Guggenheim Fellowship

WORDTheatre® and Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center Present Randall Kenan’s ‘Black Folks Could Fly’

Kimberly Shelby Contributing WriterMarch 7, 2024

In partnership with the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center in Leimert Park, WORDTheatre® proudly presents BLACK FOLK COULD FLY, a literary and musical tribute celebrating the legacy of the late southern author Randall Kenan, on Saturday, March 9, at 7:30pm. The reception begins at 6:30pm. This one-night-only event at the arts center explores, among many of the award-winning author’s fascinations, the theme of “Blackness.” Featured performers include Tracie Thoms, Dohn Norwood, CG, Eugene Byrd, and student musicians from the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center.

Entertainment Music

Etienne Charles Carnival: The Sound of a People

Sentinel News ServiceFebruary 8, 2019

During Carnival, the island of Trinidad becomes engulfed in a cacophony of sounds – from singing minstrels, to the clash of stick fights, and lively calypso music with its hallmark steel pan cadences. As a Trinidadian raised in a musical family, trumpeter Etienne Charles feels a deep connection to the Carnival traditions. At a young age he joined his father’s steel band, performing at Carnival fetes, and immersing himself in the folklore. Through Etienne’s Guggenheim Fellowship Award, he returns to his roots to celebrate the traditions that best exemplify Trinidadian culture. Inspired by the noises heard throughout the festivities, Etienne’s Carnival: The Sound of a People brings the celebrations to the stage.

Legends

Celebrating Writer and Educator Charles Johnson

Stephen Nathaniel MacauleyMay 31, 2018

While a graduate student at SUNY, Johnson produced numerous short stories. In these works, Johnson experimented with the fusing of philosophical interpretative method to literary form. He later used this technique in his two most important non-fiction books: Being and Race (1988) and Turning the Wheel: Essays in Buddhism and Writing (2003).