AROUND TOWN: Anna Deveare Smith

The supremely talented actor Anna Deveare Smith wowed the standing-room only crowd at the Chicago Hilton ballroom during the April 10 luncheon benefiting early childhood powerhouse Ounce of Prevention. In part, Smith channeled Stephanie Williams, an “emotional support teacher” who worked with an 11-year-old boy who, in a rage, uprooted a tree. Smith also performs the calm, chilling words of social justice activist Bryan Stephenson, a founder of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Alabama. The museum honors more than 4,000 African Americans lynched in the United States. The luncheon also featured remarks by Jamal Poindexter, an Educare Chicago graduate who is now 19 years old, and a trailer for a new documentary, “Tomorrow’s Hope,” which tells the stories of three Educare Chicago graduates (including Jamal) and features reflections from three of my formative teachers in the early childhood field: Portia Kennel, Brenda Eiland-Williford and Jackie Robinson.