THE JUST AND THE BLIND
Conceived & written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Original music composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain
THE JUST AND THE BLIND
A SOZO Production
Poignant and pressing, The Just and the Blind illuminates the unseen and under-heard experiences of incarcerated youth and the realities their families face. Centered on the humanity of the historically marginalized, The Just and the Blind provides a framework for the unique voices of the community, striving to humanize the Black and Brown children that are enmeshed in it.
The Just and the Blind is a short film series and an evening length multimedia performance, tracing the diasporic journey through poetry, music, movement and visuals, which form the basis of for a curriculum designed for fathers and sons separated by prison bars.
Conceived and written by Marc Bamuthi Joseph
Original musical score by Daniel Bernard Roumain
Directed by Michael John Garcés
CREATIVE TEAM:
Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Spoken Word
Daniel Bernard Roumain, Violin/Piano/Electronics
Drew Dollaz, Choreographer/Dancer
David Szlasa, Projection Designer
Xia Gordon, Animator
Brittsense, Photographer
Rika Iino, Producer
Melissa Higgins, Producer
Poignant and pressing, The Just and The Blind illuminates the unseen and under-heard experiences of incarcerated youth and the realities their families face. Spoken word artist and arts activist Marc Bamuthi Joseph (BAMUTHI) joins forces with long-time collaborator composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) to explore themes of racial profiling, sentencing and the prison-industrial complex from the perspective of fathers of Black and Brown children.
In addition to spoken word, music, and dance, The Just and The Blind features the provocative images of photographer Brittsense, and the illustrative talent of Xia Gordon, woven together by media designer David Szlasa under the direction of Michael John Garcés.
Centered on the humanity of the historically marginalized, The Just and The Blind provides a framework for the unique voices of the community, striving to humanize the Black and Brown children who are enmeshed in it.
The Just and The Blind was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and presented as part of the 2019 Create Justice Forum. The Just and The Blind was produced by Sozo Artists, Inc., in partnership with the Sozo Impact, with support from Ford Foundation. Special thanks to Miami Light Project.
Photos above by Fadi Kheir from Carnegie Hall World Premiere
“But it was the raw, cry from the soul new work, ‘The Just and The Blind,’ that has stayed with me from my marathon... The work is driven by Mr. Joseph’s stinging, brilliant words and is structured as a series of vignettes. Mr. Joseph voices the thoughts of a Black father who admits to being afraid when, at night, he walks past young Black men who look the same age as his son. Every day, he tells his son, the boy’s main mission in life is ‘to come home to me.’ … Is this classical music? Perhaps not by traditional definitions. But it speaks to where Carnegie has come that it fit in at the hall just as well as the Vienna Philharmonic.”
ABOUT MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH
BAMUTHI (Marc Bamuthi Joseph) is a curator of words, ideas and protagonists. His bold poetically-driven work investigates social issues and cultural identity. He is a steadfast believer in empathy as the most valuable currency in building community, and seeks to spark curiosity and dialogue about freedom, compassion, and fearlessness through pioneering arts stewardship and education. A 2017 TEDGlobal Fellow, Bamuthi graced the cover of Smithsonian Magazine as one of America’s Top Young lnnovators in the Arts and Sciences; artistically directed HBO’s “Russell Simmons presents Brave New Voices” and is an inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship, which annually recognizes 50 of the country’s greatest living artists. Dance Magazine named him a Top Influencer in 2017.
BAMUTHI’s evening length work red black and GREEN: a blues was nominated for a 2013 Bessie Award for “Outstanding Production (of a work stretching the boundaries of a traditional form)” and he has won numerous grants including from the National Endowment for the Arts and Creative Capital Foundation. His latest touring work /peh-LO-tah/ is inspired by soccer and Bamuthi's first generation American experience, intersecting global economics, cross border fan culture, and the politics of joy. Recent commissions include the libretto for Home in 7 for the Atlanta Ballet and theater work for South Coast Repertory Theater. He recently collaborated with composer Daniel Bernard Roumain on a new opera co-commissioned and produced by Opera Philadelphia, New York’s Apollo Theater and London’s Hackney Empire, which premiered under the direction of Bill T. Jones in October 2017.
