CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY MONTH with the DA FRANCE DIVERSITY CAUCUS

Excerpts from MAYA: A VOICE
Barefoot Productions and the Big Funk Company 

MAYA: A VOICE tells the story of Marguerite Johnson, an African American girl who loses her voice following a traumatic event, her personal journey to find it again and how she becomes the iconic MAYA ANGELOU... It is a joyous story of resilience and hope, where words, music and poetry triumph over hardship. 
Performed Ursuline Kairson, Julie Delaurenti or Sharon Mann, Vanessa Dolmen, Tiffany Hofstetter or Elizabeth Wautlet, and Audrey Mikondo.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. FLORENCE LADD by Audrey Edwards

Following the performance, we will be joined by poet, novelist and academic Florence Ladd to discuss her life as an Black American expat and her relationship with France. The interview will be conducted by journalist and author Audrey Edwards.

Florence Ladd receiving the W.E.B. Du Bois medal from Harvard University, 2018.

About Florence Ladd
Florence Ladd attended public schools in Washington, D.C. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in psychology from Howard University and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Rochester. Dr. Ladd has had an extensive career as a teacher and administrator. She has taught at Simmons College, Robert College, the American College for Girls in Istanbul, the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She has held deanships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Wellesley College.  Ladd also has a great deal of experience working abroad as she has spent time in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Turkey, and China. She is the author of numerous nonfiction and fiction works and has served as the overseer of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hampshire College. Previously, she served on the board of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. Among other honors she received the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University in 2018. 

Dr. Ladd’s relationship with France began at the age of 12 when she “announced to my family that I was going to France.” Her first visit was as a student at Howard in 1953. Read Dr. Ladd’s essay, "Destination Paris 2020."

About Audrey Edwards
Audrey Edwards has achieved professional success in two career fields: media and real estate. A former senior-level editor for the national publications Essence (editor and executive editor), Black Enterprise (executive editor and vice president of editorial operations), Family Circle and More (senior editor), Ms. Edwards’s publishing years were spent mostly in black-owned and women’s-oriented media where for 20 years she assigned, edited, reported, and wrote about issues of race and gender for large, mass-media audiences. Her work has won awards, been used in university courses, and referenced on national television talk shows.

Ms. Edwards has spent significant time in France and is the author of "American Runaway: Black and Free in Paris in the Trump Years."