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Stand and Deliver Open Mic and Showcase: Celebrating the
Life of Patrice Davis
By Carla Yvette
Soucial Scene Editor
“At first it was a little too
soon for me to want to think again about my daughter’s
death” was the sentiment expressed by Patrice Davis’ father,
Vincent Davis, at the community event, “Stand and Deliver
Open Mic and Showcase: Celebrating the Life of Patrice
Davis,” held May 9 at the Collingwood Center for
Performing Arts.
“And we are not people who accept charity generally speaking
but really,” said Davis. “It's not about us, it’s about
people wanting to participate in the education of her boys,
Julian, Justice and Jacob, and it's about the community
wanting to have a piece of Patrice again and a piece of the
success of her boys as well as the young artists program
that spurned her in the first place.”
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Vince and Pathy Davis |
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The event held in memory of Patrice Davis and to benefit her
passions –
her children and the Young
Artists At Work program – was a culmination of efforts by
people who knew and loved her. Said close friend
Angie Marbais:
“We're having this
event tonight to celebrate the life of Patrice Davis.
Patrice was known in the community for her art and poetry
and was a really powerful person through her poetry.”
Hosted by Charlie Mack of 107.3, the night witnessed such
talents as Majestic Praze Choir, Yusuf Lateef, Carmen
Miller, Kool Keith, Hunter Prey, Flow, Johnnie Mae, Elevated
Thinkin, Krystal Monique, Glass City Hustlers (Hustle
Group), Saxophonist Katrina Barnhill, Ray Armstrong and The
18th as well as Open Mic and a Resolution
presented in honor of Davis and a silent auction.
The impact Davis had on peoples’ lives was evidenced by the
eclectic group of audience members in attendance as well as
the performers who came to pay honor. Kesha Machaterre, who
met Davis about six years ago says, “The response from the
community of people who wanted to participate in the event
was overwhelming, we had to turn some acts away.”
The heartfelt sentiments of
those who knew and loved her can be summed up in the words
of friend Kameron Kyser: “Patrice Davis was many things to
many people, but the one thing that was most revealing, and
most God given, was her talents. This beautiful soul used
her hands to share her soul, and we being the benefactor of
her sculptures, paintings, and poems, loved her for that.
“She left us amazed, that her soul talked so candid through
her work. She invited all in range to the no holds barred
brutal-ness of her truth. Sharing openly and honestly her
life through her gift, and we embraced her as friends, loved
ones, and those who just respect someone willing to just be
themselves in spite of the pressure to be something else.
“Because of this connection, we the community asked the
question: How do you give back to that? How do you say we
love you and miss you? How do we contribute to the person we
came to love and know?
The beautiful answer is you
really can’t, so we hold on tight to those moments and
memories in time, and we celebrate the person we've come to
love and cherish, by giving back to what she loved and
cherished. Patrice was a student of the Art Commission’s
Young Artist At Work Program, later to become a teacher of
that same program. She also left behind three beautiful
children.
“That is how we give back to her, by doing what she loved:
the arts, and giving to what she cherished, YAAW and her
children.
It was nice to see the community come together for something
bigger than us all. Even though Patrice is not here, she
continues to do good work.”
The event was free with a request for donations. All
proceeds benefit the Art Commission's Young Artist At Work
Program, and the Davis Scholarship for her three children.
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