More Than Skin Deep: Conversations at the Color Line

Jan Gross and Heather Lobban-Viravong

We are two women once "assigned" to a mentoring arrangement.

One was young, inexperienced, Black, and wary of the other who was twenty years her senior, well established in her career, and White.

Reluctant and uneasy at first, we agreed to meet... talk, walk, listen to each other.

We built trust and began to speak openly and confront shameful truths.

We wrote collaboratively, exchanged poems, and exposed the unspoken realities of being Black and not Black.

We knew that our approach was needed in a polarized world.

We wanted others to "see" and "be seen" in a meaningful way.

We asked a theater professional, Lesley Delmenico, to adapt our manuscript into a 30-minute Performance followed by guided small-group discussion.

Funded by a Mellon Presidential Grant for "Connecting People through Humanities," we launched our first live performance. The audience said More Than Skin Deep: Live Conversations needs to reach those who hunger for hope and the opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversations.

Now available for public programming, learn about our upcoming Performances in Grinnell, Iowa.