Dr. Juhanna Rogers discusses place-based storytelling at ‘Conventions’ series
Corey Henry | Senior Staff Photographer
Rogers listed popular TV series “The Wire” as one of the influences that motivates her work to highlight how people’s environments shape their life experiences.
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Juhanna Rogers, a playwright, director and activist who holds a doctorate in higher education, wrote a spoken-word poem inspired by her hometown, Newark, New Jersey, in 2006 as a student at Indiana University Bloomington. It took her until 2019 to find the confidence to publish the work for the world to see.
“In my formative years, there was a time where I didn’t say where I was from,” Rogers said. “I didn’t want (people) to think of me as less than.”
Slowly, Rogers grew out of this idea. Her creative works, such as the play “A Gatherin’ Place” and her show “Behind the Woman,” focus on highlighting and empowering underrepresented stories.
In a two-hour webinar on Monday night, Rogers discussed the importance of place-based storytelling as a part of the Syracuse Symposium: Conventions series. Conventions is an ongoing four-event workshop series that focuses on housing insecurities in central New York. The series will be followed by performances of the play “The Most Beautiful Home … Maybe,” coming to Syracuse Stage June 15 through 18.
Joann Yarrow, the director of community engagement and education at Syracuse Stage, moderated Rogers’ presentation.
During the webinar, Rogers touched on her background in academia, her creative work and how she was inspired by her mentors to always think of the stories going untold. She also gave advice to participants who were interested in telling these stories through the arts.
“When I’m working as an artist, when I am thinking about projects artistically, when I’m writing, I’m thinking about the characters I’ve left behind or who aren’t seated at the table with me and what they might say,” she said.
Rogers also emphasized the influences of her work, including the show “The Wire.” She said the show demonstrates how the circumstances of characters living in urban spaces shaped their life experiences.
“I continue to look at (“The Wire”) as a guide for telling the truth and highlighting the characters that I want to see on stage,” she said.
Another portion of the webinar included participation from attendees. Rogers asked the audience where they are from, how those areas shaped them as individuals and if they had grown up somewhere else, who they might be instead.
Yarrow took the time to read comments and responses from 11 of the attendees. Audience responses included hometowns from all over the world, from Syracuse to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Some noted that the neighborhoods they were raised in were not always accurately represented in the news and media.
One attendee commented that they lived “in a community where the beautiful parts were never highlighted.”
The Conventions workshops aim to promote accountability and empathy when examining communities that may be lacking resources or representation. During her presentation, Rogers shared that her work is about putting people in different communities to help them think about their own.
“When you step beyond where you are, how does that help you begin to understand where you’re from? Both the good and the bad,” she asked.
At the end of the night, Rogers thanked Syracuse Stage, the Redhouse Arts Center and WCNY for offering spaces to host stories from creatives who are Black, Indigenous and people of color. She said she was humbled to have opportunities to share her art in Syracuse, and that there is room for more artists.
“There are more talented people, more talented voices that can be added to the table and color the fabric,” she said.
The fourth and final workshop of the series, titled “Disrupting Conventions: Creating a Future with Housing for All” will be held April 11 on Zoom.
Published on February 8, 2022 at 12:54 am
