Redefining Democracy in America Part 1: Episodes in Black and White

1991
Jacki Apple, Keith Antar Mason
A six-part series confronting the deep schisms and contradictions in an America in crisis.

Raises questions about who speaks, who is listened to, who is heard, who is silenced, and how that has shaped our present social reality. In various poetic and narrative forms underscored by sound and music, the two black and two white Los Angeles artists explore issues of race, sex, money, power, drugs, family, children, violence, language and censorship. Interior voices of hope, rage, despair, tenderness, indignation, pain, pride, fear, desire, angels, and madmen are juxtaposed against the exterior voices of "the witness," "the reporter," and "the judge." The social and creative process of making art together played an important part in the development of this powerful and uncompromisingly honest multicultural piece. With collaborating writer/performers Linda Albertano, Keith Antar Mason, and Akilah Nayo Oliver. Commissioned by New American Radio.