Ashley Nicole Baptiste's Talk Series 'Black Space' with JCTC Conversations
JCTC’S TALK SERIES “BLACK SPACE” WITH ASHLEY NICOLE BAPTISTE CONTINUES ON SUNDAY
SERIES TO HIGHLIGHT THE EXPERIENCES, CHALLENGES AND IDEAS OF BLACK ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
(April 7, 2021) On Sunday April 11, the Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) presents the second installment of the new talk series, “Black Space,” an ongoing series of intimate and candid conversations exploring the experiences of black artists in the world today. Moderated by Ashley Nicole Baptiste, JCTC’s associate artistic director, Sunday’s event is a panel discussion comparing viewpoints among nine black artists from the UK and the United States. Taking place on Facebook Live on Sunday April 11 at 2pm EST (also available on Zoom webinar, see www.jctcenter.org for details.
The series first interview was with with Jersey City visual artist K. Brown, which took place on Facebook Live on Wednesday March 31
“I want to create an intentional safe space where black artists from around the world can come together and have a human-to-human exchange about art, race and life,” says Baptiste, an actor and a veteran youth theatre educator with the JCTC Youth Theatre and the Stories of Greenville initiative, working with high school students in the Greenville neighborhood. “This series is about expansion, and pushing past pre-conceived notions of blackness.”
In both one-on-one interviews and panel discussions, Baptiste will engage with black performing and visual artists from a variety of perspectives, backgrounds and countries, who will share their stories and also the unique challenges they face in a world deeply activated by a new heightened awareness of racial justice and the urgent need to heal and rectify profound racial inequities. The participants are Oyinka Yusuff (UK); Durassie Kiangangu (UK); James R. Dixon (US); Michael Morgan-Gyekye (UK co-moderator); Petey McGee (US); Ricardy Fabre (US); Kirby Davis (US); Sarah Merrifield (UK), and Ashley Nicole Bapiste (US (co-moderator)
The overall theme is “Can we create synergy and distinct value by updating the mutual narrative?” Also on Facebook Live and as a Zoom webinar, the panel talk takes place at 11am PST, 2pm EST, and 7pm GMT.
On Sunday April 25, Baptiste will initiate an in-depth conversation with the accomplished actor, producer and playwright Antu Yacob. Yacob is an Ethiopian-born, New York-based actor (who has also worked extensively in the Bay Area and the Twin Cities). Her work focuses on women of the African diaspora. On the acting faculty of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, Yacob wrote, produced and acts in “Love in Submission,” a short film that tells the story of two Muslim women from different backgrounds who meet for the first time when their worlds collide through a mutual third party. Part of Full Spectrum Features “Our Right to Gaze: Black Film Identities” collection and festival tour, “Love in Submission” recently earned an honorable mention in the Black Muslim Girl Fly Festival. Follow her on Instagram @antuyacob and Twitter @AntuAbdi for updates. Her “Black Space” talk is Sunday April 25 at 2pm EST on Facebook Live and as a Zoom webinar.
“As our city gentrifies while retaining its diversity, and indeed as the world is changing in fundamental ways, being right in the middle of these conversations is essential,” says JCTC’s artistic director, Olga Levina. “For us as a theatre company dedicated to sparking conversations that lead to deeper respect and understanding, we know we need to create a safe place to listen and learn and collaborate.”