Black Lives Matter, Too; All Lives Matter

Of Law & Order: The actors portraying justice seekers and court personnel are, from left to right, Merieta Bayati (The Stenographer); Brittany Dias (Attorney); Marcelo Ringold (Judge); Fulton Hodges (Attorney) and Graham Weatherspoon (The Bailiff).

Success: Production started early on “Black Lives Matters, Too,” but some cast members and singers worked double duty: on Chad Cooper’s “Family Mess” play presented to SRO audiences at the Brooklyn Music School and on Saturday afternoon rehearsals for “Black Lives” at the Free Will Church of God in Christ on Jefferson Avenue. Chad and Alicia Cooper, center, are seen with cast members and friends including stellar gospel group Soul Tempo members Jerry Brunson, Anthony Burnett, brothers Kevin & Phillip Mitchell.
Success is a family affair for the Coopers Florida natives and alumnae of FAMU where they met 22 years ago. Now, the multi-gifted recording artists, preachers and writers’ stage presentations are standing-room-only.
Mr. Cooper’s original plays have enjoyed a million attendees nationwide over more than 10 years. He promises to reveal his under-the-radar infused-with-the-spirit business formula in a future book, but for now you can see all Cooper family members — Chad, Alicia and their children, Celebrity (as Angela Davis),17, Chad Jr. (portraying Emmett Till), 16, and Caleb,9, who appears in the production and handles (behind the scenes) production assistant chores — in Black Lives Matter, Too, this weekend and in Manhattan June 29, 30 and July 1 at a venue to be announced.

Gospel recording artist/actress Alicia Cooper stands backstage in character as Harriet Tubman for her husband Chad Cooper’s “Black Lives Matter, Too; All Lives Matter” play which premiered in Brooklyn
at Medgar Evers College, Saturday, April 22. The SRO drama moves to Manhattan for performances in late June.

Tubman’s North Star: Florida native Alicia Robinson Cooper, legendary gospel singer and musician, stars as Harriet Tubman in her husband Chad’s anticipated production of Black Lives Matter, Too; All Lives Matter, performing this weekend at Medgar Evers College. “It’s the role of lifetime,” Ms. Cooper told us. The production resurrects the lives of Tubman, Emmett Till and Medgar Evers to place the Black Lives Matter contemporary messaging in an historical context. Chad fuses his original compositions with traditional gospel favorites. If you miss the production this weekend, don’t worry. Black Lives will have a run in Manhattan, June 29, 30 and July 1. Also the Coopers recently relocated their home base and office headquarters from Atlanta to New York, so plan to be a witness to more of their talents. Mrs. Cooper, whose voice is compared to Stephanie Mills and Whitney Houston, will reprise her role in the June production with an original song for her character: “Go Down Moses,” written by Chad Lawson Cooper & Justin Farrah. Ms. Cooper, in character, also performs her special arrangement of “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”

Bedford-Stuyvesant native Robert Nance, entrepreneur and actor, is seen here inside the Medgar Evers College Library, just before the presentation of “Black Lives Matter, Too;
All Lives Matter” in which he portrayed the great Civil Rights leader, the colleges namesake. The play premiered April 22
at Medgar Evers College, and moves to Manhattan in June.

Actress/Singer/Writer Siasha Nance portrays Medgar Evers’ daughter.