BAMUTHI is the founding Program Director of the exemplary non-profit Youth Speaks, and is a co-founder of Life is Living, a national series of one-day festivals which activate under-resourced parks and affirm peaceful urban life. His essays have been published in Harvard Education Press; he has lectured at more than 200 colleges, has carried adjunct professorships at Stanford and Lehigh, among others, and currently serves as Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Learn more about Marc Bamuthi Joseph
ABOUT DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) is a Black, Haitian-American composer who sees composing as collaboration with artists, organizations and communities within the farming and framing of ideas. He is a prolific and endlessly collaborative composer, performer, educator, and social entrepreneur. “About as omnivorous as a contemporary artist gets” (New York Times), Roumain has worked with artists from J’Nai Bridges, Lady Gaga and Philip Glass to Bill T. Jones, Marin Alsop and Anna Deavere Smith.
Known for his signature violin sounds infused with myriad electronic and African-American music influences, Roumain takes his genre-bending music beyond the proscenium. He is a composer of solo, chamber, orchestral, and operatic works, and has composed an array of film, theater, and dance scores. He has composed music for the acclaimed film Ailey (Sundance official selection); was the first Music Director and Principal Composer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company; released and appeared on 30 album recordings; and has published over 300 works. He has appeared on CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, NPR, and PBS; and has collaborated with the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Sydney Opera House. He was Artist-in-Residence and Creative Chair at the Flynn in Burlington, Vermont. Currently, he is the first Artistic Ambassador with Firstworks; the first Artist Activist-in-Residence at Longy School of Music; and the first Resident Artistic Catalyst with the New Jersey Symphony.
Roumain is an Atlantic Center Master Artist, a Creative Capital Grantee, and a Hermitage Artist Retreat Fellow. He has won the American Academy in Rome Goddard Lieberson Fellowship; a Civitella Ranieri Music Fellowship Award; an Emmy Award for The New Look of Classical Music; National Sawdust Disruptor Award; and the Sphinx Organization Arthur L. Johnson Award. He has been featured as a keynote speaker at universities, colleges, conservatories and technology conferences, and was the first ASU GAMMAGE Residency Artist. He has lectured at Yale and Princeton University and was a Roth Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Dartmouth College. He currently serves as a board member for the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (Vice Chair), the League of American Orchestras, and is a voting member for the Recording Academy GRAMMY awards.
A student of William Albright, Leslie Bassett, and William Bolcom, Roumain graduated from Vanderbilt University and earned his doctorate in music composition from the University of Michigan. He is currently a tenured Associate and Institute Professor at Arizona State University Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.
Learn more about Daniel Bernard Roumain
ABOUT DREW DOLLAZ
Drew Dollaz is a pioneer of flexing, a Brooklyn-based genre of street dance also referred to as bone breaking, which is characterized by rhythmic contortionist movements. A self-taught dancer, Dollaz is known for blending flexing with other styles including ballet to create a transcendent hybrid of movement artistry.
Dollaz has performed and partnered with a broad range of artists and brands, including Madonna, Rihanna, Skrillex, Red Bull, Sony, Aloft Hotels, and Billboard. His performances on Madonna’s MDNA tour in 2012 marked the first time flexing appeared on the world stage. Next Level Squad, a New York City collective of flexing dancers in which Dollaz performs and choreographs, has garnered more than a million views on YouTube and has been featured on World of Dance, The Breakin’ Convention, and America’s Got Talent. He recently completed his short dance film En Pointe and looks forward to the release of his acting debut in a feature length film.
Arts education and youth empowerment are core tenets of Dollaz’ work and he currently mentors young dancers and teaches internationally.
