1001 Black Inventions

"That the Black race consists of masses of instinctively gifted athletes, sprinkled with a few endowed minds, is a cancerous myth that has for too long been allowed the unearned privilege to spread."

1001 BLACK INVENTIONS is an unusually funny (and fun) antidote for this misconception. Created and performed by the award-winning theatre company, PIN POINTS, this play takes you on an eye-opening journey through history. 1001 BLACK INVENTIONS features the lives of ingenious men and women, then travels into "The Twilight Zone" where a typical suburbanite family attempts to survive in a world gone mad because the inventions of Africans and African Americans have disappeared. Audiences laugh themselves into the realization that Black ingenuity is an integral part of their everyday lives.

DRAMA

Demonstrating there is no ceiling to human potential, this segment presents a series of intriguing docu-dramas:

~ The determination of Jan Ernst Matzellger was ridiculed by the experts of his day, who swore it was impossible to erect a machine that could duplicate the multiplexed movements of the fingers. Nevertheless, Matzellger forged ahead to invent the shoe lasting machine, and thus created the world's billion-dollar shoe industry.
~ The romance of Benjamin Banneker, the self-taught mathematician/astronomer, is a deeply touching story. He built America's first clock. Then he built his heart around Anola, the slave for whom he offered his life.
~ The convictions of George Washington Carver remained intact when he refused large sums of money offered for his genius. He saved the economy of the south from destruction, and invented over 400 products from the peanut and the potato.
~ And the courage of Daniel Hale Williams allowed him to overcome a frightening episode in the emergency ward. He risked his medical career by treating a patient stabbed through his chest. Despite the pressures, the operation was a success, making him the very first to perform open heart surgery.

The lives of these great innovators are used to teach an effective lesson in the rewards of perseverance.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

The famous historian, Arnold Toynbee, once commented, "When we classify mankind by color, the only primary race that has not made a creative contribution to any civilization is the Black race." And so begins the funniest segment of 1001 BLACK INVENTIONS which portrays a typical modern-day family attempting to survive in "The Twilight Zone," a world without Black inventions. Audiences laugh themselves into the realization that African-American ingenuity is an integral part of their everyday lives.

PIN POINTS is a musical theatre group that takes subjects such as biology, history, and math, and puts them into theatrical formats that "edu-tain." Founded in 1975, these performers have received countless awards for artistic excellence. Their contemporary and historic adaptations have been highly acclaimed by the Smithsonian Institute, the D.C. Commission on the Arts, and over 1800 schools through the United States.

You are invited to enjoy the unique excitement of PIN POINTS in 1001 BLACK INVENTIONS, a powerful theatre experience made available in places where conventional theatre seldom travel. Created to astound and inform, it takes great care to point out that all peoples have their superstars, those special ones who practice tireless loyalty to a timeless creed: "Blessed are they who struggle."