Be the Change: A Friendship Called Ndugu, Part I

City Lore and the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation present performance artists Annie Lanzillotto and Simba Yangala in a two-part series. Hosted by Steve Zeitlin of City Lore. With the triple threat to our communities of CoVid19 + Killer Racism + the current Administration, Annie and Simba offer stories of life, death, and cross-cultural traditions of Mother Earth holding our ancestors. Their 22 years together as ndugu--a family bond--offers a balm to the wounds of our collective psyche in this grave moment and a way we can move forward. Annie and Simba first met in 1998 when Annie visited a performance at Newcomers High School for immigrants, and Simba was a 16 year old refugee from Zaire. They've been performing together ever since. It was Simba who came to Annie's Mom at her deathbed, singing her soul out in seven languages, and making her dying wish come true. Audiences are invited to share their own experiences and creative ideas for setting society on a course forward of racial equality.