On Friday night, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, Anna Deavere Smith combined her talents as an educator, actress, playwright, and journalist in a dramatic performance in Spaulding auditorium titled "Snapshots: Glimpses of America in Change."
Her brilliant lecture was centered around race relations in the United States -- the social and economic issues that surround racial and ethnic conflict in our country.
Noreen Nilan '99 commented that she "thought Smith was a dynamic, powerful performer. She demonstrated how we perceive people, and how we don't listen to people. Smith made it feel that you personally were having a conversation with the people she was representing."
Modifying the cliche that a picture speaks a thousand words, Smith presented the audience with photographs of words. These verbal images come from hour long interviews which Smith has conducted with a diverse body of people. The snapshots she presented on Friday night came from her Obie Award winning solo dramatic pieces: "Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights," "Brooklyn, and Other Identities" and "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992."
Smith was recently named a MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellow. In addition to her dramatic works she has also appeared in the Hollywood movies "Philadelphia," "The American President," and "Dave."
Robert Tichio '99 stated that Smith's performance "spoke a lot about race relations and specific representation of race. But at the same time it is paradoxical because she's crossing a fine line between reinforcing stereotypes and racial representation." Smith touched on this subject in an answer to a question from an audience member.
