First Online With Fran
Featuring Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary things in The Arts
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Irina Kruzhilina: Fierce Frontrunner on Immigration
I want to educate the public about what’s happening in the immigration crisis itself and inside the courts, about the refugees and how they are treated here, but also to make the performances beautiful in a way that will impart something profound to the audience. How do I put these stories into the most beautiful artistic form to go to the core of the human being? What I need from these performances is a call to action—for people to actually DO something. We need to educate them and impact them emotionally, so that people know what to do. This crisis is on us! We need to be haunted by their stories. We need to hear these stories over and over again so we cannot turn away. ~ Irina KruzhilinaIrina Kruzhilina is an award-winning theater maker whose roles include director, scenographer, experience designer, playwright, professor, and artistic director, creating work at the intersection of visual art, live performance, and civic engagement.
Rosie Stewart: Freedom-to-Read Revelations
Why is freedom to read so important? I think we take for granted the idea that a multiplicity of voices are accessible to us, and our libraries are places that represent the voices of everyone in the community. There's a court case called Little v Llano just came out of the 5th district of the 5th circuit court of appeals, the district covers Texas and Louisiana. This court case is threatening one of the most essential freedoms that we have which is a couple of First Amendment precedents that were established in the 60s-70s that say that very thing -- that books cannot be removed from the shelves based on just disagreeing with the partisan ideas or the ideas wherein...the threats to these freedoms are very real, and what I try to do is get out the urgent message that we could see the Supreme Court weaken the first amendment as it comes to free expression, as it comes to the freedom to read, as it comes to the ability to read what you want, think what you want about it, write what you want, and I don't know what could be more fundamental than that. That's the message I'm really trying to get across. ~ Rosie StewartRosalie (Rosie) Stewart is Senior Manager of Public Policy at Penguin Random House. A skilled grassroots organizer with a passion for youth, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and championing the freedom to read, Rosie has extensive experience working at the federal, state, and local levels on issues including appropriations, intellectual freedom, and voting access. Rosie is a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government
Laura Raicovich: Fall of Freedom
"One of the major ideas behind Fall of Freedom was not only to get some bold-faced names involved to this project to attract involvement, but to get regular folks to participate...We are all creative beings; we are all producing culture all the time...it's not just seeing the art on the wall, but the conversations we might have. These are important cultural acts that are unfolding on a daily basis and everybody is participating in them. You don't have to fall into this special category of "artist" to produce culture. " ~Laura RaicovichLaura Raicovich is a New York City-based writer and curator based in New York City. Most recently, she curated the inaugural Counterpublic Convening, CIRCUS OF LIFE, in St. Louis, MO and is an initiator of Fall of Freedom, a national call for cultural resistance in the US.
Lina AbiRafeh: Women's Rights in Dark Times
Holding women back doesn't just harm women, it holds everyone back - our economies, our nations, our future. If inequality is limiting us all, why aren't we doing anything to fix it? To build the unity needed to move forward, we have to connect to people's values. What kind of world do they want? For me, the answer is clear: we need women's full participation - everywhere. Holding women back holds humanity back. And building a better world for women is better for everyone. ~Lina AbiRafehLina AbiRafeh is a prominent women’s rights activist, author, and speaker, dedicated to eradicating inequality for women. With three decades of experience, she has worked in over 20 countries to create real-life solutions to the global challenges women and girls face. Lina is also the Founder and Chief Changemaker of Better4Women, her advisory firm delivering practical and innovative solutions for gender equality. Lina holds a master’s degree in international economics and development from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her work includes speaking and writing to ignite everyday activism, creating impactful change for women worldwide.
Amanda DuBois: Getting Lives Back on Track
I came up with this idea that we would have workshops, and we would have formerly incarcerated people come to the workshops, and we would teach them about organizing and teach about women's suffrage, civil rights, and marriage equality. How impactful a group of people can be if they all have the same interest. They're voters. They can talk to the state legislators and tell them, 'I'm a voter and what they're doing is making my life really hard.' And, to my great surprise, it totally worked! Amanda DuBois—attorney, social justice advocate, and author of the award-winning Camille Delaney legal-mystery series. Amanda DuBois is the founder and managing partner of DuBois Levias Law Group, one of Washington’s longest-standing, woman-owned law firms.
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