Groundbreaking Ceremony: Digital Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD)
Featuring a Special Play Reading of The Rescue Trial
On June 19 2025, Calling Up Justice hosted a powerful cultural milestone: the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Digital Black Arts Movement Business District (BAMBD) inside our Digital Encampment on GatherTown. This visionary event marked the launch of a new virtual hub built with Disability Justice at its core, designed to preserve, expand, and reimagine Black cultural space online.
At the heart of the ceremony was a staged reading of The Rescue Trial, a historical fiction play written and produced by Latisha Jones. Set in 1851 Boston, the story follows Rosetta Douglass—daughter of Frederick Douglass—as she navigates the political tensions surrounding the Fugitive Slave Act. The courtroom drama centers on local abolitionist Lewis Hayden and threads together questions of justice, power, and legacy. Following the performance, a post-show discussion drew connections between 19th-century slave-catching laws and contemporary ICE policies, making the event deeply relevant and resonant.
Maiamama designed and ran the livestream, seamlessly placing actors inside historical imagery to heighten emotional impact and contextual understanding. The talented ensemble delivered thoughtful performances that brought the narrative to life:
Actors: Leslie Barnett, Maya Catoe, Iyanu Bishop, Tom Schiller, Rocky Nunzio, Luis Reinoso, Damian Burke, Matthew J. Murray, David Harewood, Marshall Bradshaw, Latisha Jones, Brian Jennings, and Robert Head.
ASL Interpretation provided by Ghostlight ASL.
Creative Team:
- Playwright & Producer: Latisha Jones
- Director & Executive Producer: Claudia Alick
- Digital Producer and Designer: Maiamama
- Dramaturge: Jocelyn Prince
- Dance: Skyriver and Decolonizing Memory Project
Before the playreading we had a dance tutorial from the Decolonizing Memory project offered from Skyriver. Since 2021, Decolonizing Memory has been working with artists and community members from Bristol England and around the world, to honor the history and humanity of persons who were trafficked during the Transatlantic Slave Trade and their descendants. They wanted to honor those whose names we remember and those whose names are lost.
This multidisciplinary/multigenerational project has so far produced an Augmented Reality app, a memorial dance, and an original piece of music that we feel speaks to the long and rich history of Black people- one that began long before the genocide on the continent of Africa and one that will carry us far into the future. As the leading English trading port in the 17th and 18th centuries, Bristol is at the heart of a great deal of harm done to people of the African diaspora. However, it has also been a site of great resistance. Actions such as the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963 and the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in the summer of 2020 demonstrate that the spirit of the maroons are alive in the Black people of Bristol. They offered this performance as a space to connect, to heal, to recharge and to re-member. We watched the staged dance together and then enjoyed act one of The Rescue Trial.
Our Hybrid Digital Placemaking Team—Neurovapor, Skyriver, and Michelle Funk—collaborated with Claudia Alick to design the digital BAMBD and format the historical photos with interactive links to dramaturgical material from the play.
This event was the perfect ceremony to “break new ground,” both digitally and artistically. It launched not only a new theatrical work but also a vibrant, accessible digital space that will serve as:
- A living archive for Black Arts in Oakland
- A livestreaming hub for BAMBDCDC Festival programming
- A digital stage for theatrical experimentation by the Lower Bottom Playaz
The Digital BAMBD will open to the public in August 2025 as part of the Black Arts Movement Business District Festival.
Introducing the Digital BAM House
This project expands the cultural footprint of the Black Arts Movement Business District into accessible digital space—ensuring that disabled, distant, and otherwise marginalized community members can fully participate in the cultural life of Oakland. This initiative supports BAMBDCDC’s mission to prevent displacement, preserve Black creative space, and support Black artists. By establishing a durable digital home, we create new pathways for connection, participation, and cultural continuity—particularly for those impacted by inaccessibility and gentrification.
The Digital BAM House project seeks to archive and preserve Black arts by documenting, celebrating, and safeguarding Black cultural production in Oakland. Through livestreaming and interactive features, the project will expand accessibility and engagement, making BAMBDCDC programming available to those unable to attend in person. It also supports theatrical innovation, offering the Lower Bottom Playaz a platform to experiment with new digital performance forms. As an act of digital placemaking, the project extends BAMBDCDC’s mission into virtual space, reinforcing and expanding Black cultural infrastructure.
Claudia Alick and collaborators will lead the design and development of immersive digital replicas of the BAM House, enriched with historical and creative media. A team of trained digital ushers and facilitators will support access and foster real-time engagement. The Digital BAM House will also be integrated into 2025 BAMBDCDC festival, hosting livestreamed events and facilitating audience interaction. Beyond the festival, the space will remain open year-round for rehearsals, community gatherings, and ongoing conversations.