Photo by Daniela Graves
Campers and Camp TAZO assistants with RZA and Sifu Shi Yan Ming at the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden in Snug Harbor, Staten Island.
- Camp TAZO: Zen was a zen camp put on by TAZO tea in collaboration with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, offering 10 creatives the chance of a lifetime to meet at an all-inclusive retreat with the hip hop legend.
- Jaelani Turner-Williams, a freelance journalist, was one of the chosen few out of 500 applicants, and traveled from Ohio to Staten Island to meet RZA for the three-day camp.
- The retreat was filled with mystical tea ceremonies, mindful stretching led by a shifu (kung fu master), Wu-Tang inspired chess, and energetic conversations about creativity, connection, and artistry.
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I didn't expect to be chosen for this year's Camp TAZO, but the internet had other plans. Last winter was the second iteration of Camp TAZO, a sleepaway camp for adult creatives, which started in March 2019. Hosted by former "Rupaul's Drag Race" contestant, Alyssa Edwards, 30 campers joined her for a "campfire" theme in Texas during the inaugural Camp TAZO.
In February 2020, a more exclusive selection of 10 campers were chosen by the TAZO team and multifaceted artist, RZA, from legendary rap group Wu-Tang Clan, for Camp TAZO: Zen. With the camp set to be held in Staten Island, applicants were asked to provide a three-minute visual that RZA and the TAZO team would view.
Though it was likely evident that I was reading from my notes, weeks later, I received a surprise email from TAZO that I was chosen as one of 10 winners. The experience didn't begin without a helping hand. Performance artist Nicoletta de la Brown was the linchpin between TAZO and the campers, contacting each of us to detail our hopes for the experience. Corresponding with each of us for weeks, Brown asked that we create a presentation regarding our personal ideologies with an emphasis on who we were as creatives.