Kerry Washington, Ariana DeBose, Marisa Tomei & More To Launch VOICES OF A PEOPLE'S HISTORY at Town Hall

Leading artists and activists including Marisa Tomei, Kerry Washington, and Stephanie Hsu will gather at The Town Hall on Tuesday, May 2 (8 pm) for the book launch of Voices of a People's History of the United States in the 21st Century.

Edited by Anthony Arnove and Haley Pessin, this compilation of articles, essays, speeches, and other documents is an updated companion volume to author/activist Howard Zinn's groundbreaking A People's History of the United States, which has sold more than four million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 40 languages. The new book is a testament to the ordinary people who have taken collective action to shape history and offers inspiration for those seeking to change the future.

Featuring powerful readings and music, the Town Hall event showcases inspiring expressions of 21st-century social movements. Tickets, available at thetownhall.org, start at $37 and include a copy of the book.

Inspired by the original Voices of a People's History of the United States, edited by Arnove and Zinn (1922-2010), this new book features speeches, essays, poems, and calls to action from Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Indigenous struggles, immigrant rights activists, the environmental movement, disability justice organizers, and frontline workers during the global pandemic who spoke out against the life-threatening conditions of their labor. Together, their words remind us that history is made not only by the rich and powerful, but by ordinary people taking collective action.

Voices of a People's History of the United States in the 21st Century includes contributions from Angela Y. Davis, Nick Estes, Colin Kaepernick, Rebecca Solnit, Christian Smalls, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Howard Zinn, Rev. William Barber, Bree Newsome, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Tarana J. Burke, Dream Defenders, Sins Invalid, Mariame Kaba, Naomi Klein, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Linda Sarsour, Chelsea E. Manning, Chrishaun "CeCe" McDonald, Julian Brave NoiseCat, H. Melt, and others.

Marisa Tomei said, "I am thrilled that, 20 years after my first performance with the late Howard Zinn, I can join such a talented cast to highlight these vital voices and continue his important legacy."

"We are so excited to bring this performance to a stage that has been home to Lorraine Hansberry, Paul Robeson, and so many other artists who spoke out against injustice in their day and inspired countless movements for social change," said Anthony Arnove, who is directing the performance.

This event is produced by Town Hall and Voices of a People's History, in association with Civic Bakery.

Town Hall is a 1,500-seat, 501C3 nonprofit national historic landmark venue in the heart of New York City (123 W. 43rd St.), created by suffragists in 1921 and host to countless cultural and musical milestones.

Voices of a People's History is a 501C3 nonprofit arts and education organization. By giving public expression to rebels, dissenters, and visionaries from our past-and present-Voices seeks to educate and inspire a new generation working for social justice.

Civic Bakery is a 501c3 organization that produces entertainment with a purpose at the nexus of popular culture, media, and social change.

Rosario Dawson

is an actor, producer, designer, and activist. She is extremely passionate about helping empower LatinX millennials to vote and lead, so in 2004 she co-founded Voto Latino. The organization has registered more than one million people to vote and was one of the co-founders of National Voter Registration Day. In 2021, Rosario joined as an advisory council member to the Smithsonian Women's Museum, dedicated to creating a new federal museum honoring women and their histories. This past year, Dawson filmed Ahsoka Tano for Disney's Star Wars Universe. She has appeared in several performances of Voices, and appears in the documentary The People Speak.

Ariana DeBose

is an award-winning actress known for her varying roles onstage and in film and television. DeBose is best known for her groundbreaking performance in Steven Spielberg's reimagining of West Side Story, for which she received an Academy Award, along with BAFTA, Critics Choice and SAG Awards for her star-turning role as Anita. Her performance has received universal critical acclaim, with Variety calling her a "radiant force of nature" and Forbes writing, "Ariana DeBose shines in an absolutely star-making performance." In winning her Oscar, she became the first openly queer Afro Latina to win an Academy Award.

Michael Ealy

has established himself as one of Hollywood's leading men seamlessly jumping from TV to film. He most recently starred in Onyx Collective's Hulu series Reasonable Doubt for executive producers Larry Wilmore and Kerry Washington, and guest starred on the hit Peacock reboot series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He also co-starred opposite Kristen Bell in the dark comedy series The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window for Netflix and in the Lionsgate film The Devil You Know with Omar Epps, which he also Executive Produced. Ealy has appeared in numerous performances of Voices and appears in the documentary The People Speak.

Stephanie Hsu

is an accomplished actress and performer, known for her record-breaking work in Everything Everywhere All at Once as "Joy/Jobu Tupaki," which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for which she won a SAG Award (Best Ensemble) for her work as "Mei." She has also originated roles in SpongeBob the Musical as "Karen The Computer" and Be More Chill on Broadway as "Christine Canigula," and is set to appear in several upcoming projects, including American Born Chinese and the Untitled Adele Lim project.

