Carl Hancock Rux () is an American poet, playwright, novelist, essayist, recording artist, journalist, curator and conceptual installation artist working in text, dance, ritualized performance, audio, video, and photography. Described in the

NY Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

as "a breathlessly inventive multimedia artist" focused on "art, race, memory and power", Rux is the author of several books including the

Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...

Literary Prize-winning collection of poetry, '' Pagan Operetta'', the novel, ''Asphalt'', and the

OBIE Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...

-winning play, ''Talk'' and five albums. He appears as a frequent collaborating artist, most notably on Gerald Clayton's album ''Life Forum'' (

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and as co-author of the staged incarnation of ''Steel Hammer'' by

Julia Wolfe Julia Wolfe (born December 18, 1958) is an American composer and professor of music at New York University. According to ''The Wall Street Journal'', Wolfe's music has "long inhabited a terrain of its own, a place where classical forms are re ...

, the 2010

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-nominated work, created with

Anne Bogart Anne Bogart (born September 25, 1951) is an American theatre and opera director. She is currently one of the Artistic Directors of SITI Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a professor at Columbia Univ ...

. Rux is the author/performer of the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

commissioned experimental short poetic film
The Baptism
', a tribute to civil rights activists

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

and

C. T. Vivian Cordy Tindell Vivian (July 30, 1924July 17, 2020) was an American minister, author, and close friend and lieutenant of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. Vivian resided in Atlanta, Georgia, and founded the C. T. Vivian Lead ...

, directed by

Carrie Mae Weems Carrie Mae Weems (born April 20, 1953) is an American artist working in text, fabric, audio, digital images and installation video, and is best known for her photography. She achieved prominence through her early 1990s photographic project ''Th ...

(an official selection in the 2022 Segal Center Film Festival on Theater and Performance). Rux is Co-Artistic Director and a board member of

Mabou Mines Mabou Mines is an experimental theatre company founded in 1970 and based in New York City. Founding and history Mabou Mines was founded by David Warrilow, Lee Breuer, Ruth Maleczech, JoAnne Akalaitis, and Philip Glass, at the house of Akalaitis an ...

, an award-winning New York City-based experimental mixed media art and social service company founded in 1970 by

David Warrilow David Warrilow (28 December 1934 – 17 August 1995) was an English actor best known as one of the "finest interpreters of Samuel Beckett’s work".Cited in Ackerley, C.J., and Gontarski, Stan, ''The Grove Companion to Samuel Beckett'', New Yor ...

Lee Breuer Esser Leopold Breuer (February 6, 1937 – January 3, 2021) was an American playwright, theater director, academic, educator, filmmaker, poet, and lyricist. Breuer taught and directed on six continents. Career Breuer was a founding co-artistic ...

Ruth Maleczech Ruth Maleczech (January 8, 1939 – September 30, 2013) was an American avant-garde stage actress.
University of Notre Dame; a ...

JoAnne Akalaitis JoAnne Akalaitis (born June 29, 1937, in Cicero, Illinois) is an avant-garde Lithuanian-American theatre director and writer. She won five Obie Awards for direction (and sustained achievement) and was founder in 1970 of the critically acclaimed M ...

, and

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

; a board member of 122 Community Center "122 CC" (formerly known as Performance Space 122) and Associate Artistic Director/Curator in Residence of Harlem Stage/The Gate House, formerly known only as Aaron Davis Hall (winner of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters William Dawson Award for Programming Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming). Rux is also the Multidisciplinary Editor at

The Massachusetts Review ''The Massachusetts Review'' is a literary quarterly founded in 1959 by a group of professors from Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It receives financial support from Five Col ...

(recipient of the 2021 Whiting Literary Magazine Prize for Journalism). Mr. Rux is the inaugural curator/director of

Park Avenue Armory __NOTOC__ The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The inst ...

an
Harlem Stage
s annual Juneteenth Celebration
''I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me''.
Rux is the recipient of numerous awards including the

Doris Duke Doris Duke (November 22, 1912 – October 28, 1993) was an American billionaire tobacco heiress, philanthropist, art collector, Horticulture, horticulturalist, and socialite. She was often called "the richest girl in the world". Her great wealt ...

