Novelist/Poet To Give Reading Wednesday on Campus

Celebrated author and scholar Percival Everett will give a reading of his work at 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 3, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.

There will also be a Q&A session at 2 p.m. in Stevenson Hall, room 401.

Everett is a distinguished professor at the University of Southern California, and an internationally renown author of more than 25 novels and collections of poetry. His works include the award-winning Erasure, and I Am Not Sidney Poitier.

He is the recipient of the Pen Center Award for Fiction, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Academy Award in Literature, the Dos Passos Prize, and the New American Writing Award, among others. Everett’s most recent work are Assumption: A Novel, Percival Everett by Virgil Russell: A Novel, and a collection of short fiction titled Half an Inch of Water.

The event is free, open to the public, and sponsored by Illinois State’s Creative Writing Program, Department of English, the Harold K. Sage Foundation, and the Illinois State University Foundation.

Actor-Director Esposito to Keynote ISU Black History Cultural Dinner

Award-winning actor, director, and education advocate Giancarlo Esposito will be the guest speaker at the Black History Cultural Dinner at 5 p.m. Wednesday, February 24, in the Brown Ballroom of the Bone Student Center.

Tickets for the dinner are available online. Tickets are $20, or one swipe of a meal plan for Illinois State students. Tickets are available online only, and will not be sold at the door.

During the dinner, Esposito will share his journey as an actor and an artist with a will to succeed despite the hurdles many people of color face while trying to break into “the industry.”

The event is sponsored by Illinois State’s University Housing Services, Campus Dining Services, the Association of Residence Halls, Hewett-Manchester Student Association, East Campus Diversity Coalition, and MECCPAC, a Dean of Students’ Diversity Initiative.

Esposito is a celebrated television, film, and stage actor, whose career spans decades and includes more than 60 films. Television audiences know him best for his iconic portrayal of drug kingpin Gustavo “Gus” Fring in AMC’s award-winning series Breaking Bad, for which he won the 2012 Critics Choice Award and earned a 2012 Emmy nomination. Other notable roles include Spike Lee films such as School Daze and Do The Right Thing, as well as Rabbit Hole, The Usual Suspects, Smoke, and The Last Holiday.

In 2007, through his production company, Quiet Hand Productions, Esposito made his feature directorial debut with the film Gospel Hill. He also co-starred with Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, Taylor Kitsch, and Samuel L. Jackson. Quiet Hand Productions aspires to make “conscious content” films that focus on the inspirational.

For additional information, contact Michelle Halpin at 309-438-8611.

Drama Walking With My Ancestors Illuminates Slave Trade

Walking With My Ancestors, an original play about enslaved Africans in West African slave-holding dungeons, will be presented at 8 p.m. Saturday, October 24, and at 4 p.m. Sunday, October 25, in Illinois State University’s Kemp Recital Hall. Admission to the performances is free.

Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum

Performances will combine drumming, dance, song, and words to depict the experiences of Africans held in slave-holding dungeons before being sent to plantations in the Americas. Following each performance, there will be a Q-and-A session with the performers and audience participation activities involving call-and-response singing, storytelling, and polyrhythmic hand-clapping.

The show’s playwright, Illinois State University Professor Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum, will also discuss the inspiration for Walking With My Ancestors. The show is based on her personal experiences as an ethnomusicologist while visiting the former slave-holding dungeons in her native Ghana. She describes the dungeons as “the tombs and wombs in which Africans were buried and reborn as slaves.”

“By disrupting our understanding of the status quo and giving voice to previously unheard narratives, a most important but neglected past that still defines who we are and how we interact with each other, Walking With My Ancestors offers important perspectives on slavery in its connection to today’s racial problems with truths of this past,” said Aduonum. “In the aftermath of Charleston, Ferguson, Staten Island, and Baltimore, Walking With My Ancestors compels us to deepen dialogue and engagement needed to address racial violence, and begs us to rethink how much has changed, or not, in race relations and policies, helping us to move towards healing.”

Walking With My Ancestors is choreographed by Ama Oforiwaa Aduonum and directed by School of Theatre and Dance Professor Kim Pereira. The performances are presented by Illinois State’s College of Fine Arts and School of Music, with funding from the School of Music and MECCPAC, a Dean of Students Diversity Initiative.

Latino Heritage Month Events Encompass Arts, Politics, Policy, History

Illinois State University continues its observance of Latino Heritage Month Wednesday with a screening of the documentary Empire of Dreams at 7 p.m. in Felmley Hall Annex, room 133.

Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session, facilitated by Professor of Politics and Government Carlos Parodi. All documentary showings are sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program, Milner Library, and Conexiones Latinas de McLean County.

