Welcome to “The Sights + Sounds Show with Jeneé Darden," where every week we tap into the Bay Area arts scene and bring you rich conversations with artists. On today’s show, prison-rights activist and playwright Sarah Shourd reflects on her documentary, “The End of Isolation." It's about a play she created that brings attention to solitary confinement in our prison system. The film follow that play's 10-city U.S. tour. Along the way, viewers meet other prison-rights activists creating change in their areas. Then, Bay Area storyteller Ben Tucker shares his life story from Shreveport, Louisiana to becoming a track star at San Jose State and seeing the world.
Today’s show is about finding freedom in our stories.
Sarah Shourd
In the summer of 2022, prison-rights activist and playwright Sarah Shourd went on a 10-city tour with the cast from a play she created about solitary confinement in our prison system. The play is called "The Box." During that tour, she met with prison rights activists who are creating change to the prison systems in their area. This is all featured in her documentary “ The End of Isolation.”
You may remember Sarah Shourd made news around the world in 2009 when she was captured by Iranian guards while hiking near a tourist site in Northern Iraqi Kurdistan. Sarah was held as a political prisoner and spent 410 days in solitary confinement in an Iranian prison. That experience has influenced her play, this film and her other multimedia endeavors today.
"The End of Isolation" is screening in Redwood City on Sunday, July 12 as part of BraveMaker Film Fest.
Ben Tucker
Have you ever had a relative that you enjoyed sitting by during family functions because they always had good stories to tell? Ben Tucker, 83, is that kind of guy. He was part of the Great Migration of African-Americans to the West. He was also an All-American track star back in the 1960s when he ran for San Jose State. Add to that, Ben has been a preschool teacher in Berkeley, a social worker in Harlem and a track coach in Nigeria. Ben writes about his life in his memoir, “A Good Run.”
Ben doesn’t just tell stories about himself. Watch Ben Tucker share his storytelling magic in person at the San Francisco Free Folk Festival on Saturday, July 11 at Golden Gate Park.
You can purchase "A Good Run" on Amazon or at Books Inc. in Alameda.
