About...A Negro Speaks of Rivers







Housing directly affects the pattern of family living. Segregated and
substandard housing contributes to family disorganization and break-
down. And as Chief Justice Warren stated in the celebrated Brown decision, "To separate young nonwhites from others of similar age and
qualifications solely because of their race … may affect
their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.”
Report of the Massachusetts Advisory Committee to the UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS


Listen to the MP3 about Arson and how it was used in Boston, Massachusetts

This is Violence...


               In 1997 the Army Corps of Engineers whitewashed and important part of L.A. History when they destroyed parts of artist SABER masterpiece that was part of the slopping landscapes of the river's tomb. 


Bussing Riot 1974 Photo-Credit Boston Globe


Housing directly affects the pattern of family living. Segregated and
substandard housing contributes to family disorganization and break-
down. And as Chief Justice Warren stated in the celebrated Brown decision, "To separate young nonwhites from others of similar age and
qualifications solely because of their race … may affect
their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.”
Report of the Massachusetts Advisory Committee to the UNITED STATES COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS




A NEGRO SPEAKS OF RIVERS

Low income, urban America is alternately glamorized in music videos and demonized in the news as “the hood” or “the ghetto.” In this climate, any real discussion about creating a sustainable future for these communities is sorely lacking. A Negro Speaks of Rivers is my artistic response to this lack. The play begins with my personal narrative, and then it ties this narrative to intersections between environmental racism and urban development. A Negro Speaks of Rivers also brings the Afro-Caribbean immigrant community I grew up in onto the stage; a group of people whose voices are virtually absent from American Theatre.

A Negro Speaks of Rivers is inspired by the tradition of African American slave memoirs and the unearthing of cowrie shells, amulets, toys, and other objects belonging to enslaved peoples from the ground of old plantations. 1970s Boston, where the play is largely located, is also full of individuals and events that speak to the history of race in America. I revisit The Symphony Fires, Louise Day Hicks, court ordered bussing, race riots, redlining, blockbusting, and FHA-sanctioned segregation in order to link the past to the present, and to show how the choices we make in terms of urban land use impact the human body and spirit.

Mark Lindberg, Director



for over 30 years Mark Lindberg has been creating theatre in and around the Boston area.  He is know for his simple, elegant manner with language and movement. As Boston native and resident he brings a unique perspective to this work. 


Guy
Brenner,
Sound
Designer,
is
an
accomplished
composer,
musician
and
sounartist
who
most
recently
composed
and
designed
sound
for
the
Alayo
Dance
 Company’s
piece,




Migrations,  at  the Dance Mission Theatre in San Francisco.. 
Theater
at
the
SOMA
Arts
Gallery
in
San
Francisco
in
1993.
He
was
also
the
sound
ngineer
for
Michael
Franti’s
The
Disposible
Heroes
of
HipHoprisy
tour
1991
–
 1992.
In
1989,
Guy
won
the
Bay
Area
Theater
Critics
Circle
Award
for
Sound
Design.



Moses
Hacmon,
Video
Designer,
is
a
collaborative
visual
artist,
designer,
and
 photographer
who
brings
forth
the
ethereal
and
evocative
in
all
mediums
of
his
 work.
Moses
moved
from
Israel
to
Los
Angeles
in
2002
where
he
graduated
from
the
Southern
California
Institute
of
Architecture
with
an
American
Institute
of  Architects honor award in 2006. Most recently
he
did
the
lighting
design
for Cold

a
dance
collaboration
between
Roxanne
and
Morleigh
Steinberg
and
Oguri
that
explores
the
work
of
the
Irish
painter
Louis
le
Brocquy.




Joyce
Lu,
Special Creative Assistance and Dramaturgy
Over the past 20 years Ms. Lu has built a reputation as regarded director and performance 
facilitator.

She
has
conducted
writing
and
performance
workshops
for
women
in
the
Bay
Area
and
in
Honolulu.
Most
recently,
at
Pomona
College,
she
 directed



an
autobiographical
play
written
by
C.
Mamo
Kim.