Arts

"Flee" tells the story of Amin Nawabi (Fardin Mijdzadeh), as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon Saif (Milad Eskandari) to be husband. It's the story of a extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.

Beginning with the death of his father in Kabul when he was a young child, and continuing in Moscow, when members of his family made several harrowing attempts to resettle in Western Europe, Amin’s childhood was defined by periods of waiting, hoping, and fleeing. Too much pain and heartbreak remained lodged beneath the surface, and he feared for both his own safety and that of his family, so they left the idea knowing that they would re-visit it when the time feels right.

Julie Whitney-Scott is the founder/Artistic Director for Mine 4 God Productions (M.4.G.P.) www.mine4godproductions.com and the Columbus Black Theatre Festival that will celebrate its 10th year July 8th – 10th, 2022 at the Columbus Performing Arts Center and July 16th – 17th, 2022 at The Abbey Theater of Dublin

Let’s Talk Theatre: Why did you start the Columbus Black Theatre Festival (CBTF) in Columbus, Ohio?
Julie: I started the CBTF because I wanted to see the stories of Black/Brown people on the stage. As a Black female playwright, myself, I found that there was no place for my work to be produced by the, what seemed to be, traditional theatre companies in Central Ohio. As I began to produce my own plays, I wondered how I could make a difference in my theatre community that would provide a place for other Black/Brown artists work to be seen, heard, and produced so that others could see themselves and the people that they lived with in society on the stage. The goal was to share their stories.

David Pepper is keeping the Ohio Democratic Party alive, single-handedly, even though his six years as the party's chair came to an end a year ago.

Quick. Name the current chair. You can't because the new chair is largely invisible as is the party apparatus.

Quick. Name a Democrat who can keep Mike DeWine from being re-elected governor in 2022. You can't because the two announced combatants are largely unknown outside of their home areas.

Quick. Name the Ohio Democrat who has kept the Ohio Republican establishment's feet to the fire during the redistricting and reapportionment machinations the past few weeks and who is leading the charge to get the Ohio Supreme Court to overturn the horribly Republican biased, profoundly disrespectful to Ohio citizens gerrymander/remap.

Two Hints: It is not the virtually anonymous chair of the Ohio Democratic Party and it is not the Democratic candidates for governor or any other statewide office in 2022, the latter of which are few and far between.

It is entirely within the realm of possibility that hundreds of thousands of people have seen the amazing work of Ernest Withers, but didn’t know it. He was one of the most talented and prolific photographers of the modern-day freedom movement. A number of his images–including those of Martin Luther King, Jr., riding on an integrated bus in Montgomery, and the photo of Mose Wright, the extremely brave uncle of Emmett Till defiantly pointing his finger at the white man who kidnaped and killed the teenager–are beyond iconic. But Withers had a secret identity. A native black southerner, he was simultaneously an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in that same movement.

On January 22, 2021, Tom Brokaw rendered his resignation as reporter at NBC News, where he had been for the last fifty-five years. He closed out his stellar career at NBC as the only newsman to have anchored all three of its biggest news shows. At the time of Watergate, he was a young thirty-one years old–so young that some in the trade grumbled that he was not experienced enough for the posting–and had been named the White House correspondent for the network. The Fall of Richard Nixon is his experience of the debacle.

I have frequently said to a friend who was born and reared in Jim Crow Nashville that Donald Trump is the spawn of George Wallace, only taller. Like Trump, Wallace was bombastic, rude and in perpetual motion. Pugnacious and argumentative, he also wore a permanent sneer as he railed against the elites whom he imagined were looking down on him, the son of a working class family. The term “the politics of rage” was invented for George Wallace. But unlike Trump who came to politics fairly late in life, politics grabbed Wallace by the lapels at a young age, and refused to let go.

I have frequently said to a friend who was born and reared in Jim Crow Nashville that Donald Trump is the spawn of George Wallace, only taller. Like Trump, Wallace was bombastic, rude and in perpetual motion. Pugnacious and argumentative, he also wore a permanent sneer as he railed against the elites whom he imagined were looking down on him, the son of a working class family. The term “the politics of rage” was invented for George Wallace. But unlike Trump who came to politics fairly late in life, politics grabbed Wallace by the lapels at a young age, and refused to let go.

The Free Press Cyber-Salon was Saturday, Sept. 11. 

Link to salon video

Free PressBoard member Mark Stansbery started the salon with a reflection on 9/11, since the salon was taking place on the evening of September 11, 2021 – the 20-year anniversary of the event.

Dr. Marilyn Howard spoke next to promote the publication of the book A History of Hate in Ohio: Then and Now. She wrote the introduction to the book, co-authored by Free Press Editor Bob Fitrakis and Michael Brooks. The book is available here and if you use the promo code HISTORY, there’s a discount. Marilyn recently participated in a public talk about the book.

Vendors, Yummy Food & a Great Music Lineup! You can attend in person or if you want to stay home you can watch the Live Stream! Links live on Friday Sept 10!

Friday, Sept. 10
5:30 - Wahru’s Spirit Drummers
6:30 - Four Mints
8:00 - Nancy Wilson Tribute
9:45 - The Ark Band

Saturday, Sept. 11
1:00 - Transit Arts
2:00 - Billy Zenn & the Enablers
3:00 - Dougie Simpson & the Peace Band
4:00 - Carol Walker & The Bitterttones
5:00 -The Apostles
6:00 - Gregg Swann & The Late Crew
7:00 - Flex Crew
8:00 - Willie Phoenix
9:00 - Deal Breakers

A 1963 landmark meeting that helped change the course of civil rights in America provides the centerpiece in the world premiere of “When Your Soul Cries,” a two- act drama by Columbus playwright Rich Bloom.

Bloom said the play is being produced by Stage Right Theatrics  Aug. 13-15 at the Abbey Theater in Dublin.

 “This is the very first play I’ve written, and I am humbled that Stage Right would deem it worthy to premiere this summer,” Bloom said. “Naturally I am excited and apprehensive, but I believe the play’s message resonates loudly given the racial divide that still exists in this country. On that one day in May,” he said, “black lives not only mattered, they made a difference.”

The four-hour gathering, Bloom said, took place on May 24, 1963 between Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and a passionate group of black activists. Both sides had agreed to keep the meeting “a secret,” but anger, frustration and disillusionment undermined that agreement.