Places to Go, Things to See & Read…

Dear Leading Ladies,

Because two of us have boarded jet planes for the first time in three years on extended vacations, we are offering an alternative to our usual missive: an annotated list of books to read, plays and movies to watch, and places to visit that may offer insights, stimulate thoughts and discussion, and encourage new activism.

  • Check out this exhibit: “Marking Time: Art in the Time of Incarceration.” Works of contemporary artists concerned with social justice paired with art by US prison inmates. The show’s text says the show offers a look at “how punitive governance, predatory policing, surveillance, and mass imprisonment impact everyday life for many millions of people.” Until Dec. 18 David Winton Bell Gallery. Brown University. 64 College St. Providence, RI.

  • For an unusual dance experience, see “Jean Appolon Expressions.” The Cambridge-based choreographer presents a “work that explores dance, culture, and community as pathways to healing from trauma and injustice.” Sunday, Oct. 2. Free. Multicultural Arts Center, Cambridge.

  • Watch “Sidney,” a film tribute to the recently departed actor and activist Sidney Poitier. On Apple TV beginning Sept. 23.

  • See “The Essence of Us - We Have Always Been Here”: an exhibition of quilts celebrating African American quilt making and its important role on Black women’s lives and communities. Dillaway-Thomas House, Roxbury Heritage State Park. 183 Roxbury St, Boston. Through Oct, 23. Sistersinstitches.org www.mass.gov/locations/roxbury-heritage-state-park

  • Rent “Borderland: The Life & Times of Blanche Ames Ames,” a 55-minute documentary that chronicles the life of Blanche Ames Ames (1878-1969), an artist, an activist, a builder, an inventor, a birth control maverick, and a leader of the woman suffrage movement in Massachusetts.

  • Read “The Mamas – What I Learned About Kids, Class and Race from Moms Not Like Me,” an insightful inside view of what being the “other” in America looks and feels like, by Helena Andrews-Dyer.

  • Visit Mass MOCA in North Adams to see EJ Hill’s roller coaster installation that harkens back to when “amusement parks were contested sites throughout Jim Crow-era desegregation efforts for equitable access to pleasure, leisure, and recreation. For Hill, roller coasters are public monuments to the possibility of attaining joy—which, as he notes, is “a critical component of social equity.” Opens Oct. 30.

  • See “Drumfolk” at the Cutler Majestic in Boston Oct 5-16. ”When Africans lost the right to use their drums, the beats found their way into the body of the people. Inspired by the Stono Rebellon of 1739 and Negro Act of 1740, Drumfolk is a thrilling, percussive exploration of American history, placing a spotlight on the rhythmic cycle of life that bonds all of us together.”

  • See “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” one of August Wilson’s masterpieces that “pays tribute to a makeshift community that springs up in the Great Migration.” At The Huntington in Boston. Oct 14 - Nov 13.

  • Though August was Indigenous Heritage Month, it’s never too late to read some terrific books by indigenous authors. We recommend “There There” by Tony Orange, but for a list of other possibilities, try this.

  • It’s Hispanic Heritage Month now. We recommend reading Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez, a novel based on the author’s life that investigates the conflicts and complexities of multiple ethnic identities. For more suggestions, try here.

  • Read A Place Called Home, a memoir about growing up homeless and in foster care and rising to become a leading advocate for child welfare. “It's impossible to read A Place Called Home and not want to redouble your efforts to fight the systems of poverty that have plagued America for far too long,” said Hillary Clinton.

  • See “We Move in Color,” the story of the African American journey through immersive art, music, dance, and poetry. Oct 6 at the historic Strand Theater in Boston.

  • Watch these films to help understand Roe v. Wade – how it came about and how we lost it: “Mrs. America” on Hulu; “After Tiller,” on YouTube and Kanopy; “AKA Jane Roe” on Hulu; “Abortion Stories Women Tell” on HBO Max; “Reversing Roe” on Netflix. Later in the year, “The Janes”; an HBO doc;”Call Jane”, and “Happening,” a French film, will be coming out soon.

We hope you enjoy some of these possibilities and find them worth your time!

Back next week!

Therese (she, hers)
Judy (she, hers)
Didi (she, hers)
Mackenzie (she, hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org

Britney Achin