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offered this critique: “What we experience in this book is that social protest is a complex visual story to photograph, and through the lens of Bob Gore, we experience instantly respect in a time of turmoil.” The book includes essays that relate Gore’s personal reflections on his own long activist career that began when he served as a volunteer in The Chicago Freedom Movement by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In one piece, one offereled d this crit ique“talks” of the two to the conversation Black parents : “Whatrefers that social we experi protest is encedos a and thhad in th co with their sons about the and m ple is bodon’ts rough the ok is of interacting al story to lens of Bo xByvisu respectwith p James Frazier h b o to His “Emmett Till” essay also to another G in a tipolice. g o rappoints re, we p h, me of turm erien& oil.” NewarkexNews The book ce inCrow st an widespread concern during the Jim era (the second tl in y cludes ess flections o ays thatStory Collaborative n his ohow re la te w “talk”): to prepare northern boys for safe southern travG n o long activi re’s perso served as st career th nal rea volunte ethe at r in 1955 led by thel b during summer of Till’s heinous murder. It was e g T an when h he Chicag e Rev. Dr. e o Freis Martin LTheatre edom of the |twan Black Theater Companies Pivot, Present In-person Back M u act of terrorism, committed to instill fear in Blacks, eso th ve er King Jr o “talks” ment refers to . In one p had with the confrom ie ce their sonsthose , pecially visiting the north who might run afoul o n versation e about the with police Black p dos anby His “Emm customs” d drace-mixing—especially of. “southern those who on’ts of in arents widespread ett Till” e teracting ssay also concern d rustrated with the lack of diversity in Amer- “talk”) might Church on Henry p o dare attempt to talk to white women. in u ri ts to anoth ng the Jim : ho er prepare n Cro w were ican theater, Ricardo Mohamed Khan and el durin w toFor Street. era (tMany ortthe jubilant, somehsometimes hernprotests e secoperformg the 195 Gore, b o nd earys fo r safebenefited mmer of L. Kenneth Richardson conceptualized an act of tetimes 5asubittersweet ers from so uthNevertheless, e rn Till’sexperience. the massive tr rrorism, co avheinous m mmitted the Crossroads Theatre Company. Since its pecially those ly successes NFT’s urder. It on to w in as vi turnout of multiracial, multicultural, and multigenerast si il fear in Bla late Chadfounding in 1978, Crossroads has producedof “southern cu ting from the north lstage—the ck sstommarchers who m s” by race suggests tional a new eras, eof racial justice. New t run over 100 works, many of them premieremight dare at wick Boseman, -m ixing—esp igh afoul Debbie tempt to ta e ci al lk F ly York City Public Advocate Jumanne Williams, who o to th r Gore, the white wom Allen, Morgan ose who D. productions by African and African American artists, Freeen. protests w times a b participated e re in some of the protests observed, “These it so tersweet e including The Colored Museum and Spunk by George C. Phylicia Rashad, metimeman, s jubilan xperience turnout t, of images . so N m m e e capture a moment in a movement, an energy, a ve Wolfe, Jitney by August Wilson, Sheila’s Day by South AfDenzel Washington, u ltiracial, rtheless, tional mar the massi multicultu checollective ve ra rs l, rican writer Duma, Ndlovu and many more. Crossroads LaTanya Richardson su demand for justice and equity of a scope unan g g ests a new d multig York City eneraera of raciJackson, P blic A received the 1999 Tony Award for Outstanding RegionSamuel L. dvocate participat ulike al ju seen decades that sticeswept Jumin . New the country and was ed in so we’ve an ne D. Jackson, me of th al Theatre in the United States in recognition of its 22Issa Rae, and images ca William palpably present here in New York.” e s, protests p who ture a Kahn Ricardo
