Kwanza Jones on KTLA: Inside Culture In Motion™

What if The Apollo Theater showed up in your city, not as a place you’ve only heard about, but as a stage you could actually step onto?

For generations, artists made the journey to Harlem for their moment under those lights. That journey carried weight. It meant preparation, courage, and the chance to prove yourself in front of an audience that understood the significance of that stage.

For the Queen of Energy, Kwanza Jones, that moment has always been about more than music or art. It’s about access, ownership, and who gets the opportunity to step forward. Through The Apollo x Kwanza Jones Culture In Motion™, that opportunity is no longer tied to a single location. It’s moving across the country, meeting communities where they are. 

This vision recently took center stage during a KTLA interview, where Kwanza, founder and executive producer of Culture In Motion, shared how the initiative is bringing the spirit and legacy of the Apollo Theater beyond Harlem and into communities across the country.

Carrying a Cultural Legacy Across the Nation

At the center of Culture In Motion is the SUPERCHARGED® Boost Bus™, a mobile experience connecting cities across the country to the legacy of one of the most influential stages in American music.

As Kwanza explained in the interview, the Boost Bus represents more than transportation. It’s “A literal vehicle; a transportation through the nation and through history.” 

For decades, The Apollo has been more than a venue or stage. It has been a proving ground where artists stepped forward, claimed their voice, and earned the respect of audiences who understood the weight of culture.

Culture In Motion carries that energy beyond Harlem. Not to replicate The Apollo, but to extend its spirit.

Why Bringing the Stage to Communities Matters

The conversation surfaced an important reality. There is a generation growing up today that may know the name “Apollo Theater,” but may never experience what it represents.

Unless you live in Harlem, you might never walk past that historic theater, feel the gravity of its legacy, or understand the cultural moments that unfolded there.

Culture In Motion changes that. Instead of asking communities to come to one stage, the stage now meets communities where they are. Cities across the country, including California, Texas, Washington DC, Atlanta, and Chicago, are becoming part of a cultural journey connecting past, present, and future.

Culture as Infrastructure

Kwanza has long believed that culture carries messages long after the spotlight fades.

Music. Storytelling. Performance. These are not just moments of entertainment; they are ways communities define identity, possibility, and belonging.

That belief sits at the heart of Culture In Motion. By bringing The Apollo experience into cities across the country, the initiative helps communities connect with cultural history while creating new moments of expression and participation.

It’s not simply about celebrating what The Apollo has meant. It’s about expanding where that cultural energy can live.

The Builder’s Lens

For Kwanza Jones, culture has never been separate from the systems that shape opportunity.

Culture shapes belief. Belief shapes possibility. And what communities believe about themselves often determines what they build.

That perspective is part of what drives Culture In Motion. It is not simply about celebrating The Apollo’s past. It is about connecting that legacy to the future, creating spaces where new voices can emerge, where communities can see themselves reflected in the story, and where culture continues to expand what’s possible. 

The Movement Continues

The KTLA conversation offered a glimpse of what happens when history refuses to stand still.

The stage that once lived in The Apollo’s Historic Theater is now moving across the country, connecting artists, communities, and culture in new ways.

As Culture In Motion continues its journey, it’s not just carrying the legacy of The Apollo; it’s expanding where that legacy can live.

The question is no longer whether artists can make it to Harlem. It’s what happens when that opportunity shows up in their own communities, and who steps forward when it does.

Watch the full KTLA interview clip to hear Kwanza share the vision behind Culture In Motion.