Streamed Live from the Kehrein Center for the Arts

Program was held
June 15th, at 7:00 CDT

Closed Captioning Available in the stream

DR. EDDIE S. GLAUDE, JR

James Baldwin: His Impact on the Theatre Then, Now, and in the Future

 

A Fireside Chat with Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

Oak Park Festival Theatre is pleased to present a very special event held in collaboration with local area community partners: “James Baldwin: His Impact on the Theatre Then, Now, and in the Future”, an intimate discussion with celebrated scholar and author Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. 

Dr. Glaude is one of the most respected living experts on James Baldwin, the seminal activist, writer and playwright. This intimate “fireside chat” will be streamed virtually and presented to an invited local audience. The live event is hosted by the Austin Renaissance Council (ARC) at its newly-renovated Kehrein Center for the Arts.

A Free Community Event

In partnership with the Kehrein Center for the Arts in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood, Oak Park Festival Theatre will stream this hybrid event live on June 15th at 7:00 PM CST.

Saudia

Davis

Panelist

Saudia Davis is a social entrepreneur and creative strategist with over 25 years of experience in theatre, film, music, visual arts, and entertainment sectors. Currently she leads as Director for the Center for Creative Entrepreneurship, the non-profit of 2112 Chicago. The combination of her corporate background and passion for ideation, connectivity, problem solving and resource development enable her to generate impact.  Saudia is applauded for her leadership in developing the Kehrein Center for the Arts, the KCA is a 900 seat Theatre in the Austin neighborhood, which opened in 2019 and hosted the launch of Invest South West for the City of Chicago. 

Ron OJ

Parson

Panelist

RON OJ PARSON (Director/Resident Artist) hails from Buffalo, New York and is a graduate of the The University of Michigan’s professional theatre program. He is a resident artist at Court Theatre, former co-founder and artistic director of Onyx Theatre.

Recent Directing credits include Gem of the Ocean, by August Wilson, at Court Theatre,  Sunset Baby by Dominique Morisseau, Timeline Theatre, The Who & The What by Ayad Akhtar (Victory Gardens Theater); Seven Guitars by August Wilson, The Mountaintop by Katori Hall, and Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett (Court Theatre); Detroit 67 by Dominic Morisseau (Northlight Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (TimeLine Theatre, associate artist).

Emma Sipora

Tyler

Emcee & Facilitator 

Emma Tyler is OPFT’s Literary and Community Outreach Apprentice and joined the Oak Park Festival team in 2020. She is originally from Minneapolis, MN, and moved to Chicago in 2015 for school. As an actor she has appeared as Radio 2 in Firebrand Theatre’s production of Caroline, or Change in partnership with Timeline Theatre Company, as well as the title role of Emma in Lifeline Theatre’s production of Emma. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Emma also runs a zillion Instagram accounts which you can learn more about by clicking the link in the bio of her personal account @e.sipora, or visit emmasiporatyler.com

About Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.

New York Times Bestselling Author & Chair of Princeton’s Department of African American Studies

One of the nation’s most prominent scholars, Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. is an author, political commentator, public intellectual and passionate educator who examines the complex dynamics of the American experience. His writings, including Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, and his most recent, the New York Times bestseller, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for our Own, takes a wide look at Black communities, the difficulties of race in the United States and the challenges we face as a democracy. In his writing and speaking, Glaude is an American critic in the tradition of James Baldwin and Ralph Waldo Emerson, confronting history and bringing our nation’s complexities, vulnerabilities and hope into full view. Hope that is, in one of his favorite quotes from W.E.B. Dubois, “not hopeless, but a bit hopeful.”

 

Glaude is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton. He frequently appears in the media, as a columnist for TIME Magazine and as an MSNBC contributor on programs like Morning Joe and Deadline Whitehouse with Nicolle Wallace. He regularly appears on Meet the Press on Sundays. Glaude also hosts Princeton’s AAS podcast, a conversation around the field of African American Studies and the Black experience in the 21st century.

Oak Park Festival Theatre is working to bring arts, entertainment, and community to the Near West neighborhoods

Get Involved

A special thanks to all of our community partners that joined Oak Park Festival Theatre in bringing Dr. Glaude to the KCA.