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Contemporary Conversations: Storytelling with Mwalim “DaPhunkee Professor”

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

Join us for an insightful musical storytelling presentation that explores the cross pollinations of African and First Nations people that are at the core of American culture.

To celebrate Native American Heritage Month, join us for an insightful musical storytelling presentation by Mwalim "DaPhunkee Professor" that explores the cross pollinations of African and First Nations people that are at the core of American culture.

Born Morgan James Peters, Mwalim "DaPhunkee Professor," is a celebrated artist, educator, and scholar known for his mastery of the oral tradition. His diverse body of work spans music, literature, theater, film, and multimedia installations, earning him acclaim as a multi-award-winning composer, musician, playwright, and educator. Mwalim's storytelling brilliance is rooted in his West Indian/Bajan (Barbados) and Mashpee Wampanoag heritage.

A nationally recognized Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Educator/Lecturer, Mwalim is a founding member of his tribe’s Educational Department and is a trained Parent’s Advocate in Special Education and was appointed to the advisory board for Special Education of the Bureau of Indian Education by the Secretary of the Interior in 2011. He is also one of the only living authorities on the ‘Ahaneenun’ (sacred clown) tradition of the Wampanoag people.

Raised in both Bronx, NY, and Mashpee, MA, he is a mixed-genre artist performing soul, nu jazz, afro house, and funk, and is considered the 'Godfather of Southcoast Thump & Soul.' Mwalim entered the music industry in the mid-1980s and gained international recognition with his single "Her Groove" and subsequent releases. He has performed with notable artists like The Four Tops and Dizzy Gillespie, and won numerous awards, including multiple New England Urban Music Awards and a Silver Arrow Award. As a member of The GroovaLottos, he’s received six Grammy nominations. An accomplished playwright and novelist, his first novel "LAND of the BLACK SQUIRRELS" was published in 2020.

As an educator, Mwalim has over 30 years of experience teaching theater, language arts, and music to students of all ages. His teaching venues have included schools, community centers, colleges, festivals, and even street corners, illustrating his dedication to bringing the arts to diverse audiences. His academic career is distinguished by his role as a tenured Associate Professor of English and Black Studies at UMass Dartmouth, where he has also served as Director of Black Studies.

Registration required.

This Contemporary Conversations program is co-sponsored by Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (FOLMC), Montgomery County Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice (ORESJ), Montgomery County Office of Human Rights (OHR), Montgomery County Office of Community Partnerships (OCP) and Classrooms 2 Community (C2C).

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Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

cm 1.1 01/03/2023

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