Theater group uses Houston streets as a stage to recall Camp Logan Uprising

LOCAL // HOUSTON

Theater group uses Houston streets as a stage to recall Camp Logan Uprising

Photo of Molly Glentzer
Molly Glentzer 

 

Jefferson Pinder (with Lionz of Zion) in his 2015 performance event "Dark Matter" in Washington, DC. Pinder will perform a new, site-specific piece inspired by Houston's 1917 Camp Logan Uprising on Thursday, July 11 as part of his "Red Summer Road Trip" project.
1of11Jefferson Pinder (with Lionz of Zion) in his 2015 performance event “Dark Matter” in Washington, DC. Pinder will perform a new, site-specific piece inspired by Houston’s 1917 Camp Logan Uprising on Thursday, July 11 as part of his “Red Summer Road Trip” project.Photo: Franz Mahr / Franz Mahr
 

Jefferson Pinder & The Middle Passage Guerilla Theatre Company, who will perform "Fire and Movement" along a four-mile route in Houston on Thusday, July 11 inspired by the 1917 Camp Logan Uprising, are shown during a related performance, "Goat Island Archive: THIS IS NOT A DRILL" in Chicago in May 2019.
2of11Jefferson Pinder & The Middle Passage Guerilla Theatre Company, who will perform “Fire and Movement” along a four-mile route in Houston on Thusday, July 11 inspired by the 1917 Camp Logan Uprising, are shown during a related performance, “Goat Island Archive: THIS IS NOT A DRILL” in Chicago in May 2019.Photo: Orlando Pinder / Orlando Pinder
 

Performance artists depart the College Park Memorial Cemetery Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Houston. Performance artist Jefferson Pinder and a group of about 12 other artists (half of whom are local; the others are from Chicago's Middle Passage Guerilla Theatre Company) rehearsed "Fire and Movement," a four-mile-long performance commissioned by DiverseWorks to recontextualize the history of the 1917 Camp Logan Uprising.
3of11Performance artists depart the College Park Memorial Cemetery Tuesday, July 9, 2019, in Houston. Performance artist Jefferson Pinder and a group of about 12 other artists (half of whom are local; the others are from Chicago’s Middle Passage Guerilla Theatre Company) rehearsed “Fire and Movement,” a four-mile-long performance commissioned by Photo: Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
 

The nondescript shopping strip at 1009 Moy Street hardly looks like hallowed historical ground. A cheerful, retro sign for Pink’s Pizza is its most notable landmark.

But on Thursday, artist Jefferson Pinder and his Middle Passage Guerilla Theatre Company hope to stir up feelings about what started there 102 years ago, when one of the U.S. Army’s most-respected black units rebelled and killed local citizens — the deadliest night of racially motivated violence in Houston’s history.

‘Jefferson Pinder: Fire and Movement’
 
When: 7-10 p.m. Thursday

Where: Four mile route viewing sites at 1009 Moy, Buffalo Bayou footbridge at Shepherd (about 7:45 p.m.), College Memorial Park Cemetery (3525 W. Dallas, about 8 p.m.) and the Gregory School (1300 Victor, about 9 p.m.)