Glow Lyric Theatre will present a community panel discussion about South Carolina’s history of racial terror and the contemporary societal impacts. This discussion will take place at 11:00 a.m. on July 30th, 2022 at the Greenville Kroc Center. SC Humanities supported this project with a Mini Grant.
The “Judicial Complicity: Past to Present” panel is free and open to the public and is connected to the premiere of the opera Stinney: An American Execution that tells the story of the 14-year-old African American from Alcolu, SC executed in 1944.
The community panel will feature Dr. Kendra Hamilton, Professor of English and American Studies at Presbyterian College; Mr. George Frierson, the curator and historian at the Mary McLeod Bethune Learning Center in Mayesville, SC; Dr. Feliccia Smith, co-Chair of the Community Remembrance Project of Greenville County; and Ms. Frances Pollack, an independent opera composer and composer of Stinney: An American Execution. They will discuss the impact of historical racial violence, the sociological and cultural divisions that persist in South Carolina, and the various programs and organizations that can help promote racial justice.
The Glow Lyric Theatre Artistic Director Jenna Tamisiea Elser said: “This project is critical to our community not only because of the belief that there is no advancement in racial equity without acknowledgement of past atrocities, but also because the open dialogue created has the ability for a long lasting impact in Greenville. Additionally, this panel supports the idea that it is often easier to talk about hard or shameful parts of history when the discussion is sparked by an accessible theatrical performance.”
The panel discussion will be recorded and archived on Glow Lyric Theatre’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/GreenvilleLightOpera.
Glow Lyric Theatre is a professional, non-profit organization whose mission is to produce fiscally responsible opera, operetta and musical theatre that is in direct response to the social and political climate of South Carolina. Learn more: https://glowlyric.com/.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 21-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.
Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash
