WHEN & WHERE:
The Worthy | By Niegel Smith
Duration: 70 minutes
Featuring: Talu Green & Niegel Smith
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 18th 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM
Location: The African Burial Ground Monument (290 Broadway)
In this walk, follow the afro-futuristic griot, Niegel Smith as he leads a walk exploring Lower Manhattan through the lens of liberation, Black love, queer joy, and community healing. Co-led by Talu Green with his commanding Djembe drum, The Worthy takes you through ancestral monuments, past civic buildings, and down the streets of Tribeca. Through contemplation, ritual, and poetry, the worth of Black and queer folks are considered. The Worthy concludes at The Flea with an interactive video installation, and then invites you to celebrate and reflect over liberation libations on a private patio. There you will meet the artists, learn more about the work, and commune with your fellow travelers.
Reparations and Restoration | By Ayana Evans
Duration: 60 minutes
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 18 at 7:00 PM
Location: The Plaza at 10 Lafayette Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11217
Hosted by MoCADA and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, performance artist Ayana Evans presents an immersive experience through dance, joy, and Black liberation actions. The work features four dancers and includes elements that invite the crowd to watch, dance, sing, and celebrate the full meaning of Juneteenth. Gifts will be given freely…because reparations are in order.
Breadth of Emancipation | By Helga Davis
Duration: 30 minutes
Date/Time: Thursday, June 19 at 11:30 AM
Location: The window at Rubin & Chapelle, 964 Madison Avenue bet 75-76 Streets
The iconic Helga Davis will create an impromptu, improvisational score, using “The Star-Spangled Banner,” a looping device, and text from President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Come hear a brand new song, never to be sung again.
The Tune Up, a Juneteenth Celebration |By Suzan-Lori Parks & Featuring The Joyful Noise Band
Duration: 80 minutes
Date/Time: Thursday, June 19 at 7:30 PM
Location: Lincoln Center Atrium (1887 Broadway)
SLP & The Joyful Noise, a nine-piece band led by the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks, serves as her musical workshop for original songwriting and new storytelling. The Tune Up, directed by Artistic Director Niegel Smith, puts SLP & The Joyful Noise center stage for a program that blends short plays, American music, and high-voltage performance. This is a sip-your-drink, make-new-friends, dance-in-the-aisles kind of evening that traffics in big sounds and bold ideas, booty-shaking, and statement-making. Surrounded by songs, celebrated guests, and exceptional newcomers, Parks reminds us of the importance and joy in remembering who we are!
The Juneteenth Public Performance Program was piloted by The Flea in 2021 and returned each year to great success. Previous commissioned work include: Chanon Judson’s Time’s Up - A Liberation Ritual, a participatory dance piece in Bed Stuy’s Fulton; Ebony Noelle Golden’s The Blueing: Ceremonies From In The Name Of The Mother Tree, a collective ritual for water veneration; James Scruggs’ Ask Me About Juneteenth, where an unusual character offered cotton blooms and cash to those willing to engage in a frank conversation about race; Imani Uzuri’s Jus’ Like A Tree Planted By Water, a performance of experimental interpolations of African American spirituals in Harlem; Trebien Pollard in moving stories of liberation and truth…; Thoughts and Involuntary Mantras (Stripped), a music theater work by Jack Fuller; Freedom is Free: Rest, Restoration, Remembering and Restitution, a community ritual by Shelley Nicole. Artistic Director Niegel Smith’s The Worthy, a celebratory walk for justice and Black men from the African Burial Ground to The Flea theater uplifting our souls
