Today we’d like to introduce you to Amoke Kubat.
Hi Amoke, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m an Afro-Indigenous Culture Bearer, Multidisciplinary Artist, and Community Organizer. I live in North Minneapolis. North Minneapolis has a deeply rooted history of strategic disinvestment and racial segregation. No neighborhood in Minneapolis is more underserved.
I was a Special Education teacher for 25 years in North Minneapolis. I began my artistry at 65. I use art-making to connect people and nurture relationships. I wrote and self-published my memoir, Missing Mama: My Story of Loss, Sorrow, and Healing in 2012.
In 2010, I started YO MAMA’s The Art of Mothering Workshops. These were drop-in artmaking spaces for Northside Mothers. In 2018, YO MAMA became YO MAMA’S HOUSE, Inc. www.yomamashouse.com.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
At 73, I challenge myself to explore and express my evolving Afro-Indigenous experiences of daily living; memories, aging, and disabilities. I’m no longer able to physically perform. I have pervasive arthritis: bone on bone in my shoulders, neck, back, hips, and knees. I need a cane and walker for balance and mobility. I have chronic pain due to having fibromyalgia and hidradenitis suppurative.
Many theaters are not handicap accessible. Lack elevators. Parking, lighting, and exterior trip factors are huge issues. Many private homes are no longer accessible due to steep or crumbling steps, stairs, lack of handrails, and undisciplined pets and children.
The bigger challenges are other people’s disdain and fear of getting old and dying. Many people are unaware that an accident or illness can become an acquired disability.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In 2016, in a conversation with a friend in a school parking lot, I expressed to her that I was tired of being called the angry Black Woman (when I wasn’t mad). She said, “Like the well-intentioned White Girl”. From our conversations, I wrote my first play. In 2026, we performed 2 sold-out shows. We continued performing in the Twin Cities as public readings with post-play discussions and art-making.
ANGRY BLACK WOMAN & Well-Intentioned White Girl continues!!
In 2018 – 2020, 1,000 people saw a public reading of ABW&WIWG. It toured St. Cloud, Duluth, Cloquet, Cambridge, Sandstone, Grand Rapids, and Rochester. In 2019, ABW&WIWG returned to Minneapolis; for 3 public readings at North High. In 2020, ABW&WIWG saw an audience of 200 people at the Weisman Art Museum. ABW&WIWG has been read in classes at the U of M Duluth, Hinckley High, and debated by the Forensics Team at Western Kentucky University. 20 women who had seen the play formed COMPASS (Community PASSION) to continue post-play discussions and to do “their work”.
I take risks as an artist.
My second play, “Old Good Pussy and Good Old Pussy” is about Black women’s UNSAIDS about AGING; mind, body, and sexuality. I explored the historical and continual objectification of Black female bodies from slavery to medical progress and bioethics, educational institutions, the workplace, and contemporary media images.
What do you think about happiness?
Making art me happy. Collaborating with friends/other artists makes me happy. I love reading, music, traveling (I traveled to Honduras and Cuba this year), and making art.
I am experiencing more happiness these days despite the fact that it feels like the world is burning. I am clear about who I am. My connectivity to many diverse communities and the natural world support my wellbeing. I am happy – with myself and my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amokekubat.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amokekubat
Image Credits
Keegan Xavi and The M
