Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery

The show is produced by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Miranda Barry, Amy Sprecher, Voza Rivers and the New Heritage Theatre Group. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom is directed by Fracaswell Hyman and the music director is Joshuah Brian Campbell. Ally Sheedy adapted the award-winning memoir by Lynda Blackmon Lowery (DialPress, 2016) for the stage.

to secure the right to vote for African Americans. Linda was jailed nine times before her fifteenth birthday as she and her friends fought alongside Dr.

Presented by Columbia Artists TheatricalsĪvailable for Streaming Monday, January 10 – Sunday, January 23, 2022įilled with traditional and original Gospel and Freedom songs, Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom tells the moving and inspiring true story of Lynda Blackmon, the youngest person to walk all the way from Selmato Montgomery, Alabama, on the Voting Rights March in 1965. 'I can take this stage to tell a story to inspire that it's possible and that we do still have a fire inside us to make sure we're continuing a legacy that started before us.'ĭon't miss more incredible stories in honor of Black History Month.A Clemens Center Mary Tripp Marks School-Time Series production 'It's heartbreaking that there still has to be a group of young people fighting for things that should have been resolved a long time ago,' Norah says. Our children, they are back on the battlefield, non-violently. 'Voter suppression, women's health issues, gun laws. 'If you look at what's happening today, it's not that different than what was happening in '65,' Lowery says. The duo, representing the past and the future, both see a reflection of Lynda's experience in our current struggles. Lowery and Norah have formed a tight bond since performances began last year. 'I knew that to do it you have to have a certain type of strength to grasp the gravity of the story.' 'It took me a minute to want to commit to playing Lynda,' Norah says. Queade Norah takes on the role of 15-year-old Lynda as she leaves home to march for voting rights, and after she's attacked, 'to show George Wallace what he did to me.'

The show is a musical dynamo filled with original gospel and freedom songs sung by a stellar cast of vibrant young performers.

'Those ugly things affected a lot of people's lives.' 'I wanted people to know what happened,' Lowery says. Instead, she watched her life story unfold on stage in the play 'Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom,' based on the book of the same name that Lowery wrote about her experience. On January 18, 2020, Lowery relived that experience. She was beaten by police and needed 29 stitches in her head. She was jailed nine times before her 15th birthday. NEW YORK CITY (WABC) - 55 years ago, in the spring of 1965, Lynda Blackmon Lowery was the youngest civil rights marcher to walk with Dr.

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery