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What does it mean to build community through culture?

In this episode of Tradition Café, Ana sits down with Jennifer Radakovich, Executive Director of Rhythmix Cultural Works, to talk about the role of the arts in connection, belonging, and cultural exchange.

Jennifer shares how Rhythmix creates space for music, dance, performance, education, and community-centered arts experiences that bring people together across backgrounds and generations.

This conversation explores what it means to support artists, honor cultural traditions, and make the arts accessible beyond formal stages and institutions. Jennifer also reflects on her own path through dance, cultural work, and nonprofit leadership, and why curiosity, collaboration, and listening are essential to creating meaningful community spaces.

This is a conversation about art as connection, culture as living practice, and the power of gathering around shared human experience.

In this episode:

• Jennifer’s path into dance, culture, and community arts
• The mission and work of Rhythmix Cultural Works
• Why access to the arts matters
• How cultural programs create connection and belonging
• Supporting artists with respect and intention
• The difference between performance and cultural exchange
• What community-centered arts leadership looks like
• Why the arts help us understand one another

Learn more about Rhythmix Cultural Works:
www.rhythmix.org

Tradition Café explores the stories, traditions, and lived experiences that shape who we are.

Many Voices. One Table.

Support the show

Thank you for listening to Tradition Café. Visit www.traditioncafe.com for blog posts, news, and links, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for videos and updates.

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Instagram: @tradition_cafe
BlueSky ‪@traditioncafe.bsky.social‬

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Poet, performer, and filmmaker Tae Poetically Divine joins Ana to talk about creating art rooted in spirituality, ancestry, community, and hope.

Tae shares how writing became an outlet for her as a quiet and deeply sensitive child—and how poetry eventually expanded into spoken word, music, filmmaking, youth mentorship, and community arts work.

She also takes us behind the scenes of Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams and its spiritual sequel, Descendants, an award-winning film honoring family lineage, cultural identity, survival, and the stories that connect us.

The conversation explores:

• The meaning behind the name Tae Poetically Divine
• Why poetry is the foundation of all her creative work
• Turning real stories into authentic, unscripted films
• The creation of Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams and Descendants
• Recognition from the Oakland International Film Festival
• Poetry about mental health, community, love, and hope
• Mentoring young artists and helping students recognize their worth
• Tae’s relationship with Rhythmix Cultural Works and Unity Fest

The episode closes with Tae performing her powerful poem, “Descendants,” a reflection on ancestry, history, resilience, peace, and our shared humanity.

Tae Poetically Divine is the emcee of Rhythmix Cultural Works’ 2026 Unity Fest in Alameda, California, celebrating the arts and cultures of Africa and beyond.

GUEST LINKS

Website: https://spoken-word.org/taepoeticallydivine

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXp5bKAGpFX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

CONNECT WITH TRADITION CAFÉ

Website: https://traditioncafe.com

Instagram: @tradition_cafe

YouTube: @Tradition_Cafe

Watch the video version and find additional guest links at TraditionCafe.com or in these show notes.

If this conversation moved you, made you think, or reminded you of someone, please share it with them.

Tradition Café: Many Voices, One Table.

Support the show

Thank you for listening to Tradition Café. Visit www.traditioncafe.com for blog posts, news, and links, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for videos and updates.

Video Episodes on YouTube @Tradition_Cafe
Facebook: facebook.com/TraditionCafe
Instagram: @tradition_cafe
BlueSky ‪@traditioncafe.bsky.social‬

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of Tradition Café, Ana sits down with Wendy Aris, host of Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast, for a powerful conversation about Caribbean genealogy, Jamaican family history, ancestral records, oral history, and the emotional side of researching your roots.

Wendy shares how researching her Jamaican family history began with a medical question and grew into an 18-year journey through archives, church records, migration records, wills, newspapers, land documents, and stories that challenged everything she thought she knew.

Together, Ana and Wendy talk about the beauty and difficulty of Caribbean genealogy — from missing records and oral history to slavery-era discoveries, family secrets, migration, identity, and the complicated truths that can live inside one family tree.

They also discuss Wendy’s upcoming book, The Emotions of Researching Your Family Tree, her work preserving Caribbean history through podcasting, and why ancestral research can be both painful and deeply healing.

This conversation is for anyone curious about family history, Caribbean roots, oral history, ancestral memory, and the stories that shape who we are.

Wendy Aris is the host of Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast, a podcast dedicated to Caribbean history, family history, genealogy, cultural memory, and the stories that are often left out of traditional archives. Through interviews with scholars, researchers, cultural preservationists, and community storytellers, Wendy explores the histories, records, and lived experiences that shape Caribbean identity.

Wendy is also the author of the newly released book, The Emotions of Researching Your Family Tree.

Listen to Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

Dis A Fi Mi on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/@DisAFiMihistoryPodcast

Support the show

Thank you for listening to Tradition Café. Visit www.traditioncafe.com for blog posts, news, and links, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for videos and updates.

Video Episodes on YouTube @Tradition_Cafe
Facebook: facebook.com/TraditionCafe
Instagram: @tradition_cafe
BlueSky ‪@traditioncafe.bsky.social‬