The Own Mine event at UMD voices stories of African American activists in Duluth

The Own Mine artists stated that they consider each other a second family. Photo by Izabel Johnson

Musical cypher, Own Mine, was performed by local African American community activists at noon on Feb. 27 in the Kirby Rafters at UMD.  

It kicked off with a video introducing the group and the message of Own Mine, followed by a question and answer session with each artist, and ended with the cypher, where all of the artists were together on stage and took turns performing individually. 

Sara Omar, a freshman at UMD, said that the question and answer session was a highlight of the performance.

“It helps to have them… break down the lyrics,” Omar said.

The event was a Clayton Jackson Mcghie Memorial Fundraiser hosted by Men as Peacemakers and created by Duluth company DanSan, owned and operated by Sandra and Daniel Oyinloye. 

Pictured left to right: Young Casper, DiJay, Royalty, Sandra Oyinloye, Daniel Oyinloye. Pictured in center: JayGee. Photo by Izabel Johnson

Own Mine featured artists Royalty, Young Casper, DiJay, JayGee, Daniel Oyinloye (performer name Seyi), and was hosted by Sandra Oyinloye. Missing was performer Urkel X, who will be making an appearance at the performance on Saturday Feb. 29 at Zeitgeist. 

DanSan selected artists to perform that they knew were local activists.

“We wanted artists that would take the project seriously,” Daniel Oyinloye said.

DanSan and the artists have been working on the Own Mine project since fall 2019, according to Daniel Oyinloye. He and DiJay both said that one of the most significant challenges with planning Own Mine was coordinating everyone’s schedules and finding time that worked for all of the artists. 

“It can be really hard to make time….but we find the time,” DiJay said. 

According to Daniel Oyinloye, the main purpose of the event was to tell the stories of people and inspire others while having fun as well.

Sandra and Daniel Oyinloye started DanSan with the purpose of supporting artists and inspiring change. Photo by Izabel Johnson

During the question and answer sessions with the artists, there were serious subjects discussed, but there were also laughs and sound effects. When the artists performed, the crowd of about 15 people gathered around the stage, cheering and dancing. 

“I liked seeing their energy,” said UMD junior Michael Magambo.

The stories told through the artists and their performances addressed numerous issues, such as racial injustice and inequality, police misconduct, trauma, substance abuse, racial identity development, community and accountability. 

“Everybody’s accountable for everything that happens in the community,” Young Casper said.

DanSan has done four other projects similar to Own Mine with the Woodland Hills juvenile program through an initiative called the “mixed up project,” but never with the Duluth community as a whole. Own Mine will be the fifth installment of the initiative.

“We’ve always wanted to make it a community thing,” Daniel Oyinloye said. 

Daniel and Sandra Oyinloye stated that DanSan started the project within the juvenile program because the people there already know that they need to be healed, so they usually are more open to tell their stories than others in the community. 

“We tend to take things for granted sometimes and we often don’t see ourselves enough to know that we even need to be healed,” Daniel Oyinloye said. 

As each artist performed, they were backed by the rest of the Own Mine group. Photo by Izabel Johnson

DiJay said that for her the event was about belonging, planting her feet somewhere, and taking ownership, while Royalty shared her passion for creating leadership opportunities for women.

The main message that UMD student Adam Hunte received from the performance was “just be proud of who you are.”

Each artist had a different reason for being there, but they all had similar themes of accountability or “own mine.”

“We are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors… and I feel the responsibility to do the same thing,” JayGee said. 

Daniel Oyinloye said that there is currently not a lot of opportunities in Duluth for African American musicians, but that community response to Own Mine has been great so far and he hopes Own Mine will inspire others to speak up. He expects a large turnout at the Saturday show.