740 East 56th Place Chicago, Illinois 60637 (773) 947-0600

Contact: Raymond Ward (773) 947-0600 ext 228 rward@dusablemuseum.org

Donna Hardwick (617) 308-5677 Dhardwick@onandonpr.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

LIMITED ENGAGEMENT PERFORMANCE OF FORMER CHICAGO JOURNALIST JANET LANGHART COHENS PLAY ANNE & EMMETT

ARRIVES AT THE DuSABLE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SEPTEMBER 25 SEPTEMBER 27, 2015

With race relations and intolerance reaching record lows across the country, the play is a reminder for us to repair the world and create dialogue around these issues.

Chicago, IL. (10 August 2015) --- Janet Langhart Cohen, an Emmy-award nominated journalist, civil rights activist, founder of the non-profit RARIA and former Chicago broadcast journalist returns to the city this coming September with her timely play, ANNE & EMMETT at the DuSable Museum of African American History. Running Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27, at the Museum, which is located at 740 East 56th Place (57th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue) in Chicago, the one-act play is an imaginary conversation between Anne Frank and Emmett Till, both victims of racial and religious intolerance and hatred. Acclaimed director, Thomas W. Jones II (The Islands, Bessies Blues) will direct the piece with the belief it will help add to the dialogue around these issues.

The ghost of Emmett Till lives on in cases like the shootings at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Freddie Gray, Amadou Diallo, Rekia Boyd, Oscar Grant III, Manuel Loggins, Jr., Ronald Madison, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Michael Brown---Black people across America are killed over the years at the hands of those who have pledged to protect and serve, said Cohen who, as wife of former Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen was known as the First Lady of the Pentagon for her active role in supporting the military and their families while her husband was in office. This isnt about a restoration of justice in America, as there has never been a balance in our criminal justice system, its about the absence of justice. While Anne and

Emmett may be a part of our past, their stories are just as relevant today as ever.

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Anne is the 15-year old Jewish girl whose diary offered the world a gripping perspective of the Holocaust touching the hearts of humanity. Emmett is the 14-year old African American boy whose brutal murder in Mississippi sparked the modern Civil Rights Movement. An uplifting tribute and timely reminder ANNE & EMMETT is a call to action to tikkun olam (repair the world). Appropriate for all ages, this play is a powerful tribute to two teens who changed the course of history.

Tickets are on sale now for the production, which is playing a limited engagement at the DuSable Museum. Performances are: Friday, September 25 at 7:00 PM; Saturday, September 26 at 2:00 PM and Sunday, September 27 at 3:00 PM. Tickets are $25 per person General Admission and $20 per person for DuSable Museum and Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center Members. To purchase tickets please call 773-947-0600 or visit thedusablemuseum.eventbrite.com. There will be a special Student Performance on Friday, September 25 at 10:30 AM. Admission to the Student Performance is FREE, however Reservations are required. Please call 773-947-0600 ext 225 for more information.

The DuSable Museum presentation of ANNE & EMMETT is made possible by: RARIA ( Race and Reconciliation in America), The Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Mass Mutual Financial Group, CBS-2 Chicago, Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center and United Airlines, the Official Airline of The DuSable Museum. The DuSable Museum of African American History gratefully acknowledges the Chicago Park Districts generous support of the Museum. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Janet Langhart Cohen, co-founder of the non-profit RARIA (Race and Reconciliation in America), is an Emmy-nominated journalist, author and playwright. Cohen, a graduate of Crispus Attucks High School of Indianapolis Public Schools, began her television career on CBS in Chicago. During her 25-year career, Mrs. Cohen has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC and BET; hosted ABCs Good Day in Boston; covered special assignments for Entertainment Tonight; and produced several programs including On Capitol Hill with Janet Langhart. As an overseas correspondent, she covered news in Europe, African and the Middle East. Mrs. Cohen was active during the Civil Rights Movement and continues to be a leading voice in the fight for equality.

Throughout her career, Mrs. Cohen interviewed many prominent leaders of the 20th century including President Bill Clinton, who acknowledged her during his final State of the Union Address. She also interviewed President Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Rosa Parks, Mel Gibson, Bill Cosby, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Denzel Washington, Dan Rather, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters and Larry King, as well as David Duke former head of the Ku Klux Klan.

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She wrote her first book, a memoir entitled From Rage to Reason: My Life in Two Americas, in 2004. In 2007, she and her husband co-wrote Love in Black and White a memoir about race, religion, romance and the bonds Langhart and Cohen share over similar life circumstances and backgrounds. Mrs., Cohen was inducted into the Indiana Broadcaster Hall of Fame in 2012 and her many honors include: Connor Prairie Spirit of the Prairie Award; The Mamie Till Mobley Woman of Courage Award; and she was responsible for the planting of The Emmett Till Tree on Capitol Hill. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Emerson College.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Thomas W. Jones II is a much-sought-after professional who has directed, written and performed in more than 200 plays worldwide. In 1978, Jones founded Jomandi Productions where, as a Co-Artistic Director and Producing Director, he led Jomandi to become the third largest African American theatre company in the United States. His work as a writer, director and actor has been acclaimed nationally and internationally. His work has received 42 Helen Hayes Award nominations and won 12 awards, including Best Director for Samm-Art Williams Home and his own Bessies Blues. He has also received three New York Audelco Award nominations, the Dramalogue Award, the San Diego Critics Award and the NAACP Phoenix Award, among others.

PLAY SYNOPSIS ANNE & EMMETT is a one-act play that opens with two teenagers, Anne Frank and Emmett Till, meeting in Memory, a place that isolates them from the cruelty they experienced during their lifetime. The beyond-the-grave encounter draws the startling similarities between the two youths harrowing experiences and the atrocities perpetrated against them because of their religion and race.

In memory, Anne recounts hiding in a cramped attic, with her family after German dictator Adolf Hitler ordered the Nazi military to round up Jews and put them in concentration camps en route to the gas chambers. Anne died of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen Nazi concentration camp in March 1945, a few weeks before British troops liberated the concentration camp.

Emmett tells Anne about how he, in 1955, ended up being brutally attacked by a group of

racists and thrown in the Tallahatchie River with a cotton gin fan tied to his neck. This happened after he whistled at a white woman while visiting his uncle in Money, Mississippi.

About The DuSable Museum of African American History The DuSable Museum of African American History is one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the country. Our mission is to collect, preserve and display artifacts and objects that promote understanding and inspire appreciation of the achievements, contributions and experiences of African Americans through exhibits, programs and activities that illustrate African and African American history, culture and art. For more information on the Museum and its programs, please call (773) 947-0600 or visit us at www.dusablemuseum.org

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