2011 ended with the my being released from the hospital and having a cast on my leg for another six months. We produced the documentary for the 50th anniversary of the Better Boys Foundation and continued to produce the Teen Talk Radio Theatre training program and radio show. In May, 2012 I joined the staff of the DuSable Museum of African American History as Director of Educational Services and Public Programs. 

These are the programs produced at the DuSable Museum since my arrival last May!

Sixteen Pieces Programming

International Symposium of Yoruba Nationalists in the United States

The Yoruba: From Home in Africa to Home in the New World – Panel discussion

U of C Graham School AXIS Porgy and Bess panel Discussion

Forgotten History Lecture Series - Ifa: The Ultimate Mnemonic System An examination of concepts and beliefs in relation to the Yourba quest for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Fly Girl Conversation with Vernice Armor, the first African American Female Marine fighter pilot

Girls Take Flight Daylong event featuring Dr. Mae Jemison designed to empower young girls through the remarkable stories of courage of African American women in aviation and aerospace history. 

Family Day Celebration - A day celebrating families in our community with live performances, storytelling, art making, films, and new exhibitions.

Table of Brotherhood Panel – Served on the panel discussion for the Chevrolet’s Table of Brotherhood project, in preparation for the Dr. Martin Luther King memorial weekend in Washington, D.C.

The Sky is Not the Limit The Sky is Not the Limit featured a panel of Chicago-land aviators, aviation enthusiasts, and aviation historians discussing African Americans in flight from Bessie Coleman and the Tuskegee Airmen to present day history-makers. 

The Ugandan Orphans Choir

The choir consisted of 5 girls & 5 boys who are orphans from Uganda; their show featured: singing, drumming and while bringing awareness and hope to poverty stricken children around the world.

Dark Girls Documentary and Lecture “Dark Girls” from directors, Bill Duke and D. Channsin Berry, and panel discussion explored the deep-seated biases and attitudes about skin color.

The Black Power Mix Tape At the end of the 1960’s, numerous Swedish journalists came to the US, drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Filming for close to a decade, they gained access to many of the leaders of the Black Power movement – Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, and Eldridge Cleaver among them – capturing them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews.

Forgotten History Lecture Series Gallery lecture with Roy Lewis about his photographic exhibit entitled EVERYWHERE with Roy Lewis

Forgotten History Lecture Series featuring Dr. Charles Smith, “Bringing the Outsiders Inside” Dr. Charles Smith - panel discussion “Bringing the Outsiders Inside.

The Fourth Sunday, Musical The Fourth Sunday Musical was the official opening for the Spread The Word Gospel Exhibit. The evolution of Gospel to the World! Participating gospel artist included: The Victory Travelers, The Pilgrim Jubilee, the Yancy Family and more.

Educator’s Open House DuSable Museum Educator’s Open House and Artist Showcase - Free to teachers, Principals and staff!

Celebration of Dr. Burroughs Founders Day The celebrated Congo Square Theatre company headlined a series of artist and performers as they presented a staged reading of poetry written by Dr. Margret Burroughs

Forgotten History Lecture Series - History through the Lens Preeminent photographers and film producers spoke about their field and inspiration

KInyawanda Film Premiere presented in collaboration with AFFRM.COM and the Ice Theater

Pre-Kwaanza Celebration - The Harambee Pre-Kwanzaa Festival is an exciting musical celebration of family, community and culture, featuring Kwame Steve Cobb and Chavunduka, performing songs from their highly acclaimed recording, Seven Principles. Their dynamic multi-media, concert presentation teaches the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa.

Kwaanza Forgotten History Lecture Series:  Dr. Maulana Karenga Forgotten History Lecture Series featuring Dr. Maulana Karenga Professor and Chair. Department of Africana Studies. California State University--Long Beach and the founder of Kwanzaa.

Discovering DuSable Digitally The Virtual Story of Jean Baptist Point DuSable

A digital multimedia based outreach program designed for middle school students, teachers and parents. This program affords all who are exposed, the opportunity to explore the life and times of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable on-line, by utilizing a three-dimensional website, a virtual game and viewing short films. Discovering DuSable Digitally infuses 21st century virtual and computer skills into traditional learning, offering a form of interaction by engaging students in website and video game navigation, research and early Chicago content learning with high interest activities

Emergency – One Man Show January 5&6

Award-winning artist Daniel Beaty portrayed 40 characters who all respond to a stunning phenomenon: a slave ship rises out of the Hudson River in front of the Statue of Liberty. Beaty melds slam poetry, multi-character transformation and song to present a stirring, critically acclaimed commentary on modern black life.

King Day – DuSable Museum held its annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. The theme for this year’s event was “Moving Beyond the Dream”. The day filled with electric live performances, films and family activities. The celebration began at 10 am and lasted till 7pm. The theme “Moving Beyond the Dream” took in to account that just as it takes a village to raise one child, it takes a whole community to define, nurture, and create a leader. Walking through the DuSable galleries during King Day 2012 were historic personalities as part of our newest feature, “Walking with Heroes”. “Walking with Heroes” brought actors to reenact historic and notable figures and their unique connection to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Actors portrayed Negro and Major League Baseball star, Jackie Robinson, civil rights activist Rosa Parks, aviatrix Bessie Colman, a porter from the Pullman Sleeping Car Company and Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura from Star Trek).  The DuSable Mobile Museum also made its first King Day appearance.

