VANCOUVER, Wash. — In conjunction with performances at Mountain View High School and Clark College, WSU Vancouver has invited “truth-teller” and artist for social change Awele Makeba to campus on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The free performance begins at 6 p.m. in the Student Services building lecture hall and is sponsored by the WSU Vancouver Diversity Task Force.
“Rage is Not a 1-Day Thing!” is a one-woman stage play written and performed by Makeba. Based on oral histories, interviews, court transcripts memoir and biographies, She uses documentary theatre to examine the untaught history of the Montgomery Boycott. “Rage!” is told primarily through the voice of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus only nine months before Rosa Parks was arrested for the same act.
The play follows eight other history makers including 18-year-old Mary Louise Smith; Joanne Robinson, president of the Women’s Political Council; and Rosa Parks, NAACP youth director and secretary. “Rage! gives voice to the unspeakable and examines the impact of exclusion, hatred and violence under segregation and attempts to help audiences understand the continuing influence of racism,” the performer said.
Makeba is an internationally known storyteller, actor, playwright, educator, and recording artist who researches, writes, and performs hidden African American history. She invites audiences to wrestle with complex and emotionally laden issues that teach about our common humanity, potential, and our “purpose” for being in the world.
For more information, call (360) 546-9585. WSU Vancouver is located at 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, just east of I-5 and I-205 off the 134th Street exit.
