Hey Everyone,
Tonight is my night to cohost Scales of Justice! Tune in tonight at 6 pm PST (9 pm EST) where we welcome the Poetic Justice Organization, which is committed to offering arts programs to men and women inside and outside of prison. We will also be chatting about their new hit musical "Off The Hook", which is touring up and down the coast of California. This show is going to be power packed with stories, information and original music from the show. Don't miss it. To listen, go to http://www.blogtalkradio.com/scalesofjustice.
Deborah Tobola’s bio
Deborah Tobola, founding Artistic Director of the Poetic Justice Project, worked for more than 12 years teaching poetry and collaborative playwriting, as well as managing an Arts in Corrections program in California prisons. Her students won writing awards, published their work in journals and magazines and appeared on local television and national radio. Author ofOff The Hook, Deborah produced six original plays at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo before leaving to begin the Poetic Justice Project. A widely published poet and children’s book author, her work has earned four Pushcart Prize nominations and three Academy of American Poets awards.
Guillermo Willie’s bio:
I spent over half of my life in prison and have been “out here” for about two years now. I find the world to be a very beautiful place and have learned to not take even the seemingly simple things for granted. I learned that in prison. Prison was a very eye-opening experience for me and I actually began to become free while in there. I became involved with various aspects of prison life, some that were very positive and some that were very negative. Fortunately, I learned from all of it and now find myself “out here,” still doing my darndest to be the best human being that I might possibly be. Being a good human being is an art. It is art. And I want to be the best possible artist that I can be . . .
Bull Chaney’s bio:
For 25 years, Bull Chaney was either incarcerated or on parole. It was in prison that he had a vision of how to help people like himself, convicts addicted to drugs. He left prison in 1996 with a vision that became the Gryphon Society, the nonprofit that Bull operates with his wife, Marie and partners Becky Brown and Jimmy Desatoff. They opened their first sober living home in 2000 and now Gryphon Society has nine sober living homes on California’s Central Coast. Based on 12-step recovery and community service, Gryphon Society helps men and women coming out of jail or prison, reintegrate into their communities. Bull Chaney plays Running Bull in Off The Hook and serves on Poetic Justice Project’s Advisory Board, as well as the San Luis Obispo County Homeless Coalition. In 2009, he was appointed by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to the Homeless Services Oversight Council.
Jorge Manly Gil’s bio
Jorge Manly Gil has 20 years of experience in the social service field, for both non-profit agencies and not-for-profit communities and organizations such as Catholic Worker, the San Diego American Indian Health Center; Bienestar of San Diego; Catholic Charities of San Diego; St. Camilus Pastoral Center of Los Angeles; Union of Pan-Asian Communities of San Diego, and University of California San Diego-HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center. He has worked as a case manager, health educator and community outreach worker. He’s also served as a chaplain at L.A. County Hospital and co-founded two Catholic Worker communities, one in San Diego and another one in Jalisco, Mexico. Jorge Manly Gil studied for three years at UC Irvine and received theological formation at the Los Angeles Catholic Worker Community, complementing that with graduate studies in pastoral care at Mt. St. Mary’s College in L.A. He received a teaching credential from the University of Guadalajara. He’s bicultural and bilingual in Spanish/English. Jorge Manly Gil plays Sparrow Hawk in Off The Hookand serves on Poetic Justice Project’s Advisory Board.
The following are links that will tell you all about the show, the cast and the reviews… Enjoy!
Here is the link for their documentary:
Also, background on Poetic Justice Project can be found here:
And this page from our website has audience responses to Off The Hook:
This link has photos from the wonderful photographer Barry Wisdom, who took these during rehearsal in Sacramento:
No comments:
Post a Comment