N<ot??
Staff Photo
Hal Williams accepts his award.
Williams: Continue
NBTF legacy
Some call it "Black Theatre Holy Ground;" for
Hal Williams, the National Black Theatre Festival is
a dream come true.
In accepting the Sidney Poitier Lifelong
Achievement Award at the Opening Night Gala
Monday, Williams implored those in the audience to
continue to support the festival for generations to
come.
"All these folks up here are the friends and fami
ly that I never had when I came to Los Angeles -
they helped me achieve this dream," he declared,
gesturing to the folks sharing the stage with him that
night. "We've got to continue to have it so that it
grows and never dies and inspires more and more
people to pursue their dreams."
Williams, best known for sitcoms like "Sanford
& Son" and "227" and films like "Private Benjamin"
and "Guess Who," is starring in Joyce Sylvester's
"Women in the Pit," which will be staged at Summit
School today (Aug. 1) and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and at
3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3.
Assies in the House
There is a lot of Aggie Pride in the air at the NBTF,
as North Carolina A&T State University alumni are
pretty much everywhere.
Jannie Jones says A&T was the perfect proving
ground for her and other performers.
"We have had so much talent to come out of there,"
she said.
Jones is performing in the N.C. Black Repertory
Company s produc
tion of "Crowns" at
the NBTF, as is fel
low Aggie Horace
Vincent Rogers.
Lorey Hayes, anoth
er Aggie, is starring
in "Power Play," a
show she wrote.
All three North
Carolina natives
have had tremen
dous careers. Jones
got her big break in
the 1980s when she
joined Yolanda King
(the late daughter of
Civil Rights icon Dr.
Martin Luther King)
and Attallah
Shaba/./ (the daugh
ter of Malcolm X)
on stage in
"Stepping Into Tomorrow. The work came regularly
after that. Jones, who now lives in New York, has per
formed on stages around the globe and on Broadway in
productions of musicals like "The Full Monty" and
"All Shook Up."
A&T still has a world-acclaimed theater program.
Jones knows for a fact that the program is still bearing
talented fruit. She jumped for joy while recently gear
ing up for a New York show after she learned that one
of the young cast members was a recent A&T graduate
"I was so thrilled. I said. 'Yeah, baby Aggies."*
Jones recalled with a grin.
Aggies Horace Rogers and
Jannie Jones.
Emmett & Trayvon
The folks behind "The Ballad of Emmett Till"
can't help but to draw parallels between Till's short
life and that of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen who
was murdered more than a year ago by a white
Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer. Till was
brutally murdered by a white mob in 1955
Mississippi.
"Imagine Emmett going to the store to get some
L..LL1 _ ?
uuuuie gum, ana _
Trayvon going to the |
store to get some J
Skittles," Eileen J. j
Morris, the artistic I
director of Houston's '
Ensemble Theatre, said t
Tuesday.
The Ensemble J
Theatre is staging its j
acclaimed "The Ballad f
of Emmett Till" at the 0
NBTF. Playwright Ifa '
Bayeza calls the pro- I
duction a celebration of I
Till's life. "
"I wanted to give
Emmett Till his Jife
back," said Bayeza. whose research included inter
viewing Till's friends and family members. "It is as
American a story as it is an African American story."
During her research, she uncovered a letter that a
13-year-old Emmett penned to a girl he fancied. The
pair had recently attended a carnival together, so to
ensure that she would not forget him. Emmett
enclosed two tickets to the following year's carnival
in the letter.
"Of course," Bayeza said, "that (next) meeting
never happened."
Emmett was killed a month after he turned 14.
"The Ballad of Emmett Till" is playing at the Arts
Council Theatre tomorrow and Saturday at 3 p.m.
and 8 p.m. Tickets are $38.
k
Eileen J. Morris
Proadway legend Is a
f'mier for justice
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
National Black Theatre
Festival Celebrity Co-Chair
Tonya Pinkins is passionate
about her craft, as is evi
denced by the host of acco
lades - everything from
Tony and Drama Desk
awards to Audelcos - she
has received over the
course of her more than
three-decade long career.
