Health Care Monologues

Click here to check out the article featured in Sunday's New York Times Magazine! I am quoted on Page Four woot! woot!

So I must say.. I was slightly ecstatic when I got the news that Anna Deavere Smith recommended me to be interviewed for this feature article in New York Times Magazine. Although it is only just a quote.. uh.. it is the New York Times!! This is just the first of many times my name will grace the pages of the New York Times.. it all starts with a tiny thought.

And if the Universe could not have more perfect timing Anna invited me to come and see her new show "Let Me Down Easy" on Sunday as well. She has such an incredible talent. When I think of the idea that there is something that each of us is designed to do that no one else can do.. I think of her. She can "become" not "play" up to 30 characters at a time! Men and women.. from all walks of life.. REALISTICALLY. She truly is a gem. I have so much more to say.. but I encourage you to read the article!!!

FELA! On Broadway...

Enter the extravagant, decadent, rebellious world of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo - Kuti.

A provocative hybrid of concert, dance and musical theatre, FELA! features arrangements by Aaron Johnson and Antibalas with direction and choreography by Tony® Award winner Bill T. Jones.

Brecht Forum

The BRECHT FORUM is a place for people who are working for social justice, equality and a new culture that puts human needs first. Through its programs and events, the Brecht Forum brings people together across social and cultural boundaries and artistic and academic disciplines to promote critical analysis, creative thinking, collaborative projects and networking in an independent community-level environment.

Throughout the year, the Brecht Forum offers a wide-ranging program of classes, public lectures and seminars, art exhibitions, performances, popular education workshops, and language classes. These activities are developed in collaboration with the many social movements and the diverse communities of this most cosmopolitan of cities, and our programs bring together leading intellectuals, activists and artists from New York, across the U.S., and internationally. The Brecht Forum is organized through projects including The New York Marxist School, The Institute for Popular Education & Arts at the Brecht.

Brecht Forum is currently seeking interns for their Fall internship program! Contact kazembe@brechtforum.org for more info!

Theatre for the Free People

Celebrating the work that I do! This workshop was conducted at The Brecht Forum with a group of young black men, exploring the Prison Industrial Complex.

Theatre For The Free People from Joi Sears on Vimeo.

I am thankful for your comments!

Anna Deavere Smith on Oprah's Power List

Anna Deavere Smith number #1. on Oprah's first ever Power List.. WOOT WOOT!


So I'm not as Obsessed with Oprah as certain gay-guy friends of mine.. but it's Oprah.. c'mon. Isn't she like the mother of the Universe err.. something. So of course I was happy when my mother told me that Anna Deavere Smith was one of 20 remarkable visionaries who Oprah was honoring for flexing their muscles in business, finance, politics, justice, science and the arts.

I have truly learned a great deal from Anna Deavere Smith. Not only has she been an incredible teacher to me, but she has been an inspiration and a light in my life. A couple months ago she invited me to come and greet some of her VIP guests at a show she was doing for the World Science Festival. The show was called "Watching Wilson and Watson and the Future of Life on Earth". I am continually amazed at her brilliance, and her ability to play multiple characters Flawlessly. I saw her later that evening at the cocktail reception at the end of the show and I just smiled, cried, and hugged her. I felt that her success was my success and I was overwhelmed by how much of a remarkable woman she is.

As a performer, I believe that Anna Deavere Smith was able to bring something very special out of me on stage.. a part of myself that I had never met. She was intrigued by my emotional range, and the fact that I could "cry on cue".. (something that I have practiced my entire life.. just ask my Daddy). She even cried with me when I told her of how much I LOVE the Theatre and the way that such exciting things happen there..

..and of course she partnered me with my Twin Marion! (see earlier post from France)

She has been hailed "the most exciting individual in American theater", and as her biggest fan.. I have to agree. (I may have some exciting news coming up involving ADS and the New York Times but we will just have to wait and see..) Here she is!

The Power of Loud: Anna Deavere Smith
Actor and playwright

You've seen her in Nurse Jackie and Rachel Getting Married, but Anna Deavere Smith isn't just an actor. Her one-woman plays (next up: Let Me Down Easy, premiering in New York in October) are a form of theater unto themselves, brilliantly conjuring the voices of real people. Speaking of voices, we asked Smith what happens when you turn up the volume:

August, circa 2000, not far from Monte Carlo, at a rehearsal for a concert. The stage—outside in the bright sun and naked except for masses of tangled wires—was on the French-Italian border. Literally straddling the border. Workmen were setting up for a soloist who would sing that night. I was sitting in the bleachers, enthralled. Suddenly a fast-moving train loudly zoomed through on its way from France to Italy. I put down my espresso. Would that train be going through during the concert? Whose idea was it to put a singer in the middle of a train route, anyway?

That night, when the great soprano Jessye Norman stepped onstage, exhilaration was followed by one engulfing human hush. Just at a peak moment, I heard that train approaching. Jessye Norman's voice shut it down.

We don't all have the ability to sing out over a racing train, but we do have the power to speak up—and out. A voice can get a party started, shout down opponents, or lead a country. Vocal cords are like any other part of your body. They are there to be worked.

Lemonshood

Lemon Anderson

Brooklyn based hip-hop artist, Lemon Anderson's one-man show County of Kings is the TRUTH. Produced by Culture Project in partnership with SPIKE LEE and The Public Theater, County of Kings is a true story about finding passion and purpose in life against all odds.

Lemon, most recognizable as a regular on HBO's Def Poetry Jam presented by Russell Simmons, and playing opposite Denzel Washington in Spike Lee's "Inside Man" was not always on top. In fact, very early on in his life he witnessed both his beloved mother Millie and his step-father Charro die of AIDS as a product of heroin addiction. Hopeless and helpless he turned to selling drugs which resulted in him getting locked up not once but twice. Finding solace in a poetry reading in Brooklyn after returning home, Lemon turned to creative expression and was determined to make his mother proud.

It is evident why Spike agreed to produce this show with us. It is one of those inspiring theatrical experiences that a person experiences only once. He says, "the world is not a ghetto.. we don't have to stay here". Although he was born a poor Puerto Rican kid from the boogie down Bronx.. he has made a name for himself declaring that "I am gonna take these lemons and make the best lemonade". He brings his heart and passion into everything that he does and that is very clear on the stage. He speaks tenderly about his mother and his Grandma-mommy who took care of him when his parents were unable to. He speaks of his brother whom he looked up to.. and just wanted to be like even though he never gave him the time of day. Interchanging monologue with spoken-word poetry, lyricism and music brings the audience into Lemonshood.

No matter what he experienced, Lemon never gave up. When he had no one else left in the world, he never gave up. When he had nothing and was homeless and living in crack houses, he never gave up. He found his smile, claiming at the end that although HE may not always be there when you call.. HE is always right on time. The audience left inspired, many in tears. How dare we give up when GREATNESS awaits?!

County of Kings opens October 4th at The Public Theater.