Thursday, June 16, 2022, 7PM Harlem Stage Gatehouse Address: 150 Convent Avenue at West 135 Street, New York, NY 10031 Phone: 212.281.9240 ext. 19 | Website: www.harlemstage.org
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@myharlemstage
ABOUT THE EVENING In this special collaboration with Lincoln Center and The Armory for the Festival of NY, Harlem Stage’s Associate Artistic Director/ Curator-in-Residence and award-winning multidisciplinary artist, Carl Hancock Rux, will moderate a panel discussion examining Juneteenth and emancipation, and its history — past, present, and future. Panelists include a cohort of scholars, activists, and artists, who will reflect on the vast perspectives of individuals who seek to inform and embody thought provoking change. Featuring Charles Blow, award-winning producer, director, and scholar Dr. Indira Etwaroo, and award-winning author, curator, and critic Tavia Nyong’o. We are grateful that you have for celebrating Juneteenth with us. Harlem Stage
PANELISTS Carl Hancock Rux Harlem Stage Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Charles Blow Columnist, Analyst Dr. Indira Etwaroo Producer, Director, Scholar Tavia Nyong’o Critic, Curator
ARTIST STATEMENT Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another. -Toni Morrison (from Beloved) I, here and now denounce [the] so-called emancipation as a stupendous fraud — a fraud upon him, a fraud upon the world. It was not so meant by Abraham Lincoln; it was not so meant by the Republican party; but whether so meant or not, it is practically a lie, keeping the word of promise to the ear and breaking it to the heart.- Frederick Douglass (1888) Henceforward Yet Never Free - Carl Hancock Rux Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. It stipulated that if the Southern states did not cease their rebellion by January 1, 1863, then the Proclamation would go into effect. When the Confederacy did not yield, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, declaring that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious state are, and henceforward shall be free. And yet, 403 years after the institution of slavery began in America in 1619, evidence of modern-day slavery continues to plague a country that proclaims, “Liberty and Justice for All”. Modern slavery - be it bonded labor, involuntary servitude, incarceration, or sexual slavery - is a crime and cannot be tolerated in any culture, community, or country... It is an affront to our values and our commitment to human rights. Join us at Harlem Stage for an in-depth discussion on some of the myths of the Emancipation Proclamation and the truth of modern-day slavery, as we join Lincoln Center, and the Park Avenue Armory, in celebrating Carl Hancock Rux’s conceptual Juneteenth performance installation: I Dream A Dream That Dreams Back at Me. Carl Hancock Rux Harlem Stage Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Award-winning Multi-disciplinary Artist
BIOGRAPHIES CARL HANCOCK RUX
HARLEM STAGE ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CURATOR IN RESIDENCE Carl Hancock Rux is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, senior-level arts administrator, and educator. He is the author of several books including the Village Voice Literary Prize-winning collection of poetry, Pagan Operetta, the novel, Asphalt, and the Obie Award-winning play, Talk; five albums, and appears as a frequent collaborating artist, most notably Gerald Clayton’s album Life Forum (Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album); co-author of the staged incarnation of Steel Hammer by Julia Wolfe, the 2010 Pulitzer Prize-nominated work, created with Anne Bogart; as well as the author/performer of the Lincoln Center commissioned experimental short poetic film The Baptism, a tribute to civil rights activists John Lewis and C. T. Vivian, directed by Carrie Mae Weems (an official selection in the 2022 Segal Center Film Festival on Theater and Performance). Mr. Rux is the inaugural curator/director of Lincoln Center’s annual Juneteenth Celebration, I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me, which he has expanded to include as an arts installation at the Park Avenue Armory, as well as a Humanities panel at Harlem Stage. Mr. Rux is co-Artistic Director and Board member of Mabou Mines; Board member of 122LCC (formerly known as Performance Space 122); Associate Artistic Director/ Curator in Residence of Harlem Stage/The Gate House); and the Multidisciplinary Editor at The Massachusetts Review.