Award for New Works, the Doris Duke Charitable Fund, the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

Prize, the

Bessie Award The New York Dance and Performance Awards, also known as the Bessie Awards, are awarded annually for exceptional achievement by independent dance artists presenting their work in New York City. The broad categories of the awards are: choreography, ...

, the Alpert Award in the Arts; a 2019 Global Change Maker award by WeMakeChange.Org. Rux's archives are housed at the

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with sh ...

Theater Division of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

, the

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washingt ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

as well as the Film and Video/Theater and Dance Library of the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

Early life

Rux was born Carl Stephen Hancock in Harlem, New York. His biological mother, Carol Jean Hancock, had chronic mental illness. She was diagnosed with

paranoid schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. ...

, and institutionalized shortly after the birth of Rux’s older brother. Rux was born the result of an illegitimate pregnancy (while his mother was under the care of a New York City psychiatric institution). The identity of Rux's biological father is unknown. Rux was placed under the guardianship of his maternal grandmother, Geneva Hancock (née Rux), until her death of cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism. At four years of age he entered the New York City foster care system where he remained until he was placed under the legal guardianship of his great uncle James Henry Rux and his wife Arsula (née Cottrell) Rux and raised in the Highbridge neighborhood of the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

. Rux attended PS 73, where he was initially exposed to theater by director

Neema Barnette Neema Barnette is an American film director and producer, and the first African-American woman to direct a primetime sitcom. Barnette was the first African-American woman to get a three-picture deal with Sony. Since then, she accumulated a numbe ...

who cast Rux in the lead role of ''Old Judge Mose Is Dead'' by playwright Joseph White. While attending

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

Junior High School, Rux received a scholarship to the

Horace Mann School , motto_translation = Great is the truth and it prevails , address = 231 West 246th Street , city = The Bronx , state = New York , zipcode = 10471 , count ...

, an independent college preparatory school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx before transferring to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art where he studied visual art. Exposed to jazz music by his legal guardians, including the work of

Oscar Brown Jr. Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz Jazz drumming, drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in h ...

and

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

,Rux eventually double-majored in music/voice, and sang with the

Boys Choir of Harlem The Boys Choir of Harlem (also known as the Harlem Boys Choir) was a choir located in Harlem, New York City, United States. Its final performance was in 2007 and the group folded shortly thereafter due to several controversies, including a ...

. He also became a member of the Harlem Writers Workshop, a Columbia University-based summer journalism training program for inner-city youth. At the age of 15, Rux was legally adopted by his guardians and his surname changed to ''Rux''. Upon graduation from high school he entered Columbia College where he studied in the Creative Writing Program; took private acting classes at both HB studios; trained with Gertrude Jeanette's Hadley Players and took private acting lessons with actor Robert Earl Jones (father of actor

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

). Rux continued his studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

American University of Paris The American University of Paris (AUP) is a private, independent, and accredited liberal arts university in Paris, France. Founded in 1962, the university is one of the oldest American institutions of higher education in Europe, and the first to ...

, and the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

Legon Legon , a suburb of the Ghanaian city Accra, is situated about north-east of the city center in the Accra Metropolis District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Legon is home to the main campus of the University of Ghana. Ghanaia ...

Career

Writer/Poet

Working as a Social Work Trainer while moonlighting as a freelance art and music critic, Rux became a founding member of

Hezekiah Walker Bishop Hezekiah Walker (born December 24, 1962) is a popular American gospel music singer and artist and pastor of prominent Brooklyn New York Pentecostal megachurch, Love Fellowship Tabernacle. Walker has released several albums on Benson Recor ...

's Love Fellowship gospel choir. Influenced by the Lower East Side poetry and experimental theater scene, Rux collaborated with poets

Miguel Algarin --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

Sekou Sundiata Sekou Sundiata (August 22, 1948 – July 18, 2007) was an African-American poet and performer, as well as a teacher at The New School in New York City. Famous students include musicians Ani DiFranco and Mike Doughty. His plays include ''The ...

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

; experimental musicians David Murray,

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, Butch Morris,

Craig Harris Craig S. Harris (born September 10, 1953) is an American jazz trombonist, who started working with Sun Ra in 1976. He also has worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, David Murray, Lester Bowie, Cecil Taylor, Sam Rivers, Muhal Richard Abrams, and Char ...

