The year is 1952 and Eleanor Roosevelt is running for president against Dwight Eisenhower. Voters question whether a woman can be commander-in-chief during the Korean war and the KKK plots to assassinate her. An expert on leadership and politics, Robin Gerber will talk about the startling similarities between her new novel and the actual presidential election of 2008.
What was the Kosher duck scandal? Did General Tso have anything to do with the chicken dish that bears his name? Enjoy fortune cookies and tea as you learn the answers from New York Times reporter Jennifer Lee, whose new book includes an entire chapter about the relationship between the Jews and Chinese food.
(more…)
In a candid memoir of identity and ethnicity, the David Matthews describes growing up with his black activist father and his own white skin, his abandonment by his mentally ill Jewish mother, and his life as a black boy caught between the ghetto of 1980s Baltimore and his perceived world of white privilege.
What would you do if genetic testing revealed that you were predisposed to breast cancer? As journalist Masha Gessen struggled with this question, she explored the landscape of this brave new world, speaking with others like her and with experts including medical researchers, historians, and religious thinkers.
Storytelling performed by Gerald Fierst, Arif Choudhury and Susan O’Halloran (Jewish, Muslim and Catholic) offering a “real life-story tapestry” of traditional, personal and sacred stories illuminating the experience of being an American in a time of religious tension and change.
Joseph Lehner puts on the coolest monthly event in Indy — Wine Wednesday — at his extremely cool house. This month Joseph shifts the happening to Earth House and takes away the wine … and Provocate is invited to be part of the performance art. Yikes!
A three-day symposium organized around the premise that narratives about cancer have influenced the way in which cancer is experienced in America. Prose, poetry, performance, and the visual arts constitute the range of narratives the symposium will explore. (more…)
Where does imagination reside? Who or what is cultivating the practice of imagination? When are social, religious, and cultural boundaries appropriate? What is needed to unleash public imagination in ways that benefit our communities’ economic, social, and cultural health? These are just a few of the thought-provoking questions that will be explored across the city through performances, dance, panel discussions, exhibits, workshops, and more during the 2008 Spirit & Place Festival. (more…)
Novels? History? Current events? In addition to being the largest literary event of its kind in Central Indiana, the festival includes an art exhibit and a film series. All programs are open to the public (bring your friends!) and most are free.
About Kevin Young’s work, the poet Lucille Clifton has said, “This poet’s gift of storytelling and understanding of the music inherent in the oral tradition of language re-creates for us an inner history which is compelling and authentic and American.” (more…)
NUVO gives Provocate 2007 Cultural Vision Award
Provocate featured in Indianapolis Monthly
"Award combines film, activism: Festival to recognize social justice of Sept. 11, Congo in discussions,"
Indiana Lawyer April 16, 2008 ... on Provocate's Eric Parker Social Justice Award at the Indianapolis International Film Festival