Magazine in 1986 opens with the confession “My first victim was a woman – white, well-dressed, probably in her early twenties” even though Staples had committed no criminal acts. And no matter how many people say, ‘You’re being paranoid when you talk about police brutality’ – I know what I’m talking about.” Thus Brent Staples’ widely anthologized “Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space” which first appeared in Ms. James Baldwin expounded on the presumed criminality of Black men in a 1969 interview with Dick Cavett saying, “(The police) are a very real menace to every black cat alive in this country. In Black Skin, White Masks (1952) Frantz Fanon builds his chapter on “The Lived Experience of the Black Man” around repeated interjections of “Look! A Negro! I’m scared,” uttered by a small boy the narrator encounters on a train. If you know of a facilitator or organization working in racial healing, who might be interested in sharing this work with a group for this purpose, please reach out via by Paulette RichardsĪ long lineage of essayists has articulated their experiences of the reaction their Black bodies provoke in public spaces. We hope that this piece will be used to open the way for conversation and initiate deeper thought about race, profiling and policing from a place of compassion. Henderson Kelly McElligott Cinematographer and Kenneth Richardson in process with Jerrell L. Video production begins at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center Co-Director & Cinematographer, Kenneth Richardson with Jerrell L.
CHICAGO PUPPETRY FREE
The piece was filmed on location at Segundo Ruiz Belvis Cultural Center, a past Festival partner for our Free Neighborhood Tour. When the opportunity arose to document the work on video for greater distribution, we applied for and received a grant from the Illinois Department of Health & Human Services Healing Illinois and The Chicago Community Trust to do so. We thank our many supporters for their consistent thoughtfulness and encouragement to distribute the work more widely. The reception was overwhelmingly positive.
Henderson worked with Festival Founder and Artistic Director, Blair Thomas and in the fall of 2020, the piece was transformed into a puppet performance for the 2020 Living Room Tour fundraisers on Chicago’s North Shore with support from the Puppet Festival’s Board of Directors and Living Room Tour committee.
CHICAGO PUPPETRY PROFESSIONAL
At the onset of the pandemic, The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival invested in the development of the work to encourage dialogue and support professional puppeteers working in the field.
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