Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.

No options but jail or death; look askance at a cop at your own peril; we’re failing our kids, our young adults, our own humanity. These are but some of the messages Anna Deavere Smith channeled in her indelible show, “Notes From the Field.” Melding journalism, anthropology and performance, Smith stitched a riveting investigation of the political, economic and social forces that have built — too well — the vast school-to-prison pipeline. It brimmed with pathos and bits of hope. When she delivered the speech of the Rev. Jamal Bryant at the funeral of Freddie Gray, the audience was transported to church, grieving alongside Gray’s family. When she assumed the role of the NAACP’s Sherrilyn Ifill, observing the “heaviness” across our land and lamenting our collective decision to invest in prisons, you could not help but take the remark as as prognosis for our near future. Will we redirect our resources? Will a day come when every child gets a fair chance at hope? Smith alone cannot provide answers. But together, her fascinating and tragedy-filled production implies, we may well have a critical shot.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.