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https://theconversation.com/what-james-earl-jones-can-teach-us-about-activism-and-art-in-times-of-crisis-238861>
"The death of James Earl Jones has forced me to consider the end of an era.
Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Jones were giants in my industry. They were
Black performers whose ascents to stardom occurred in the tumultuous 1960s,
when I was an infant. All three were politically active, although each operated
in a significantly different way.
In 1967, there were more than 150 riots fueled by racial tensions in U.S.
cities. Many Americans worried that the nation would implode over racial
conflict, and President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission to
study the sources of racial turmoil.
At the time, Jones was an actor of growing renown on television and the
theatrical stage. He had performed in “Danton’s Death” on Broadway and was
featured on NBC’s “Tarzan,” among other projects.
Jones found himself grappling with a question that has roiled many artists,
then and now: In troubling times, what is an artist to do?
He didn’t give rousing speeches, as Belafonte did. Nor did he hand-deliver cash
to student activists in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer, as Poitier had
done.
Instead, Jones decided to work on a play about a boxer, “The Great White Hope,”
which had been written by Howard Sackler at Arena Stage, a Washington-based
theater company in the growing regional theater movement."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
