Between the World and Me Tour
Creative Team
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Book
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, and a distinguished writer in residence at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. His 2015 book, Between the World and Me, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and the winner of the National Book Award. Structured as a letter to his teenage son, it moves from Baltimore's West Side to Howard University to New York City to Paris, addressing what it means to inhabit an African American body in today's America. His most recent book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, is a collection of his essays on the Obama presidency and its aftermath. Since 2016, Coates has written for The Black Panther comic book and has recently begun writing Marvel's Captain America comic book, of which the first issue is slated for release July 4, 2018.
Kamilah Forbes
Director
Kamilah Forbes is a director/producer and the historic Apollo Theater's executive producer. Her Broadway associate director credits include Holler If Ya Hear Me, A Raisin in the Sun, Lucky Guy, Stick Fly, The Mountain Top, and Def Poetry Jam (tour). Recent directing - Detroit 67, Baltimore Center Stage; People's Light: All My Sons; People's Light: Fences; Arena Stage: Blood Quilt; True Colors: Detroit '67; Labyrinth Theater Company: Sunset Baby; 651 Arts: Circle Unbroken; Kennedy Center: Nas Live From the Kennedy Center, Tribute to Marvin Gaye featuring John Legend and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. Ceelo Green's Lady Killer Love Story the Musical (workshop); Drumline the Musical (workshop); Summer Stage: Sweet Billy and the Zooloos; Other - Lincoln Center Theater, Public Theater, Lark Play Development Center, Arena Stage and Artistic Director of Hip-Hop. TV - Credits include The Wiz Live (associate director, NBC); HBO's Def Poetry Jam (producer); and HBO's Brave New Voices (executive producer); PBS The Women's List documentary (executive producer); PBS Nas Live from the Kennedy Center (producer). Professional - Executive Producer Apollo Theater, Kennedy Center: Curator in Residence. Education - Howard University, Oxford University.
Jason Moran
Composer & Musician
Jason Moran was born in Houston, TX in 1975 and earned a degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Jaki Byard. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010 and is the Artistic Director for Jazz at the Kennedy Center. He has collaborated with such major figures as Adrian Piper, Joan Jonas, Glenn Ligon, Stan Douglas, Adam Pendleton, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker; commissioning intuitions of Moran's Work include the Walker Art Center, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Dia Art Foundation, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Harlem Stage. Ava DuVernay's documentary The 13th is scored by Jason Moran and on view via Netflix. This marks DuVernay and Moran's second collaboration as their follow up to the movie Selma.
