Governor Dannel Malloy last month announced he'll bring together a panel of community leaders and experts for the first time today to take a look at ways to reduce the urban violence that takes the lives of young men, mostly minority and poor, in often random and senseless acts of violence.
While those numbers are decreasing in some urban areas around the nation, including in Connecticut, they remain higher than would be tolerated in more affluent communities.
A focus on the numbers ignores the lives behind the statistics, including the families that love victims. Nor do numbers get to the root of the problems behind the violence.
Long Wharf Theater's current production of "brownsville song (b-side for tray)"takes a look at a single violent act that took the life of an 18-year-old black man on the cusp of adulthood. It follows the ripples of pain and loss felt by those who loved him and in a bigger sense, the world that will never experience his gifts.
As a way to provoke conversations around the play, Long Wharf has opened its doors to the community, working with local organizations to discuss the scourge of urban violence and offering tickets for as low as $5.00. We sent several kids from the CPBN Journalism and Media Academy Magnet School in Hartfordto see the play. They joined us to reflect on what the story meant to them.
Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show. Thanks to Donna Sodipo and the Journalism and Media Academy.
GUESTS:
- Kimber Lee - playwright of “brownsville song ( b-side for tray) and the 2014-15 Aetna New Voices playwright at Hartford Stage
- Curtiss Cook Jr. - “Tray” in “brownsville song (b-side for tray)”
- Jose Acevedo, Odane Campbell, ViQuan Herring, Walter Vazquez, Floyd Watkis - students from the CPBN Learning Lab satellite campus of Journalism & Media Academy Magnet School in Hartford
MUSIC:
- On the Banks of the Old Kishwaukee - Ryley Walker
- John My Beloved - Sufjan Stevens
- Wolf - First Aid Kit
- Leather Wings - This Will Destroy
