About this Event
ZORA SPEAKS
Come join us for an inspiring evening at Goddard Riverside Community Center! ZORA SPEAKS is a celebration of powerful voices and stories.Zora Neale Hurston 1891/1901-1960 was a novelist, folklorist, playwright, essayist, anthropologist and a participant of the harlem Renaissance. She attended Howard University, Bernard College and was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Despite these accomplishments, Ms. Hurston died penniless in 1960 and was buried in an unmarked grave. The plays setting is her gravesite in Florida. Even in death ZORA SPEAKS!. This in-person event will feature captivating speakers sharing their unique perspectives and experiences. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a community that values history, education creative arts and connection. Mark your calendars and get ready to be moved!
Dietra Kelsey is a dynamic host, producer, playwright, and performer whose work highlights African American culture, politics, and community engagement. She is the host and co-producer of Sistah Talk TV Show, a variety talk show featuring African American women discussing politics, hot topics, entertainment, and events within the community. Kelsey’s theatrical accomplishments include writing, producing, Hip Hop Gospel musical, “Whose Side Are You On?” combatting gang and gun violence. Kelsey has wrote, produced and performed her one-woman show ZORA SPEAKS, which delves into the life of celebrated writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston. She also created PASSAGE, a powerful exploration of the civil rights movement. Her writing has been showcased in prestigious events such as Letters to Our Daughters, produced by the Billie Holiday Theatre, and Frank Silvera workshops curated by playwright and MacArthur Fellow Dominique Morriseau (Ain’t Too Proud to Beg). The event was produced in New York and Los Angeles. She has moderated a segment of The Frederick Douglass Continuum: Echoes of Our Ancestors, produced by Tammie Tyree demonstrating her ability to facilitate meaningful cultural dialogue. Her work as a filmmaker includes SENSELESS, a short thriller accepted into the Queens Underground Film Festival. Additionally, she has moderated panels on Entertainment Law and Crowdfunding at the Kwanzaa Film Festival in Harlem for the past two years. Kelsey is in pre-production for another run of ZORA SPEAKS in May and her Hip Hop Gospel Musical, “Whose Side Are You On?” combatting gang and gun violence in April. The musical has been in performance since 2019.
Kim LaRue (Director), CEO & Founder Medicine Women Productions, is a native of the Bronx, NY. Kim, has always had a passion for healing the world and has always been a true humanitarian. At the age of 14, she began raising money for low-birth weight babies, volunteering with The March of Dimes Walkathon. Unbeknownst to her later at the age of 18, the money she helped raise would come back ten-fold. When her first child was born with a low-birth weight, weighing 2lbs 14 ounces, the March of Dimes contributed immensely to the two month hospital stay of her first born child. This only elevated her desire to help others. Kim began by volunteering at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, tending to the needs of cancer patients. When she wasn’t volunteering her time, Kim studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and The New York School for Film and Television. She then worked with Hospital Audience Incorporated (HAI) as a teaching artist; using role-play as a tool for teaching conflict resolution skills and violence prevention in New York City high schools, detention centers and women shelters. The program engaged youth, ages 14-18, and also provided HIV education in homeless shelters and correctional facilities. Kim has a deep passion for self-expression onstage as well as off. Her apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) led her to back-stage production, where she began working as stage production manager for several nominated and award-winning theatrical productions. Some of her other credits include Sound Technician for "A Song for You Lena," Stage Manager for “ The Roots Remembered" project at Medger Evers College Preparatory School Brooklyn, N.Y. Assistant Stage Manager for "OBATALA King Of The White Cloth"; and Production Stage Manager for "Sango-Lord of Thunder" at The Riverside Church Theatre and The National Black Theatre, both located in Harlem, N.Y., Production Manager for Mount Vernon’s “Arts On Third” Multi-Cultural Stage with over 50,000 attendees. Light & sound technician for Elaina Vance Last Dance at Theater For The New City, production manager for nonprofit organization Excellence Sound Academy located in the Bronx and Harlem NY. These are just a few of the many endeavors Kim has embarked on and somehow she found time to earn a degree in psychology. Kim is also the Founder of Medicine Women Productions established in 2009. Medicine Women Productions (MWP) is a multi-creative consultant production company that produces thought provoking entertainment to empower, inspire, and heal utilizing various art form. MWP has successfully produced numerous theatrical productions titled, "FEAR LESS", "The Calling I”, "The Calling II”, "Mysticism” , "Creative Potluck", "One Nation Under The Groove", "Artist Soul Jam", "The Medicine Men", "The Medicine Children”, “ Positive Vibe Celebration I & II”, “Balance”, Her directors credit includes “Zora Speaks” digital media productions included “ The Everyday Super Woman Show”, “F.Y.I. with Lauren Raysor, Esq.”, several creative art workshops, and women’s group working alongside award winning performers, historians, authors and playwrights. MWP invites artists that are in varying stages of their careers by assessing their work. MWP assist in each artist’s development, to help them reach a higher level of creative expansion. "When creative, collective energy forces merge... magic happens." Medicine Women Productions has become a collective force that supports, prepares and encourages creative art forms to strive for the highest height of expression. With all of these accomplishments under her belt, her most treasurable accomplishment and what she is most proud of is; raising her 3 children.
