27th annual AfroSolo Arts Festival: “Standing Our Ground!”

AfroSolo comes to Potrero Stage with the 27th annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, “Standing Our Ground”, May 6 & May 7 at 8pm PDT and May 8 at 3pm PDT. Featured performers include: Bianca Brown, Darlene Roberts, Toni Hines, and Eric Ward. All performances will be available both in-person and live streaming and are admission-free (donations gratefully accepted).  For more information or to reserve tickets, visit bit.ly/AfroSolo-BlackVoices.

About the Artists

Bianca Brown is a vocalist and self-taught pianist. She will perform “understanding resilience,” a musical performance designed to take the audience on a journey of the music that was the cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement. Brown has selected music that embodies the musicians’ tenacity, resilience, and bravery of the participants in the movement. She hears the musician’s tenacity and spirit in every note written and played. She believes that this indomitable spirit is intrinsic to Black people who have survived this country’s systemic and parasitic structures. Therefore, understanding resilience is knowing how music helped pilot African Americans through some of the most brutal hardships a human being should never have to endure. Bianca attended the Oakland School for the Arts. Between 6th-12th grade, she was trained (vocal music) in various genres such as R&B, musical theater, jazz, and classical music, to name a few. While there, she learned other musical skills such as the ability to write, play piano, beatbox, arrange, and read vocal scores.

Toni Hines, performs “Between the Dash,” about the remarkable life of her middle son Tony Hunt, and the way too frequent end of his life through community violence. Yet, Hines story is about love, life and community healing. She get part of this sustenance from the life that Tony lived. Growing up in San Francisco’s Bay View Hunters Point, he was known and respected as a community person. One who stressed educating young people, volunteering in the community and lending a hand, however he could to younger kids. Ms. Hines traces his history and legacy as an influencer of her community advocacy. She be sharing that part of her story as part of her performance. In it you will learn of her violence prevention work, her healing circles, her self care promotions, plus much more. You will see how her son’s legacy continues to live through her. This work was written be Ms. Hines and directed by Rhodessa Jones of cultural Odyssey and the Medea Project: Theater For Incarcerated Women/HIV Circle.

Darlene Roberts performs “A Poetic Suite: The Black Experience,” a trilogy of poems exploring Black History, one being “Jazz – A Sentimental Journey,” a salute to the history of jazz in San Francisco. Darlene’s love of jazz began as a teenager when she attended a performance by Miles Davis. In 2019 Darlene founded the Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors. For nine years, she served as the President of the Board of Directors of International Black Writers & Artists, Inc. In addition, she traveled and performed extensively with the group Sistahs Wid’ Gaps. Darlene’s vision as an artist, organizer, and leader is to develop arts and cultural programs to restore our community’s ability to sustain our “relevance and historical legacy.” She embodied this vision in the mission of the Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors, which is to create a thriving San Francisco Bay Area jazz environment for generating revenue while developing and honoring jazz practitioners. She will be accompanied by jazz aficionado Avotcja and other legendary jazz musicians.

Eric Ward performs “The Last to Know: A Hoarder’s Story,” which is a story about family dynamics. In the aftermath of his Mother’s death and the erosion of his family during his teen years, Eric began to “Collect” things, primarily Musical albums, to cope with the stress. He never saw himself developing into a full-fledged hoarder. However, during his years working in social services, Eric “Discovered” that his “Collection” had become an affliction and began his journey on the Road to Recovery. Years down that road, Eric learned of unspoken secrets that existed in his family. This awakening caused him to reexamine the neglected love, emotional instability, and insecurity he felt from his family. Eric has a keen eye for details and an irresistible sense of humor. Using these skills, he weaves a story of unfortunate circumstances into a triumph of the human spirit. Written by Eric Ward and directed by Geoffrey Grier.

About AfroSolo

AfroSolo Theatre Company’s mission is to nurture, promote and present African American and African Diasporan art and culture through solo performances and the visual and literary arts. Since 1994, we have presented the annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, a forum for African Americans and the larger African Diaspora, as a way to give voice to the unique experience of being Black. Through art, we bring people of all ethnicities together to explore and share the human spirit that binds us all. For more information, visit bit.ly/AfroSolo-BlackVoices.