Schele Williams & Arionne Nettles
Schele Williams discusses her book Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History with Arionne Nettles.
About Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History:
A proud, empowering introduction to African American history that celebrates and honors enslaved ancestors.
Your story begins in Africa.
Your African ancestors defied the odds and survived 400 years of slavery in America and passed down an extraordinary legacy to you.
Beginning in Africa before 1619, Your Legacy presents an unprecedentedly accessible, empowering, and proud introduction to African American history for children. While your ancestors’ freedom was taken from them, their spirit was not; this book celebrates their accomplishments, acknowledges their sacrifices, and defines how they are remembered—and how their stories should be taught.
About the speakers:
Schele Williams is the author of Your Legacy and a Broadway director committed to cultivating new musicals and devised work. She is directing the upcoming Broadway revivals of Aida and The Wiz as well as the premieres of Mandela the Musical and Indigo. She has a long history of work on Broadway in Rent, Aida, and Motown: The Musical. Passionate about pairing social justice with the arts, Schele is on the steering committee of We Stand United and is a founding member of Black Theatre United, an organization committed to dismantling systemic racism on our streets and stages.
Arionne Nettles is a lecturer at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. As a culture reporter in print and audio, her stories often look into Chicago history, culture, gun violence, policing and race & class disparities as a contributor to the New York Times Opinion, Chicago Reader, The Trace, Medium’s ZORA and Momentum, Chicago PBS station WTTW and NPR affiliate WBEZ. She is also host of Is That True? A Kids Podcast About Facts.