"The Justice Theater Project is proud and honored to present The River Speaks of Thirst, a collection of audio poems written by Jaki Shelton Green documenting the real experiences of African American people past and present. In this unique production, each poem is a separate story/vignette using various mediums including music, dance, song, and dramatic interpretations to illustrate themes ranging from race, oppression, emancipation, religion, and grief. Director and Choreographer Kristi V. Johnson explains her vision, "As I listened to each poem, there wasn't one that did not connect with some aspect of my upbringing as an African American woman growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Additionally, the poems about the young black men who died from police brutality reminded me of the anger, fear, and pain I feel as a mother of a young, brown boy. After speaking with Jaki, there were so many commonalities in our backgrounds, these stories became personal for me as well. Once I was able to draw connections between the material and my personal life, I intended to create a symbiotic relationship between the music, text, and movement that clearly illustrates the various themes within the work to enhance its accessibility for all audience members."-Soul City Sounds

"Jaki Shelton Green releases her first album The River Speaks of Thirst on Soul City Sounds, Juneteenth, 2020. The North Carolina Poet Laureate has written eight books of poetry and has been published in over 80 national and international anthologies, featured in such magazines as Essence and Ms. Magazine.

PopMatters contributor John Amen says of the album: "The River Speaks of Thirst is at once a political statement, cultural commentary, and an aesthetic milestone, a skillful commingling of galvanic activism and evocative poetry . . . Jaki Shelton Green documents the history of blackness, a segment of which is the history of the United States, if not the Americas at large - the atrocities, the triumphs, and the work still to be done."

The River Speaks of Thirst is a bold, challenging collection of poetry set to supportive and often startling sonic accompaniment. Its resonant ambience is a perfect match to the focused ferocity and tenderness of the performances. Engineered, arranged, and produced by Alec Ferrell at Clearly Records in Durham, NC, and Executive Produced by Phil Venable, the full-length features incendiary anthems from Jaki and featured guests including featuring Shirlette Ammons on "A Litany for the Possessed" and Grammy-nominated vocalist Nnenna Freelon in a haunting call-and- response on the title track."-Soul City Sounds