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Sarah Jones in 2009. Photo by Вени Марковски. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
| Sarah Jones | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 29, 1973 Baltimore, Maryland |
Sarah Jones (born November 29, 1973) is an African-American poet and a Tony- and Obie Award-winning actress and playwright.
Life[]
Overview[]
Called "a master of the genre" by The New York Times, Jones has written and performed four multi-character solo shows, including Bridge & Tunnel, which was produced Off-Broadway in 2004 by Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, and then on Broadway in 2006.[1]
Youth and education[]
Jones was born in Baltimore, Maryland to an African American father and mother of mixed Euro-American and Caribbean descent. Her multicultural background and upbringing in Boston, Washington D.C., and Queens, New York, influenced her development into what The New Yorker termed a "multicultural mynah bird [who] lays our mongrel nation before us with gorgeous, pitch-perfect impersonations of the rarely heard or dramatized."[2]
Jones attended The United Nations International School and Bryn Mawr College, where she was the recipient of the Mellon Minority Fellowship. She originally planned a career as a lawyer, but left college early and eventually found her way to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, NYC, where she began competing in poetry slams.
Career[]
Her debut solo show, Surface Transit, premiered at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in 1998. It featured monologues based on her poetry which she performed in character. After gaining the attention of feminist icon Gloria Steinem and human rights organization Equality Now, Jones was commissioned by the organization to write and perform her next project, Women Can't Wait!, to address discriminatory laws against women.[3]
A 2nd commission for the National Immigration Forum, advocated to raise awareness about immigrant rights issues, yielded Waking the American Dream, the solo show that became the basis for Bridge & Tunnel, which set an Off-Broadway box office record during its 6-month, sold-out run in New York in 2004.(Citation needed)
In 2005, a commission from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to raise awareness of ethnic and racial health disparities in the U.S. resulted in A Right to Care, Jones' fourth solo piece, which premiered in 2005 at the Kellogg Foundation's 75th Anniversary conference alongside keynote speaker President Jimmy Carter.
Jones returned to her UN School roots by becoming an Ambassador for UNICEF as its 1st-ever Official Spokesperson on Violence Against Children, traveling and performing for audiences from Indonesia to Ethiopia, the Middle East and Japan.
Jones was the 1st artist in history to sue the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for censorship. The lawsuit resulted in reversal of a censorship ruling, which had targeted her hip-hop poem recording “Your Revolution" in which she makes a powerful statement against sexual exploitation of women in hip hop music.[4]
A regular guest on public radio, Jones has also made numerous TV appearances on programs including Charlie Rose]], The Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Live with Regis and Kelly, and Sesame Street.
Jones was invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to perform at The White House in celebration of Women’s History Month.
Recognition[]
Her solo play "Bridge and Tunnel" received a special Tony Award in 2006.[1]
A recipient of the 2007 Brendan Gill Prize, Jones has also received grants and commissions from The Ford Foundation, NYSCA, and others. She has also obtained a Helen Hayes Award, two Drama Desk nominations, and HBO's US Comedy Arts Festival's Best One Person Show Award, as well as an Calloway Award from the New York Civil Liberties Union for her FCC suit.
Ten Foot Pole - Sarah Jones Lyrics
In popular culture[]
Punk rock band, Ten Foot Pole wrote a song about Sarah Jones on their 5th album, Bad Mother Trucker.
See also[]
Def Poetry Sarah Jones- 'Your Revolution' (Official Video)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Playbill List of 2006 Tony Award Winners
- ↑ New Yorker Review of Bridge and Tunnel
- ↑ Ms. Magazine Article On Women Can't Wait!
- ↑ Marjorie Heins, "The Strange Case of Sarah Jones," The Free Expression Policy Project, January 24, 2003. Web, Oct. 11, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- Sarah Jones at PoemHunter (1 poem, "Sapphire Desire").
- "Poetry: "Your Revolution", "Barometer", "Girls and Women"
- Audio / video
- Sarah Jones as a one-woman global village, TED
- Voices on Antisemitism Interview with Sarah Jones from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
- About
- Sarah Jones Official website.
- Sarah Jones - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
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