Ana Roncero-Bellido

Meanwhile, Ana Roncero-Bellido will present “Latinas Anónimas: Articulating a Transnational Feminist Rhetorics of Solidarity Through Testimonio,” at 1 p.m., Friday, October 2, in Williams Hall , room 314.

Roncero-Bellido, a Ph.D. candidate with Illinois State’s Department of English, will present her research on the use of testimonio to theorize the complexity of Latina identity. By focusing on the anonymous testimonios written by The Latina Feminist Group (TLFG), she seeks to understand how testimonio becomes a form of healing and a space of solidarity.

The event, which is part of the Conversando Entre Nosotros: LALS Brown Bag Series Lecture, is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program.

Then, enjoy arts in an afternoon of Latino music, poetry, and visual art with the Latino Arts Celebration at 1 p.m. Sunday, October 4, at the University Galleries in Uptown Normal.

Cellist Adriana Ransom will perform a recital featuring works of Gaspar Cassado (Spain), Mario Lavista (Mexico), and Leo Brouwer (Cuba), intertwined with literary readings from Spain, Mexico, and Cuba.

Works by Latino alumni artists will also be on display as part of the University Galleries’ Alumni Spectacular. The event is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program, and the School of Music.

Immigration issues and immigration policy are in the spotlight as a central issue in the current presidential campaign debates. An immigrant rights and U.S. immigration policy panel will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 7, in the Jaime Escalante Room of the Vrooman Center, in between Hewett and Manchester halls.

This panel has been organized with the expressed purpose to gather state and local community leaders to address the lack of immigration reform and the problems that this entails for immigrant families and communities.

Panel members include:
Fred Tsao (Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights)
Jennifer Carrillo (Illinois People’s Action)
Carlos Parodi (ISU Department of Politics and Government)
Maura Toro-Morn (ISU, Latin American and Latino/a Studies)

The panel is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program, the Department of Politics and Government, and the Conexiones Latinas de McLean County.

Anahi Russo-Gullido of the Metropolitan State University of Denver will host a Skype talk for the first of the Queer Talks Series. Her talk, titled “Negotiating Marriage and Polyamory in Queer Mexico City” will be at noon on Thursday, October 8, in the Vrooman Center, room 104.

Professor of Spanish James J. Pancrazio will give a talk titled “Rewriting, Invention, and Plagiarism: the Case of Enriqueta Faber, and the Writing of Transvestism” at 1 p.m. Friday, October 16, in Williams Hall, room 314.

Pancrazio will share a comparison of the literary versions of the case of Faber, the 19th century transvestite that resided in Cuba, in effort to show that each generation rewrites or recreates the image of the transvestite according to their own historical and ideological circumstances. The event, which is part of the Conversando Entre Nosotros: LALS Brown Bag Series Lecture, is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program.

A screening of the documentary “Peril and Promise” will be 7 p.m. October 21, in Felmley Hall Annex, room 133. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session, facilitated by Professor of Psychology Rocio Rivadeneyra. All documentary showings are sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program; Milner Library; and Conexiones Latinas de McLean County.

Hollywood actor Carlos Ponce will be the featured speaker at the Latino Cultural Dinner at 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 3, in the Brown Ballroom.

Carlos Ponce

Ponce is known for his roles in Rio (2011), Spy (2015), and Couples Retreat (2009), and more recently known for his ABC show Cristela. During a Q&A session with Professor Rocia Rivadeneyra, Ponce will be sharing his experiences being a Latino actor in Hollywood.

Tickets will be available closer to the event. Visit Housing.IllinoisState.edu to purchase tickets. The cost is one meal swipe for meal plan participants and $20 for individuals without meal plans.

The Latino Cultural Dinner is sponsored by Campus Dining Services, the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program, and the ISU Association of Residence Halls, The University Housing Services, Waterson Area Government, Waterson Diversity Coalition, Multi-Ethnic Cultural and Co-Curricular Programming and Advisory Committee.

Author of Brown in the Windy City: Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in Postwar Chicago Lilia Fernandez will give a talk titled Was the City Black and White? A History of Latinos in Mid-Century Chicago at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, November 11, in Stevenson Hall, room 101.

Fernandez, of The Ohio State University, Department of History, will share research from her new book and speak on the presence of Latinos in mid-20th century Chicago, the dynamics they witnessed, the social change they championed, and the way they came to understand their place in the black and white metropolis.

The event is sponsored by the Latin American and Latino/a Studies Program and the Department of History.

LGBT Film Festival Explores Sports, Tab Hunter, Family Secrets

The 2015 Your Normal LGBT Film Festival kicks off Oct, 15 with an examination of gay and transgender athletes, continuing through the weekend with two dramas and the story of actor Tab Hunter.

The annual festival, featuring top current films dealing with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender issues and attitudes, is sponsored by the Normal Theater and the Prairie Pride Coalition. All films start at 7 p.m.; admission is $7 at the box office.

Thursday, October 15

Game Face

The award-winning documentary GAME FACE tells the parallel story of Fallon Fox, MMAs first transgender pro fighter, and Terrence Clemens, a young, ambitious and talented college basketball player in Oklahoma, who happens to be gay. NBA player Jason Collins, NFL player Wade Davis, NCAA Division 1 basketball player Kye Allums and triathlete Chris Mosier also appear in the film.

Run Time: 95 min

Release: 2015

Director: Michiel Thomas

Friday, October 16

All About E

Beautiful, sexy e seems to have it all. A popular DJ at the top Sydney gay nightclubs, e has her pick of the girls. Matt, her flamboyant manager and best friend, makes her stunning outfits and creates a stylish home for them both. Life is sweet.

Too scared to come out to her traditional migrant parents, e married Matt, a gay Irish dress designer, to give him a visa and provide cover for her sexuality. e and Matt go on the run pursued by Johnny and his thugs. To avoid certain death there is only one safe place to go: outback Australia and into the arms of e’s ex, Trish. She has to give her family the chance to accept who she really is and find the courage to live her dreams.

Run Time: 93 min

Release: 2015

Director: Louise Wadley

Saturday, October 17

Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party

The film tells the tale of two teenage boys, preacher’s kid Henry Gamble and his friend Gabe, who has a sleepover the night before Henry’s seventeenth birthday pool party. Typical teenage boy chat quickly turns sexual, and it’s silently implied that Henry, on a search for identity, has a crush on Gabe. As dawn arrives on the day of the party, Henry’s mom Kat wakes in a state of limbo, middle-aged, with a secret. A little while later, Pastor Bob is making breakfast, and they are joined by Henry’s 19-year-old sister Autumn, home from college for the party. Later that afternoon, as guests arrive - both from the church, as well as Henry’s own “secular” friends - and day turns to night, Henry carefully navigate the religious strictures and sexual secrets of his community, as do the adults and teenagers of the party, all struggling to tread the public and private, and their longing, despite themselves and their faith, for earthly love.

Run Time: 87 min

Release: 2015

Director: Stephen Cone

Sunday, October 18

Tab Hunter Confidential

7:00PM

The story of matinee idol Tab Hunter from teenage stable boy to closeted Hollywood star of the 1950s. Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. In dozens of films – and in the pages of countless movie magazines – Tab’s astonishing looks and golden-boy sex appeal drove his fans to screaming, delirious frenzy, making him the prototype for all young matinee idols to come. He earned his stripes as an actor to become a major movie star and recording artist. Punctuating Tab’s on screen presence will be rare film clips and provocative interviews with friends and co-stars including John Waters, Clint Eastwood, George Takei, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Wagner, Portia de Rossi, Noah Wyle, Connie Stevens, Robert Osborne, and dozens more.

Run Time: 90 min

Release: 2015

Director: Jeffrey Schwarz

Festival of India: Tradition Through Dance

Below, the Indian Classical Dance troupe, directed by Guru Uma Kallakuri, performs during Sunday's Festival of India on the Illinois State University quad. The annual festival brings together cultural, spiritual, artistic, fashion, and culinary traditions from across the various Indian states. The event is co-sponsored by the McLean County India Association and designed both to unite Indians and Indian-Americans throughout the Bloomington-Normal area and to introduce Indian cultures to Twin Citians.

More highlights from the festival, along with reflections from major festival coordinator, ISU graphic arts instructor, and McLean County India Association President-Elect Archana Shekara tomorrow here at Twin Cities Stories.

Festival of India Offers Taste of Country's Diverse Culture

One of the Twin Cities' key communities will offer a sample of and insights into its culture during the 5th annual Festival of India, from noon to 6 pm. Sunday, Sept. 13, on the Illinois State University quad.

The festival, presented by McLean County India Association and Illinois State University, will feature workshops on yoga meditation, and Pranayama (breath control) and a Rangoli folk art display. Other highlights will include a picture studio with Indian clothing, displays and a parade focusing on the various states represented by Bloomington-Normal's diverse Indian/Indian-American community, henna and face painting, Indian youth sports, balloon art, a bounce house, a culture program, and a Bollywood band influenced by India's major film industry.

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ISU Professor of Graphic Design Archana Shekara, who has helped plan the festival, was on hand for Saturday's Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal strategic planning meeting. "I met some wonderful people shared and listened to great stories — a morning of reflection!" she said.

