Pemon Rami: Celebrating Black History & Culture

Empowering Voices speaks with Pemon Rami, Director of Educational Services and Public Programs at DuSable Museum of African American History.

Since the 1960s, Pemon Rami has been involved in the development of television production, films, music concerts, documentaries, plays, and multimedia designs for theatres across the country. From 1968 through 1970, he was Associate Director of the Joe Louis Theater; in 1971 and ’72, he was director of the Kuumba Workshop; and from 1973 to 1979, he was Artistic/Managing Director of the Lamont Zeno Theatre. As a casting director, Rami provided talent for the highly acclaimed feature films and television movies, including Blues Brothers, Mahogany, Cooley High, and The Spook Who Sat By The Door. A native of Chicago, Mr. Rami has directed over thirty theatrical productions nationally and numerous videos, documentaries, and commercials. He is currently Director of Educational Services and Public Programs at DuSable Museum of African American History.

Rev. Joan R. Harrell

The Rev. Joan R. Harrell, M.S., M.Div. is the producer and host of Empowering Voices. A public theologian, she received a Master of Science degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City and Master of Divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently she is a doctoral student at the Chicago Theological Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. Her scholarly investigation is "How Does the Intersecting of Media, Race, Religion, Alterity and Xenophobic Constructs Perpetuate Oppression in the Public Square?"