The Peculiar Patriot at the Emerson Paramount Center

National Black Theatre & Hi-ARTS

Written and performed by Liza Jessie Peterson 

Injustice in the justice system. Inspired by her decades-long work with prison populations, including on notorious Rikers Island, Liza Jessie Peterson’s timely and urgent one-person show unpacks the human impact of mass incarceration in America. Fearlessly funny, smart and provocative, The PeculiarPatriot traces the migration of systemic injustice from the plantation to the prison yard. The story follows Liza’s narrator, Betsy, a self-proclaimed “peculiar patriot,” who makes regular visits to penitentiaries to boost the morale of her incarcerated friends and family. Betsy is both victim and victor of this country’s prison system and her story turns statistics into achingly relatable stories drawn from the experience of more than 2.5 million people behind bars.

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