Catch three August events in the discussion series Beyond the Blues: Ending the Prison Industrial Complex!
Marcus Shelby — composer, bassist, and bandleader — leads this ongoing series with research partner Jackie Ramos. Each evening focuses on different aspects of the prison industrial complex, from mass incarceration to the school-to-prison pipeline to incarcerated women, and includes special guests and experts on that evening’s focus, readings and poetry, live music, recorded music, video, and an open mic for people to share their art (songs, raps, freestyle, poetry). The discussions are interactive and open to anyone interested in ending the prison industrial complex. Shelby is, in his own words, “thinking daily about how music and indeed art in general can be powerful ways to raise the consciousness around mass incarceration and to promote a more humane criminal justice system” — this series invites in people exploring how music and art can be used as a powerful vehicle in ending the prison industrial complex.
Beyond the Blues: Ending the Prison Industrial Complex is presented in conjunction with the September 27 premiere of Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio (MAP 2015) at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. Discussions are held at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House.
August 13: Discussion “Ending the Death Penalty, Restorative Justice, Prison Abolition”
August 27: Discussion “Mass Incarceration: Public Health Epidemic, Incarcerated Women, Families Affected by Incarceration”
August 28: Performance by The Marcus Shelby Ensemble with excerpts from Beyond the Blues: A Prison Oratorio
