East Orange, NJ, March 20, 2019: The Department of Recreation & Cultural Affairs invites you to celebrate Women’s History Month with a special program, Storms Weathered, a dramatic reading that examines the highlights, struggles, and personal storms of four iconic African-American blues and jazz singers: Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith.
The event will be held Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at the East Orange Senior Center, 90 Halsted Street, between 6p.m. – 8p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
Performing artists will be Patricia Walton as Billie Holiday, Jacquelyn Graham as Ethel Waters, Lady Rose as Josephine Baker and Zakiyyah Zai’mah as Bessie Smith.
In addition to honoring the extraordinary legacy each woman has left on the American jazz and blues cultural landscape, the program also will recognize the following five East Orange’s Hidden Figures:
- Keely Freeman, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Sierra House
- Florence M. Johnson, Former Councilwoman and Community Liaison for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
- Carolyn Ryan-Reed, Director of East Orange Public Library
- Alyce West, Longtime East Orange Crossing Guard and Community Volunteer
- Nadine Wright-Arbubakrr, Founder of Nassan’s Place
For more information, please call 973.414.4141.
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