Looking Back, Moving Forward: The Spirit of Marcus Garvey

Featuring Ron Bobb-Semple

In a celebration of Black History, The Studio@620 welcomes Ron Bobb-Semple as he reinacts the man that was Marcus Garvey during an evening of culture and edu-tainment.  Join us on Friday April 23 and Friday April 30 as we present an encore performance of the one man show that was presented here at the Studio last February 6, 2010.

About the Actor

RON BOBB-SEMPLE, in 1999, journeyed to Dakar, Senegal, where he presented "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey" on Goreé Island, and in November of 2000 returned to the Motherland with the project, this time at the Elmina Castle in Ghana. In addition, Ron is the recipient of the Marcus Garvey Awards from the Government of Jamerican United Nationals Association in 1988, and the Marcus Garvey Celebration Committee in 1991. For Black History Month 2001, Bobb-Semple was the voice of Garvey in the PBS Special Film, "Marcus Garvey: Look For Me In The Whirlwind."

This award winning Guyanese born actor was a cast member of the World Premiere of OyamO's Famous Orpheus, a production in collaboration with Garth Fagan, winner of the Tony Award for his choreography of The Lion King on Broadway. A few of Bobb-Semple's other stage credits include: Award winning playwright August Wilson's Seven Guitars, The Piano Lesson and Fences, the latter co-starring with Avery Brooks; South African playwright Athol Fugard's My Children, My Africa!; Bingo!!, a musical directed by the legendary Ossie Davis who once said, “Ron, you are one of the most gifted performers I have worked with.”; Pulitzer Prizewinner Derek Walcott's musical, Steel; and Pepe Carille's, Shango de Ima, for which he received the 1994 AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee) Award for 'Best Supporting Actor,' in New York. In 2005, Ron won the AUDELCO's 'Lead Actor' award for his portrayal of Durbin Freeman in Joyce Sylvester's 'A Freeman Hope' at The Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, New York.

His film and television credits include Nursing Tuskegee, Mental Vengeance, Playing Both Sides, Deep Trouble, Pressure, and Lost Money and several national commercials.

 

About Marcus Garvey

One hundred and eighteen years ago God, as it were, sent his begotten son, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, to redeem his people by showing them the only way towards salvation.  For reasons known only to the Almighty, the little town of St. Ann's bay, situated on the north coast of Jamaica, was chosen as the birthplace of this great prophet, teacher and leader. The date of this modern miracle was August 17th, 1887. Garvey was a man who, in retrospect, was far ahead of his time. This is clearly proven by the fact that his ideologies have resurfaced today and could be considered a major factor in the liberation of African peoples the world over. On August 1, 1914, Garvey launched the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (U.N.I.A & A.C.L) in Jamaica, an organization to advocate the unity and blending of all Negroes into one strong, healthy race.