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An acclaimed Boston, Massachusetts, performance arts company is collaborating with high school students from across Selma to create a new performance piece about Selma’s civil rights legacy, current struggles, and dreams for revitalization.
Selma Again is a production of beheard.world, a racially diverse collection of performing artists, filmmakers, and educators committed to utilizing the arts to combat racism and advance social justice. The Selma Again performance will include spoken word artists, rappers, street dancers, and an array of musicians accompanied by the Ellwood Community Church Praise Team. Each act aims to shed light on the unsung high school heroes of the Selma Movement in the 1960s and raise awareness about new efforts to support teens and families living in Selma today.
The world premiere of Selma Again will take place during the annual Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee weekend at Ellwood Christian Academy (1 Bell Road, Selma) on March 1, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available for a suggested donation of $5. Students can enter for free. The performance is open to the media, and coverage is invited.
This summer, the participating Selma High School students will rejoin the beheard.world artists in Massachusetts for additional performances. In Boston, the Selma teens will visit with peers from the Franklin Field Housing Development in Dorchester, who will precede the Selma Again showing with their own performance that beheard.world helped them develop with the support of the New Commonwealth Fund. The LEF Foundation is supporting a beheard.world documentary of the Selma collaboration.
The Selma collaboration is part of a new nonprofit initiative, the Selma Cross-Cultural Nonviolence & Performing Arts Academy, founded by Dallas County natives, Selma Movement organizers, and Bloody Sunday foot soldiers Charles Bonner and Viola Douglas; Reverend Gary Crum of the Elwood Christian Church; and beheard.world co-directors Anna Myer and Jay Paris. It is dedicated to promoting nonviolence and the advancement of peace and healing through the performing arts and filmmaking.
Representatives from beheard.world are available for interviews ahead of the March 1 performance. In addition, some of the Selma Again rehearsals may be open to media for photo and b-roll opportunities. To schedule an interview and to attend a rehearsal, please contact Adam Muhlendorf at (334) 625-0175 or adam@longleafstrategies.com.