CHARLES BLOW COLUMNIST, ANALYST
Charles M. Blow is a New York Times columnist, an MSNBC political analyst, a lecturer and the author of two New York Times bestsellers: Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and The Devil You Know. The former has been translated into a celebrated opera, and the latter is being developed into a documentary. Before joining The Times, Mr. Blow was a graphic artist at The Detroit News. Years later he served as the art director of National Geographic magazine. Mr. Blow graduated from Grambling State University in Louisiana, has three adult children, and recently relocated to Atlanta.
DR. INDIRA ETWAROO PRODUCER, DIRECTOR, SCHOLAR
Dr. Indira Etwaroo (award-winning producer, director, scholar, and arts and culture executive) has worked across the world to develop multiplatform content that represents the exquisite diversity of the globe and to explore the complex intersections between stories-thatmatter and the topics-of-our-time. She currently serves as the first-ever Director of the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple in California. Dr. Etwaroo was a major force for content innovation and inclusion in the public media field, as the Founding Executive Producer of The Greene Space in NYC and Founding Executive Producer of NPR Presents, the national live events platform to bring live, on-air and online content to audiences across the world. Of note, she conceptualized and Executive Produced the American Broadcast Premiere of the 75th Anniversary of Zora Neal’s Hurston’s Their Eyes
BIOGRAPHIES Were Watching God, starring Phylicia Rashad and the first-ever audio recordings and video broadcasts of August Wilson’s entire American Century Cycle, in partnership with the August Wilson Estate and Artistic Directors Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Stephen McKinley Henderson. She led The Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn through radical growth: more than doubling audience, increasing revenue by 212%, and producing groundbreaking content, such as 50in50: Writing Ourselves into Existence, curated by Dominique Morisseau. Dr. Etwaroo spearheaded the launch of the first-ever national $10 million strategic plan for thrivability for Black theater institutions, The Black Seed. Indira’s work at BAM developed educational and humanities’ content that leveraged BAM’s MainStage work. Dr. Etwaroo has been a professor of graduate studies at Temple University and at NYU, teaching Leading Performing Arts Institutions in the 21st Century at NYU. She has received awards and honors for her work, including the “40 under 40” of national leaders by The Network Journal and Black Theater Network’s Larry Leon Hamlin Legacy Award. She has lectured and published extensively on the arts, race and equity; and has served as a Fulbright Scholar where she lived and worked with refugee Somali women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Indira is the mother of Zenzele, an actor, director and writer.
TAVIA NYONG’O CRITIC, CURATOR
Tavia Nyong’o is a critic and curator with a focus on black performance, queer theory, and contemporary art. His award-winning books include The Amalgamation Waltz (2009) and Afro-Fabulations: The Queer Drama of Black Life (2018). He is Chair and William Lampson Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Yale University, and the Curator for Public Programs at the Park Avenue Armory. Our relationship to race has been a divisive one historically. One
ABOUT HARLEM STAGE Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. For nearly 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts. We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Board of Directors Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Stefany Bergson Angela Glover Blackwell Jamila Ponton Bragg
JoAnn K. Chase Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Trevor Gale Jenette Kahn LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie
Administration Staff MANAGEMENT Eric Oberstein, Managing Director
OPERATIONS Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations Lamont Askins, Operations Assistant Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance
DEVELOPMENT Shamar Hill, Director of Development Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development Julia Marrero, Development Associate
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Ncheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors Michelle Blankenship, Principal Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant
PROGRAMMING Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Yunie Mojica, Programming Manager
CONSULTANTS Aon/Albert G. Rubin Company (NY) Claudia Kaufman, Insurance Digital Video Services—BriGuel Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, P.C. — Lisa Davis Itelagen, IT Consultant Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants Madison Consulting Group, — Matt Laurence Manchester Benefits — Greg Martin Marc Millman Photography Digital Video Services — Jess Medenbach PR Canvas Public Relations & Marketing RL Stein Group—Robyn L. Stein Development Consultant The Whelan Group Incorporated —Charles Whelan
Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO
MARKETING Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer BOX OFFICE Daniel Im, Box Office Manager PRODUCTION Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production Yolanda Royster, Stage Coordinator Clarence Taylor, Lighting Operator Orlando Alvarado, Audio Engineer Gabriel Fequiere Jr., Video Operator David Barrett, Julio Collado, Lighting & Audio Deck Crew
USHERS Miriam Hernandez, Robert Gibbins, Nobar Deleon, Toma Carthens