Jeanne Lee Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunte ...

, Leroy Jenkins,

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...

as well as experimental theater artists

Laurie Carlos Laurie Dorothea Carlos (née Smith; January 25, 1949 – December 29, 2016) was an American actress and avant-garde performance artist, playwright and theater director. She was also known for her work mentoring emerging artists in the theater. ...

Robbie McCauley Robbie Doris McCauley (July 14, 1942 – May 20, 2021) was an American playwright, director, performer, and professor. McCauley is best known for her plays ''Sugar'' and ''Sally's Rape,'' among other works that addressed racism in the United St ...

Ruth Maleczech Ruth Maleczech (January 8, 1939 – September 30, 2013) was an American avant-garde stage actress.
University of Notre Dame; a ...

Reza Abdoh Reza is a Persian name, originating from the Arabic word , ''Riḍā'', which literally means "the fact of being pleased or contented; contentment, approval". In religious context, this name is interpreted as ''satisfaction'' or "''perfect content ...

, and others. He is one of several poets (including

Paul Beatty Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize for his novel '' The Sellout''. It was the first time ...

, Tracie Morris,

Dael Orlandersmith Dael Orlandersmith (born Donna Brown, 1960–) is an American actress, poet and playwright. She is known for her Obie Award-winning ''Beauty's Daughter'' and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama, ''Yellowman (play), Yellowman''. Early life Or ...

Willie Perdomo Willie Perdomo is a Puerto Rican poet and children's book author. He is the author of ''The Essential Hits of Shorty Bon Bon'' (Penguin Poets, 2014), a National Book Critics Circle Awards finalist, ''Where a Nickel Costs a Dime'' ( W. W. Norto ...

Kevin Powell Kevin Powell (born April 24, 1966) is an American writer, activist, and television personality. Powell is the author of 14 books, including ''The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood'' and ''When We Free the World'' publis ...

Maggie Estep Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and rel ...

, Reg E. Gaines, Edwin Torres, and

Saul Williams Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film ''Slam'' ...

) to emerge from the

Nuyorican Poets Cafe Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, or of their descendants (especially those raised or currently living in the N ...

, most of whom were included in the poetry anthology ''Aloud, Voices From the Nuyorican Poets Cafe'', winner of the 1994 American Book Award. His first book of poetry, '' Pagan Operetta'', received the ''

'' Literary prize and was featured on the weekly's cover story: "Eight Writers on the Verge of (Impacting) the Literary Landscape". Rux is the author of the novel ''

Asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

'' and the author of several plays. His first play, ''Song of Sad Young Men'' (written in response to his older brother's death from AIDS), was directed by Trazana Beverly and starred actor

Isaiah Washington Isaiah Washington IV is an American actor and media personality. Following a series of film appearances, he came to prominence for portraying Dr. Preston Burke in the first three seasons of the series ''Grey's Anatomy'' from 2005 to 2007. Wash ...

. The play received eleven

AUDELCO AUDELCO, the Audience Development Committee, Inc., was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City. AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awa ...

nominations. His most notable play is the OBIE Award-winning ''

Talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...

'', first produced at the

Joseph Papp Public Theater The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

in 2002. Directed by

Marion McClinton Marion Isaac McClinton (July 26, 1954 – November 28, 2019) was an American theatre director, playwright, and actor. He was nominated for the Tony Award for ''King Hedley II''. He won the 2000 Vivian Robinson Audelco Black Theatre Awards, Direc ...

and starring actor

Anthony Mackie Anthony Dwane Mackie (born September 23, 1978) is an American actor. Mackie made his acting debut starring in the semi-biographical drama film '' 8 Mile'' (2002). He was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor for his pe ...

, the play won seven OBIE awards.

Recording Artist/Performing Artist

Rux was first featured as a recording artist, on Reg E. Gaines CD ''Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets'' (Polygram). As a musician, his work is known to encompass an eclectic mixture of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, vintage R&B,

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, futuristic pop,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. His debut CD, ''Cornbread, Cognac & Collard Green Revolution'' (unreleased) was produced by Nona Hendryx and Mark Batson, featuring musicians

, Ronnie Drayton and

Lonnie Plaxico Lonnie Plaxico (born September 4, 1960) is an American jazz double bassist. Biography Plaxico was born in Chicago, Illinois, into a musical family, and started playing the bass at the age of twelve, turning professional at fourteen (playing both ...

