The Bridge Series unites the Pittsburgh literary and activist communities to raise awareness and funds for local organizations fighting the good fight in these troubling times.
The series convenes the last Wednesday of each month at The Brillobox. Each installment will feature Pittsburgh’s finest writers and a special guest organization (with proceeds from the evening going directly to that organization).
$5 Cover
Plus a special performance from Alumni Theater Company!!!!
Tonight will feature readings from:
Brian Broome is a Creative Writing/English major at Chatham University. He has been published in Creative Nonfiction, The Ocean State Review and the Delta Foundation’s Pride Magazine. Brian’s work explores the topics of racism, masculinity and the African American male. He also lectures on these topics, most recently at the invitation of the University of Pittsburgh’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies program where he gave a talk entitled, “Balls.”
Cheryl Hall-Russell, MA, MPA is the President of Black Women, Wise Women, a management consulting firm supporting female executive leaders of color. She is also a doctoral candidate at Point Park University where her work focuses on Black women executives and their coping and resilience patterns. She is transitioning out of a 24-year career in nonprofit management to Higher Ed where she plans to continue her research and teach. Her first love however, has always been writing. She has written a yet unpublished book of poetry titled “The Offspring of Anger,” and has published two books on ethnic philanthropy while a researcher at Indiana University in Indianapolis, IN. Additionally she has published in multiple peer reviewed journals and has been a frequent guest opinion columnist for both the Indianapolis Star and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Most recently her poem “Too Much” was accepted to be a part of a anthology on Black women. It is a part of a series of poems she has written on the perception of black women in America. Although she has been a poet for several decades, she only recently began to share her work in the Pittsburgh market. She has two blog sites, one for work and the other “Cheryl unscripted” that contains some of her poetry and essays.
Hall-Russell is the mother of two including a daughter, Adia, who will be a freshman at Oakland Catholic in the fall, and a grown son Cameron, who resides in her hometown of Indianapolis.
Yona Harvey’s work brings artistic expression to the diverse lives and experiences of Black American women through literature. Specifically, she explores the visibility and invisibility of Black women, their mental health and self-care, and the evidence of their imaginations in society as manifested in their hair, clothing, speech, parenting, decisions not to parent, and interactions with other women. She explores these experiences through any genre necessary.
Our guest organization for the evening is Alumni Theater Company, and Halle Donner will be on-hand to discuss their mission:
Alumni Theater Company (ATC) is a driven ensemble that creates bold theatrical work that gives fresh voice to the experience of young urban artists and highlights their rich contribution to our community. ATC’s work validates the perspective of urban youth to both its members and its audience, building an increasingly growing and diverse community of support for both the performers and their ideas. ATC is in its ninth season of operation and has presented forty-two productions since its inception.
http://www.alumnitheatercompany.org/aboutatc
Hallie Donner is the Executive Director of Alumni Theater Company (ATC). ATC is a driven ensemble that creates bold theatrical work that gives fresh voice to the experience of young urban artists and highlights their rich contribution to our community. ATC’s work validates the perspective of urban youth to both its members and its audience, building an increasingly growing and diverse community of support for both the performers and their ideas. ATC is in its ninth season of operation and has presented forty-two productions since its inception.
Six Gallery Press 