LISTEN to our live conversation on "Talk of Iowa" IPR
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 confronted the unspoken realities of being Black and not Black.
We knew 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. See Performances.
Contact us for further inquiries atthecolorline@gmail.com