A.C.T.O.R (A Continuing Talk on Race 10.6.19 Woolly Mammoth’s WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN
Date and Time
Oct 6, 2019 5:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Oct 6, 2019 5:00 pm
14th & V
The A.C.T.O.R. (A Continuing Talk on Race) open discussion series is hosted by Busboys and Poets as a community service. It provides the opportunity for people to come together and speak openly and honestly about issues of race. The intent is that each person walks away from the discussion feeling something: challenged, educated, uncomfortable, enlightened, refreshed, reassured and hopefully inspired and moved to action! Each month there is a new topic for discussion.
This Month's Topic:Â Woolly Mammoth's WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN
WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWNÂ is a play-pageant-ritual-homegoing celebration in response to the physical and spiritual deaths of Black people as a result of racialized violence. Meant to disrupt the pervasiveness of anti-blackness and acknowledge the resilience of Black people throughout history, this theatrical work uses parody, song, and movement in a series of vignettes to create a space for catharsis, reflection, cleansing, and healing. Boundaries blur as the audience is asked to not only observe the performance but participate in the ritual as well.
Oppression, hatred, systematic discrimination and violence are shared plights among people of color. What are some rituals that we have adopted to not only cope but in many ways thrive despite this anti-black world? Are there some rituals that are unique to black people? Have they been passed on through tradition or even genetics? Why is it important that we heal and intentionally create methods of healing? These are some of the things we would like to address.Â
Featuring:Â
MARIA MANUELA GOYANES is the Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Prior to joining Woolly, she served as the Director of Producing and Artistic Planning at The Public Theater, where she oversaw the day-to-day execution of a full slate of plays and musicals at the Public’s five-theater venue at Astor Place and the Delacorte Theater for Shakespeare in the Park. Earlier in her career at The Public, she managed some of the theater’s most celebrated productions, including Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Josephine & I by Cush Jumbo, Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee, Barbecue by Robert O’Hara, and Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim.
While at The Public, Maria also held a position on the adjunct faculty of Juilliard and curated the junior year curriculum of the Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU. She has guest lectured at Bard College, Barnard College, Brown University, Columbia University, Juilliard, the National Theater Institute at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, UCSD, the University of Texas-Austin, and Yale University, among others. Since 2015, Maria has also served as a member of the board of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre. From 2006 to 2008, she co-chaired the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab with Jason Grote, and from 2004 to 2012, Maria was the Executive Producer of 13P, one of her proudest achievements.
Maria is a first-generation Latinx-American, born to parents who emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Spain. She was raised in Jamaica, Queens, and has a collection of hoop earrings to prove it. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2001 from Brown University.
Monica O. Montgomery is an arts and culture innovator using creativity and narrative as a means of bridging the gap between people and movements. She is the newly minted, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Prince George’s African American Museum and Cultural Center, A Home for Black Excellence. PGAAMCC is recognized as a national and international model for innovative documentation, interpretation, presentation, and preservation of Black history, art, social justice and culture across the diaspora. On a mission to invite all audiences to learn, create and connect with us.
Monica advocates globally for social justice, at the intersection of art, activism and culture. As a curator, thought leader and public speaker, she uses her platforms to be in service to society She has curated exhibits on #BlackLivesMatter, African American Resistance Histories, Climate Change, Social Activism, Freedom from Slavery, Feminism and more at renowned institutions like Portland Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Weeksville Heritage Center, The New School, Teachers College, and Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum. Monica delivered a TedX talk entitled 'How To Be an Upstander' challenging everyone to stand /speak and act up for social good. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Broadcast Communication from Temple University and Masters of Arts in Corporate Communication from LaSalle University. She taught at Harvard University, Pratt Institute, and NYU. Monica holds leadership advisory positions in OfByFor All Change Network, Leading Changemakers and is cofounder + strategic director of Museum Hue a multicultural organization advancing DEAI initiatives, centering people of color in arts, culture, museums, and creative economy. She has completed fellowships with National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellows, Innovative Cultural Advocacy Fellowship, Human Impacts Institute Fellows, Race Forward’s Racial Equity in the Arts Innovation Lab and is currently participating with the Oxford Cultural Leaders at Oxford University.
Richael Faithful  (they/them/theirs) is a multi-disciplinary folk healing artist and healing justice practitioner rooted in the African diasporic tradition of conjure. They were born in Washington DC and raised in Virginia, with a strong affinity to their southern family line in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas.
Faithful supports national and local activists of all backgrounds, particularly leaders of Black Liberation movements. They are known for creating spaces to help activists identify and process trauma into healing justice frameworks.
Their work has been featured in national publications, including in Colorlines, The Root, Everyday Feminism, HuffPost, among others. They also publish their own words in several books and law review articles.
Faithful is former Shaman-in-Residence at Freed Bodyworks. Before formal shamanic initiation, Richael was a healing-oriented community organizer and peoples’ lawyer.
Monica Jones was born in Takoma Park, MD and raised in Binghamton, NY, Monica Jones relocated to Washington, D.C. to gain a more global perspective while pursuing an academic degree in higher education at Howard University. Monica obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Print/Online Journalism, with a minor in Psychology in May of 2012.
Monica’s professional and personal experience includes impact marketing, innovative public relations and community engagement at both for-profit corporate and non-profit organizations. After being sought after on various startup projects in different industries, Ms. Jones conceptualized Indigo Monarchy, INC, a business consulting company in 2015. She is also a leadership enthusiast and proactively takes time to attend leadership conferences and workshops to build up both her personal and professional intra and interdependent abilities.
Monica is super excited to be a part of The Phillips Collection's Education and Community Engagement (EdCE) team, bringing intricate value to the mission of bridging the organizational values of the Phillips Collection to the newest satellite site, Phillips@THEARC which is located in Ward 8 at THEARC in Southeast D.C. She is looking forward to strengthening the links between Art, Life, and Healing beyond the museum's walls.Â
WHAT TO SEND UP WHEN IT GOES DOWN will “move†throughout DC, beginning with venues operating at the intersection of black social and cultural life, before landing at Woolly in the fall of 2019.
For INFORMATION and TICKETS.
Free and open to all.Â
A.C.T.O.R. is held on the first Sunday of every month at Busboys and Poets 14th & V from 5:00 PM-7:00 pm.