. Discovered by Sony 550 President, Polly Anthony, Rux released his debut CD ''

Rux Revue ''Rux Revue'' is the debut album by Carl Hancock Rux, released by Sony 550 Music which operated through Sony Music's Epic Records division. The album was produced in Los Angeles by the Dust Brothers, featuring drummers Joey Waronker (formerly of ...

'' recorded and produced in Los Angeles by the

Dust Brothers The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...

Tom Rothrock Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, and

Rob Schnapf Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer (along with Tom Rothrock) of Elliott Smith's albums ''Either/Or'', '' XO'' (on which he also played guitar on the song " Baby Britain"), ''Figure 8'' and ''From a ...

. Rux recorded a follow up album, '' Apothecary Rx'', (selected by French writer Phillippe Robert for his 2008 publication "Great Black Music": an exhaustive tribute of 110 American albums by African American artists. His fourth studio CD, '' Good Bread Alley'', was released by Thirsty Ear Records, and his fifth "Homeostasis" (CD Baby) released in May 2013. Rux has written and performed (or contributed music) to a proportionate number of dance companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company; Jane Comfort & Co. and Ronald K. Brown's "Evidence" among others.

Literature

Books by author

*''Elmina Blues'' (poetry) *''Pagan Operetta'' (poetry/Short Fiction/SemioText) *''Asphalt'' (novel/Simon & Schuster) *''Talk'' (drama/TCG Press)

Literary fiction

* ''Asphalt'' (novel) (Atria, Simon & Schuster) *''The Exalted'' (novel) forthcoming

Selected plays

*''Song of Sad Young Men'' * ''Talk'' *''Geneva Cottrell, Waiting for the Dog to Die'' *''Smoke, Lilies and Jade'' *''Chapter & Verse'' *''Pipe'' *''Pork Dream in the American House of Image'' *''Not the Flesh of Others'' *''Singing In the Womb of Angels'' *''Better Dayz Jones'' *''Stranger On Earth'' *''The (No) Black Male Show'' *''Mycenaean'' *''Asphalt'' *''Etudes for the Sleep of Other Sleepers'' *''Steel Hammer'' (co-written by Will Power, Kia Cothran and Regina Taylor for the SITI company, directed by

). *''The Exalted'' * ''WATER ±'' (co-written by Arthur Yorinks, directed by

Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director, producer, actor, and author, notable for his work on Broadway, on television, and in regional theater. In 2014, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for ''A Raisin in the Sun''. Career He gain ...

)

Selected essays

*''Eminem: The New White Negro'' *"Dream Work and the Mimesis of Carrie Mae Weems" *"Belief and the Invisible Playwright" *"In Memoriam: Ruby Dee (1922–2014)" *"Up From The Mississippi Delta" *"Democratic Vistas of Space and Light" *"A Rage In Harlem"

Selected anthologies

*''Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academia, and the Austin Project'' University of Texas Press *''Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure'' NYU Press *''Heights of the Marvelous'' NYU Press *''Juncture: 25 Very Good Stories and 12 Excellent Drawings'' Soft Skull Press *''Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004: The Year's Finest Writing on Rock, Hip-hop, Jazz, Pop, Country, and More'', DeCapo Press *''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam'', Counterpoint Press *''Humana Festival 2014: The Complete Plays'', Playscripts, Incorporated *''Action: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Theatre'', Simon & Schuster *''Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam'', Three Rivers Press *''The African American Male, Writing, and Difference: A Polycentric Approach to African American Literature, Criticism, and History'', State University of New York Press *''Meditations and Ascensions: Black Writers on Writing'', Third World Press *''Plays from the Boom Box Galaxy: Theater from the Hip-hop Generation'', Theatre Communications Group *''Bad Behavior'', Random House *''Verse: An Introduction to Prosody'', John Wiley & Sons Press *''Significations of Blackness: American Cinema and the Idea of a Black Film'', UMI Press *''So Much Things to Say: 100 Poets from the First Ten Years of the Calabash International Literary Festival'', Akashic Books *''Black Men In Their Own Words'', Crown Publishers *'' Bulletproof Diva'', Knopf Doubleday *''Race Manners: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans'', Skyhorse Publishing *'' In Their Company: Portraits of American Playwrights'', Umbrage Press *''Listen Again: a Momentary History of Pop Music'', Duke University Press

