On October 13, of 2014 Erik Andrade of La Soul Renaissance and Activist Andrea Armandt were interviewed on “IN FOCUS” at Bridgewater State University by Dr. Jabbar Al-Obaidi regarding the “Tearing Down the Walls: Bridging the Gap” Conference. The Intention of the conference was to connect progressive people from all backgrounds and generations. The event featured poetry from Black Arts Movement Professor and Poet Everett Hoagland, and a panel featuring Civil Rights Icon Jibreel Khazan of Greensboro 4, Eroc Arroyo-Montano of Foundation Movement, Activist Gloria Clark, Activist Organizer Camilo Viveiros, and educator Ross M. Grace Jr.
The panel was followed by break out workshops and the day was capped off by La Soul Renaissance “The Spoken Soul Poet-tree Show” featuring the Egalitarian Ensemble ( Erik Andrade, Simon Desjardins, Royal Hartigan, Andy McWain), Christopher Johnson, Black Mozes aka Stan Lee, Cedric Josey, Job Anonymous, Nick Pelletier and many more during the open mic.
The event was organized by La Soul Renaissance, Youth Empowerment Program at Treatment on Demand, The Progressive Student’s Alliance, The Frederick Douglass Unity House, UMD Labor Studies Department, NB CEDC, and United Way of New Bedford Mini-Grants Program .