#paul-robeson

#paul-robeson

English, the first Black woman to open a private practice in the state of New York, was known as Brooklyn's Birth Mother. She had delivered some six thousand babies, including the children of Betty Shabazz and Malcolm X. She became a philanthropist, and her patronage of the arts was perhaps best represented by her conversion of St. Casimir's into a haven for theatre, performance, and community engagement.

"There's a certain kind of energy that could be produced by a performative idea of communication, and that's what I'm interested in," said the Academy Award-winning director of "12 Years a Slave." "I'm not the kind of person who stands for an hour reading from a piece of paper. I think the audience needs more, and I feel I need to give more.