Shekara noted “each state in India has its own language and culture" -- the McLean County India Association attempts to bridge those regional  differences within the community -- and, with others at Saturday's gathering at Illinois Wesleyan University, stressed the importance of members of the community at large sharing Indian culture with those within the West Asian community.

Cultural Festival 36 Years of Family Fun

Cultural Festival will celebrate 36 years as a community summer tradition on July 25 at the Illinois State University Ballroom in the Bone Student Center. This year the festival theme is “The Happiest Place in Central Illinois”

The festival’s primary purpose is to promote and foster appreciation for a variety of cultures through entertainment and educational activities. It’s also a forum for community organizations to promote and conduct positive activities for civic, patriotic, educational, and social purposes. It is further intended to provide good, wholesome fun activities and entertainment in a family atmosphere.

The free festival is a wonderful time with a little bit of something for everyone. One festival highlight is the main stage entertainment, featuring nonstop performances and activities throughout the day.

Entertainment & Activities
The lineup of talent will be an exciting mix this year, ranging from the Sugar Creek Cloggers to the first Cultural Fest Lip Synch battle. The Children’s Village is another big hit with both parents and youngsters. The village is a special kid zone filled with fun activities and crafts, a big bounce house and face painting by the Zoo Lady. Also Sponge Bob Squarepants will make his first appearance at Cultural Fest, he will be roaming around the Children’s Village with some great giveaways for the kids.

Health & Wellness

Health and wellness will also be promoted during this year’s festival, the McLean County Health Dept. and the 100 Black Men of Central Illinois are partnering to provide a variety of fun and educational health and wellness focus activity and information including Health & Wellness Bingo at 2 p.m. (ISU Circus Room).

 For more information about Cultural Fest, booth registration, or Lip Synch contest entry visit our website: www.culturalfest.com

LGBT Community Celebrates Pride Month With Picnic

The area LGBT community and its allies gathered Sunday for fried chicken, fun, and fellowship at the annual Prairie Pride Coalition/Bloomington-Normal Parents, Families, and Friends of Gays and Lesbians Pride Picnic at Normal's Anderson Park.

The four-hour celebration is one of several June Pride Month events scheduled locally. Coming up Friday is "Adult Salad," an artists' open house beginning at 8 p.m. at Bloomington's The Bistro.

The open house will feature visual art, sculpture, performance art, and spoken word presentations, with a 10 p.m. open microphone. Free appetizers will be available.

Kerry: Laramie Project Opportunity to 'Remember, Discuss, and Learn'

One local mom has far more than merely a role in McLean County Diversity Project's upcoming production of The Laramie Project, an examination of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard and how it mobilized Americans to fight bullying and for LGBT rights and protection.

For Kerry Urquizo, the production goes to her very heart and family's soul.

The play is scheduled at 7 p.m. May 19 and 20 at the Bloomington Center for Performing Arts. See flyer at right or visit www.artsblooming.org for details.

Shepard, 21, was a student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, torture,d and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming on the night of October 6, 1998, and died six days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo., on October 12, from severe head injuries.

Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with murder following Shepard's death. Significant media coverage was given to what role Shepard's sexual orientation played in the killing. During McKinney's pretrial and trial, testimony was given that the pair had pretended to be gay in order to gain Shepard's trust in order to rob him. McKinney's prosecutor argued the murder was premeditated and driven by greed, while McKinney's defense counsel argued that McKinney had only intended to rob Shepard, but had killed him in a rage when Shepard made a sexual advance. McKinney's girlfriend told police that he had been motivated by anti-gay sentiment, but later recanted her statement, saying that she had lied because she thought it would help him. Both McKinney and Henderson were convicted of the murder and each sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Shepard's murder brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation at the state and federal levels. In October 2009, the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (commonly the "Matthew Shepard Act" or "Shepard/Byrd Act" for short), and on October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law. Following her son's murder, Matthew's mother Judy Shepard became a prominent LGBT rights activist and established the Matthew Shepard Foundation. Shepard's death inspired notable films, novels, plays, songs, and other works.

                        Matthew Shepard

Urquizo, who helps operate a family-owned food truck in the Twin Cities, reflects on her memory of the Matthew Shepard tragedy and the impact it had for her as a mother:

There are moments in life that change us and define who we are. The moments can be both horrible and amazing but they still shape us. There have been some powerful moments in my life that have led me to this point - writing an article about how being a part of the Diversity Project’s production of the Laramie Project has changed my life.

