Premiering 7pm EST on the SummerStage YouTubeChannel

—

VOICES, a nonprofit arts, education and social justice organization. Originally founded by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove, who together edited the book Voices of a People’s History of the United States, brings to life the extraordinary history of ordinary people who built the movements that made the United States what it is today, ending slavery, protesting war and injustice, creating unions, advancing women’s rights and LGBTQ liberation, and struggling to right wrongs of the day.

By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past—and present—SummerStage Anywhere and VOICES seek to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice, and this is especially important right now. The performance will feature contemporary artists and authors who will use events, music and words from our nation’s history as inspiration for new discussions. Performing excerpts by Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, James Baldwin and others will be: spoken word poet, performance artist, and an LGBTQ rights and political activist Staceyann Chin; Golden Globe nominee actor (Sleeper Cell, Barber Shop, 2 Fast 2 Furious) Michael Ealy; actor (Night School, Step Sisters, Almost Family) Megalyn Echikunwoke accompanied by Ben Harper on guitar; singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Celisse Henderson; poet and the Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Marc Bamuthi Joseph; and actor (Pose)  Ryan Jamaal Swain.