Invisible Man: In its Time and Ours Symposium

Ralph Ellison Symposium featuring: Adam F. Bradley, a scholar of African American literature and a writer on black popular culture; author of Ralph Ellison-In-Progress, Yale University Press, 2010. John Wright, professor of English and African American Studies at University of Minnesota; author of Shadowing Ralph Ellison, University Press of Mississippi, 2006. Lawrence Jackson, professor of English and African American Studies at Emory University; author of Ralph Ellison: Emergence of Genius, University of Georgia Press, 2007. Hortense Spillers, Gertude Conway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University, author of Black, White, and in Color: Essays on American Literature and Culture, University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting

Lookingglass Theatre’s post-performance panel discussion held in conjunction with its production of Ed Schmidt's “Mr. Rickey Calls A Meeting” featured Dr. Carol Adams and Director of Education and Public Programs Pemon Rami for “The Rise and Demise of the Negro Leagues: What Was Lost, and At What Cost”?

Reel Black Love: Black Romance in Film – Screening and Discussion – In Kiss & Tell: Black Romance in Film, a star-studded line-up of over 70 African American actors, directors, and producers point out memorable romantic moments of blacks in cinema, expound on key elements of a romantic film, and also identify icons (Dorothy Dandridge, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington) and celebrate the resurgence of black romance on film in the 1990s. Following the screening of the film, Pemon Rami, Director of Education and Public Programs (DuSable Museum), led a panel discussion and audience Q&A that included commentary from Darryl Pitts, the producer of the film.

The Trillion-Dollar Question – Panel Discussion - The Trillion Dollar Question, was an essential and timely discussion inspired by the findings exposed in “The State of the African American Consumer,” a recent consumer report by Nielsen, which revealed that the buying power of African Americans is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2015.  Panelists included Cheryl Pearson- McNeil-Sr. V.P. of Public Affairs and Government Relations for Nielsen; Tom Burrell – Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Burrell Communications; Ken Smikle-President and Founder of Target Market News; Ron Carter- Chairman of Black Wall Street Districts of Chicago and Publisher of the South Street Journal; Naomi Davis -President and Founder of BIG: Blacks in Green; and Donna Gaines - Immediate past President & CEO for the Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE) and President of Donna Gaines & Associates

DuSable Day - DuSable Day honored the memory and legacy of the “Father of Chicago,” Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, Chicago’s first settler, and marked our city’s 175^th birthday! This day long celebration featured performances by Rafo International Combo, Viva Panama Folkloric Dance Group, Estampa Colombiana Folkloric Dance Ensemble, The Lira Ensemble’s African American/Polish American Concert, The Hyde Park Youth Symphony, and also tours of the DuSable Mobile Museum and many other great activities for the family.

Songs of DuSable “Songs for DuSable,” our DuSable Day concert, featured the incomparable Douglas Ewart & Inventions!  This awe inspiring musical tribute, honoring the memory and legacy of the “Father of Chicago,” Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, showcases stellar compositions dedicated to DuSable’s experiences in Eschikago (Chicago).

Quilting with Needles & Threads – Saturday, March 17, 2012 – 10:30AM-12:30PM

The DuSable Museum presented a quilt-making workshop in collaboration with the members of the Needles & Threads Quilters Guild. Guild members instructed participants on the African American Tradition of Quilt Making. Each member of the workshop constructed an artistic 12”x12” square which could be combined together to create a larger quilt.

My Sister’s Keeper – For generations, black women’s organizations have significantly impacted the African American community as well as civil society itself.  In honor of the continued contributions of the oldest and most distinguished Black women’s groups, The DuSable Museum presents My Sister’s Keeper: The Significance and Legacy of Black Women’s Organizations.

During this lively and timely discussion, state leaders from Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho, and also from The Order of the Eastern Star, National Council of Negro Women, The Links Incorporated, and the Top Ladies of Distinction will share the history of their great organizations and offer insight on the responsibility of maintaining the mission of their founders as well as the daily task of promoting and demonstrating sisterhood.

21^st Century Sistah: The Role of Today’s Black Woman in Business, Relationships, & Home – The DuSable Museum and The Talk of Chicago 1690 WVON present – 21ST CENTURY SISTAHS: Chicago’s Women In Business and Media Discuss the Role of Today’s Black Woman in Business, Relationships, and Home.

Heroes in the Hood program produced in collaboration with the Chicago Crusader newspaper and Go Airport Express/                                                                                               

Journey of Hope Exhibit Gallery Talk and Reception Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi curator of the Journey of Hope Quilt exhibit in honor of the Presidency of Barak Obama

                                                                                               

Restless City Film Premiere presented in collaboration with AFFRM.COM and the Ice Theater

Walt Whitman and the Soul Children Concert with special guests from Sweden, Voices of Unity.

My TV and Speaking engagement:

WGN – 2 shows

WVON – 4 show

WCIU – 3 shows

Michael Colyer’s radio show LA

Juneteenth Celebration Thompson Center

Sara Lee Corporation

William Blair and Associates

Lewis University

Chicago State University

Ashaki Festival