The first moment that changed my life was in October 1998. I was in my dorm room watching the news. There were images of Matthew Shepard flashing across the screen. The ones of his parents - his beautiful mother - sobbing in disbelief. And then, there it was 'the fence.' The wooden fence with grass blowing in the wind at its base. I was shocked and changed by the brutality of it. I had never heard of anyone being tortured for being who they are. As I watched the news, I began to see that people were starting to have conversations about this tragedy in a meaningful way. It was a lesson I would never forget.

The next moment that really defined me was when my son came out to me. He was only 12 and he knew. He told me he wanted to tell me because he didn’t want another minute of his life to go by without me knowing who he was. I was so proud of him. He had figured out who he was at such a young age and felt comfortable enough to tell me. Although I was so ecstatic that he could share who he was with myself, my husband, and other children without judgment, I was also extremely scared. The image of the wooden fence flashed in my head. I was terrified he would be harmed because he was gay. I knew that there were people out there that still didn’t accept others and didn’t want to be a part of the conversation. Every day since he came out, I have worried that something could happen to him.

The last moment that brought me here is the day I took my son to audition for the Laramie Project. He is a three-year veteran Diversity Project scholar. I was waiting in the hallway for him to get his chance to audition. At one point, Tricia, the director, asked me to come in and read a few lines. The last play I had been in was over 15 years ago.

Kerry Urquizo

I am a busy woman with a food truck, full-time job and three kids to manage. But, I did it, thinking there was no way they would hear me read and actually give me a part. Well, I was cast. Going to practices with my son, I met fantastic people from the cast who had open conversations about why we are doing with this play. It helped me to feel less worried that something would happen to my son. I saw that telling this most important story would help others learn that we as people cannot repeat this hatred towards each other. I started to hope that people would start to have the images of the fence in their heads and continue the conversation.

I know that I cannot protect my son from the harm of others - but I can teach him to remember those who spoke out before him to make it easier to be a gay man in the U.S. Also, he can be a part of events like the Laramie Project to help people remember, discuss, and learn.

As Maya Angelou said, “To know better is to do better.”

Kerry Urquizo

El Dia de los Ninos Celebrates Books

Bloomington Public Library Saturday celebrated the magic of books and the wonders of bilingual education during Saturday's 8th Annual El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros celebration.

Guests enjoyed the magic of Jesus Rios and musical entertainment by Mike Anderson on the library patio. Children also enjoyed crafts, face painting by the Zoo Lady, visits with Dora the Explorer and other mascots, popcorn, and community services displays.

Each child received a goodie bag including a free book.

The Bloomington library in recent years has hosted bilingual story times and other events to highlight the benefit of dual Spanish and English language skills.

Here's a sample of the library's bilingual favorites:

Gossie, by Olivier Dunrea -- Gossie is a gosling who likes to wear bright red boots every day, no matter what she is doing, and so she is heartbroken the day the boots are missing and she can't find them anywhere.

Cool Salsa, by Lori Carlson and Oscar Hijuelos -- Poems celebrating Hispanic culture are the focus of this collection. Liberal sprinkling of Spanish words and phrases with some poems translated from one language to another make this an ideal anthology for both the English class and the bilingual ESL classroom. Topics for poems extend from hot dogs to learning English to the revolution in Nicaragua. What all of the selections have in common is the adolescent experience at the core of the poem.

Maximilian and The Mystery of the Guardian Angel, by Xavier Garza -- Eleven-year-old Maximilian, a big fan of the form of wrestling known as lucha libre, begins to suspect that he has a close connection with his favorite luchador, El Angel de La Guardia, the Guardian Angel.

Tractores Agricolas, by Matt Doeden -- Simple text and photographs describe farm tractors, their parts, and what they do--in both English and Spanish.

NIOT:B/N Uncovers New Pledges at 'Hide and Seek'

Bullying and its prevention took center stage at Breaking Chains & Advancing Increase's  (BCAI) School of Arts' Saturday end-of-semester dinner show, "Hide and Seek."

Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal "Not In Our Town" anti-bigotry/anti-bullying pledges at the program, at Hallelujah Worship Center 1105 E Oakland Ave., Bloomington.

The presentation featured performances from students of BCAI, as well as surrounding artists designed to provide perspectives from all angles of bullying, according to BCAI's Angelique Racki "to significantly decrease misunderstandings and increase appreciation for one another."

Conexiones Latinas Helping Launch Ballet Folklorico

Conexiones Latinas de McLean County is launching a new endeavor, Ballet Folklorico de Central Illinois, an attempt to showcase the art and culture of the Latino community.

The original Ballet Folklórico de México is a Mexican ensemble in Mexico City. For six decades, it has presented dances in costumes that reflect the traditional culture of Mexico.

The ensemble also has appeared under the name Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández.

That ballet's works and musical pieces reflect various regions and folk music genres of Mexico. Many of the ensemble's works reflect the traditions of indigenous Mesoamerican culture.