Journalism

Rux has been published as a contributing writer in numerous journals, catalogs, anthologies, and magazines including ''Interview'' magazine, ''Essence'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''aRude Magazine'', ''Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art'' (founded by fellow art critics

Okwui Enwezor Okwui Enwezor (23 October 1963 – 15 March 2019) was a Nigerian curator, art critic, writer, poet, and educator, specializing in art history. He lived in New York City and Munich. In 2014, he was ranked 24 in the ''ArtReview'' list of the 100 m ...

Chika Okeke-Agulu Chika Okeke-Agulu () is a Nigerian artist, art historian, art curator, and blogger specializing in African and African diaspora art history. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Biography Chika Okeke-Agulu was born in Umuahia in Nigeria in 19 ...

and Salah Hassan) and ''American Theater Magazine''.

Libretti

*''Makandal'' (Composer: Yosvaney Terry, stage design and costumes by Edouard Duval Carrie, directed by Lars Jan) Harlem Stage *''Blackamoor Angel'' (Composer: Deidre Murray; directed by Karin Coonrod) Bard Spiegeltent/Joseph Papp Public Theater *''Kingmaker'' (Composer: Toshi Reagon)

BRIC Arts Media BRIC, formerly known as BRIC Arts Media or Brooklyn Information & Culture, is a non-profit arts organization based in Brooklyn, New York founded in 1979 as the "Fund for the Borough of Brooklyn". A presenter of free cultural programming in Brookly ...

*''Perfect Beauty'' (Composer: Tamar Muskal) *''Faggot's Ball'' (Composer: Tamar-kali)

Music

Solo albums

*''Cornbread, Cognac, Collard Green Revolution'' *''

'' Sony/550 Music *'' Apothecary Rx'' Giant Step *'' Good Bread Alley'' Thirsty Ear *''

Homeostasis In biology, homeostasis (British English, British also homoeostasis) Help:IPA/English, (/hɒmɪə(ʊ)ˈsteɪsɪs/) is the state of steady internal, physics, physical, and chemistry, chemical conditions maintained by organism, living systems. Thi ...

'' CD Baby

Collaborations

*''Sweeper Don't Clean My Streets'' Reg E. Gaines

Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

*''Eargasms Vol. 1'' *''70 Years Coming'' R. L. Burnside Bongload/Acid Blues Records *''Our Souls Have Grown Deep Like the Rivers: Black Poets Read Their Works'', Rhino *'' Bow Down to the Exit Sign'' David Holmes Go! Beat *''Love Each Other'' Yukihiro Fukutomi

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

/ Japan *''Optometry''

DJ Spooky Paul Dennis Miller (born September 6, 1970), known professionally as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is an American electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntabli ...

Thirsty Ear Recordings Thirsty Ear Recordings is an American independent record label. It was founded in the late 1970s as a marketing company for the then-unnamed alternative music field, and expanded to issue its own records in 1990. Thirsty Ear came to prominenc ...

*''The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Studio Cast Recording)'' *''Inradio 5 Morningwatch'' 2004 *''Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler'' (Thirsty Ear) *''Poetry on Record: 98 Poets Read Their Work, 1888-2006 Box Set'' Shout! Factory (2006) *''More Than Posthuman-Rise of the Mojosexual Cotillion'' Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, TruGROID *''The Dogs Are Parading'' David Holmes Universal *''Life Forum''

Gerald Clayton Gerald William Clayton (born May 11, 1984) is a Dutch-born American jazz pianist, composer and bandleader. Biography Clayton attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts; USC's Thornton School of Music, where he studied piano with ...

