CityKids Foundation Honors Black History Month With THE ARTVIST, THE BAYARD RUSTIN STORY

The East Village Playhouse, home of the CityKids Foundation, honors Black History Month with a production of "The Artivist, The Bayard Rustin Story," a solo show that tells the story of the life of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin through his speeches, songs, monologues, documentary footage, and letters. The play opens January 24th and runs through February 17th, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm.

The play explores Rustin's contributions as one of the first Freedom Riders, an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Writer and educator Carla Alleyne wrote the play after learning about Rustin in a Princeton Theological Seminary course.

"I was disappointed that many do not know Bayard Rustin's name because of his decision to live openly as a gay Black man in a society crippled with intolerance and bigotry," said writer Carla Alleyne. "As an educator and writer, I wanted to create a piece to teach my students about this great artist and activist, whose contributions to society was blatantly hidden."

The show's producer, the CityKid's Foundation, is a historical youth organization, focused on empowering youth through the arts and educational programs. Carla Alleyne, the writer/director and Citykids alumni, will be teaming up with two other CityKids alumni, Hassan El Gendi and Keyonn Sheppard, to creatively develop the production. Hassan El Gendi will be producing the music for the show, and Keyonn Sheppard will be playing Bayard Rustin.

Buy tickets: www.eastvillageplayhouse.com

The CityKids Foundation, Founded by Laurie Meadoff in 1985, has established and maintained cutting edge youth development programs, trained tens of thousands of diverse young people, by providing opportunities for personal growth, leadership, and artistic expression. Laurie was inspired to create CityKids after a visit to the Albany Empire in London, a social services and arts program for London's youth. The CityKids Foundation's innovative programming, and projects, have been at the forefront in fields of Positive Youth Development, and Social Emotional Learning, for the past three decades. CityKids helps young people channel that growth into substantial social change, and continues to empower, engage, connect, and inspire young people to skillfully lift their voices and be heard.