The B-Girl Be Collection

The B-Girl Be Collection is a donation from DeAnna Dodds Cummings who is the co-founder of B-Girl Be and executive director and co-founder of Juxtaposition Arts.  This collection features a video documentary produced by Emetrece Productions, event flyers, posters, and workshop materials with artwork by Toofly and Faith47. These materials are vital to preserving the role of women in Hip Hop.

B-Girl Be: A Celebration of Women in Hip-Hop is a multimedia festival encompassing the four elements of Hip Hop: MCing, DJing, break dancing and aerosol writing.  Between 2003-2005, DeAnna Cummings, Desdamona, Leah Nelson, Rachel Raimist, Melisa Riviere, and Theresa Sweetland met weekly at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, to develop the idea and concept for B-Girl Be. In 2005, with money raised through fundraisers, sponsors and foundations, Intermedia Arts and the B-Girl Be co-founding directorsproduced the first-of-its-kind international women focused Hip Hop summit in history. Women of all ages, colors and nationalities convened to celebrate Hip Hop and share their knowledge, skills and experiences with the world. For the first time ever Intermedia Arts' exterior was painted by an all-female crew representing Japan, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Phoenix, Puerto Rico, and Minneapolis. B-Girl Be came at a crucial time in Hip Hop, where images of women are often stereotypical and one-sided. It is the intention of B-Girl Beto dispel these myths and provide tools, connections, creative space and role models so that females can continue to be creators and innovators in Hip Hop culture.

Since its inception, this annual four-day summit has brought over 200 international, national and local girls and women in Hip Hoptogether in Minneapolis for dialogues, art-making, screenings, visual art exhibits,  performances, educational workshops and networking opportunities.

The mission of B-Girl Be is to influence and inspire leadership to change the perceptions and roles of women in Hip Hopfor current and future generations.

SAVE THE DATE!  B-Girl Be 2009 will feature summer camps for girls, Hip Hop dance performances, a block party at Intermedia Arts and an exhibition of visual, film and multimedia artwork by women and girls. Save the date now and make sure to come out to show your love and support for the ladies in Hip Hop this year!

B-Girl Be Block Party
Saturday, September 19, 2009

Summer Camps
August 11-14, 2009

B-Girl Be Exhibition: Mama Said Knock U Out!
August 27-October 23, 2009

Exhibition Opening Reception
Friday, August 28, 2009

Dance Performances
September 17-20, 2009



About DeAnna Dodds Cummings
DeAnna Dodds Cummings was born in the 1970s and came of age as Hip Hop made its way across middle America.  The political and cultural movements of the 70s and 80s undergird Cummings’ work as an entrepneur, scholar, activist and mother.  In 1995 DeAnna, her husband Rogerand their childhood friend Peyton founded Juxtaposition Arts.  Juxtaposition is a North Minneapolis cultural organization that nurtures urban youth in their chosen forms of visual art expression, including Hip-Hop inspired aerosol art. It provides them with mentoring, equipment, audiences, business skills, connections to new networks, and a neighborhood place to convene. Juxtaposition offers free year-round visual art and design workshops for youth, creative entrepreneurship mentoring for young people, and arts-based opportunities for residents and stakeholders in neighborhoods that have been politically and economically disinvested from, to participate in community planning and development. Juxtaposition engages local, regional and international audiences through public festivals, symposiums, and exhibitions. As its Executive Director, DeAnna has guided the growth of Juxtaposition from serving 15 youth in 1995, to more than 3,000 young people, 30 adult emerging artists, and 50 collaborative partners in 2008 and has raised $1.8 million in operating and capital funding over the organization’s lifetime.

Cummings was the curator of the Art of T&A: Truth and Activisim, and one of six women who founded B-Girl Be: A Celebration of Women in Hip Hop. Launched in 2005, B-Girl Be is housed at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is an -annual visual art show, performance showcase, lecture and workshop series.  B-Girl Be founders saw the need to tell the stories of women's contributions to Hip Hop. In today's pop culture, women in Hip Hop are too often spotlighted for their appearance rather than their skills and messages. When women have space to explore, create and perform, a diverse resource of female role models and mentors is unearthed for the next Hip Hop generation of both girls and boys. Hip Hop icons Rokafella, Pam the Funkstress, Medusa, DJ Kuttin Kandi, Asia One, Lady Pink and Martha Cooper are some of the legends who have been featured artists, mentors, and supporters of B-Girl Be.

In 2005 the Jaycee’s named DeAnna one of Ten Outstanding Young Minnesota’s.  In 2008 she received an Archibald A. Bush Leadership Fellowship to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University. DeAnna graduated with a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2009.