Verge.FM All Day Blackness graphic created by Nadia Ayad. Credit: Courtesy of Reg Zehner, Verge.FM and the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Verge.FM, a Columbus-based internet radio station, is hosting a two-day event in hopes of creating a space for Black creatives and lovers of the arts to come together.
Verge.FM, in collaboration with the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Shumate Council, will be hosting a radio event titled “All Day Blackness” Feb. 27-28 from noon to 6 p.m. on their website. The event will feature hour-long sets from all-Black hosts and will be filled with conversation and music centered around Blackness, Reg Zehner, DJ and Verge.FM co-founder, said.
“This collaboration is to begin a conversation between the Wexner Center, Verge.FM and also the Shumate Council — and to really showcase since, due to COVID, a lot of performances, music and also the arts, it’s been hard to find spaces of collaboration and also spaces where people can find different types of content,” Zehner said. “I think the radio gives that space and also conversation for how important Black History Month can be.”
Zehner collaborated with Dionne Custer Edwards, the director of learning and public practice at the Wexner Center, to plan the event. Custer Edwards said this event is about bringing Black people together and creating a community that was not previously available.
“We’ve had an ongoing conversation, and we’ve been thinking about how to create spaces for artists to be able to engage with some of the topics that they’re interested in and for the community to engage with artists, as well as for artists to be able to engage back,” Custer Edwards said. “Asking ourselves, ‘What are the spaces for Black people who are interested in the arts, whether they are makers or supporters of the arts?’”
Custer Edwards said the event is particularly special because it offers flexibility for listeners and for members of the community.
“What’s really nice about this program is that you can listen in on your phone, you can listen to it on your computer, you can be cooking dinner, you could be cleaning the house. You really can take this, you can take Blackness with you,” Custer Edwards said. “It’s just nice that this will span the day.”
Custer Edwards said Verge.FM will air the live portions of the event, and the Shumate Council Blog will archive the content for future listeners.
This event has also provided an opportunity for future events and can start fostering a community where Blackness and the arts can coexist, Zehner said.
Verge.FM is a believer in creatives being appreciated for their work and time, Zehner said. The event provided an opportunity to change the working environment for creatives.
“Looking at these types of relationships and how it relates to the Black community, also, for Verge itself looking at its own Black host like, ‘How do we provide more support?’” Zehner said. “In this event, every person in the event is paid, so that’s really great, and I think that’s important in terms of artists — there’s a lot of exploitation. Trying to make it a regular thing to have more events like these just ensures that everyone’s work is respected and also paid.”
Custer Edwards said this event aims to take a different perspective on Blackness instead of focusing solely on Black tragedy and sadness.
“We are not just our trauma, Black people are not just their trauma. I think it’s important to note that and to say it again and again. For us to remind ourselves in some ways this is a great moment of rest. Turn on ‘All Day Blackness’ and take a nap or turn on ‘All Day Blackness’ and do something leisurely,” Custer Edwards said.
Custer Edwards said the event was about turning to joy.
“It’s really a testament to how many people want to be in conversation with each other, around Black culture and art, around Black cultural production, around community, around Black futures. We want to think about the past and understand the past, we want to acknowledge the present, and we want to imagine ourselves a new future,” Custer Edwards said.
At the core of this event, Custer Edwards said they recognize and celebrate that Blackness is everlasting and that Black people and their identity exists at all times, not just during Black History Month.
“ I think it’s just remembering that we exist and we exist as Black all day, every day,” Custer Edwards said. “There’s not a moment where that goes away.”
