TruArtSpeaks, in partnership with the Guthrie Theater, today announced that it will present Stop Policing My Person, an open mic style event featuring performances by Washburn High School students with support from TruArtSpeaks mentors and alumni on Friday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m.in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio. The performance is the students’ response to The Parchman Hour, and will be followed by a discussion with the audience. Tickets are free and may be reserved through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org. Due to limited capacity, there is a six ticket limit per person.

Stop Policing My Person marks a first-time partnership between the Guthrie Theater and TruArtSpeaks, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to cultivating literacy, leadership and social justice through the study and application of Spoken Word and Hip Hop culture. Students enrolled in Black Voices, an English course centered on Black Literature and Theory at Minneapolis’ Washburn High School – powered by TruArtSpeaks – will see a performance of the The Parchman Hour and create an open mic style response to the show. Mike Wiley’s The Parchman Hour, directed by Patricia McGregor, is inspired by the songs and stories of the 1961 Freedom Riders who boarded buses headed into the Deep South to battle discrimination. For more information, visit us here!