Sol Kelly-Jones’ play about social justice
Divided by walls
Divided by walls
“Please have the courage to stand against fear and hate. Please say no to AB 104 and stand for the principles that will someday make our country a safe
and fair place for all children and families. I will keep working for justice. I hope you will too.” And indeed, Kelley-Jones has lived up to her end of the
bargain. It hasn’t always been effortless.
“It was not always easy,” Kelley-Jones says about growing up with same-sex parents who were vocal, and quite visible, community organizers. “It
was especially not easy going through the Madison schools.”
Kelley-Jones’ family received bomb threats, she was teased at school, and the family felt the pressure of raising a healthy, “socially acceptable”
child.
“There is so much pressure in same-sex families for the kids to be straight, to prove same-sex parents can raise straight kids,” she says. “These
kids are no more likely to be gay.”
Despite this pressure, Kelley-Jones refuses to be put in a box. Identifying as person-specific, she says she won’t fall in love with a gender or race,
but with a person. Although currently dating a male, she says she won’t ever deny herself love.
“Knowing how much my parents struggle to love and live honestly, I would never not want that for myself,” she explains.
After becoming a newsworthy activist at 10, Kelley-Jones went on to join the national board of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)
and form a local chapter in Madison. She then co-founded Proud Theater, a theater program designed to promote self-expression and empowerment for
gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning youth, with Callen Harty in 1999. She has spoken out on LGBT issues nationwide, including delivering
the keynote speech for an annual GLSEN conference in Boston. She will soon graduate from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a degree in her
self-designed major, Performing Resistance: Re-imaging Justice-making. From there, the sky’s the limit for Kelley-Jones. Although not quite sure where
her path will lead, she is adamant that she will continue to work for social justice.
“the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege” will play Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through April 19th at
the Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson Street, 608-244-8338. Visit www.broomstreet.org for more information.
and fair place for all children and families. I will keep working for justice. I hope you will too.” And indeed, Kelley-Jones has lived up to her end of the
bargain. It hasn’t always been effortless.
“It was not always easy,” Kelley-Jones says about growing up with same-sex parents who were vocal, and quite visible, community organizers. “It
was especially not easy going through the Madison schools.”
Kelley-Jones’ family received bomb threats, she was teased at school, and the family felt the pressure of raising a healthy, “socially acceptable”
child.
“There is so much pressure in same-sex families for the kids to be straight, to prove same-sex parents can raise straight kids,” she says. “These
kids are no more likely to be gay.”
Despite this pressure, Kelley-Jones refuses to be put in a box. Identifying as person-specific, she says she won’t fall in love with a gender or race,
but with a person. Although currently dating a male, she says she won’t ever deny herself love.
“Knowing how much my parents struggle to love and live honestly, I would never not want that for myself,” she explains.
After becoming a newsworthy activist at 10, Kelley-Jones went on to join the national board of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE)
and form a local chapter in Madison. She then co-founded Proud Theater, a theater program designed to promote self-expression and empowerment for
gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender or questioning youth, with Callen Harty in 1999. She has spoken out on LGBT issues nationwide, including delivering
the keynote speech for an annual GLSEN conference in Boston. She will soon graduate from Hampshire College in Massachusetts with a degree in her
self-designed major, Performing Resistance: Re-imaging Justice-making. From there, the sky’s the limit for Kelley-Jones. Although not quite sure where
her path will lead, she is adamant that she will continue to work for social justice.
“the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege” will play Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through April 19th at
the Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson Street, 608-244-8338. Visit www.broomstreet.org for more information.
By Laura Salinger
From stony hills laden with olive trees to the blurry haze of a line in the sand among saguaros; from the bullet-
riddled corridors of an ancient holy city to a chain gang of a modern metropolis, a tangled collage of stories unfurl and
draw attention to the hands of those enclosed by borders, those making the crossing, and those who capitalize on the
construction of walls: wielders of stones, bakers of bread, upholders of state. -Sol Kelley-Jones on “the birds that are
your hands: how to start a fire under siege”
Sol Kelley-Jones, just a tender 22 years of age, has long been noteworthy as an activist dedicated to social change
and justice. This spring, she is furthermore making her mark as a playwright and director in Madison with the premiere
of her multi-media production, “the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege.” Playing at Broom Street
Theater through April 19, this innovative work weaves together the disparate, yet also congruent, tales of those living in
Israel/Palestine and along the U.S./Mexico border.
