PUSH: Black Mamas Changing the Culture of Birth

Dr. Roberta Suzette Hunte is a researcher, cultural worker and mother. She is an Associate Professor in PSU's School of Social Work. Her research is on maternal health disparities impacting people of color and community driven approaches to support healthy outcomes. She is founder of The Black Futures for Perinatal Health Collective seeking to create a birth village here in Multnomah County. Push is her fourth creative project informed from her research. She has co-created and produced We Are Brave with Dr Catherine Ming T’ien Duffly a theater piece based on people of color and reproductive health access, and tradeswomen stories in short film Sista in the Brotherhood with filmmaker Dawn Jones Redstone, and theatre piece My walk has never been average with Bonnie Ratner.

Bobby Bermea is an award-winning actor, director, writer and producer. He is co-artistic director of Beirut Wedding World Theatre Project, a founding member of Badass Theatre and a long-time member of both Sojourn Theatre and Actors Equity Association. Bermea has appeared in theaters from New York, NY, to Honolulu, HI. In Portland, he’s performed at Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, El Teatro Milagro, Sojourn Theatre, Cygnet Productions, Tygre’s Heart, and Life in Arts Productions, and has won four Drammy awards. As a director he’s worked at Beirut Wedding, BaseRoots Productions, Profile Theatre, Theatre Vertigo and Northwest Classical, Portland Revels, Sojourn Theatre and was a Drammy finalist for Wait Until Dark. He’s the author of the plays Heart of the City, Saint Heroin, Mercy and Rocket Man. He is also a regular contributor to Oregon ArtsWatch. “Do you already know that your existence--who and how you are--is in and of itself a contribution to the people and place around you?" -- adrienne maree brown

As a renaissance woman of the theatre, Jamie has had the pleasure of exploring this powerful tool for connection and change for over 20 years. While she has directed everywhere from Australia to Canada to San Francisco to New York City, she makes Portland her home because it allows for a focus on the development of new work which is the foundation of her practice. As a 20 year company member with Sojourn Theatre, a founding member of Scott Kelman’s (The Group Theatre & The Open Theatre, NYC) local ensemble before his passing and as founding co-artistic director of The Beirut Wedding World Theatre Project, Jamie has been a lead collaborator on the development of over 45 new works. In collaborating with government (international, federal, and city level) entities, conflicted communities, and powerhouse artists committed to shaping the world we live in, helping to bring clarity, originality and specificity to new work is how Jamie prefers to show up in the room. Recent local work includes: Hot ‘N Throbbing and Mother Courage (Profile Theatre), the thrice nominated Jesus Hopped the A-Train (Beirut Wedding and Coho Productions), the Drammy-award winning Made to Dance in Burning Buildings (a multi-year collaboration with writer/performer Anya Pearson – first produced Joe’s Pub at the Public in NYC and then here at Portland’s own Shaking The Tree Theatre), as well as two of the Willamette Week’s top 10 picks of 2018, Topdog Underdog(Street Scenes) and B*tch in Kitchen as part of Salt also with Shaking the Tree. She has had the privilege of appearing as Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest, Olympe in The Revolutionists, and most recently as Halina in Indecent all with Artists Repertory Theatre.