Numbers of performers in individual dance numbers range from two to more than thirty-five.

Under Hernández, the group was a pioneer of Baile Folklórico in Mexico. Similar groups have formed in the U.S.

Dear White People April 20 at Braden

A film examining race relations will air Monday, April 20, at Bone Student Center's Braden Auditorium, followed by an opportunity to dialogue with the star.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7 p.m. showing of Dear White People,  is a satirical comedy-drama starring actress Tessa Thompson that follows the lives of four Black students and their experiences regarding race relations at a predominately White Ivy League college. Things boil over when an all-white staff of a humor magazine stages an offensive Halloween party.

 Moviegoers can enter to win the opportunity to meet Tessa Thompson on April 21 for “A Talk About Race Through the Arts.” The forum, which also starts at 7 p.m. in the Braden Auditorium, will address how race, diversity, and inclusion are illustrated through the arts. Thompson was also featured in the film Selma and For Colored Girls and played ‘Jackie Cook’ on the CW’s crime show Veronica Mars.

 Her performance in Dear White People landed her a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor, as well as a the 46th Annual NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.

 The events are sponsored by the ISU Dean of Students Office and ISU’s American Democracy Project.

Play Examines LGBT Life in the '50s

A staged reading of the play Beebo Brinker Comes to Town will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, in the Illinois State University Center for the Visual Arts, Room 151. Admission is free.

The play, written by Illinois State Associate Professor of English Paula Ressler and directed by Assistant Professor of Theatre Duane Boutté, is based on Ann Bannon’s 1962 lesbian pulp fiction novel Beebo Brinker. The play focuses on lesbian life in the 1950s during the time of the Cold War, the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, and with the Women’s and Gay Liberation movements on the horizon.

Ressler is the author of several original plays, a number of dramatic literary adaptations and the award-winning book, Dramatic Changes, which addresses incorporating LGBTQ issues into teacher education through drama. She has appeared locally in a reading of Irene Taylor’s play Tapestries at New Route Theatre and a staged reading of Dear Harvey by Patricia Loughrey sponsored by Prairie Pride Coalition.

Boutté, an actor/director with New York City professional roots, has appeared in the films Stonewall and Brother to Brother, and was in the original Broadway companies of Parade and the 1994 revival of Carousel.  He portrayed the gay, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the play Civil Sex, produced at New York City’s Public Theatre and other theatres across the country. Most recently he directed the School of Theatre and Dance’s production of Cabaret and Prairie Pride Coalition’s staged reading of Peter Macklin’s gay-themed play, A Different Time.

The staged reading is funded partly through a grant from the Town of Normal Harmon Arts Grant. The event is sponsored by Prairie Pride Coalition, the ISU LGBT/Queer Studies and Services Institute, the Department of English and the School of Theatre and Dance.

Normal Theater to Host Asian Film Festival

In celebration of Asian-American Heritage Month, AsiaConnect will present the 2015 Asian Film Festival from Thursday, April 9, through Sunday, April 12, at the Normal Theater.

The cost of the event is free for students with an ID and $7 for general admission.

The festival will feature four theatrically acclaimed movies from China, South Korea, India and Japan including:

• Shadow Magic (Ann Hu, 2000) [China], at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 9. The movie is a historical drama about the introduction of motion pictures to China during the beginning of the 20th century. It follows a young photographer who struggles to start a film industry in China despite the strong anti-Western sentiment of the time.

• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003) [South Korea], at 7 p.m. Friday, April 10. This film is Buddhist, but it is also universal. “It takes place within and around a small house floating on a small raft on a small lake, and within that compass, it contains life, faith, growth, love, jealousy, hate, cruelty, mystery, redemption … and nature. Also a dog, a rooster, a cat, a bird, a snake, a turtle, a fish and a frog,” stated the late film critic Roger Ebert.

• The Lunchbox (Ritesh Bartra, 2014) [India], at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 11. Set in contemporary Mumbai, this film tells the story of Ila, a middle-class housewife who tries to rejuvenate her marriage through cooking. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to her neglectful husband at work, but it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, which leads to an emotional journey of self-discovery. They each find an anchor to hold onto in a big city that so often crushes hopes and dreams.

• The Tale of Princess Kaguya (Isao Takahata, 2014) [Japan], at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 12. Based on a Japanese folktale, this animated fantasy drama tells the story of a young princess who must discover her past and confront her fate. Produced by Studio Ghibli, which created Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, this sweeping epic redefines the limits of animated storytelling. It also marks another triumph for director Isao Takahata, acclaimed for his war-themed animated film Grave of the Fireflies (1988). The Tale of Princess Kaguya was nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

AsiaConnect is an affinity group established to promote Asian cultures and represent the interests, needs and concerns of Asian faculty, staff and students.

