Musician Lupe Fiasco and producer Chris Moore will join School of Media and Public Affairs Director Frank Sesno in the Jack Morton Auditorium on Nov. 9 for a preview of the History Channel’s new documentary, “The People Speak.”
Fiasco and Moore – the producer behind “Project Greenlight”, “Good Will Hunting” and “American Pie” – will perform sections from “The People Speak,” giving students a sneak preview of the documentary, which discusses famous dissidents in American history. The preview will feature artists including Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Rosario Dawson, Bob Dylan, John Legend, Bruce Springsteen, Marisa Tomei, and Kerry Washington.
“The People Speak” is a documentary airing Dec. 13, featuring well-known actors playing reading from the works of famous American dissidents like Frederick Douglass, Allen Ginsberg, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, among others.
Monday’s event is part of an eight-legged college tour – Boston University, Northwestern University, New York University, Emory University, University of Pennsylvania, San Francisco and University of California -Los Angeles, are the tour’s other stops.
“Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries and speeches of everyday Americans, “The People Speak” gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S. history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on equality and justice,” the History Channel’s Web site says. “These are the voices of resistance in U.S. history – resistance to injustice, to war. Voices that can inspire viewers to recognize the power ordinary people have to change the course of history. These are also the voices that are excluded from traditional histories. Some voices are obscure, some famous and you will hear them express ideas that are excluded from the orthodox histories.”
Sesno was asked by the History Channel to host the event, which he calls “incredibly creative.”
“The History Channel is a terrific channel but what they are doing with this event is past clever,” Sesno said. “They are featuring actors who will give voices to the people throughout history who gave voice to the voiceless.”
The event is from 7 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 9. Tickets are sold out, according to the History Channel’s Web site but students “interested in attending the event are welcome to wait in a stand-by line in the lobby outside of the Jack Morton Auditorium,” the Web site says.
Sesno said Monday afternoon that ticket information had yet to be finalized with the History Channel.
