FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andi Martin, Marketing and Public Relations
Manager
andi.martin@ahc.alabama.gov,
334-230-2680
August 9, 2019
Nationally-Acclaimed Artists Mike
Wiley, Jaki Shelton and Gospel Singer Jennifer Evans Visit Freedom Rides Museum
(Montgomery, AL) On Friday, August 9, at
1:00pm,
nationally-acclaimed playwright and actor,Mike Wiley, North Carolina Poet
Laureate Jaki Shelton, and Gospel Vocalist Jennifer Evans will visit the
Freedom Rides Museum in conjunction with their performance ofBreach of Peace
at The Sanctuary. We invite the media to
join us in welcoming these artists to Montgomery.
Wiley, Evans, and
Shelton are collaborating for a special performance event benefitting theFreedom
Rides Museum. Wiley will perform his one-act, interactive play, Breach
of Peace, based on true accounts of surviving participants of
the1961 Freedom Rides and others who risked everything to face
the dangers of fighting for justice and equal treatment for all.Intensely researched and brilliantly crafted, Breach of
Peace is an audience interactive experience accompanied by Evans and
Shelton.
Tonight’s performance is hosted by theFriends
of the Freedom Rides Museum, a non-profit board supporting the mission and
activities of the Freedom Rides Museum.
The
Freedom Rides Museum is a historic property of the Alabama Historical
Commission.To learn more about the Freedom Rides Museum, or the Alabama
Historical Commission, please visitwww.ahc.alabama.gov.
MIKE WILEY PHOTO CREDIT Please credit Chris Charles with all photos.
JAKI SHELTON GREEN PHOTO CREDIT Please credit North Carolina Arts
Council.
About Mike Wiley:
Acclaimed actor and playwright Mike Wiley has spent the last
decade fulfilling his mission to bring educational theatre to
young audiences and communities across the country. In the early days of
his career, Wiley found few theatrical resources to shine a light on key events
and figures in African-American history. To bring these stories to life, he started
his own production company.
Through his performances, Wiley has introduced countless
students and communities to the legacies of Emmett Till, Henry “Box” Brown and
more. His recent works include a one-man play based on Tim Tyson’s memoir Blood
Done Sign My Name and The Parchman Hour, an ensemble production celebrating the
bravery and determination of the Freedom Riders who risked their lives to
desegregate Southern interstate bus travel in 1961.
Mike Wiley has a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and is the 2010 and 2014 Lehman Brady Visiting Joint
Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University
and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his
numerous school and community performances, he has also appeared on Discovery
Channel, The Learning Channel and National Geographic Channel and has been
featured in Our State magazine and on PBS’ North Carolina Now and WUNC’s The
State of Things.
About Jaki Shelton Green
Jaki Shelton Green is an American poet. In
November 2009, she was named the first Piedmont Laureate by a collection of
Triangle-area arts councils. She currently resides in Mebane, North Carolina.
Green teaches Documentary Poetry at Duke University within the Center for
Documentary Studies.
About the Freedom Rides Museum
Working with concerned citizens, The Alabama Historical Commission saved the
Greyhound Bus Station from demolition in the mid-1990s. The Museum is located
at the intersection of S. Court St. and Adams Avenue in downtown Montgomery. An
award-winning exhibit on the building's exterior traces the Freedom Riders'
history. It uses words and images of the Freedom Riders, those who supported
them, and those who opposed them. Interior exhibits highlight additional
information on the Freedom Riders and the way in which buildings were designed
for racial segregation. Today, the Alabama Historical Commission operates this
significant site.
About the Alabama Historical Commission
Locatedin historic downtown Montgomery at 468 S. Perry Street,
the Alabama Historical Commission is the state historic preservation agency for
Alabama. The agency was created by an act of the state legislature in 1966
with a mission to protect, preserve and interpret Alabama’s historic
places. AHC works to accomplish its mission through two fields of endeavor:
Preservation and promotion of state-owned historic sites as public attractions;
and, statewide programs to assist people, groups, towns, and cities with local
preservation activities. For a complete list of programs and properties owned and
operated by the AHC, hours of operation, and admission fees please visitahc.alabama.gov.