Saturday, June 20, 2026
Edward W. Kane & Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History | 17 Broadway, Newport
Free Admission with the discount code: CBH26
Soul Value
Performances: 11am, 12pm, 1pm
A duet, performed by April H. Brown and Jessica T. Pearson, brings to life the stories of New England Black women—Elleanor Eldridge, Elizabeth Freemen, and Margaret Kinnicutt—and the men of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment during and after the American Revolutionary War. Through a dynamic blend of monologue, dance, ritual, and song, Soul Value highlights the untold contributions of Black men and women in New England history, focusing on their advocacy, resilience, and survival.
This project is supported in part by a grant from the Rhode Island Semiquincentennial Commission (RI250).
Performing Artists:
April H. Brown
“For April, arts practice is the way we speak life into humanity.”
April H. Brown is an educator, ordained minister, poet, singer, actor, and nationally recognized nonprofit leader whose work bridges the arts, education, and social justice. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, April brings over 25 years of experience in community development, cultural leadership, and educational equity.
She also serves as Co-Director of the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading Committee, that amplifies Black literary voices through civic poetry gatherings.
April holds a Bachelor of Arts from American University and a Master of Education from the University of Rhode Island. She has worked in a wide array of professional and cultural settings, including with the Smithsonian Institution’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the National Museum of American History, where she helped produce landmark public events such as the National World War II Reunion and the Folklife Festival. Locally, she has collaborated with Rhode Island Black Storytellers, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and served as the African Marketplace Director.
Recently, April served as a Commissioner on the City of Providence’s Special Committee for
Commemorative Works, where she helped to shape inclusive public memory and civic
representation. Her leadership was instrumental across numerous initiatives involving
environmental justice, youth empowerment, arts education, and volunteer engagement.
Jessica Pearson
Jessica T. Pearson is a Professor of Dance at Rhode Island College. Ms. Pearson is a dancer, educator and choreographer who danced with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Gesel Mason and Concepts In Motion (Bermuda). As an educator of modern dance, ballet, and dance wellness, she has been invited to teach at Ballet West Summer Intensive, Brown University, Providence College, Urbanity Summer Intensive, University of Kentucky Lexington, Ballet Rhode Island, and overseas.
Her choreography has been selected to perform at Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Southern Vermont Dance Festival, and Collective Thread (NY). Urbanity Next, Utah Regional Ballet, Rhode Island College, Salve Regina University, University of Kentucky Lexington, University of Utah, and Providence College have commissioned choreography by Ms. Pearson.
Ms. Pearson is currently training in Afro-Brazilian movement with Maestra Isaura Oliveira and Power of Skirts in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was a principal dancer in Hocus Pocus 2 and recently joined SAG-AFTRA. Prior to Rhode Island College, she was a Post MFA Fellow at the University of Utah. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of Colorado Boulder where she studied dance pedagogy and choreography and BFA in Dance from Towson University in Towson, Maryland. With a subspecialty in dance wellness, she has been trained in Progressive Ballet Technique and Sugarfoot Therapy.
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