Ron Jones: The Hellfighter
Last fall's Forum on Ethics, in collaboration with the Portico Program, featured Ron Jones, executive director of Dialogues on Diversity, who delivered an insightful, emotion-provoking, and impactful performance of The Hellfighter last October. With the aim of teaching the audience how much they don鈥檛 know, Jones passionately chronicled the history of systemic racism toward Black Americans through the lens of one family鈥檚 story. Embodying the role of the descendant of a soldier who served with the historic 鈥淗arlem Hellfighters鈥� during World War I, Jones recounted a familial history in America from the Black perspective that included fighting for an authentic American identity through two world wars and at home against redlining. At its core, the performance illuminated the continual denial of acceptance and recognition of minority communities, the presence of both overt and covert racial discrimination in American society and government, and the intergenerational impacts of racism, which are, painfully, still manifesting today.
To help audience members learn, overarching lessons, spanning from 鈥淭he Perception of a Black Man鈥� to 鈥淪uburban Hatred,鈥� punctuated each segment of the performance. These historical themes actively confronted the modern perception that times have changed, and instead demonstrated the tangible value of history as an education tool鈥攁 tool to educate both minds and hearts. While The Hellfighter recounted the struggles of Black Americans primarily, this story of systemic discrimination and inequity rings true for other marginal groups as well. Through his performance, Jones affirmed that we all are 鈥減art of a great thread, an American thread, and that we have spilt too much blood to forget it.鈥�
Following the performance, Jones engaged in a lively Q&A session with audience members. Topics spanned from the impact of redlining on persistent educational inequality to the modern-day political climate, all of which served to further contextualize the guiding messages of the performance. For viewers, The Hellfighter acted not only as a means of storytelling but as a call to action, with Jones reminding audience members of similar opportunities to hear new perspectives: 鈥淲hat you do with those opportunities, that鈥檚 what learning looks like.鈥�
Jillian Sherwood 鈥�22, Winston Ambassador
Presented with the Portico Program
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