African-American Arts Festival, Feb. 17-19
February 12, 2015
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
As part of the University of Baltimore's recognition of Black History Month, Spotlight UB, co-sponsored by the Diversity and Culture Center, will host the University's seventh annual African-American Arts Festival, Feb. 17-19. This year's festival will feature a performance of the play Slave Ship by Amiri Baraka, a staged reading of Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks, and Lenneal Henderson's one-man show about civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph. All events will be held in UB's Wright Theater, located in the Student center at 21 W. Mt. Royal Ave.
Baltimore playwright and director Rosiland Cauthen directs Arena Players' production of Slave Ship: a Historical Pageant, on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Written by Amiri Baraka in 1969, the play takes the viewer through three distinct periods: the Middle Passage; a rebellion on an Antebellum plantation; and the civil rights movement of the 20th century. Baraka is the prolific author of several politically-charged poems, plays, essays and works of fiction, which take together have become a cornerstone of African-American literature. This production will feature live African drumming and a multi-media component by Bashi Rose, which will visually depict the history of the slave trade in Baltimore. This event is free to students and $5 for the general public.
On Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m., J Hargrove and Brandon Tate star in Topdog/Underdog, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about two struggling brothers, Lincoln and Booth, and how the connection one of them longs for must overcome the past the other would rather forget. Suzan-Lori Parks, a student of James Baldwin, is the author of 19 plays as well as several screenplays, including Girl 6, directed by Spike Lee, and Their Eyes Were Watching God, produced by Oprah Winfrey. This staged reading is directed by Kimberley Lynne, arts and theater manager for Spotlight UB. It is featured as part of her playwriting class. This event is free to the general public.
On Thursday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m., the festival's final day is marked by UB faculty member and African-American Arts Festival alum Lenneal Henderson, who will present his one-man show as A. Philip Randolph, who spearheaded civil rights legislation and labor movements over a span of 50 years. Randolph's accomplishments include leading the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, one of the first predominantly black unions, organizing a march on Washington that resulted in the banning of racial discrimination in war industries, heading the League for Non-Violent Civil disobedience which pressured Truman to ban racial segregation in the armed forces, and allying with Bayard Rustin and Martin Luther King, Jr. to end segregation in schools and eventually pass the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.
Henderson, a professor in the College of Public Affairs at UB, has portrayed numerous historical figures throghout his career, including Thurgood Marshall in last year's African American Arts Festival, Cab Calloway, W.E.B. DuBois, and Martin Luther King, Jr. This performance, part of Spotlight UB’s Art and Eat series, will be followed by a light lunch. The event is free to the general public.
The African American Arts Festival, as with most Spotlight UB events, takes place in the acoustically ideal Wright Theater ion the top floor of the Student Center. Reduced rate parking is available on event nights in UB's Maryland Avenue Garage, located on Maryland Avenue between Biddle and Chase streets, or the Fitzgerald Garage on Oliver Street. A voucher will be provided at the box office, and the UB shuttle is available to transport patrons between the venue and the garage.
Complete details about the Spotlight UB 2015 season are available here. For more information, send an e-mail to spotlightub@ubalt.edu.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.