The Metro: Roger Guenveur Smith brings acclaimed solo performances to the Wright

The Charles H. Wright Museum is hosting a series of carefully curated lectures by both nationally-recognized and local performers.

The series, titled The Wright Performances, kicked off on Thursday with a set of performances from internationally acclaimed actor, playwright and director Roger Guenveur Smith — best known for roles in Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” and Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster.”

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Smith began the series with the first of three solo performances, titled “Frederick Douglass NOW.” Smith joined The Metro on Thursday before the show to talk about Douglass and this weekend’s performances.

“We’re in a very extraordinary political moment in this country. And I think that Douglass certainly [would have] a lot to say about this particular moment,” Smith said. “He spoke in 1861 when Fort Sumter was fired upon by Confederate troops. And he saw it as an immediate opportunity for the country to liberate the one-seventh of the inhabitants of the country who were enslaved at that point,.

“He saw the Civil War as an abolition war, and I think that he would see this particular moment as a continuation of that war in which people are fighting for freedom and people are fighting for a certain kind of slavery.”

Smith will perform the second one-man play of the series, “Otto Frank,” on Friday, followed by “In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat” on Saturday.

Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Smith.

More headlines from The Metro on Sept. 26: 

• The Federal Reserve recently lowered interest rates to hopefully tame prices, but a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau just showed that Michiganders household incomes are falling behind rising prices. To discuss why this is happening, and what can be done about it, economist Don Grimes joined The Metro.
• A collection of musicians are coming together at the Fox Theater for Smooth Jazz Fall Fest. Founder of Detroit Musix Sam Donald and Co-owner of Anderson and Denham Entertainment Derek Denham joined the show to share more about the event.
• Detroit is full of artists, but many of them are not well known. Art Clvb is a new app that works to connect artists and collectors. And as part of their work, the app is throwing an in-person event called Art Fair at five locations around Detroit starting Friday. The event will include about 200 artists selling their work. Detroit artists Dorota and Steve Coy joined the show to talk about the Art Clvb app and Art Fair event.

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