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

*''Tributary Tales''

*''Tomorrow Comes The Harvest''

Jeff Mills Jeff Mills (born June 18, 1963, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American DJ, record producer, and composer. Thanks to his technical abilities as a DJ, Mills became known as ''The Wizard'' in the early to mid 1980s. In the late 1980s Mills founded ...

Tony Allen Decca Records *''Humanist''

Rob Marshall Robert Doyle Marshall Jr.http://www.alumni.cmu.edu/s/1410/images/editor_documents/alumnirelations/getinvolved/alumniawards/all_honorees_2018june1.pdf (born October 17, 1960) is an American film and theater director, producer, and choreographer. ...

Ignition Records

Contemporary Dance (text & music)

Movin' Spirits Dance Co.

*''Kick The Boot, Raise the Dust An' Fly; A Recipe for Buckin'' (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-authors: Sekou Sundiata, Laurie Carlos, music: Craig Harris ) Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France) *''Totin' Business & Carryin' Bones'' (chor. Marlies Yearby), Performance Space 122, Maison des arts de Créteil (France) *''The Beautiful'' (chor: Marlies Yearby, co-author:Laurie Carlos), Judson Church, Tribeca Performing Arts Center *''Of Urban Intimacies'' (chor: Marlies Yearby), Lincoln Center Serious Fun!, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour *''That Was Like This/ This Was Like That'' (chor: Marlies Yearby, music: Grisha Coleman), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Central Park Summerstage, National Tour

Anita Gonzalez

*''Yanga'', (chor: Anita Gonzalez, music: Cooper-Moore, composer), Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Montclair State College

Jane Comfort & Co.

*''Asphalt'' (dir/chor: Jane Comfort; vocal score: Toshi Reagon, music: DJ Spooky, David Pleasant, Foosh, dramaturgy: Morgan Jenness, costumes: Liz Prince, lighting design: David Ferri,) Joyce Theater, National Tour

Urban Bush Women

*''Soul Deep'' (chor: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, composer: David Murray), Walker Arts Center, National Tour *''Shelter'' (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) International Tour *''Hair Stories'' (chor: Jawole Willa jo Zollar) BAM Theater/Esplanade Theater (Singapore) Hong Kong Arts Festival

Jubilation! Dance Co.

*''Sweet In The Morning'' (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff)

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

*''Shelter'' (chor: Jawole Willo Jo Zollar, music: Junior Gabbu Wedderburn) City Center, International Tour *''Uptown'' (chor: Matthew Rushing) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater *''Four Corners'' (chor: Ronald K. Brown) Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 2014

Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble (Ailey II)

*''Seeds'' (chor: Kevin Iega Jeff) Aaron Davis Hall, Apollo Theater, National Tour

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Theater

*'' The Artificial Nigger'' (chor: Bill T. Jones) Arnie Zane Bill T. Jones Dance Co; music: Daniel Bernard Roumain National Tour

Roberta Garrison Co.

*''Certo!'' (chor: Roberta Garrison, music: Mathew Garrison) Scuola di Danza Mimma Testa in Trastevere (Rome, Italy) Teatro de natal infantil Raffaelly Beligni (Naples, Italy)

M'Zawa Dance Co.

*''Seeking Pyramidic Balance/Flipmode'' (chor: Maia Claire Garrison) 651 Arts

Robert Moses Kin

*''Helen'' (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center *''Nevabawarldapece'' (chor: Robert Moses) Yerba Buena Performing Arts Center

Topaz Arts Dance

*''Dreamfield'' (chor: Paz Tanjuaquio) Hudson River Park NY

Actor

Theater

Rux studied acting at the Hagen Institute (under

Uta Hagen Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...

); the Luleå National Theatre School (Luleå, Sweden) and at the National Theater of Ghana (Accra). Rux has appeared in several theater projects, most notably originating the title role in the folk opera production of '' The Temptation of St. Anthony'', based on the

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

novel, directed by Robert Wilson with book, libretto and music by

Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in t ...

and costumes by

Geoffrey Holder Geoffrey Lamont Holder (August 1, 1930 – October 5, 2014) was a Trinidadian-American actor, dancer, musician, and artist. He was a principal dancer for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet before his film career began in 1957 with an appearance in ' ...

