ajusticenetwork is excited to collaborate w/ Nxt Thrsdy and Brownbox Theatre on THE BTMR PROJECT
Support this Award-Winning Play’s Global Journey by making a tax-deductible donation towards our 20k Goal!
We are THE BTMR PROJECT – the Black To My Roots (BTMR) cast, creative team and producers – that makes up the threefold collaboration of the award-winning play and her two sister projects:
- BLACK TO MY ROOTS: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart, co-written by Kathya Alexander and Reneschia Brown and her two sister projects
- HAIR’S BREATH: Music Inspired by BTMR, featuring Adra Boo
- MWEUSI MPAKA MIZIZI, Swahili translation of BTMR, by Muso Simekha
Black To My Roots tells the personal, social, and political implications of Black women’s hair and how it affects our self-esteem, social interactions, and career status based on society’s impressions about our hair. African American women have had a complex, convoluted, and unique relationship with hair. A relationship that is not only an important part of our collective American history, but deeply rooted in the personal, social, and political experience of Black women in the United States, popular culture, and the world.
After a successful 25th Anniversary production of Black To My Roots at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in Seattle this past November, Nxt Thrsdy in association with Brownbox Theatre, and ajusticenetwork have decided to:
- take BLACK TO MY ROOTS: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world’s largest and oldest theatre festival (August 1 – 25, 2025, in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK)
- take the sister project HAIR’S BREATH: Music Inspired by BTMR to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (August 2025)
- present a staged-reading of the sister project MWEUSI MPAKA MIZIZI, the Swahili translation of BTMR in Seattle (May 2025)
- present an encore performance of BLACK TO MY ROOTS: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart in Seattle (November 2025)
This fundraising campaign is to raise the initial funding needed for our BTMR PROJECT / BTMR Family:
- Adra Boo, Actress
- Brenda Melrose, Actress
- Muso Simekha, Actress
- Giavonna White, Actress
- Tonya White, Actress
- Kathya Alexander, Playwright
- Justice Beitzel, Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer
- Reneschia Brown, Playwright
- Tyrone Brown, Director and Nxt Thrsdy Founder and Producer
- Robin Campbell, Assistant Director and Co-Choreographer
- Katarina Whitfield, Associate Producer
- Blake Madden, Musician and Producer
Your contribution, no matter how big or small, will help cover upfront costs of:
- Seattle and UK venue deposit(s)
- festival registration fees
- housing deposits
- marketing
- liability insurance
- travel applications
- UK venue deposits
Thank YOU in advance for contributing to THE BTMR PROJECT, for sharing our story with your friends, family, and colleagues, and for helping us on our journey to bring – BLACK TO MY ROOTS, HAIR’S BREATH and MWEUSI MPAKA MIZIZI – to audiences in Seattle, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK and beyond.
NXT THRSDY: Art | Event | Performance, is a Connecticut-based production company founded by Tyrone Brown.
BROWNBOX THEATRE: Re-Imagined Black Theatre, is a Seattle-based theatre company founded by Tyrone Brown, Reneschia Brown and Kathya Alexander.
ajusticenetwork: ajn’s mission is to use the arts to affect positive social change and bring the diversity of dance and performance art to communities worldwide. We encourage collaboration between artists as well as interaction between artist and audience. Our productions uphold and encourage unity, collaboration, diversity, and artistic excellence.
*Photo Credits: Justice Beitzel, Tyrone Brown and Jordan Somers
We believe that the arts should be accessible to the community and inspire diverse and meaningful collaboration.
ajusticenetwork/Splinter Dance Company is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.
Shunpike is the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington State with the services, resources, and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success.
Shunpike was founded in 2001 to support a vibrant and diverse local arts community where arts groups of all sizes could thrive. Working in close partnership with these groups, Shunpike imparts vital skills in finance, organizational management and arts administration. Since inception, they have supported work by more than 2,000 artists in live performance, film, literary arts, visual arts, and arts education.
To make a tax-deductible gift to ajusticenetwork or Splinter Dance Company, simply:
All donations are deeply appreciated — it’s quick and it’s easy, and it’s TAX DEDUCTIBLE! Splinter Dance Co and ajusticenetwork thank you for your support as our new season gets underway!
Consider joining our mailing list to keep abreast of performance dates and locations or check out our social media pages for regular updates!
Thanks for your support!