“It’s every day stories of resistance, of life, of what it means to continue to bake bread, of what it means to be
behind the walls, of what it means it be deemed a terrorist,” Kelley-Jones says about her work.
She describes “the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege” as a platform, not a soapbox.
“It doesn’t pretend to be balanced,” Kelley-Jones says. “It is really a collage of overlapping stories.”
From stony hills laden with olive trees to the blurry haze of a line in the sand among saguaros; from the bullet-
riddled corridors of an ancient holy city to a chain gang of a modern metropolis, a tangled collage of stories unfurl and
draw attention to the hands of those enclosed by borders, those making the crossing, and those who capitalize on the
construction of walls: wielders of stones, bakers of bread, upholders of state. -Sol Kelley-Jones on “the birds that are
your hands: how to start a fire under siege”
Sol Kelley-Jones, just a tender 22 years of age, has long been noteworthy as an activist dedicated to social change
and justice. This spring, she is furthermore making her mark as a playwright and director in Madison with the premiere
of her multi-media production, “the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege.” Playing at Broom Street
Theater through April 19, this innovative work weaves together the disparate, yet also congruent, tales of those living in
Israel/Palestine and along the U.S./Mexico border.
“It’s every day stories of resistance, of life, of what it means to continue to bake bread, of what it means to be
behind the walls, of what it means it be deemed a terrorist,” Kelley-Jones says about her work.
She describes “the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege” as a platform, not a soapbox.
“It doesn’t pretend to be balanced,” Kelley-Jones says. “It is really a collage of overlapping stories.”
| Photos of the play “ the birds that are your hands: how to start a fire under siege” now playing at Broom Street Theater, written and directed by 22-year old Sol Kelly-Jones. (photos courtesy of John Quinlan and John Sable) |
Featuring varying storytelling mediums and voices — a peace protestor in Israel,
Mexican immigrants, activists along the Mexican/U.S. border, a clown who is viewed a
terrorist, and many others-Kelley-Jones’ production explores two lands where walls
divide, both literally and figuratively.
Kelley-Jones knows firsthand the struggles of those whose stories she illuminates
in her production. She spent three months teaching theater in refugee camps in
Palestine, and later worked with the Coalicion Derechos de Humanos (Coalition of
Human Rights) along the U.S./Mexico border. She is now using her art as way to
articulate the need for social change and connect the stories of those struggling to
achieve, or even thwart, that ever-elusive goal of social justice.
“I really want to be a part of bringing justice to the world, of challenging and
rupturing silence,” she says.
From a young age, Kelley-Jones admits she has been drawn to causes of social
justice. “From my earliest years, I was always sort of feeling this thing of injustice;
identifying things that didn’t feel right,” she says.
Her parents, two women who were among the first openly gay couples raising a
family in Madison, nurtured Kelley-Jones innate attraction towards social justice
causes. Indeed, Kelley-Jones became a noted activist at just 10 years old when she
spoke out against AB 104, an anti-same sex marriage bill. In the closing of her testimony
submitted to the Wisconsin State Senate Judiciary Committee, Kelley-Jones said,
Mexican immigrants, activists along the Mexican/U.S. border, a clown who is viewed a
terrorist, and many others-Kelley-Jones’ production explores two lands where walls
divide, both literally and figuratively.
Kelley-Jones knows firsthand the struggles of those whose stories she illuminates
in her production. She spent three months teaching theater in refugee camps in
Palestine, and later worked with the Coalicion Derechos de Humanos (Coalition of
Human Rights) along the U.S./Mexico border. She is now using her art as way to
articulate the need for social change and connect the stories of those struggling to
achieve, or even thwart, that ever-elusive goal of social justice.
“I really want to be a part of bringing justice to the world, of challenging and
rupturing silence,” she says.
From a young age, Kelley-Jones admits she has been drawn to causes of social
justice. “From my earliest years, I was always sort of feeling this thing of injustice;
identifying things that didn’t feel right,” she says.
Her parents, two women who were among the first openly gay couples raising a
family in Madison, nurtured Kelley-Jones innate attraction towards social justice
causes. Indeed, Kelley-Jones became a noted activist at just 10 years old when she
spoke out against AB 104, an anti-same sex marriage bill. In the closing of her testimony
submitted to the Wisconsin State Senate Judiciary Committee, Kelley-Jones said,