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It All Starts Here! Sipp Culture ILI Cultural Intensive #1 for Year 5

photos & video: Melisa Cardona, Jasmine Cannon & Ennis Carter/Social Impact Studios

For the first in-person ILI intensive of ILI Year 5, the Fellows, ILI Partners and team gathered in Jackson, MS. Hosted by ILI Partner the Mississippi Center for Cultural Production, the 4+ day intensive started in Jackson, traveled to the Mississippi Delta, and culminated in Utica, MS – Sipp Culture’s hometown. From museums, to panel discussions, to B.B. King’s hometown with a Blues juke joint, to the future site of Utica’s Main Street Cultural Center, the gathering brought the Fellows and attending ILI community together for arts & cultural learning, deep discussion, and understanding through hands-on experience and direct storytelling.

#THISisWhatLeadershipLooksLike

Get a taste of what the ILI cultural intensives are like below:

Day 1: Arrival
Thursday, October 26, 2023 – Jackson, MS

Travel Day

Inside look at “Sonic Boom of the South” Marching Band rehearsal at Jackson State University.

Day 2: Welcome to Mississippi
Friday, October 27, 2023 – Jackson, MS

Breakfast

Group Check-In & Intentional Grounding – Opening Circle

Sipp Culture Team – Brandi Turner / Carlton Turner
WHERE WE ARE / WHO WE ARE – Jeffery Darensbourg, Gounding – (Houma and Choctaw Nation)
Reverend Christopher Wheatley, Opening Prayer
– Libations
Fellow introductions

Arrival at Smith Robertson Museum + Cultural Center

Welcome – from space leader

WHERE WE ARE / WHO WE ARE

Welcome – Smith Robertson Staff

Panel Discussion – Welcome to Mississippi