Next year’s 40th anniversary, comes in the midst of many celebrations or markings of events that have to do with racial equity, of class equity and ultimately, of human equality. This year we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Next year, will mark the 50th anniversaries of the Voting Rights Act and of Freedom Summer in Mississippi as well as the 60th anniversary of Brown v Board of Education. But one anniversary year has overarching meaning for those seeking race and class equity in the United States and that is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
As a celebration of this anniversary, The Emancipated Century is an inspired and inspiring program directed by Trotter Institute Executive Director and BBDP Committee Member Barbara Lewis. It includes staged readings of 10 plays by August Wilson each grounded in one of the 10 decades of the 20th century. It also includes 6 forums on issues covered by the plays. The premise of the Emancipated Century is that emancipation is a process, not something done once and for all. It touches all of us. The plays chronicle one People’s quest in the face of relentless resistance. The forums make deep connections to current realities. The presenters have been excellent and the discussions exciting. The last forum will be on education and this series will be a great link to the 2014 anniversaries: Brown and Boston. We hope to see you at one or all of the remaining events in this series!
Playwright August Wilson
The next forum, Re-Visioning Tomorrow: Emancipation in a New Century, is this Thursday, September 26, at the YWCA, Kuumba Library at 140 Clarendon Street at 6 pm. The next play is Seven Guitars on October 7 at 7pm at the Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue. All events are free and open to the public. For a schedule of all events click here.
Truth, Learning, and Change 