This event is made possible by the generous support of Beyond Normal Films Cinema Arts Project, Downs Automotive, Inc., McLean County India Association, Normal Theater, Office of the President, Dr. and Mrs. SJ Chang, Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology, Crossroads Project, Department of Politics and Government, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, MECCPAC, Dean of Students Diversity Initiative, Office of International Studies and Programs, and Office of the Provost.

Roxanne: Local Dance Club Offers Rich Mix of Cultural Expression

Fata Dance Club will conduct its fifth summer session in Bloomington, offering a rich palette of "dance cultures" from throughout the globe.

"Fata" stands for "from Africa to America." The club teaches dances from African, Caribbean, and Latin cultures as well as jazz, hip-hop, and praise dance, according to club director Roxanne Ledford, "without bias."

"We encourage all races cultures and skill levels to join as a way to network, learn about each other and unify," Ledford said.

"I'm originally from Chicago where I attended Columbia college dance major. I danced with a couple of dance troupes and worked for a few afterschool programs.

"We service youth ages 3-15 and adults 16 and up every summer and during special events such as Worldwide Day of Play and Culture Night. Unfortunately we are not funded by any organizations, but it feels good to have been able to pull this off with the help from the parents who enroll their kids as a member."

A one-time membership fee pays for dance space, costumes, music, props, and snacks, and the club also conducts fundraising activities to help supplement Ledford's own out-of-pocket costs.

"No one gets paid at all," Ledford stressed. "It's challenging and sometimes overwhelming, but worth the outcome. We perform for (CultureFest) every year as a way to show what the group has learned."

Open enrollment now through May 30. Learn more at https://fatadanceclub.wufoo.com/forms/mq84dff0glq5rl/.

Local Musician, Food Truck Open for Los Lonely Boys

                                                Marcos Mendez

Twin Citians will be offered a taste of local Latin food and music at Thursday's Los Lonely Boys concert at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

Not In Our Town: Bloomington/Normal's Marcos Mendez, who also chairs the community advocacy group Conexiones Latinas, will open at 6:30 p.m. for the Texas band, which won a 2005 Grammy as best Pop Vocal Duo/Group. Mendez plans to perform blues, roots, rock, and some Mariachi tunes "mixed in for good measure."

Oogies Food on Wheels, a mobile restaurant, will serve Mexican-inspired foods from 5 to 7 p.m. outside the center. The food truck was launched last year by Kerry and Felipe Urquizo, with help from their three children, Oskar, Olivia, and Gus. Kerry works at Heartland Community College and Felipe is a cook at a local restaurant.

Cross-cultural Filmmakers at IWU March 25-26

Influential independent filmmaker, screenwriter, and author John Sayles and his longtime collaborator Maggie Renzi will visit Illinois Wesleyan University March 25-26 to cap off a weeklong festival of their films. All events are free and open to the public.

Sayles has twice been nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay (Passion Fish and Lone Star). His novel Union Dues (1977) was a finalist for a National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Sayles also received an O. Henry Award for his first published short story, “I-80 Nebraska.”

The film Amigo, which was written and directed by Sayles and produced by Renzi, will be screened at 7 p.m. March 26 in Wesleyan's Hansen Student Center. Sayles and Renzi will lead a discussion following the film. Amigo (2011) is set in 1900 during the Philippine-American War and stars frequent Sayles’ collaborator Chris Cooper.

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott wrote: “Amigo is a well-carpentered narrative, fast-moving and empathetic, stepping nimbly from gravity to good humor. It has points to make, but Mr. Sayles frequently allows his ideas about how the world works to be overridden (or undermined) by his curiosity about how people behave…All in all, he is a pretty good history teacher, the kind who knows how to make even difficult lessons entertaining and relevant.”

Sayles will also read from his most recent novel, A Moment in the Sun, at 4 p.m. March 25 in The Ames Library’s Beckman Auditorium. A New York Times Notable Book of 2011, A Moment in the Sun begins in 1897 during the Yukon gold rush and takes the reader into the Spanish-American War, the Filipino fight for independence, racial injustice and the plight of working people in the U.S. Lucia Silva of NRP’s “Morning Edition” said: “…Sayles has managed to create a work that is both cinematic and literary in its scope and style—a blend so entrancing that you could polish off its 955 pages in one long weekend…Short, powerful chapters follow four unconnected characters to create a mosaic of America as a nascent superpower, underscoring the personal and cultural consequences of its ambitions.”