Joy Renée LeBlanc (ZORA)is a New York City native artist. She studied at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and started professionally acting in film and theater in 2021, but she counts herself as a forever student and lover of the of the craft.
She has worked with the Black Spectrum Theater, AUDELCO nominated ‘Mecca is Burning’ with the Negro Ensemble Company, Ishmael Reed, NIA Theater Company, X|X Theater, and now, Medicine Woman Productions! She gives thanks to God, her ancestors, her city, and her tribe for the continued love and support. Renée LeBlanc is a New York City native artist. She studied at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and started professionally acting in film and theater in 2021, but she counts herself as a forever student and lover of the of the craft.
She has worked with the Black Spectrum Theater, AUDELCO nominated ‘Mecca is Burning’ with the Negro Ensemble Company, Ishmael Reed, NIA Theater Company, X|X Theater, and now, Medicine Woman Productions! She gives thanks to God, her ancestors, her city, and her tribe for the continued love and support.
DAVID D. WRIGHT (Sound Designer, Playwright, Composer, Radio Drama Producer/Director, Foley Artist, Actor, Audio Book producer, Percussionist). David is a nine times Vivian Robinson, AUDELCO AWARD winner for Excellence in Black Theatre. He won for Excellence in Musical Direction for The National Black Theatre’s production of The Legacy, and he received seven Excellence in Sound Design Awards for Rome Neal’s Julius Caesar Set in Africa, Amiri Baraka’s Meeting Miss Lillie, The Nuyorican Poets Café’s production of Pepe Carill’s Shango de Ima, Joseph Edward’s American Place Theatre’s production of Fly, Take Wing and Soar’s 2007 production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet The National Black Theatre’s production of Oshun, which he authored and Take Wing and Soars production of The Importance of Being Earnest.David, as an actor, was nominated for an Most Outstanding Lead Male Performance, Audelco for his channeled-like portrayal of the late Louis Armstrong in Ishmael Reed’s play, The C Above C Above High C.David, has received a Parents Choice Award for his production of Stephen Di Lauro’s River Tales tape and CD, as well as a Golden Reel, Silver Reel and Special Merit Awards from The National FederationDavid is a recipient of the National Arts Club’s Food for Thought Playwrighting Fellowship, and he isa Fellow of the Columbia School of the Arts, WGAE’s Harlem Arts Alliance Screenwriter’s Workshop. David is the producing playwright of the Orisha Tales Repertory Radio Theatre Company, having successfully co-produced six of his seven critically acclaimed Yoruba Dance Dramas: Oshun(The Yoruba Dance Drama)winner of one Audelco Award; Oya (The Yoruba Dance Drama) winner of four Audelco Awards including Outstanding Musical Production; Obatala (King of the White Cloth), two Audelco Nominations; Sango (Lord of Thunder), winner of Outstanding Choreography; The Creatures(Tales From the Bush) and Orunmila (The Adventures of the Father of Ifa Divination), one Audelco nomination. He is a retired twenty-two year decorated veteran of NYPD and an initiated Babalorisa, (Yoruba priest).
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Community Arts Program, 647 Columbus Avenue, New York, United States
USD 33.85
