

In 1971, Alvin Ailey created Cry, one of his signature dance works, as a birthday present for his mother Lula Elizabeth Ailey. Ailey dedicated the ballet to “all black women everywhere — especially our mothers.” The three-part ballet, set to contemporary music by Alice Coltrane, Laura Nyro and Chuck Griffin, depicts a woman’s journey through toil to an ecstatic state of grace. Cry premiered at New York City Center on May 4, 1971. Continue reading












Emmett Louis Till was a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman in her family’s grocery store. Join us as we discuss historical moments leading up to the death of Emmett Till, and how his death, helped fuel the Civil Rights movement. 
















