I am honored to announce that the BBC Radio program featuring my interview and storytelling among others, recently received the prestigious BBC Radio Academy Award-Gold Award for “Strange Fruit,” produced by Maggie Ayre.
Congratulations to the amazing producer Maggie Ayre and the awesome storytellers on the show. After reading my story on the Coming to the Table website about my Uncle Warren’s lynching, BBC Radio producer Maggie Ayre invited me to join her Soul Music program. The show also included Emmett Till’s cousin, Simeon Wright; Robert Meeropol, the adopted son of Jewish teacher Abel Meeropol, author of the poem/song; and April Shipp, a Detroit quilt maker who created a “Strange Fruit” quilt. Each of us engaged about the song, “Strange Fruit” and shared our own personal story.
What the judges said about “Strange Fruit”:
“Using a simple format with moving interviews, this was immensely powerful storytelling through and about music. It allowed the lyrics to breathe, resulting in an impactful and brilliant show. This was ‘stop and listen’ radio.”
Here’s the link to BBC Radio Academy Award announcement: http://www.radioacademyawards.org/winners/index.cfm?winners_year=2014&winners_award_group_id=4&winners_award_category_id=21
“Strange Fruit” Headed to the Theater Stage: In addition, this amazing radio program inspired a theater production in England. Anyone want to join me for a trip to the UK this summer? I was only given bare details at press time. I received word second-hand from the producer that he is going ahead on July 10th at the Wirral Festival of Firsts. For updates, go to: http://www.festivaloffirsts.com/home/4582210171.
To hear the original BBC broadcast, check out a past blog post by clicking here.
