The Greenville City Council on Tuesday night reversed a decision by the planning and zoning commission that would have denied a zoning change to allow transitional housing project for young
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It’s mere coincidence that Common Ground Theatre’s long-planned production of “Day of Absence” opened for streaming on Friday, just six days after the death of its venerated 90-year-old playwright Douglas Turner Ward.
But the passing of Ward who cofounded and for many years ran the Negro Ensemble Company in New York reminds the viewer of how innovative a writer he was, and how this boundary-breaking 1965 play is still, unfortunately, relevant today. The filmed play, directed by Common Ground artistic director Yolanda Franklin, was presented for just three Zoom-based performances last weekend.
“Day of Absence” is a satire described as a reverse minstrel show. Black actors wearing whiteface makeup portray the White citizens of a small Southern town in the mid-1950s, where all of the city’s Black residents mysteriously disappear for one day. The White residents become increasingly desperate, despondent and angry as they realize how dependent they are on the Bl
Bledsoe opened his remarks by recognizing the newest Texas unit.Â
âI wanted to welcome you guys aboard and to say that I am absolutely enthused that youâre here,â he said.
Bledsoe also praised the community work DFW Metro has already started.
âYou are doing the kinds of things we need the NAACP to do,â Bledsoe said. âWe are a great and diverse group that look at the world in the appropriate way. We look forward to you being a full-fledged unit doing great work, even greater work than what youâre doing now.â
The inaugural meeting was well attended by the local unit members, and it also attracted the following local and Texas-wide officials: Judge Victor Landers; Gwen Morrison â Tarrant County Community College Trustee Board Member; Kristen Washington â Greenville Place 3 Councilwoman; Reverend Lynn Harper â Community Missionary Baptist Church of Desoto;attorney Delia Parker-Mims; Paige Dixon â LewisvilleÂ