Sayles and Renzi met in the early 1970s as students at Williams College in Massachusetts.  Longtime collaborators and partners, Renzi has produced a number of films directed by Sayles including Honeydripper (2007); Silver City (2004); Sunshine State (2002); Lone Star (1996); and Matewan (1987).

Lone Star, set in a small-town Texas that was rigidly segregated until recently, deals with a sheriff’s investigation into the murder of one of his predecessors. It stars Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey and Elizabeth Peña. Lone Star was screened at IWU March 17. In a 1997 review, the late Roger Ebert said the film “…..shows how Chicanos, blacks, whites and Indians shared a common history, and how they knew one another and dealt with one another in ways that were off the official map…this film is a wonder.”

Sayles’ long and eclectic career also has included screenwriting work, from genre classic The Howling to Apollo 13 to The Quick and the Dead, to directing three music videos for Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA, I’m on Fire and Glory Days. The videos were also produced by Renzi.

During their time at IWU, Sayles and Renzi will meet with student groups. Their visit is sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice, the Chaplain’s Office, the Department of History, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s 3D series of programming.

Sayles will also read from his most recent novel, A Moment in the Sun, at 4 p.m. March 25 in The Ames Library’s Beckman Auditorium. A New York Times Notable Book of 2011, A Moment in the Sun begins in 1897 during the Yukon gold rush and takes the reader into the Spanish-American War, the Filipino fight for independence, racial injustice and the plight of working people in the U.S. Lucia Silva of NRP’s “Morning Edition” said: “…Sayles has managed to create a work that is both cinematic and literary in its scope and style—a blend so entrancing that you could polish off its 955 pages in one long weekend…Short, powerful chapters follow four unconnected characters to create a mosaic of America as a nascent superpower, underscoring the personal and cultural consequences of its ambitions.”

Sayles and Renzi met in the early 1970s as students at Williams College in Massachusetts.  Longtime collaborators and partners, Renzi has produced a number of films directed by Sayles including Honeydripper (2007); Silver City (2004); Sunshine State (2002); Lone Star (1996); and Matewan (1987).

Lone Star, set in a small-town Texas that was rigidly segregated until recently, deals with a sheriff’s investigation into the murder of one of his predecessors. It stars Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey and Elizabeth Peña. Lone Star was screened at IWU March 17. In a 1997 review, the late Roger Ebert said the film “…..shows how Chicanos, blacks, whites and Indians shared a common history, and how they knew one another and dealt with one another in ways that were off the official map…this film is a wonder.”

Sayles’ long and eclectic career also has included screenwriting work, from genre classic The Howling to Apollo 13 to The Quick and the Dead, to directing three music videos for Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA, I’m on Fire and Glory Days. The videos were also produced by Renzi.

During their time at IWU, Sayles and Renzi will meet with student groups. Their visit is sponsored by the Center for Human Rights and Social Justice, the Chaplain’s Office, the Department of History, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s 3D series of programming.

Illinois Author Explores Judaism, Visits IWU

Best-selling and critically acclaimed author Joshua Ferris will give a reading of his latest work, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, on March 18 at Illinois Wesleyan University. Sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta English honor society, Tributaries and Lyrical Graffiti, the free event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center and is open to the public.

Published in 2014, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour follows an atheist dentist and Red Sox fan who longs to be a part of the Jewish community—even though he doesn’t believe in God. Hailed as “an impressive investigation of faith and doubt” by The Paris Review, the novel won the Dylan Thomas Prize, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and was chosen as a Best Book of 2014 by National Public Radio.

“To Rise Again at a Decent Hour discusses issues like identity theft, religion, technology and, oddly enough, oral hygiene,” said Erica Kucharski ’15, co-president of Sigma Tau Delta. “It's hilarious and absurd at times, but really makes you think about your place in the world.”

Joe Ruskey ’15, co-president of Sigma Tau Delta, invited Ferris to campus. “What separates Ferris from other writers is that his novels delve into challenges our generation constantly faces, and the tone and voice of his writing provides the reader with a sense of truth that is not often seen,” Ruskey said.           

Born in Danville, Illinois, Ferris earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree from the University of California-Irvine. Ferris’ first novel, Then We Came to the End, is a satire of a Chicago advertising agency at the end of the dot-com boom. The national bestseller was a 2007 National Book Award finalist and a 2007 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction winner. In 2010, Ferris published The Unnamed, about a marriage, a family, and the unseen forces of nature and desire.

Ferris has also published numerous short stories appearing in The Iowa Review, Best American Short Stories, Tin House, The Guardian and The New Yorker, among others. He was named to The New Yorker’s “20 Under 40” list of ‘fiction writers worth watching’ and is a winner of the Barnes and Noble Discover New Writers Award.