Off stage, Pinkins, who
was hailed as "one of 10
women in America who
will take your breath away"
by Oprah Winfrey, is equal
ly passionate about social
justice.
During a NBTF press
conference Monday,
Pinkins alluded to the
Trayvon Martin homicide,
and the subsequent acquit
tal of Martin's killer,
George Zimmerman.
On the homepage of her
Web site, www.tonyapink
ins.com, she raged against
the murders of Martin, and
that of a lesser-known vic
tim, 18 year-old Jett Gerald
Higham, a teen who was
gunned down in Richmond,
Va. in what police believe
was a robbery gone bad last
month. The teen was head
ed out to the store to pick
up a snack when the
tragedy occurred, reports
say.
"Going out for 'a drink
and snack' has become
synonymous with the mur
der of young Black men.
Trayvon Martin and on
July 2, 2013 Jett Gerald
Higham was gunned down
for $4 and an iPhone,"
Pinkins wrote on her web
page after learning of
Higham's death. "They
didn't even take the loot."
Pinkins said Monday
that the Zimmerman ver
dict is indicative of a much
larger issue: society's treat
ment of black men.
"Trayvon is a symbol of
millions of other blacks
who this is happening to on
a daily basis," she declared.
"So I hope this is a wake up
call for us."
Pinkins' interest in jus
tice prompted her to attend
law school, before putting
her command for oration to
work as a performer.
"My professors told
me, 'You're going to be a
great lawyer because
you're a great actress,'" she
related. "I realized then that
the truth had no place in the
law."
A strong advocate for
women and children and an
outspoken opponent of
domestic violence, the for
mer "All My Children" star
is no stranger to the court
room. Though she set her
pursuit of a juris doctorate
aside, Pinkins, a mother of
four, says she likes to go it
alone when it comes to
courtroom battles. As a
self-represented litigant,
she has won many victories
in court - all aimed at
uplifting the downtrodden
. and righting wrongs.
She is currently
embroiled in a lawsuit
against the booster club at
her daughter's school.
Centennial High School,
which Pinkins says tried to (
use false claims to oust her r
as president. Pinkins also
represented herself in a
highly-publicized child
custody suit in the 1990s.
Tin always represent
ing myself. I think I've
probably had as much trial
experience as most
licensed, practicing (
lawyers," she said. "...I j
feel very strongly about the
right to self representation
that was put in our
Constitution. I think the
right of self representation
was put into the
Constitution for a reason,
and I'm very active on
that."
Pinkins, a critically (
acclaimed Broadway
superstar, is appearing this
week in her one-woman
musical show, "Tonya
Pinkins Unplugged." Her
cabaret-style show is a hit
in the Big Apple, but
Pinkins said she has
devised a special set for the
NBTF, which she says will
mark the first time she has
done her show before a pre
dominately black audience.
"Tonya Pinkins
Unplugged" will be staged
in the Gaines Ballroom of
the Embassy Suites from
Wednesday, July 31
through Saturday. Aug. 3 at
10:30 p.m. Tickets are $40
and can be purchased at the
Benton Convention Center
Box Office or at the venue
before non-sold-out shows.
Staff Photo
Tonya Pinkins speaks at Monday's news conference.
FIkno by Kevin Walker
Outstanding Achievement in Scenic Design win
ner Patrice Andrew Davidson poses with actress
Terria Joseph, who is among the all-star cast of
"Women in the Pit," after the Opening Night
Gala. Joseph is the mother of Grammy-winning
superstar Alicia Keys.
Staff Photo
Legends Saundra McClain and Lou Beatty Jr.
walk into the banquet hall at the Benton
Convention Center for the Opening Night
Gala. McClain, whose storied stage and
screen career spans more than 35 years, is
starring in "Barbara Jordan: A Rendezvous
with Destiny," while Beatty, known for films
like "Fight Club" and "Fast & Furious" is
starring in Ted Lange's historical drama,
"Lady Patriot."
Actress steps behind the camera
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
The Fair Hope Benevolent
Society and the Foot Wash Festival of
Faundale. Ala. share a common his
tory and location, but that's where the
similarities end.
