Robert “Faruq” Wideman will discuss his collection of essays and other writings Life Sentences: The Amazing Journey of Walking Out of an American Prison and his amazing journey of walking out of prison after 44 years. Included will be moments of joy after reuniting with family and the trials and struggles of reintegrating into life outside of prison after so many years of being incarcerated. He will recount memories and experiences like locking the door when he took a shower after being released and the outpouring of love that was so lavishly and sincerely given by family and friends.

Robert “Faruq” Wideman was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in a 1975 murder. After more than 40 years in prison, his sentence was commuted and he was released on July 2, 2019. Wideman is the author of Life Sentences: The Amazing Journey of Walking Out of an American Prison.

Join Pittsburgh dance-maker Staycee Pearl as she discusses her work as an artist and creator and provides her perspective as a black woman in the field of contemporary dance where women and BIPOC have been historically underrepresented. Pearl will be interviewed by Tereneh Idia. Stick around for a live Q&A opportunity.

Staycee Pearl is the co-artistic director of PearlArts Studios and STAYCEE PEARL dance project, where she creates artful experiences through dance-centered multimedia works in collaboration with her husband and artistic collaborator, Herman Pearl. Staycee received her initial dance training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Staycee is passionate about sharing resources and creating opportunities for the arts community by initiating project-generating programs including the Charrette Series, the In The Studio Series, and the PearlDiving Movement Residency

Moderator:

Ashley Lynn Priore
Founder and CEO of Queens Gambit

Ashley Lynn Priore—a civic and social entrepreneur, nonprofit founder, educator, innovative speaker, public servant, strategist, and writer—is the founder, president and CEO of Queen's Gambit, a national, multi-departmental hybrid nonprofit and social enterprise using chess as a catalyst for change. She is also the founder of Y'22, a national youth awareness organization ensuring people under 25 have a seat at every decision making table.

Featured Teen Changemakers:

Zion Ross

Hi everyone! I’m Zion Ross and I’m 16 year old junior at Pittsburgh CAPA. At CAPA, I am a vocal major and am a member of the Superintendent Student Advisory Council across the district. On the council, it is my job to represent the students across the district and make sure they’re voices are being heard and needs are being met. I can’t wait to talk more about experience!

Abigail Rickin-Marks
Founder and Organizer of the Discrimination in Education Symposium

Abigail Rickin-Marks is a current senior at Fox Chapel Area High School. When not sitting in her room attending her virtual classes, she is trying to better the world in areas such as mental health and education reform. Currently, Rickin-Marks is a teen advocate in multiple mental health organizations, including the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, and is spearheading a virtual day-long workshop aimed to educate high school students about discrimination commonly found in their schools.

Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die is a primer for all Americans to talk more honestly about health care. Beginning in the 1950s when doctors still paid house calls but regularly withheld the truth from their patients, Jonathan D. Moreno explores an unprecedented revolution in health care and explain the problem with America’s wanting everything that medical science has to offer without debating its merits and its limits. The result: Americans today pay far more for health care while having among the lowest life expectancies and highest infant mortality of any affluent nation.

Jonathan D. Moreno is called “the quietly most interesting bioethicist of our time” by the American Journal of Bioethics. Jonathan is the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where he is a Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) professor. At Penn he is also Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, of History and Sociology of Science, and of Philosophy. His new book, Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven but Nobody Wants to Die: Bioethics and the Transformation of Healthcare in America is co-authored with Penn president Amy Gutmann.

The Public Open Call provides a chance for a new voice to be heard at the Festival. The open call for participants is a web-based audition opportunity open to anyone interested in presenting / performing at the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival. This year's winner is Boaz Frankel.

"We’re all born curious. Curiosity is what makes our world a bigger and more interesting place. But in an age where every answer is a Google search away, the ways we find answers and the paths we take have completely changed. Together, we’ll explore the difference between online and offline curiosity. We'll look into the science behind it, the extreme places that curiosity can take us, and the surprising things that happen when we try to answer a question without a computer." – Boaz Frankel

Boaz Frankel is a filmmaker, writer, and talk show host who recently moved to Pittsburgh. Shortly after he moved, Boaz began a quest to make a documentary in each of Pittsburgh's ninety neighborhoods – he only has around eighty more documentaries to go. Last year, Boaz and his wife Brooke Barker co-wrote “Let's Be Weird Together: A Book About Love” which has been published in two languages. For six years Boaz hosted the Pedal Powered Talk Show, a talk show built into a bicycle that travelled all over the United States. When Boaz isn’t breaking Guinness World Records for the most high fives in an hour or starring in a Dutch television segment called 'Boaz Goes Dutch,' he creates quirky documentaries, curates a kazoo museum, and volunteers at the Phipps Conservatory and Heinz History Center.

Past Open Call winners include:

2019: Len Caric - The New Normal: A conversation on the trauma of a school lock downs
2018: Jessie Sage - Phone Sex, Anti Sex Work Feminism, and Masculine Socialization
2017: PJ Gaynard - The Philosphy of Decision Making; Bergita Bugarija - Dive into the Migrant Journey; David Bennett - Behind Bach