About Us
Passing the Torch
C. Bernard Jackson, co-founder of
Inner City Cultural Center
Left a legacy we carry on through
Award Winning Films
Sold Out Performances & Providing Performing Arts
To the community
Under the name of
Inner City Cultural Center II
The Alumni Chapter
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Gil Scott-Heron
Left us everything he had
Including his daughter.
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I know Jack & Gil are kicking it in Heaven.
IGil Scott-Heron (1949 – 2011) was a civil rights activist, musician and author known throughout the world for his work. His gift of taking the daily news and turning it into social satire filled with truth, and attaching rhythms that were in themselves thought-provoking was part of his genius. Gil professed to be a "BLUESOLOGIST" because his music was jazz and blues and his spoken word reflects the turbulence and uncertainty of our times with a satirical edge told in the tradition of oral poetry and storytelling. In 2012, posthumously Gil Scott-Heron finally received a Grammy for "Lifetime Achievement Award". In 2021 Gil Scott-Heron was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a recipient of the "Early Influence Award". Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology encompasses his creativity from 1970 to 2010.
Woven between the timeless words of Gil Scott-Heron, this electrifying cast weave their own personal poetic journeys into the story and ignite a rip roaring fire. The ensemble includes the creator of Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology and Poets Jazz House Tuesday Conner; Conney Williams of the World Stage; Yawo Watts of Oralgasm; Lorenzo Frank from S.W.A.A.M.; ArtUs Mansoir a Multi–Talented Entertainer and the ORACLE aka Denise Lyles-Cook.
What started as a one-night-only event for Black History Month in 2023 took on a life form of it's own. Initially co-directed by International Award Winning Filmmakers and sisters Tuesday and Lynne Conner, Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology won the International Fringe Festival Encore Series Award. This launched them into a month long theatrical run celebrating Black History Off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse in New York City 2025. The decision to elevate the show for a New York audience and entrust the direction of the production to director, PhyllissBailey Brooks resulted in igniting the fire higher. 8x NAACP Theatre Awards Nominee Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology is not just a performance, it's an experience.
You'll hear his words again, you'll cry and you'll laugh and your heart light will glow, you'll fight back some tears, you'll sing, you'll know lyrics you haven't heard in a long while and you'll learn about the man...the icon, the legend, Gil Scott-Heron.
STAY IN THE KNOW
In 2004 my sister Lynne called and asked if I could produce a poetry lounge inside a new up-coming theatre. Coleman & Smith had a tiny little room they wanted to fill; but we couldn't make noise because two other shows were running.
Poets Jazz House...just somewhere to go in the midst of searching your soul was formed. A beatnik poetry and music lounge where spilling your heart is art and searching your soul is mandatory to get in the door. There's snapping instead of clapping, the atmosphere is lax but it ssizzless! Come touch, be touched, hear the answer, heed the call is our creed; the one thing I can assure you of is...your spirit will be moved.
The people that passed through the doors called PJH school, church and home. A very special place was created and this eclectic group of spoken word artists band together creating an unbreakable bond. We recite our own poetry and the poetry of legends; we expanded our poetry into movies, International award winning films and tributes; we create art to Heal Souls and Education the World.
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The Artist, Gil Scott-Heron began his career as a poet, who wrote his first book at the age of thirteen. He published his first novel “Vulture” when he was still a teenager, that same year he published a poetry book “Small Talk at 125th & Lenox”. He added music to his poetry book and released his first album. “Small Talk at 125th & Lenox”. Gil Scott-Heron is considered the GODFATHER OF RAP, but professed to be a "Bluesologist".
He ultimately recorded seventeen albums, wrote six books and toured the world. Experiencing, for the first time, this rich tribute; teary eyed, grateful audiences, young and old, who never heard the name Gil Scott-Heron are moved and inspired by the brilliant insights of this iconic storyteller.
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Our Mission…
Storytelling is a unique way for students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for other cultures while teaching them about life, themselves and others. Our mission is to bring this cultural artwork to the classroom to be shared with a population of children who may not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to the form of artistic expression.
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By Showcasing the seminal brilliance of Gil Scott-Heron and injecting their own works inspired by this philosophical giant, the talented artists of "Gil Scott-Heron Bluesology's" goal is to give students throughout the greater Los Angeles school district, the opportunity and freedom to express themselves without judgment and find personal satisfaction and acceptance of their own unique voices.​​
OneLove,
Tuesday Conner
Writer | Executive Producer