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moment collective rved, “T year history of artistic accomplishment and excellence. many more. in a move obse demand hese Woodie ment,King for justic likis an enJr. e we’v “My father’s heritage is East Indian; my mother retired from e e e an rg Crossroads Theatre Company se y, d en in deca Black Liv a palpably p f a scope of des that sw equity oleadership es Mand African-American so they were bringing together the illusre u se e n p n t a t the countr here in N tter “That’s N ethe y w e Ptwo an Yo w rotecultures,” said Kahn. ethically as well as trious theater at end of June. d rk Y w .” as ork City st Photos Growing a sense “During the first part of the pandemic, March 2020, 202up,0 there was never Bygeographically. Bob Gore we were solely identified by being Black kids in I had been thinking about retiring,” King revealed. Desthat ign Bob By by AlaGore nNew HicksJersey. Yes, we were Black in Camden, “Then the pandemic increased in time. The offices BooCamden, k Review by Alan Design Hicks y Jeanare but our broots What I’ve always wanted to closed down. Then people needed to have shots. I Nasglobal. h Wells through Crossroads is that it’s about our said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t want to go back to work. ntell Maypeople Book by Jean Nash Wells 20Review 20, much opeople f Americain this country we should not I’m 83 years old. So, what should I do?’ I thought, I wroots. ere barAs w ren Black as on lockdo and busi thforget wn. on nepeople e yenarMay ssesofweAmerica even allow to think this needed a young person to run it. And that person was Sistrall 2020, much was elockdown. ,ornat etsof who weStreets re io shuttere nal COV 100,000 an dmore! . Duri ID -1 are.”were continued, “There’s much The sense Elizabeth Van Dyke, our artistic director. She’s experidHe 9 n in g d barren and businesses were shuttered. During e N at ew York C hs had e from the ity, 100 apetheater xce eded isconnecting, ease.year, national of adthe having like Crossroads that enced and understands how to communicate with this o p le COVID-19 deaths had exceeded w ere dying Those sh dai eltereto ly connects many different communities in this coungeneration. And getting that younger person to run it d in plaNew graphic100,000 York City, 100 people were dying daily ce were video of Mand in watischin and around world order for us to redefine and work with me over the last year and five months, inneapothe in g murdertry re peats o from disease.lis police office of Gethe org e Fon r Derek C f the we are a larger level.” solidified it for me.” lo the bruwho yd . T hauvin’s repeats of the he in tality shoplace Those sheltered were watching African ckinone g im Am spurred p Across As millions of people quarantined last year, thethe Hudson River, ofethe pioneering instiag e ri s ca re n ve s ro al co tests agvideo ed Derek Chauvin’s ntinued police graphic Minneapolis officer ainst pof to aters around the world temporarily closed their doors integrating artists of color and women into the For wtutions e o n li d ce u re and eeks, pho miscondu ctThe tog American worl that encimainstream murder images revealed pher BobFloyd. dshocking w and we were forced to stay at home without live entheater, Woodie King Jr.’s New id e rcled the of raGeorge . Gore foll city and ra er ManhFederal wedcontinued the African toFoundendure tertainment. and marchanges. For the first time, the theater found the Theater (NFT), facesomajor llies frAmericans at tan brutality ch e o s to m M B idtown. T rooklyn an page pho hagainst d e togra need to compete with social media and streaming ed inph1970, NFT began as an outgrowth of a theatre re L spurred protests police misconduct worldwide. o su w lt is an en ic journal epicenter gagYouth. oMobilization ing, 102The f images of th platforms. NFT embraced change, deciding to shift program called for theatre’s e th For weeks, photographer Bob Gore followed marches ac at tion. Gore take you reader into ’s phin toofthSt. the season otothe eBrooklyn theater to the digital space with pre-recorded and live first Augustine’s hencircled eart of opened rapbasement hrallies rap that from and Lows tr N the city gand
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d historian tests. Note er Manhattan an engaging, 102dresult Pto rofeMidtown. photogis ssor Debo The - For mo ra r e in lis, Ph.D.that take page photographic journal hofWilimages you tofo the rmation bobgore go to phothe epicenter of the action. Gore’s photographs transport tography om information go to more reader into the heart of New York’s protests. Noted photog- For .c raphy scholar and historian Professor Deborah Willis, Ph.D. bobgorephotography.com
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Winter Issue 2022 The Positive Community
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