Beats by Dr. Dre (Beats) and #Merky Books have teamed up to deliver three empowering roundtable discussions for you to get involved in.
For this new collaboration, Beats by Dr. Dre and #Merky Books have come together to inspire and encourage the next generation. In a collection of conversations that explore a different book series, their roundtable talks aim to unpack deep discussions and subjects that are impacting youth culture.
Each talk is themed around a different book in the series, which will include How To Write It by Anthony Anaxagorou, How To Build It by Niran Vinod and Damola Timeyin, and How To Change It by Joshua Virasami.
Hosted by Dotty, Apple Music’s lead cultural curator and music host, the roundtable talks will include a range of authors, experts and activists contributing to the conversation. Lavinya Stennett (founder of the Black Curriculum), Tanya Compas (youth worker and activist), Joy Crookes (singer/songwriter), Bolu Babalola (writer of Love In Colour) and Grace BeverlEy (founder of TALA) are set to star in the much needed open table discussions.
In the first instalment, Dotty, Lavinya Stennett, Tanya Compas and Joshua Virasami cover subjects including the London Riots, how to protest, the link between rage and love, the white saviour complex, Black History Month and how to remain motivated against agents of opposition.
“I think a lot of people feel like they need to stand for everything. I think that’s a real pressure, especially in this sort of social media age, where there are so many optics on everything you do,” said Dotty. “You feel at times maybe a moral obligation, it’s like if you’re not showing it, if you’re not telling me you care about it, how do I know you care about it?”
Activist Tanya Compas also added to the conversation, saying: “When I went to the Black Lives Matter marches back in 2016, and this was when I was working at this social justice charity, and we all went together, there was so much rage there. But that rage that I had translated to me
wanting to educate myself. So that meant me buying tonnes of books, and that really was the pivotal start.”
Joshua Virasami addressed the topic of rage in the first discussion, adding: “The thing about rage is, you can become consumed by rage. And I think rage needs to be twinned with love. When we rage, it’s because something that we love is being lost, something in our community, potential is being lost; an opportunity to joy, to happiness, to be able to express yourself is being lost.”
You can watch the first roundtable discussion here or below:
Latest
