Community in Motion: Freedom Holds the Body

Exploring art, public health, and collective storytelling in Nashville

Caption: Local Artist explains how he sees himself represented in this Angela Davis inspired image.

Arrival / Atmosphere

Some events ask you to observe. Others invite you to belong.

Freedom Holds the Body, hosted by Black Mythology Project, immediately felt like the latter.

As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with smiles, the smell of good food, and an invitation to put on a name tag. It was a small gesture, but one that quietly shifted the atmosphere. Without the pressure of formal introductions, the room already felt more social, more open, and more communal.

As I moved between the upstairs and downstairs spaces, an announcement was made that food service would soon be ending—a notice I’m grateful for, because the food from Linda’s Perfect Platter was an artistry of its own.

The warmth of the event wasn’t accidental. It was intentional, and you could feel it in every interaction.

Community as Practice

What stood out most throughout the evening was how participation was gently encouraged rather than demanded.

Alongside the artwork were guided questions asking viewers things like:

• What is the name of this piece?

• Where do you see yourself in this work?

• Would others who know you well also see you in it? Why or why not?

The answers were not collected. They weren’t meant for performance or evaluation. But those prompts encouraged a more personal relationship with the art itself, transforming observation into reflection.

As the main program began, Henry L. Jones offered a poetic demonstration inspired by the works surrounding us. Audience members volunteered single words describing how the pieces made them feel, and from those fragments he constructed a poem that captured the emotional landscape of the room.

What emerged wasn’t just individual interpretation—it was collective experience.

Caption: Stephen Joel Watts speaking during the evening’s community reflection and discussion.

Later, members of the public health team invited us into an activity exploring the factors that most influence health outcomes: socioeconomic conditions, healthcare access, health behaviors, and physical environment.

I think many of us were surprised by the results. The exercise revealed that approximately 40% of health outcomes are shaped by socioeconomic status, 30% by health behaviors, 20% by healthcare access, and 10% by physical environment.

Seeing those percentages laid out visually shifted the conversation. Health suddenly felt much larger than individual choices alone. It became a reminder that the conditions people live, work, and exist within profoundly shape their well-being long before medical care ever enters the picture.

But more importantly, the exercise reinforced something larger: supporting one another is not simply an act of kindness—it is a public health practice. Community care affects not only individual well-being, but the health of society as a whole.

Art + The Body

Throughout the evening, stories of empowerment, visibility, and self-definition surfaced repeatedly.

As founder of Black Mythology Project and curator of the Freedom Holds the Body series, Stephen Joel Watts framed the evening around the idea that the stories we inherit about our bodies, communities, and worth are neither neutral nor fixed. Through art, dialogue, and public engagement, the event encouraged participants to think more critically about the narratives shaping both personal and collective life.

One moment that stayed with me most came when Stephen spoke about homelessness as an example of how public issues are often reframed as private failures.

Rather than addressing the structures that create homelessness, society often chooses to manage discomfort instead—pushing homelessness out of visible spaces so others no longer have to confront the emotions attached to witnessing it.

The issue becomes not the condition itself, but our proximity to it.

One statement in particular stayed with me:

That idea reframed the evening for me.

We are supposed to care about each other. We are supposed to feel something when people suffer. And perhaps the problem is not that these emotions exist, but that we are often encouraged to redirect frustration toward individuals instead of the systems that created the conditions in the first place.

Reflection

Leaving the event, I kept thinking about the importance of being in community—of finding spaces where people can both contribute and be seen.

What Black Mythology Project created was more than an arts activation or public health workshop. It felt like a reminder that many of the narratives surrounding our bodies, our value, and our place in society are inherited stories—stories that can be challenged, rewritten, and reclaimed.

Our lives carry knowledge.

Our experiences are primary sources.

And without those lived experiences, the data and statistics alone can never tell the full story.

Event Information

Hosted by Black Mythology Project as part of the Freedom Holds the Body series.

Official event flyer and information :Freedom Holds the Body Official Flyer

Additional featured artists and contributors: Featured Artist List