Gia Scott-Heron To Perform At Highways Performance Space Benefit FROM EMMETT TILL TO SNCC & BEYOND

Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica will present From Emmett Till to SNCC & Beyond: Words + Music + Art on Saturday, October 11, 2025 at 8:30 p.m. The one-night-only benefit will commemorate the 70th anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder and the 65th anniversary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), with an evening of live performance, music, and visual art.

Award-winning performance artist Gia Scott-Heron, daughter of legendary Lifetime Grammy Award winner Gil Scott-Heron, will headline the evening with selections from Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology, which recently joined the season at New York’s SoHo Playhouse. She will be joined by cast member Art.Us Mansoir for a special number.

The program will also include performances by SNCC member and activist Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely, Freedom Rider David Crittendon, theatre artist Brian Freeman, choreographer Joyce Guy, and actor Babe Evans. Special performance videos will feature multidisciplinary artist Paul Outlaw and poet Pam Ward.

Live music will be provided by all-female voice and drum ensemble ADAAWE, singer-writer Marc Broyard, and singer-songwriter Jason Luckett. Visual art will be showcased in the Highways Gallery, including works by Charles Dickson, Candace Hunter, Toni Scott, Hana Ward, and a piece by late teen artist Justin Carr. Select program segments will be directed by Phylliss Bailey Brooks, director of Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology.

Co-curated by performance artist Kevin Spicer, the event will be the third edition of an artists’ collective series centered on Emmett Till’s legacy and its ongoing cultural resonance.