While the Society, formed in the
late 1880's as a means of providing
care and proper burials for newly
freed slaves, was created to uplift and
empower the black community, its
unwitting successor, the Foot Wash,
represents everything that is hurting
the black community today.
What began as an annual gather
ing fot^ociety members and their
families evolved into Foot Wash, an
annual celebration rampant with
drugs and prostitution that regularly
draws upwards of 100.000 attendees.
Society members still worship at the
site once a month, including during
the Foot Wash.
Emmy Award winning actress S.
Epatha Merkerson explores the
dichotomy between the two entities
in her breakout documentary," "The
Contradictions of Fair Hope."
"It traces the history and tries to
explain how we can go from a place
of nobility to a place of debauchery."
explained Merkerson. who is best
known for her roles on NBC's "Law
& Order" and HBO's "Lackawanna
Blues." "...We called the film
'Contradictions' because we just kept
running into them all the time."
The film was screened Tuesday
at the National Black Theatre
Festival Film Fest at the Central
Library. A pimp who goes on to grad
uate from college with honors and a
pious Society member who happily
rents her land out to pimps and drug
dealers for a favorable sum are
among the host of colorful characters
depicted in the film, one of the under
lying messages of which is to illus
trate the importance of knowing
4
one's own history.
"We have this extraordinarily rich
history, and we need to find a way to
keep that history alive." Merkerson
told the packed house of more than
ISO attendees in the library auditori
um. "...Our history is so important
and as long as we learn about where
we're from, I think we'll have a bet
ter chance of figuring out where
we're going."
The film is Merkerson's first
foray into filmmaking. She told
attendees that she already has two
other projects in the works.
"It's been a real learning experi
ence," confessed the veteran actress.
"Being in front of the camera is not
the same as being behind it."
"Contradictions," which has gar
nered a host of awards and accolades
on the black film festival circuit, also
received rave reviews in Winston
Salem.
"I just want to congratulate you
I ,~ "? . . ???.- ? .M t
on a powerful, powerful piece." one
audience member declared after see
ing the film. "You spanned the whole
panorama of the issues we face."
Merkerson hopes to release the
film on DVD during Black History
Month 2014.
This is Merkerson's first time at
the NBTF. Organizers had long invit
ed the talented actress, but her "Law
& Order" shooting schedule prohibit
ed her from attending in the past. The
NBTF presented her with its Special
Recognition Award during Monday's
Opening Night Gala.
The NBTF Film Fen will contin
ue at Central Library today
(Thursday, Aug. I) with the showing
of "Wolf Calf with Mike Wiley and
Rob Underbill at 10 am.,
"Legitimate Child" with Kelly
McKenna at 10:40 a.m., "Honey |
Boy" with Terri Burnette at 11:10
am., "Torn" with Terra Hodge at
11:50 am., "The Mattress Hustle"
with Susan Watson Turner at 12:20
pm? "The One Who Builds" at 1
pm. and "SULE and the Case of the
Tiny Sparks" at 1:50pm. On Friday,
Aug. 2, The MC Benton Convention
Center will host showings of "Hello"
with Wesley Davis at 10 a.m.,
"Honey Boy" at 10:35 a.m.,
"Chihuahua Rampage" at 11:20
am., and "Stand Down Soldier"
with Jeryl Prescott Sales at 11:45
am. The Film Fest will culminate on
Saturday, Aug. 3 at Central Library
with showings of "The Journey oj
Seven Guitars" with Susan Watson
Turner at 10am., "Corruption" with '
Rukiya Shanteel at 10:35 am.,
"Faces of Courage: The Impetus to
Desegregate" with Matthew
Williams at 11:05 am., "Necklace oj
Thorns" with Dionna Daniels at
11:40 am.. "Twin Poets: Why 1
Write" at 12:25 pm. and "SULEand
the Case of the Tiny Sparks" at 1:55
pm.
Pbnto by Layli Oanm
S. Epatha Merkerson speaks at
the NBTF Film Fest.