The August 2014 death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, aroused a sweeping reappraisal of race and social justice issues.
Geovonday Jones recalls the ruminations suddenly became clearer and more intimate for him a few months later, when he learned about the death of a cousin nearby.
Geovonday Jones
Jones cultivated a promising profession as an actor and performing arts teacher at The City College of New York, where he found himself instructing theater students with whom he participated in creative projects. As part of one project, he says, he wrote and shared a poem about his cousin who was killed in St. Louis, six months after Brown’s death, by an off-duty officer.
“It was well-received,” says Jones, who gathered confidence to approach City College leadership. He successfully pitched the 2020 creation of a new class exploring racism through the theatrical lens. He says that, while classes vary year-to-year, the culminating class project is consistent — sharing a meal in which each student brings a dish from their family’s tradition or culture and shares stories about their plates.
Jones says the course introduces students to playwrights they may not otherwise experience in their studies; it exposes them to plays not often afforded space in predominately white institutions.
