Rhodessa Jones on Decades of Art and Activism

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2021

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Performer and teacher Rhodessa Jones has said that she’s not interested in art for art’s sake. “It has to be about social change,” she said, “It has to be able to save lives.” Now in her 70’s Jones has been bringing a passion for social justice to her work for decades. She created the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women more than 30 years ago and has continued to work in prisons and on reentry projects and, recently, she performed in a play that took on climate change. We talk to Jones about her ever evolving artistic career and activism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:33.6	From KQED.
0:35.6	This is Forum.
0:36.6	I'm Michael Krasny.
0:37.9	Well, Radessa Jones has been bringing a passion for social justice to her work for decades.
0:43.7	She created the Medea Project Theater for incarcerated women more than 30 years ago,
0:48.0	and she's continued to work in prisons and on reentry projects and recently performed in a play that took on climate change.
0:55.0	Joining us now is, well, the inimitable Rodessa Jones.
0:59.0	We're going to actually bring her on shortly.
1:02.0	I think actually maybe before we bring her on, we're going to go for a cut quickly if we could.
1:09.0	This is from a production she did at Harvard recently
1:12.6	at the Center for Hellenistic Studies at Harvard,
1:14.9	and I'd like you to just hear this.
1:18.3	Mama Pearl, did that lady really kill her baby?
	...

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