Rosie Perez and Ryan Jamaal Swain Visit 'Voices in the Classroom' Education Program

This month, our students from the Maxine Greene High School for Imaginative Inquiry in NYC were treated to two guests who are equal parts artist and activist: actors Rosie Perez and Ryan Jamaal Swain. In these two classes, Rosie and Ryan participated in a Q&A session, followed by a workshop session where the students performed their full pieces for feedback.

The students asked Ms. Perez about overcoming stage fright and how her activism informs her work and her life. When asked how to decide what causes to take up as young activists, Rosie told them “Take on a cause that you feel a true connection to and a deep conviction for. This way, you won't give up, no matter how tiring and difficult it will be.”

In sharing his experiences at Howard University, and how his family history of activism made his own “artivism” seem like a natural calling, he told us, "I started acting because as a kid I used the arts to express the way I was feeling, and all the things I couldn’t say. I knew I could do it through art, through music—these are universal languages that we all can understand. They can make people feel things. That feeling can lead to a thought, and that thought can engineer action. And that action can be real and effective change."

Ryan Jamaal Swain talking to students about his work as an artist and activist.

We are so grateful to Rosie Perez and Ryan Jamaal Swain for taking the time to participate in our education program!