. The production debuted as part of the Ruhr Triennale festival in Duisburg, Germany with subsequent performances at the Greek Theater in Siracusa, Italy; the Festival di Peralada in Peralada, Spain; the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria in Santander, Spain; Sadler's Wells in London, Great Britain; the

Teatro Piccinni Teatro Piccinni is a theatre in the city of Bari, Apulia on the east coast of Italy. It was founded in 1854 and opened on 30 May of that year. It was named in honor of eighteenth-century composer Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 J ...

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

, Italy; the Het Muziektheater in Amsterdam, Netherlands; the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao and the Teatro Espanol in Madrid, Spain. The opera made its American premiere at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

BAM Next Wave Festival The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

in October 2004 and official "world premiere" at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

, becoming the first all-African-American opera to perform on its stage since the inauguration of the Académie Nationale de Musique - Théâtre de l'Opéra. Combining both his dramatic training and dance movement into his performance, Rux's performance was described by the American press as having "phenomenal charisma and supreme physical expressiveness...(achieving) a near-iconic power, equally evoking El Greco's saints in extremis and images of civil rights protesters besieged by fire hoses." Rux has also appeared in several plays and performance works for theater, as well as in his own work.

Film/Television

Radio

Rux was the host and artistic programming director of the

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic music. ...

radio show, ''Live from The Nuyorican Poets Cafe''; contributing correspondent for

XM radio XM Satellite Radio (XM) was one of the three satellite radio (SDARS) and online radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM, Sirius XM Holdings. It provided pay-for-service radio, analogous to subscription cable televisi ...

's ''The Bob Edwards Show'' and frequent guest host on

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...

as well as

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

. He co-wrote and performed in the national touring production of ''NPR Presents Water±'', directed by

Performance Art Exhibitions/Curator

The Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

"Beat Culture and the New America, 1950-1965" *

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

"Carrie Mae Weems: Live" *Thread Waxing Space "Sacred Music" *The Foundry Theater "Roundtable on Hope" *The Kitchen "Sapphire: Black Wings & Blind Angels" *Harlem Stage "We Da People Cabaret" *The New School "Comrades and Lovers"

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

*Mass MoCA "Until" Nick Cave *

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Spoleto Festival The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...

"Grace Notes";

Grace Farms Grace Farms is an 80-acre cultural and Humanitarianism, humanitarian center in New Canaan, Connecticut. Grace Farms is owned and operated by Grace Farms Foundation, a not-for-profit organization whose Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary huma ...

"Past Tense";

"The Baptism"; Carrie Mae Weems (Experimental short film tribute to

and C.T.Vivian, written and performed by Rux, and directed by

Harlem Stage
I Dream a Dream That Dreams Back at Me: a Juneteenth Celebration." *

"Archer Aymes Retrospective"
Harlem Stage
"Black Arts Movement: Examined"

Selected Directorial Credits

*"Chapter & Verse" by Carl Hancock Rux /Dixon Place; Nuyorican Poets Cafe *"Mycenaean" by Carl Hancock Rux CalArts/BAM Next Wave Festival *"Third Ward" by Tish Benson/Nuyorican Poets Cafe *"Girl Group" by Tish Benson, Latasha Nevada Diggs, Sarah Jones/Aaron Davis Hall *"Stranger On Earth" by Carl Hancock Rux/ Live Arts; Harlem Stage *"Poesia Negra" by Carl Hancock Rux /RedCat; Lincoln Center; Aaron Davis Hall; BAM Next Wave. *"Who 'Dat Who Killed Better Days Jones?" by (Various Artists)/ Aaron Davis Hall *"blu" by Virginia Grise/

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 4th Street (Manhattan), East 4th Street between Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village, ...

*"Welcome to Wandaland" by Ifa Bayeza/ Rights & Reasons Theater/Brown University *"String Theory" by Ifa Bayeza/ Rights & Reasons Theater, Brown University *"Bunky Johnson Out of The Shadows" by Ifa Bayeza/Shadows on the Teche

Academia

Rux is formally the Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of Arts and has taught and or been an artist in residence at Brown University, Hollins University, UMass Amherst, Duke University, Stanford University, University of Iowa, University of Wisconsin at Madison, and Eugene Lang New School for Drama, among others. He has mentored award-winning writers including recipients of the Yale Drama Prize, Whiting Writers Award, Princess Grace Award, and BBC African Performance Playwriting Award.

