The leader of the student uprising of 1968 and founding member of the notorious Weather Underground, Mark Rudd revisits his radical past in his new memoir, Underground: My Life With SDS and the Weathermen.  In 1968, Rudd led the occupation of five buildings at Columbia University, a dramatic act of protest against the university’s support for the Vietnam War and accusations of institutional racism. Rudd, the charismatic chairman of the Columbia chapter of Students for a Democratic Society(SDS) became a national symbol of student revolt when, after a violent police bust, the Columbia occupation escalated into a student strike that closed down the entire campus. Rudd went on to become the cofounder of the Weatherman faction of SDS, which took control of the student organization and helped spur the notorious Days of Rage in Chicago in 1969.

Rudd will read from his memoir and discuss his involvement with the controversial organization.

The salon will also feature filmmakers Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, and Shannon Kane-Meddock who will show scenes from a new documentary in progress.

And dancer/choreographer Gabrielle Revlock will preview a new collaborative dance piece called SHARE! that will debut at the New Festival in June.

EVENT DETAILS
First Person Salon
May 13th, 2009 7:30-9:30 (Doors at 7pm)
Location: Philadelphia Arts Bank, 601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia
Admission: $8 Buy your tickets in advance (The fees are on us!)

This is the sixth installment in a weekly series by Dianna Marder about her volunteer work with prisoners serving life sentences in a local prison.  Read the whole series here.

Three more of the lifers took me up on my offer to read/critique other stories they’ve written outside of class – recently or in the past.  I’m hoping we can post those on a separate page on this, the First Person Arts website. The men so very much want to be known as they are now – as people changed for the better by incarceration.

Also, I read Incorrigible, a memoir by inmate Pat Middleton, who is now a lifer at Graterford. Pat’s page-turner was published in 2008 by the Swarthmore, Pa-based group Sage Writers and is featured at www.sagewriters.org. The book, which he considers to be his volume one, ends with his escape from a federal penitentiary. He’s working on the sequel. I won’t spoil your reading pleasure other than to say this one’s a must read.

- dianna marder

Not to be missed!  This weekend, First Person Ars and the  Free Library of Philadelphia will partner to bring you a first-of-its-kind StorySlam in Philadelphia. The Slam is FREE and will take place as part of the Free Library Festival at the Parkway Central Library on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway at 5:00 p.m., Saturday April 18th on the Bank of America Stage (Montgomery Auditorium). A team of five storytellers from the ranks of the best storytellers to grace First Person Arts’ StorySlam stage will face an able team of storytellers hailing from Chicago’s Windy City StorySlam. The theme will be “Mortified.” Here’s a preview of the storytellers you’ll see from both teams:

Representing Philadelphia:

NOTE: Angel Hogan, a veteran of the First Person Arts stage and our good friend from way back stepped in graciously to handle a last-minute substitution.  Thanks, Angel!

Ryan T. Barlow got into storytelling accidentally, but now he can’t get enough of it and is hoping it leads to a career in being professionally funny.

Amy Malissa wields the power of killer karaoke, understands the true meaning of Halloween and has the uncanny ability to identify actors by the sound of their voices alone.

Tre Rials, a seasoned storyteller, earned a spot in last year’s Grand Slam where he recounted a story of love, loss and revenge, and recently won the inaugural Raven Society StorySlam with a tale of a fateful night at Little Pete’s.

A recovering token, New Age enthusiast, and educator, Katonya Mosley recently became the scary enraged Black woman at work, and she is thrilled to have made peace with the stereotype.

Rob Kogan‘s day job is in the world of transportation consulting. The top storyteller at First Person Arts’ “Hidden Talents” Slam at World Cafe Live, this is his second StorySlam appearance.

Here’s a playlist featuring some of the highlights from the StorySlam careers of the Philadelphia team:

And representing Chicago:

Jose “The Door Guy” Rivera. He was the door man at Windy City. One night he got on stage, the rest is history.

Sam Snow has never rehearsed a story he’s told at the Windy City Story Slam, everything with him is off the cuff. He’s a current Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Student.

Max Glaessner is the reigning All-City, Windy City Story Slam Champion.

Nicolette Kittinger is a current Columbia College Chicago Fiction Writing Student. She won the big one the night legendary author Irvine Welsh read at the Windy City Story Slam.

Bill “The Butcher” Hillmann is founder and host of the Windy City Story Slam.

NOTE: Due to a last minute conflict, Enid Maldonado Ruiz stepped in for Jose Rivera.

Here’s a series of videos featuring storytellers from the Windy City Story Slam:

Find out more at the competition site…

Until the Special Event StorySlam on April 18th–featuring a team of storytellers from Philly vs. a team from Chicago–we’ll be dropping a new StorySlam video every weekday morning at 10am. Here’s Brook from “I Think We’re Alone.” Enjoy!

The next StorySlam is Saturday April 18th, part of the Free Library Festival and will feature a storytelling team from Philadelphia vs. one from Chicago in an inter-city rivalry on the theme “Mortified.”

“Mortified” (in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia)
Date: Saturday April 18th
Time: 5pm-6:30pm
Host: Madi Distefano
Location: Parkway Central Library’s Bank of America Main Stage (AKA Montgomery Auditorium)
Cost: FREE

Until the Special Event StorySlam on April 18th–featuring a team of storytellers from Philly vs. a team from Chicago–we’ll be dropping a new StorySlam video every weekday morning at 10am. Here’s Dan from “I Think We’re Alone.” Enjoy!

The next StorySlam is Saturday April 18th, part of the Free Library Festival and will feature a storytelling team from Philadelphia vs. one from Chicago in an inter-city rivalry on the theme “Mortified.”

“Mortified” (in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia)
Date: Saturday April 18th
Time: 5pm-6:30pm
Host: Madi Distefano
Location: Parkway Central Library’s Bank of America Main Stage (AKA Montgomery Auditorium)
Cost: FREE

Until the Special Event StorySlam on April 18th–featuring a team of storytellers from Philly vs. a team from Chicago–we’ll be dropping a new StorySlam video every weekday morning at 10am. Here’s PJ from “On My Street.” Enjoy!

The next StorySlam is Saturday April 18th, part of the Free Library Festival and will feature a storytelling team from Philadelphia vs. one from Chicago in an inter-city rivalry on the theme “Mortified.”

“Mortified” (in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia)
Date: Saturday April 18th
Time: 5pm-6:30pm
Host: Madi Distefano
Location: Parkway Central Library’s Bank of America Main Stage (AKA Montgomery Auditorium)
Cost: FREE

Until the Special Event StorySlam on April 18th–featuring a team of storytellers from Philly vs. a team from Chicago–we’ll be dropping a new StorySlam video every weekday morning at 10am. Here’s Julie from “On My Street.” Enjoy!

The next StorySlam is Saturday April 18th, part of the Free Library Festival and will feature a storytelling team from Philadelphia vs. one from Chicago in an inter-city rivalry on the theme “Mortified.”

“Mortified” (in partnership with the Free Library of Philadelphia)
Date: Saturday April 18th
Time: 5pm-6:30pm
Host: Madi Distefano
Location: Parkway Central Library’s Bank of America Main Stage (AKA Montgomery Auditorium)
Cost: FREE

7:24pm I may be on a bit of a short leash tonight since we’ve got a little more complicated lighting and sound, plus a little fancy camera work, but we’ll see what we can do!  All the artists are here and accounted for, and we got our technical snafus out of the way early!