Corruption is Key
Self-proclaimed “backdoor etymologist” Manny LeGrair breaks down the word ‘corruption’ and notices a theme within its synonyms: they all define a process of moving from good to bad. Through memes and pop culture references, Manny shares a brief history of his intermittent work experience which leads to these questions: is the corruption we’re experiencing self-experienced or truly out of our control? Can we truly fight the external systemic forces if our internal selves are not correct first? Starting from a foundation of self-care first in order to take care of others allowed him to not only reflect on what he learned from his experiences, but also realized that corruption spurred him on to creating the world he wanted to see.
About the speaker
A native of Akron, Ohio, Emmanuel has been a Nashville resident for 9 years since receiving his M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University. He is the founder of The Commonwealth, where he curates events and experiences for the Nashville men’s style community and is a content creator and stylist. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Arts and Business Council of Nashville, the Kindling Arts Festival, the Community Advisory Board for Nashville Public Radio and has served on the Warhol Society Board of the Frist Art Museum and as Director of Programming for Nashville Design Week.
His professional journey has been anything but “standard issue,” but he is leaning into the strengths that come with that. His other interests and experiences include singing (professionally trained), education, and he has a great love and respect for art, other artists, for markers, artisans, and creativity of all kinds and always looks to support and partner in any way that he can.
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