3rd EyE Open R-E-S-P-E-C-T

It’s an annual explosion of dance, music, art and community. But if you think 3rd EyE Open is simply a one-off eruption of creativity, you’d be wrong.

Like so many milestone cultural events in the City of New Bedford, 3rd EyE Open is the result of planning, hard work and dedication. And, while the annual Open is the very public face of 3rd EyE Unlimited, the umbrella organization behind the event, there’s so much more to it than a day of exuberant celebration.

3rd EyE Unlimited, and the 3rd EyE Open, is uniquely New Bedford. It’s a grassroots happening that’s authentic to its place. Its members are deeply involved in the city’s cultural life — a part that still too often doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

That authenticity comes from its diversity. There’s no way to state it any other way — and there shouldn’t be — but to proudly declare that 3rd EyE is THE vehicle for ALL of New Bedford to express itself. Black, white, gay, straight, nationalities representing a global dispora of peoples — all find a home with 3rd EyE. Only AHA! New Bedford rivals it as a platform for representing New Bedford in all its glory.

Yet, 3rd EyE is THE essential vessel for people who still feel excluded to engage in the cultural conversation. It is the entity that gives voice to the creativity of hip hop and rap, and illustrate how that expression is realized through song, dance, art and even sports.

Through the years, some didn’t “get” what 3rd EyE was all about. Infamously, it faced challenges from city government, for example.

That’s in the past and let it stay there. In 2017, after laying dormant for a few years, the annual summer 3rd EyE Open festival roared back onto the scene in a dynamic way, in a new home.

It moved from Buttonwood Park to a more comfortable urban setting downtown — which proved to be an inspired idea. In 2017, the summer of Charlottesville, New Bedford’s 3rd EyE Open provided the antidote to hate with love, acceptance and, finally, R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Though 3rd EyE never really went away — even when it wasn’t holding its annual Open it was organized, cohesive and doing smaller things under the radar — 2017 was a comeback year that positioned the group for new growth.

Again, that wasn’t by accident. When this year’s 3rd EyE Open happens downtown on Saturday, Aug. 17, it will be the result of many hands who have helped guide its fortunes and cultivated its values.

Some of those people met recently on a Monday evening at medium studio in the city to make that happen. It’s a weekly date that lays the groundwork for the Open, and so much else that 3rd EyE does. The graphic design firm’s office loft is, as it has been for many, many years, the starting point and hub for the group.

It’s at these meetings that the mundane details of running a first-rate festival are hashed out. Unlike the music, dance and art, it isn’t sexy stuff.

It’s discussing getting insurance for this year’s Open. It’s trying to determine the best way to provide water to attendees in an environmentally-friendly manner (refillable bottles over plastic). It’s mapping out how exactly the basketball courts will be scheduled.

There’s an easy camaraderie in the air during the meeting, even though participants are a mix of old hands and new faces. One of the gifts of 3rd EyE is the ability to constantly engage new people in the process of its own creation.

That’s accomplished by much more than the Open. This year, 3rd EyE held a monthly series of events called 3rd EyE on the Pride that were, in effect, mini-Opens — just indoors — and also a Winter and Spring Jam. They took place at medium studio and at Dennison Memorial Community Center. As always, 3rd EyE was a presence on AHA! nights, too, including Pride AHA! All were opportunities to further embrace community.

The monthly events had broad appeal. The first few hours were family-orientated; you saw kids singing and playing along with the grown-ups. Later in the evening, it was adult time and that’s when the music kicked into high gear.

That’s an accurate reflection of the Open proper, which sees families dominating the day before mostly giving way to still-young but serious rap and hip hop artists as night approaches. That bridge between being a kid and adulting is a core strength of 3rd EyE Unlimited and why the group is evergreen into its 21st year.

Darnel Staley has been involved with 3rd EyE since he was a teen. Now in his twenties, he says, “3rd EyE was a pause in time from my real life. I was able to develop my skills and learn from a lot of great mentors. From student to now teacher, 3rd EyE has played a big part in my life.”

His take-away? “Don’t sit on knowledge — run with it.”

3rd EyE Unlimited has been running with it for over two decades now. It’s branched out to include Colorful Yoga, Doodles Creative Session, Hip History, YAP! And Life Fundamentals under its umbrella. All programs designed to help youth and even a few adults realize their full potential and experience a sense of creative purpose and fulfillment.

When the 3rd EyE Open happens on Saturday, August 17, it will be a show of strength. It will showcase the strong bonds the non-profit has forged over two decades in New Bedford and with New Bedford. This is the city’s Hip Hop festival — and it’s open to all.

(Final auditions for the 3rd EyE Open stage take place from 2 to 4 p.m.  Saturday, July 22, 2019 at medium studio, 38 Bethel Street, New Bedford. See 3rdeyeunlimited.org for details. Also, vendor and sponsor opportunities are still available, and you can find that information on the website, too.)

Steven Froias is a writer and editor who lives in New Bedford, MA. He can be reached at stevenfroias@gmail.com.