Actor Roger Guenveur Smith honored Dartmouth this weekend by presenting his work in film and theater as a part of the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.
Throughout the weekend, Smith showed two of his films, "Do the Right Thing" and "Get On the Bus," performed his solo work "A Huey P. Newton Story," and attended several receptions and question and answer sessions to offer his insight to the Dartmouth community.
Smith's very first acting experience occurred in grammar school when he dramatically performed the first fifteen pages of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer" 15 for a speech contest, voices and all. He quickly realized his talent and continued to act throughout high school and college.
Although Smith established himself as an actor through plays, he never limited his education and study to the theater. As an American Studies major at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Smith was able to study history, and he considers his career now as an "ongoing journey ... to combine [his] interest in performance together with [his] interest in history."
Smith has been successful in achieving this goal through performing several historical roles ranging from Huey P. Newton in "A Huey P. Newton Story" to Frederick Douglass in "Frederick Douglass Now" to Christopher Columbus in "Christopher Columbus 1992."
Smith continued to pursue his love of acting by studying at the Yale School of Drama. His film debut came after an audition nine years ago for Spike Lee's "School Daze." Since "School Daze,"
Smith has appeared in three more of Lee's films -- "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X," and Lee's most recent feature film, "Get On the Bus." He has also appeared in "Deep Cover," and "Poetic Justice" as well as the sitcom "A Different World" where he played a recurring role as Professor Randolph.
Smith's current project is performing his solo work, the multi-media production entitled "A Huey P. Newton Story" about the Black Panther leader. This award-winning production successfully debuted in Los Angeles and Washington D.C. and goes off-Broadway at the Public Theater in New York this February.
Throughout his weekend at Dartmouth, Smith expressed himself as a multi-talented, intelligent, warm, personable, and humorous individual with a great passion for the arts. In recognition of the importance of celebration for King this week at Dartmouth, Smith commented on King understanding and knowledge of the "essence of movement," particularly, "poetic movement."
This essence of poetic movement is something that Smith aspires to demonstrate in his own work as well. Smith profoundly believes that working in the arts is a great deal more than merely an extracurricular activity or interest, but rather Smith sees it as a vehicle for change and expression that is worth "pursuing vigorously with no apology."
Smith urged all individuals to follow their artistic dreams because according to him, "artistic life is as fundamental as blood, bone, [and] breath."
So many of Smith's works move beyond superficial entertainment as they possess strong and important social messages that range from racial tension to generational conflict to sexism.
Through these social commentaries, Smith propels his goals forward for unity and change, and he hopes that audience members leave his films and performances with "a stronger sense of human possibility." Throughout his talks this weekend, Smith reiterated how important it is for all people to continue to work for change whether they do it, "on the page, on the stage, on the screen, or in corporate boardrooms across the country."
