An ongoing experiment: can our community’s collective brainpower help an idea become reality?
Meet Tamara
Tamara Turner follows the beat of her own drum – literally and figuratively. Her passion with music began when she was five years old composing piano pieces in her hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado. Tamara hasn’t skipped a beat as an adult, dabbling in everything from film scoring to music journalism, and studying a wide range of musical styles from West African drumming in Ghana to tin whistle in Ireland to Gnawa music in Morocco.
Most recently, Tamara graduated from Boston’s Tufts University with a masters degree in ethnomusicology. There, she helped organize a “Music and Islam” symposium where, by connecting with the local Moroccan community, she brought in a Moroccan band to host workshops that culminated in a big concert. For Tamara, music plays a critical role in challenging the Islamophobia she often comes across in the U.S.
“Because music has the ability to build connections artistically, creatively, and emotionally, it gives us an opportunity to lead with the heart, transcending the medium of ‘discourse’ and offering a different kind of relationship with which to understand others,” she says.
The intention
Broadly speaking, Tamara envisions an organization that utilizes music for cultural advocacy, outreach, and education, starting with but not limited to the music and cultures of North Africa. One of the first issues she would like to address through musical bridges is Islamophobia.
The idea is two-fold: Similar to the program she helped organize at Tufts, she wants to connect with local immigrant communities in the U.S. to help share their music through concerts, education, and more. Travel is also key, as she’d like to work in North Africa to help record and archive musical traditions.
Besides fostering cross-cultural understanding, and of course, celebrating the inherent joy that music brings, Tamara also hopes to counter the exotification of non-Western music cultures that can sometimes result, however well-intentioned.
“That’s part of the vision, too. Not just piecemealing and romanticizing certain elements of other cultures, but allowing ourselves to be challenged by and uncomfortable with differences as well,” she says.
Tamara learning the guimbri with her teacher, Abdellatif El Makhzoumi, in Marrakech, Morocco. (Photo via Tamara Turner.)
Obstacles
So far, Tamara has been researching similar organizations around the world and is in the process of refining her idea.
Here are some challenges she has identified:
- Reaching out to immigrant communities in the U.S. seems clear cut to Tamara given her experience, but incorporating the North African component is both nebulous and daunting.
- She doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel, and is considering becoming involved with an existing organization or program at first.
- Although she’s been encouraged by the nonprofits she’s been in touch with, she always hears a version of the same story: “Contact us after you get funding.”
- Sustaining enthusiasm and momentum around the idea after it’s no longer fresh is a concern.
How you can help
- Do you know of any similar organizations or programs to add to her list?
- Besides initiating conversations, is there more she can be doing to get her foot in the door with people who are already doing similar work?
- How can she inspire the average person to get outside their comfort zone and, for example, be open to new music from the Islamic world?
- For music fans and non-music fans alike, what are some other effective and fun outreach strategies besides concerts?
- Aside from major cities, are there other areas in the U.S. that could benefit from such an organization?
- What are some potential funding avenues she should pursue?
- How can she best balance her vision with logistics, and prevent getting so bogged down with logistics that her vision deflates?
- If you’ve started your own nonprofit, would you be willing to share your story and the lessons learned?
Leave a comment below or send her a message through Idealist and if the project progresses, we’ll keep you posted!
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Do you have an idea that’s just starting to brew? If you’d like us to consider posting it as part of this series, email celeste [at] idealist [dot] org.
