredibly excited about the March 14 Green Drinks. We'll be playing Authentic Relating Games!

We're living in politically divisive times, and we're experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. Do you want to let go of feelings of separation? Do you want to feel a profound connection to others? Do you want to have fun?

Join us for the next Green Drinks! Location: Hartford Flavor Company at Arbor Street at 30 Arbor Street, Suite 107.

What if every connection could transform us? Make Contact. www.authrev.com

01/07/2018

This Wednesday, our speaker is Kurt Love, one of the organizers of Green Drinks. Kurt is a professor at Central Connecticut State University in the Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Instructional Technology.

Kurt will talk about how sustainability and issues of social justice are related and share similar root causes. He will argue that order to make larger societal changes that affect issues of equity, race, gender, class, religion, economics, and environment an integrated understanding is an emerging paradigm of thinking that is needed.

Green Drinks Hartford
50 Elm Cafe & Spirits
50 Elm St in Hartford
6 pm - 9 pm
Facilitated conversation: 7 pm - 8 pm

11/07/2017

Check out this interview with Green Drinks organizer Sam King and his business partner Alex Williams at Blue Earth Compost, Inc.

And join us tomorrow at La Fonda at 269 Franklin Avenue. Swing by anytime between 6 pm - 9 pm. We'll be talking about DACA from 7 pm - 8 pm.

We sat down with the guys behind Blue Earth Compost. Not only great partners for the KNOW GOOD Market but a very exciting business growing at the intersection of sustainability and good business. Read on to learn more.