America Too: Reckoning and Resilience marks the sixth year of the America Too initiative. This 5-part online series combines theater, music, and art with stories from our community and seeks to catalyze community dialogue around the many challenges and potential opportunities of this particular moment, as we confront the aftermath of a polarizing election season, observe the year’s anniversary of the arrival of the pandemic in Rhode Island, and reckon with the structural racism and anti-Black violence that continues to rock our communities.
Each episode will investigate the impact of the challenges of the past year with free, hour-long programs, anchored by Michelle Cruz, Christina Bevilacqua, and Joe Wilson, Jr. The series kicks off with a look back at the origins of the America Too program and the legacy on which this year’s project builds. Subsequent episodes will explore education, health, and activism with a culminating performance for the final event.
Access to these live streaming events is free, but reservations are required. Register here. Videos will be posted to our website the day after each episode airs.
Throughout the spring, we will be soliciting community stories and participation. You can participate by emailing stories@trinityrep.com or by leaving a voicemail at (401) 259-0676.
Episode 1 – January 28, 7:30 pm: America Too Revisited (watch here)
Episode 2 – February 25, 7:30 pm: It’s Our Education (watch here)
Episode 3 – March 25, 7:30 pm: It’s Our People (register here)
Episode 4 – April 22, 7:30 pm: It’s Our Health (register here)
Episode 5 – May 27, 7:30 pm: It’s Our Art (culminating event)
Michelle Cruz is Trinity Rep’s director of community engagement; Christina Bevilacqua is the Providence Public Library’s programs and exhibitions director and Trinity Rep’s conversationalist-in-residence; Joe Wilson, Jr. is a member of Trinity Rep’s resident acting company, the creator of the America Too initiative, and also serves as an assistant professor of theatre and dance at Wheaton College and an adjunct professor of theatre at Emerson College.
This project is made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Rhode Island Council for the Humanities seeds, supports, and strengthens public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all Rhode Islanders.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities or Trinity Rep.
