Congo Square Theatre Hosts 'Celebration Of Healing' - Free Community Events Exploring Healthcare Inequality

Congo Square Theatre Company (Congo Square) has announced the latest iteration of its Celebration of Healing programming initiative, to be held in conjunction with the World Premiere of How Blood Go by Cleveland-based playwright Lisa Langford, presented at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theater (1700 N. Halsted Street) as part of Steppenwolf's LookOut Series March 11 - April 23, 2023. How Blood Go analyzes the past, present, and future of racial inequality in America's healthcare system; the Celebration of Healing programming, will examine the real-world implications of the biases articulated in the play.

Founded during Congo Square's production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down in Fall 2022, Celebration of Healing is an initiative that collaborates with Congo Square's annual productions to provide audiences with a curated space geared toward individual and community healing. The Celebration of Healing is one of five artist projects commissioned by the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events for We Will Chicago - the first citywide plan since 1966. We Will is the first-ever plan to be rooted in equity and resiliency and to be drafted by residents and community leaders. The Celebration of Healing connects to the goals residents shared addressing systemic inequities in public health, and exemplifies how artists and cultural organizations bring attention and resources to the issues most important to Chicago communities.

These free in-person and digital events will take place during the run of How Blood Go and include film screenings, panel discussions and community conversations led by experts in the field. All Celebration of Healing events are free and open to the public, registration is required for all events. For in-person events, attendees without access to transportation can arrange to have free transport to the events through the registration link. To register for a Celebration of Healing event, visit steppenwolf.org/howbloodgo.

Celebration of Healing Events:

In-person Film Screenings + Community Conversations

Power to Heal

Date: March 29, 6:00 PM

Location: Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington St., Claudia Cassidy Theater

Host: Yolonda Ross (The Chi & How Blood Go Cast)
Facilitator: Jhmira Alexander, MPH (Executive Director, Public Narrative)
Panelists: Barbara Berney, PhD (Producer, Power to Heal), Paris Thomas, MS, MCHES, PhD (Executive Director, Equal Hope at RUSH Medical University), Margie Schaps, MPH (Executive Director, Health and Medicine Policy)

Power to Heal is an hour-long public television documentary that tells a poignant chapter in the historic struggle to secure equal and adequate access to healthcare for all Americans. Central to the story is the tale of how a new national program, Medicare, was used to mount a dramatic, coordinated effort that desegregated thousands of hospitals across the country in a matter of months.

The Healthcare Divide

Date: April 5, 2023, 6:00 PM
Location: Equal Hope, 300 S Ashland Ave #202

Host: Yolonda Ross (The Chi & How Blood Go Cast)
Facilitator: Jhmira Alexander, MPH (Executive Director, Public Narrative)
Panelists: Laura Sullivan (Correspondent, NPR Investigates), Sista Yaa Simpson (Community Epidemiologist and Bioethicist, TACTS-The Association of Clinical Trials Services), Paris Thomas, MS, MCHES, PhD (Executive Director, Equal Hope)

FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19. The Healthcare Divide examines how pressure to increase profits and uneven government support are widening the divide between rich and poor hospitals, endangering care for low-income populations.

Aftershock

Date: April 12, 6:00 PM

Location: TBD

Host: Yolonda Ross (The Chi & How Blood Go Cast)
Facilitator: Jhmira Alexander, MPH (Executive Director, Public Narrative)
Panelists: Anya Tanyavutti (Executive Director, Changing Worlds), Lakeesha Harris (Executive Director, Chicago Volunteer Doulas), Kalynn Dunn, MA, LPC (Assistant Executive Director, Caris Pregnancy Counseling and Resources), Jeanine Valrie Logan (Midwife & Lead Steward, Chicago Southside Birth Center)

Aftershock--Following the preventable deaths of their loved ones due to childbirth complications, two families galvanize activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time - the US maternal health crisis.

Virtual Webinars

From March 23 - April 27, every Thursday at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM, Public Narrative will present a webinar series dedicated to holistic public health conversations that generate solutions to improve health systems in Chicago. In this 6-part webinar training series journalists, researchers, care givers, patients and other community members will explore findings of Chicago-based community engaged research studies for communities experiencing health disparities and other implications to public health. To register for the webinar series, visit publicnarrative.org/events

Talk Forwards

In addition to these public events, audience members attending Sunday matinee performances of How Blood Go on March 26, April 2, and April 9 can participate in Talk Forward discussions with artists and community members immediately following the performance.

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