Living IncogNegro

Some of my racial heroes are.... An inspiring conversation with Gin Hammond One of the people that I think about most regularly, who's a hero for me. Marian Anderson, the opera singer. First of all, a lot of people told her that, you're black, you can't sing opera. It's just not done. It's a Western European art form and all of that. And she defied all of that through her art. And she inspired mil...

Can a health care professional help conversations about race? Gin Hammond responds If there is some kind of therapist or counselor present at conversations that mixed people are having around race, both the practical and esoteric elements of that, I hope that the idea of compassion, especially for oneself, is kept top of mind. Because just like a number of other groups, we get told that you are no...

There's alot of strong emotion about 'Passing'. The most important might be... Different generations respond to the concept of “passing“. I talk about this in Living IncogNegro Something that the older generations are likely to be aware of, there’s been a shame associated with “passing” that gets stuffed into the next generation and stuffed into the next generation. So it’s something that hasn’t b...

The way that I would encourage people to contribute to the fight for everyday justice is to think about either the people that you already know or communities that you know are around you, but maybe you haven’t meshed with them yet. You know, maybe think about what are the practical needs? So, for example my brother bravely posted something and he said, Hey, if you are afraid of ICE, And you need...

it’s hard for me to say how the fight for racial equality has evolved in the age of social media, because everybody has their own echo chamber and is anybody listening? Some people are, some people aren’t. I think on the negative side, it’s become more fractional, more divisive, right? One phrase that I’m hearing a lot is about white adjacency, right? So it’s like people are retreating even furthe...

When I think about Black History Month, I am excited. That’s so many different stories are are coming to light. Black folks of all hues to I’ve been seeing that more and more and I’ve been appreciating how there are definitely people out there who are trying to step away from the idea of blackness as a monolith. And it always immediately makes me think of what it was like when I was a kid. And you...

Different generations respond to the concept of “ passing “. I talk about this in Living IncogNegro Something that the older generations are likely to be aware of, there’s been a shame associated with “passing” that gets stuffed into the next generation and stuffed into the next generation.  So it’s something that hasn’t been able to evolve very much. A way in which it has evolved over time h...

For the  Living IncogNegro   theater  show, what was the most surprising feedback ? The most surprising feedback I received after performing Living Incognegro was not only were there people who could relate, but there were incognito people in the audience that I couldn’t see. We were able to find each other and share our stories that we knew that the other person would understand.&n...

What’s the healthiest diet I’ve every tried? And will I ever go back? I was regularly watching 4 news outlets a day and I would listen to NPR in the morning, check some New York Times highlights. Then for contrast, check out CNN.  Usually in the afternoon, there would be some BBC, and at night, there’d be some New York Times again. Then usually some sort of news comedy late night thing a...

Is there  racism  in live theater? I think every performer has their own opinion, but most people will admit, yes there’s at least some if not more. As a performer, it depends. There’s so many different gradations of racism and, some of it, you just flow with it. You don’t have any control over it, which is why you might have to let it go.  Then there are other times that...

For a theater lovers, here’s a happy story about life in the  theater . One of my favorite moments in theater is when Théâtre de Complicité, a French troupe, were doing a show called Mnemonic in New York City. This is when I was living there. It was such an amazing example of simple storytelling that brought in centuries of context and brought in so many skills that they made it look easy. Th...

Looking for vocal warm-up and cool down exercises? Ask  Voice Coach Gin Hammond  for tips. So I’m a certified teacher of  Fitzmaurice technique voice work , which is a voice modality. That’s taught at all the big schools like NYU and Yale school of drama and internationally too. One of the things that I’ve found is that a lot of people warm up too much. They’re doing their vocal exe...

One of the biggest things I ever got out of acting was it helped me step out from behind the mask. When I started [acting] around junior high, I was so shy and I loved acting because I was able to hide behind it. But then I really started to care about that art form and had the horrible realization that in order to be any good at it, I’d have to do exactly what I was terrified of doing and open my...