Press Releases

March 15, 2004

"Nappy Hair": A Performance Celebrating Diversity
Southampton College Welcomes Comic Emmy Gay to the Avram Theatre

Contact:
Craig Platt/Patricia Conway
631-287-8313

Southampton, NY - As part of ERASE Racism on Long Island, Southampton College welcomes a special presentation of "Nappy Hair: A Celebration of Diversity" with feminist comedian Emmy Gay on Friday April 2, at 8 p.m. in the College's Avram Theater.

Emmy Gay's unique blend of comedy, poetry, spoken word and storytelling is called Fusion Art. "Nappy Hair" is a solo performance play about Gay's upbringing during the Civil Rights Movement. Through wit, humor and irony, Gay pays tribute to diversity and explores popular stereotypes in contemporary society and the role race and gender have played throughout social history.

Gay has been performing her brand of socially-conscience comedy at hundreds of colleges, conferences and festivals for more than twenty years. She has appeared at the Brixton Festival in London, the Surf Reality Alternative and the Toyota comedy festivals in New York and the Women's Festival in Pennsylvania. She has been seen on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" Lifetime Television, Nickelodeon, Fox TV, and USA's "Up All Night" as well as being featured on the BBC's special "On Alternative Comedy." The host of the public access television show "Emmy Gay in Blue Stockings," her work has also been presented at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and the world-famous Apollo Theater.

Southampton College is a participant of "ERASE Racism," (Education, Research, Advocacy & Support to Eliminate Racism) which identifies institutional racism and promotes strategies to eliminate it in education, healthcare, housing and economic development policies and practices. The College will also be screening two films in Duke Lecture Hall in conjunction with the initiative. "The Road to Brown" will be shown on Sunday, March 28 at 7 p.m. and "The Difference Between Us," will be screened on Thursday, April 1 at 9 p.m. For more information on the events please contact Alice Flynn (631) 287-8302 or by e-mail at alice.flynn@liu.edu.