Valerie June

is a Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Tennessee. She's been hailed by The New York Times as one of America's "most intriguing, fully formed new talents." She has recorded three critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. She is also the author of the children's book Somebody to Love: The Story of Valerie June's Sweet Little Baby Banjolele, published by Jack White's Third Man Books. When she's not touring, she splits her time between Tennessee and New York.

L Morgan Lee

is a Tony-nominated actress and storyteller known for her history-making turn in A Strange Loop on Broadway. In London, she was seen playing famed artist, Lili Elbe in a musical adaptation of The Danish Girl, currently in development. Other work includes over a decade of Off-Broadway, regional, international/national concerts and tours. In the studio, L Morgan was the voice of Ornate Williams in Sugar Maple (Osiris Media) and Julia in Playwrights Horizons' upcoming Soundstage play, The BachelorX. Albums: Joe Iconis' album (Ghostlight Records), The Rainbow Lullaby Album (Broadway Records). For more: lmorganlee.com.

Martha Redbone

is a multi-award-winning vocalist/songwriter/composer/educator and one of today's vital voices in American Roots music. Martha's storytelling sings of her life experience as a Black/Native American woman and mother navigating in the new millennium. With her longtime collaborator/husband Aaron Whitby and family band, Redbone's music gives voice to issues of social justice, connecting cultures, and celebrating the human spirit. Redbone and Whitby are the 2020 Drama Desk Award Winner for Outstanding Music in a Play with Original Music and Score for The Public Theater revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuff by the late Ntozake Shange. She serves on the board of Voices.

Marisa Tomei

received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for My Cousin Vinny. She earned her second Academy Award Nomination for In the Bedroom and her third for The Wrestler. Tomei's diverse credits include Slums of Beverly Hills, Welcome to Sarajevo, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Big Short, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. On stage, Tomei starred on Broadway in Tracy Letts's The Realistic Joneses' and Caryl Churchill's Top Girls.. Tomei has appeared in numerous performances of Voices, including its first-ever staging at the 92nd Street Y in New York City in February 2003, and appears in the documentary The People Speak.

M. Ward

A prolific writer, producer, and performer, M. Ward has established himself as one of modern American music's most unique and versatile voices. Rolling Stone has hailed him a "folk hero;" The Guardian has praised him as "a maverick auteur who draws upon blues, folk, country and art-rock, and is equally adept within each genre." He has partnered with Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Jim James to form the beloved supergroup Monsters of Folk, paired with Zooey Deschanel for six records as She & Him, and has worked in the studio and on the road with the likes of Mavis Staples, Jenny Lewis, Norah Jones, Cat Power, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams, Peter Buck, and countless others.

Kerry Washington

Emmy-winning, SAG and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director and producer Kerry Washington is a versatile and fearless multi-hyphenate who has received high acclaim for her work in film, television and theater. She is a lifelong advocate and activist dedicated to using her voice to help ensure that all eligible Americans-particularly those who have been historically underrepresented-are engaged and empowered to affect change in their communities. Washington has served on President Obama's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and is a co-chair of Mrs. Obama's When We All Vote campaign and is the Founder of Influence Change, a strategic initiative to increase voter turnout. Washington has appeared in numerous performances of Voices and appears in the documentary The People Speak.

Aaron Whitby

is a multi-award-winning record producer, composer, songwriter, pianist, and engineer known for his work with an array of noteworthy artists, including George Clinton, Natalie Cole, Randy Brecker. Whitby is best known for his work with his longtime collaborator and wife, Martha Redbone; together, their credits include Revelation by Flannery O'Connor, directed by Karin Coonrod; HUMAN, an exploration in puppetry directed by Nehprii Ameni; Stars-Privacy in the Digital Age in 5-Minute Plays, commissioned by the New York Theater Workshop and Goethe Institute, and many more. Whitby and Redbone are recipients of Creative Capital awardees, the New England Foundation for the Arts Award, MAPFund, and National Performance Network Creation Fund.

Anthony Arnove

(director, producer, and narrator) is the editor of several books, including, with Howard Zinn, Voices of a People's History of the United States and Terrorism and War. He wrote the introduction for the thirty-fifth anniversary edition of Zinn's classic book A People's History of the United States. Arnove cofounded the nonprofit education and arts organization Voices of a People's History of the United States, wrote, directed, and produced the documentary The People Speak, and has directed stage and television versions of The People Speak internationally. He produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary Dirty Wars. He was named one of the Frederick Douglass 200, "a project to honor the impact of 200 living individuals who best embody the work and spirit of Douglass" today.

Haley Pessin (narrator) is a socialist activist living in Queens, New York. They have participated in struggles against police brutality and mass incarceration, in solidarity with Palestine, in defense of abortion rights and reproductive justice, and as a legal service worker and union delegate for 1199SEIU (Service Employees International Union). Pessin has spoken at conferences in Switzerland, Australia, Ireland, Quebec, and throughout the United States on the struggle for Black liberation. Their writing has appeared in New Politics and at Tempestmag.org, where they currently serve on the editorial board.