Living With Stereotypes

Sarah Jones performances include many characters. Bella is a African-American feminist. Habiba Rahal is a Muslim professor of comparative literature. Lorraine Levine is an older woman. Ms. Lady is poor, homeless and disabled. Joseph Mancuso is Italian-American police officer. Praveen Mandvi is Indian-American human rights worker. Rashid is a hip hop artist.

"I hope what I do is portray people as honestly as I can. I try not to strip away what's actually there." - Sarah Jones
Iranian-American comedian and actor Maz Jobrani describes his role in challenging stereotypes of Middle Eastern Muslims in America. "When casting directors find out you're of Middle Eastern descent, they go, 'Oh, you're Iranian. Great. Can you say 'I will kill you in the name of Allah?'" — Maz Jobrani

Artist Hetain Patel plays with race, identity, language and accent to challenges us to think beyond surface appearances. "This is my art. I strive for authenticity, even if it comes in a shape that we might not usually expect" — Hetain Patel
Educator and poet Jamila Lyiscott shows the three distinct flavors of English that she speaks with her friends, family, and colleagues.

Psychologist Paul Bloom explains why prejudice is natural, rational and even moral. The key is to understand why we depend on it, and recognize when it leads us astray. "Stereotypes are often rational and useful, but sometimes they're irrational, they give wrong answers and other times they lead to plainly immoral consequences." — Paul Bloom
Source: TED Radio Hour: Playing With Perceptions

Shaka Senghor

Moving Beyond Murder

"I refused to leave prison, or die in prison, trapped in this animalistic state. And I would do whatever was necessary to reclaim the parts of me that I knew were good." - Shaka Senghor

At the age of 19, Shaka Senghor was jailed for shooting and killing a man. That event started his years-long journey to redemption. While serving his sentence for second-degree murder, Shaka discovered redemption and responsibility through literature and his own writing.

After his release, Shaka reached out to young men following in his footsteps. Senghor collaborated with the MIT Media Lab to imagine creative solutions for the problems in distressed communities.
Source: TED Radio Hour: How Can Someone Move Beyond Murder?

James Bevel

Nonviolence In Action

An interview of James Bevel regarding the nature of nonviolence. James Luther Bevel was a leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era: the 1963 Birmingham Children's Crusade, the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, and the 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement. Rev. Bevel also called for and initially organized the 1963 March on Washington and initiated and strategized the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
Source: YouTube: "with love I can address the problem"
Download or Play Living With Stereotypes Part 1
Download or Play Living With Stereotypes Part 2
Download or Living With Stereotypes Play Part 3
Download or Play Moving Beyond Murder


Music includes Gil Scott-Heron - Liberation Song (Red, Black And Green), Anti-Flag - Protest song, Kris Kitko - Frack That Oil, Robert Oppenheimer 1965, Capitol Steps - Loonies of the Right, Albert Apple Craig - Rudeboy Shufflin, Supaclean - Not War, Capitol Steps - The Ballad of the Queen Berets, Compassionate Conservatives - Black Box Voting, Capitol Steps - Three Little Kurds, Dave Puls - That Joke's Got to Go, Solar Twins - Rock The Casbah, Crosby/ Stills/ Nash & Young - Love The One You're With, Janis Joplin - Call On Me, Philip Glass - Koyaanisqatsi, His Hot Five / Louis Armstrong - West End Blues, Ray Evans and Jay Livinston - Bonanza