Come Back Daily presents a talk, reading, and live performance at Come Back Daily featuring author Martin Lee and performing artists/educators Baba Israel and Grace Galu.
Join us for a talk, performance, and conversation on the history of Cannabis. Martin Lee will share stories from his award-winning book Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational, and Scientific. Martin will be in conversation with artists/educators Baba Israel and Grace Galu, who are developing a theatrical production based on his book, with their band Soul Inscribed and a wonderful creative team based at HERE Arts Center in Soho, NY. Also joining the conversation is Zoe Sigman, the Prgamming Director at Project CBD.
The New York Times has called HERE “one of the most unusual arts spaces in New York and possibly the model for the cutting-edge arts spaces of tomorrow.”
The night will also feature acoustic performances of songs and spoken word from the Cannabis! show. Martin will end the evening with a Q and A and a short talk about the current CBD landscape.
SMOKE SIGNALS: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF MARIJUANA
—MEDICAL, RECREATIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC
By Project CBD Director, Martin A. Lee
Winner of the American Botanical Council’s James A. Duke Award for Excellence in Botanical Literature
The bestselling author of Acid Dreams tells the great American pot story—a panoramic, character-driven saga that examines the medical, recreational, scientific, and economic dimensions of the world’s most controversial plant. Martin A. Lee traces the dramatic social history of marijuana from its origins to its emergence in the 1960s as a defining force in a culture war that has never ceased. Lee describes how the illicit marijuana subculture overcame government opposition and morphed into a dynamic, multibillion-dollar industry.
Lee, an award-winning investigative journalist, draws attention to underreported scientific breakthroughs that are reshaping the therapeutic landscape. By mining the plant’s rich pharmacopoeia, medical researchers have developed promising treatments for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, chronic pain, and many other conditions that are beyond the reach of conventional cures.
- The Brain and Marijuana [Book excerpt]
- The Origins of Reefer Madness [Book excerpt]
- 13 Key Moments in Marijuana History [Slide show]
PRAISE FOR SMOKE SIGNALS
“Every American should read this landmark book!”—Douglas Brinkley, Author of Cronkite
“A ripping read, thoroughly researched.”—David Bronner, CEO Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps
“A well-reasoned, entertainingly written, passionate examination of the social and culture war that surrounds the drug.”—Booklist
“The best, most comprehensive account of the American marijuana movement to date.”—Phil Smith, Drug War Chronicle
“Exuberant, richly researched.”—Boston Globe
“Hallelujah and glory be to Smoke Signals!”—Jonah Raskin, High Times
“High but not dry…a lively and informative book.”—Larry Gabriel, Detroit Metro Times
“Smoke Signals is destined to be a classic.”—Mikki Norris, West Coast Leaf
CANNABIS! A THEATRICAL CONCERT
Baba Israel and his band Soul Inscribed featuring Grace Galu use music and spoken word to explore the history of Cannabis. This theatrical concert is based on Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational, and Scientific by Martin A. Lee (2012). Grounded in the Hip Hop tradition of the remix, the show mashes-up iconic music from La Cucaracha of the Mexican Revolution, Louis Armstrong and other Jazz “vipers,” to the Beat era, 60’s Rock n’ Roll, and Reggae. Israel adapts the stories of countercultural icons, grassroots activists, and the plant itself, weaving a time-traveling tale of jubilation, injustice, and transformation.
We are embarking on this project recognizing that we are at a tipping point in America’s history with cannabis. More than half of the states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing cannabis. Now is the time to challenge the taboos and perceptions of the plant by exploring its history, medical impact, the racist roots of prohibition, and its continued legacy of mass incarceration of communities of color.
Lastly, we want to explore the opportunities and contradictions emerging as legalization spreads across the country. We imagine a production that is both politically charged and an uplifting and celebratory event.
We imagine the final show to sit inside a festival atmosphere with panels, screenings, and afterparties creating a platform for discussion, debate, and celebration. The project will then tour nationally. This project is in development as part of the HERE Artist Residency Program and will premiere at HERE in New York City in 2021.
“Israel starts the musical off by rapping about the herb’s use by shamans and Sufis in ancient times. He then follows cannabis across the Atlantic, brought by enslaved Africans through the Middle Passage to the plantations of Brazil. From there, Israel’s verses make their way up to Mexico, and thence into the United States, picked up by the jazz vipers, beatniks and ultimately hippies — who spread it around the world with the rest of the counterculture zeitgeist.”
— Bill Weinberg, Cannabis Now Magazine
CANNABIS! A THEATRICAL CONCERT
Baba Israel and his band Soul Inscribed featuring Grace Galu use music and spoken word to explore the history of Cannabis. This theatrical concert is based on Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational, and Scientific by Martin A. Lee (2012). Grounded in the Hip Hop tradition of the remix, the show mashes-up iconic music from La Cucaracha of the Mexican Revolution, Louis Armstrong and other Jazz “vipers,” to the Beat era, 60’s Rock n’ Roll, and Reggae. Israel adapts the stories of countercultural icons, grassroots activists, and the plant itself, weaving a time-traveling tale of jubilation, injustice, and transformation.
We are embarking on this project recognizing that we are at a tipping point in America’s history with cannabis. More than half of the states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing cannabis. Now is the time to challenge the taboos and perceptions of the plant by exploring its history, medical impact, the racist roots of prohibition, and its continued legacy of mass incarceration of communities of color.
Lastly, we want to explore the opportunities and contradictions emerging as legalization spreads across the country. We imagine a production that is both politically charged and an uplifting and celebratory event.
We imagine the final show to sit inside a festival atmosphere with panels, screenings, and afterparties creating a platform for discussion, debate, and celebration. The project will then tour nationally. This project is in development as part of the HERE Artist Residency Program and will premiere at HERE in New York City in 2021.
“Israel starts the musical off by rapping about the herb’s use by shamans and Sufis in ancient times. He then follows cannabis across the Atlantic, brought by enslaved Africans through the Middle Passage to the plantations of Brazil. From there, Israel’s verses make their way up to Mexico, and thence into the United States, picked up by the jazz vipers, beatniks and ultimately hippies — who spread it around the world with the rest of the counterculture zeitgeist.”
— Bill Weinberg, Cannabis Now Magazine