Lead to Life is a trans-local collective led by black-diasporic and queer artists, healers & ecologists devoted to embodying Mark Anthony Johnson’s prayer that “Black wellness is the antithesis of state violence.”
Bridging racial and environmental justice through ceremony and art practice, we explore our commitment to decomposing systems of oppression through what we call applied alchemy - wielding alchemy to provoke radical imagination toward justice.
on the practice //
our
intention
Intention in medicine is defined as the healing process of a wound. Our intention through Lead to Life is to transform that which ends life into that which sustains life - to facilitate an alchemical healing process that can physically transform both our weapons and our imaginations.
Within the current climate of pervasive environmental racism, police brutality, and desecration of the land, our creative interventions are designed to:
bridge connections between restorative and environmental justice
restore the ecological foundations of sacred spaces where black folks live, and
rekindle relationships of reverence and reciprocity with each other and the earth.
our team
The original collaborators, brontë velez + Kyle Lemle (former Lead to Life program director) met in July 2016 as inaugural recipients of the Spiritual Ecology Fellowship. Through that connection they were able to bridge their complementary and diverse histories in community organizing, art as social practice, community forestry and climate resilience to birth Lead to Life.
in 2015, brontë worked as a copy editor on a retrospective of Mexican artist Pedro Reyes’ work. when they witnessed his projects Disarm and Palas por Pistolas - in which he transforms weapons into shovels and instruments - they were met with profound healing and a deep desire to share this medicine through continuing the rituals in the united states through Lead to Life as a direct response to losing a dear friend to gun violence alongside the larger traumatic impact on black communities and environments from police brutality.
During the fellowship, they built strong relationships with leaders around the world who are bridging the gaps between faith, activism, ceremony and resistance.
Partners for our ceremonies, action days and gatherings have included: Anti Police-Terror Project, Life is Living Festival, Planting Justice, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Permaculture Action Network, James Brenner Sculpture, RawTools, United Playaz, The Robby Poblete Foundation, Trees Atlanta, The King Center, and The Nap Ministry.