Lisa Jones

Lisa Jones (born 1961)[1] is the daughter of poets Hettie Jones and Amiri Baraka (formerly known as LeRoi Jones).[2] Her sister, Dr. Kellie Jones,[1] is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University.[3]

Jones grew up in New York City and Newark, New Jersey.[4] She graduated from Yale University and received a MFA in Film from New York University. She joined the staff of the Village Voice in 1984 and wrote for the paper for fifteen years.[5] Jones married Kenneth S. Brown in 2004 and their daughter was born in 2005.

Jones is best-known for her "Skin Trade" columns in the Village Voice, a selection of which were published as a book, Bulletproof Diva[6] in 1994.[7] She also co-wrote three books with Spike Lee, all companion books to his films: Uplift the Race: The Construction of School Daze,[8] published in 1988, Do the Right Thing, published in 1989,[9] and Mo' Better Blues,[10] published in 1990. Jones published a memoir, Good Girl in a Bad Dress, in 1999.[11] Her essays have been widely anthologized.

Jones wrote the plays Carmella & King Kong and Combination Skin while involved with the Rodeo Caldonia, a feminist collective of African American women artists.[12][13] Combination Skin went on to premiere at Company One in Hartford, CT in 1992. The NY Times Theater review called her "a fresh talent" and praised her "all-consuming vision".[14] Combination Skin was anthologized in Contemporary Plays by Women of Color.[4] Jones also created three works for the New American Radio series of National Public Radio: Aunt Aida's Hand (1989), Stained (1991), and Ethnic Cleansing (1993).[15] Aunt Aida's Hand and Stained were collaborations with Alva Rogers, who was also a Rodeo Caldonia member.[13][15] In 1995, Jones and Rogers received a joint choreography and creator Bessie Award for their collaborative work.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b Ellis, Trey (1988). Platitudes & "The new black aesthetic". Northeastern University Press, Ann Arbor. ISBN 1555535860
  2. ^ Stetler, Carrie. "Still rebellious after all these years: Amiri Baraka turns 75, and Newark celebrates with five days of events", The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ, October 2, 2009.
  3. ^ "Kellie Jones Faculty Directory Department of Art History and Archaeology". columbia.edu. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/arthistory/html/dept_faculty_jones.html. Retrieved 2010-05-21. 
  4. ^ a b Perkins, Kathy and Uno, Roberta (1996). Contemporary plays by women of color: an anthology. Routledge, London. ISBN 0415113784
  5. ^ Tate, Greg. "License to Ill: Black journalism in the pages of the 'Voice'", Village Voice, New York, October 18, 2005.
  6. ^ Jones, Lisa (1994). Bulletproof Diva: Tales of Race, Sex and Hair. Doubleday, New York. ISBN 038547122X
  7. ^ Solberg, Judy. "Prepub Alert", Library Journal, New York, December 1993.
  8. ^ Jones, Lisa and Lee, Spike (1988). Uplift the Race: The Construction of School Daze. Fireside, New York. ISBN 0671644181
  9. ^ Jones, Lisa and Lee, Spike (1989). Do the Right Thing. Fireside, New York. ISBN 0671682652
  10. ^ Lee, Spike; Jones, Lisa (1990), Mo' better blues, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 9780671725709 
  11. ^ Jones, Lisa (1999). Good Girl in a Bad Dress. Random House, New York. ISBN 9780375501807
  12. ^ Taumann, Beatrix (1999). Strange Orphans: Contemporary African American Women Playwrights. Würzburg, Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 3826016815
  13. ^ a b Shipp, E.R. "Their Muse Is Malcolm X", NY Times, New York, December 4, 1988.
  14. ^ Klein, Alvin. "Theater Review: In the 90's, Questions Of Color And Identity", NY Times, New York, October 18, 1992.
  15. ^ a b "Lisa Jones and Alva Rogers: Stained". Somewhere.org. http://www.somewhere.org/NAR/work_excerpts/jones/main.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-21. 
  16. ^ "'Bessies' Go to New Artists and Philip Glass", NY Times, New York, September 18, 1995.

External links