Garvey’s Legacy Celebrated on New York Stage

Guyana-born actor, Ron Bobb-Semple will again take the stage in his one-man show titled, ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward’, which will run from February 26-28 at the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan. In ‘Looking Back, Moving Forward’, Bobb-Semple plays Marcus Garvey and passionately recites some of the Hero’s most famous speeches.

He began portraying the Jamaican-born leader nearly 20 years ago after being told that he bore an uncanny resemblance to Garvey. His vivid portrayals landed him the job of being the voice of Marcus Garvey in the highly acclaimed PBS film, ‘Marcus Garvey: Look for Me In The Whirlwind’ in 2001.

Mr. Bobb-Semple, who was a special guest at the re-dedication ceremony of Liberty Hall in Kingston on October 20, 2003, has also  presented his piece, ‘The Spirit of Marcus Garvey in Senegal (1999) and Ghana (2000)’.

His stage credits include August Wilson’s ‘The Piano Lesson and Fences’, Derek Walcott’s ‘Steel, Bingo’ (a musical directed by Ossie Davis) and Pepe Carille’s ‘Shango de Ima’, which earned him the 1994 AUDELCO Award for Best Supporting Actor. Among his film credits are Clockin Green, Lost Money, Mental Vengeance and Nursing Tuskegee.

He was also the host of Caribbean Forum, a television programme on New York’s WNYE-TV for which he received an award for Best Television Production/Presentation by the Caribbean Media Association in 1995.

In 1998 Ron Bobb-Semple and Claud Leandro founded CLAUDRON Productions (CPI), a non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting Black life by utilizing the arts as a medium of education and entertainment. ‘Looking Forward, Moving Back’ is CPI’s latest production.