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Carl
Ray in courtroom scene in "A Killing in Choctaw"
San Jose,
CA
(BlackNews.com) - Since 1999, San Jose, Calif. educator,
activist and former stand-up comic Carl Ray has relived
the gripping story of witnessing his father's 1962 racially
motivated murder in the form of an acclaimed one-man,
single act play titled "A Killing in Choctaw." Los Angeles
Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) KLCS created a set
replicating the Alabama courtroom where the actual murder
trial took place; filled it with jurors and spectators;
then studio taped Ray's live performance for airing
on its program "Facing History and Ourselves" and for
Los Angeles School District curriculum. KLCS Channel
58 aired the film documentary on October 25 and the
play WHY HISTORY MATTERS: The Choctaw Project
on October 26 and October 30, 2005.
KLCS television producer Brian Hefferon contacted Ray
after reading The
New York Times review of the play's documentary
film version - "A Killing In Choctaw: The Power of Forgiveness,"
directed by award-winning filmmaker Chike C. Nwoffiah.
Ray agreed to lend his story for educational television
programming.
"The
KLCS request kind of took me by surprise," Ray said.
"It's great that my life story is going to be the focal
point of the civil rights study. Ray continued, "My
Father still lives and will be remember in American
history. I'm proud of that. But it's not just my story.
It's an African American story. Incidents like this
happen to thousands of African American families."
After viewing the play, "Facing History" students from
Jefferson and Westchester High Schools participated
in a dialogue with Ray about growing up during the Jim
Crow era and how Ray was eventually able to forgive
the man who killed his father.
"WHY
HISTORY MATTERS: The Choctaw Project" is a partnership
between KLCS, Della Productions (Ray's production company)
and "Facing History and Ourselves" to create this new
resource and provide supplemental materials for the
study of the Jim Crow Era and Civil Rights Movement.
Piloted in the Los Angeles Unified School District,
other PBS educational stations are expected to air it
for educational programming.
Ray has performed "A Killing in Choctaw" nearly 130
times before live audiences. He continues to perform
his compelling single-act, one-man play at theaters,
churches, colleges, museums and other venues throughout
the United States." Carl Ray's story is available for
commercial acquisition.
:: For interviews, press kits, invitations to lecture
or perform his one-man play "A Killing in Choctaw,"
please contact Toni Beckham | 408-499-3664 | Toni@PRetCetera.com
:: To learn more of Carl Ray's fascinating biography,
please visit www.carlraye.com |
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