Arts Related Jury Panels

Rux has served on panels for foundations, cultural councils, and cultural centers for the arts such as

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

, the CalArts Alpert Award,

, The Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller MAP Fund,

The MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...

, The Shed, and others.

Activism

Rux joined ''New Yorkers Against Fracking'', organized by singer

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American alternative rock singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first se ...

, calling for a fracking ban on natural gas drilling using

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frack ...

. A concert featuring Rux, Merchant, actors

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor and producer best known for playing Bruce Banner / Hulk since 2012 in the superhero franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and in the television series '' She-Hulk: Attorne ...

and

Melissa Leo Melissa Chessington Leo (born September 14, 1960) is an American actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Critics' Choice A ...

and musicians

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

Tracy Bonham Tracy Bonham (born March 16, 1967) is an American alternative rock musician, best known for her 1996 single "Mother Mother". Raised in Eugene, Oregon, Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist, and is also a self-taught guitarist. Sh ...

Toshi Reagon Toshi Reagon (born January 27, 1964) is an American musician of folk, blues, gospel, rock and funk, as well as a composer, curator, and producer. Early life Born January 27, 1964 in Atlanta, Georgia, Reagon grew up in Washington, D.C. She wa ...

, Citizen Cope,

Meshell Ndegeocello Michelle Lynn Johnson, better known as Meshell Ndegeocello (; born August 29, 1968), is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on so ...

and numerous others was held in

Albany, N.Y. Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York Cit ...

, and resulted in public protests. Rux was a co-producer (through a partnership between MAPP International and Harlem Stage) and curator of ''WeDaPeoples Cabaret'', an annual event regarding citizens without borders in a globally interdependent world. A longtime resident and homeowner in Fort Greene Brooklyn, Carl Rux worked with the Fort Greene Association and New York philanthropist

Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel (born January 27, 1932) is an American preservationist, historian, author, and television producer. She is an advocate for the preservation of the historic built environment and the arts. She has worked in the f ...

to erect a cultural medallion at the Carlton Avenue home where novelist Richard Wright lived and penned his seminal work, ''

Native Son ''Native Son'' (1940) is a novel written by the American author Richard Wright. It tells the story of 20-year-old Bigger Thomas, a black youth living in utter poverty in a poor area on Chicago's South Side in the 1930s. While not apologizing ...

''.

Personal life

Rux's great uncle, Rev. Marcellus Carlyle Rux (January 8, 1882 - January 5, 1948) was a graduate of Virginia Union University, and principal of The Keysville Mission Industrial School (later changed to The Bluestone Harmony Academic and Industrial School), a private school founded in 1898 by several African-American Baptist churches in Keysville, Virginia at a time when education for African-Americans was scarce to non-existent. For about 50 years the school had the largest enrollment of any black boarding school in the east and sent a large number of graduates on to college. For the first five years, Marcellus Carlyle Rux was a teacher in the institution. Such was the record he made that he was promoted to the principalship in 1917. Under his administration, the school reached its highest enrollment and had its greatest period of prosperity. The post-Civil war school was one of the first of its kind in the nation and was permanently closed in 1950. The school's still existent structure once featured a girl's and boy's dormitory and President's dwelling and is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Marcellus Carlyle Rux is listed in ''History of the American Negro and his Institutions''. Rux's younger brother is a New York City Public School Teacher and his cousin a New York City middle school principal. Rux's older brother died of AIDS-related complications. Rux's home, a Victorian Brownstone in the

Fort Greene Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the west, ...

Brooklyn section of New York City, has been photographed by Stefani Georgani and frequently featured in home decor magazines and coffee table books internationally, including

Elle Decor ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the wo ...

UK.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rux, Carl Hancock 1971 births 21st-century American novelists 550 Music artists African-American theatre American artists 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights American male novelists American male musicians American singer-songwriters Bessie Award winners Columbia College (New York) alumni Living people Obie Award recipients University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Writers from Brooklyn 21st-century American poets American male poets American male essayists American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Massachusetts People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn Thirsty Ear Recordings artists American male singer-songwriters