The Dialogues on Diversity event aimed to talk about the ‘tough stuff’ Thursday night, but reviews from students and audience members were tougher than the topics.
The Activities Council of Bradley University (ACBU) hosted Ron Jones, a leader in the world of improvisation.
Most notable is Jones’ Black-Jew Dialogues, a cultural awareness program laced with comedy.
Less than 50 students partook in the conversation, where bribes of Cap’n Crunch, Pop-Tarts and Pringles greeted participants’ remarks. Yet, while Jones’ presentation presented bits of history, the humorous elements were overshadowed by vulgar language.
“Here we are at the tail end of Black History Month,” Jones said. “How many of you have heard someone say ‘why do we give them a month?’ I’ll tell you why; y’all got the other f***ing 11.”
Many students said they felt the program had an opportunity to dive into difficult issues but fell short and left many relevant matters untouched.
“He really didn’t talk about enough for people to really take something from it,” freshman public relations major Amir Mitchell said. “He just scratched the surface, he told us everything that we already know…With the time he was allotted, he could have run to the hills with it and made people understand problems about the oppressed groups.”
Other attendees said the program could have tied issues of the past to today’s issues by drawing connections and providing solutions, but it did not.
“What about now?” sophomore biology major Marissa Bacon said. “Let’s talk about things that are actually happening in the news. I care about our boys being killed in the streets. I care about walking down the street being discriminated because of my skin color. I don’t care about no f***ing kids working in the factories because they don’t work there no more.”
Despite the negative student feedback, however, Jones’ said his main message is that it is “not just what you think, it’s what you do; and it’s not just what you do, it’s why you do it in order to make the change.”
Jones said his inspiration is drawn from Bayard Rustin, the “architect of the March on Washington,” who believes people must put their bodies where the problems lie until they are solved.
Jones has been featured with an improve troupe on Comedy Central, taught classes at institutions such as Harvard University and Curry College and founded his own improv program that won an EMMY award in 2002.
For more information, visit theblackjewdialogues.com.
