“Women’s Drumming Traditions: Medicine, Magic and Metaphysics”

with Ubaka Hill

Thursday,  September 8, 2022 at 3 PM Eastern Time 

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“I was a child during the timeline of MLK and MX, Angela Davis and James Brown and many others who are historically noted and not noted. I was aware of the Civil Rights Movement and the violence and devastation from the organized forces pushing back against change. By the time I was 17, I knew that I wanted to be part of the movement for positive change, equal rights and justice for “my people” because I was afraid and heartbroken and I knew that life had to better for us. I also knew that non-violence was my way of influencing change and that art and creative expression was my medium.

“At 17 I met a woman drummer for the first time: Edwina Lee Tyler, who made a great impression on me. Here was a woman drumming on the Conga Drum and later an African Djembe. I had only ever seen men drumming. Seeing her gave me permission to drum as a girl. By my early 20’s I legally changed my name to Ubaka, and moved to Brooklyn where I “came of age” again, as a Black African American Woman, Lesbian, and artist. It was in Brooklyn where I learned to Drum like a powerful Black Woman with a cause. 

“My life changed when I embraced the fact that all women and girls are targets of systematic, organized patriarchal oppression and violence. I became acutely aware that worldwide oppression is the common drive that powers our collective movement for our human rights. Teaching drumming to women, sharing knowledge about women’s drumming traditions, and using drumming as a healing tool have been the focus of my teaching over the years.”

Ubaka Hill, a nationally recognized musician, drummer, poet, master teacher and healer. Recognizing that as a drummer, she is a consumer of wooden musical instruments made from trees, Ubaka founded the Million Women Drummers Global (MWDG) Initiative. This initiative includes collaborating, partnerships and community organizing to plant trees and play music together to develop a “new mindful model” for a sustainable future and to increase the number of trees in neighborhoods.

She also founded the Drumsong Institute Museum and Archive of Women’s Drumming Traditions of women’s ancient, contemporary folkloric and contemporary drum and percussion traditions. Ubaka is a member of the Advisory Council of the Women’s Leadership Center at Omega Institute, NY. Her recordings include ShapeShifters, Dance the Spiral Dance, and Beyond the Wind. She received Drummer of the Year Award 2002 from The Voices of Africa Choral Ensemble, Inc. In 2005 and 2006, she was given Honorary Citizenship and Proclamation of “Ubaka Hill Day” by the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She has also received awards for her community work with arts and leadership development.

Save these dates for the next ASWM Salons:

September 22, 2022, 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time  
“Fact-checking Feminism (The Haudenosaunee Influence) ”
Sally Roesch Wagner

October 6, 2022, 3 PM Eastern Daylight Time  
“When Yoginis Appear with Animals: Animistic Relational Elements and the Non-Dual Matrix ”
Monica Mody

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event.