Speech, Founder of Arrested Development Lectures on his New Documentaries

The Gist of Freedom Preserving American History through Black Literature . . .

Speech, Founder of Arrested Development Lectures on his New Documentaries, The N-Factory and 16 Bars! Arrested Development’s Speech For Speech it’s a homecoming replete with memories of growing up in Milwaukee, the son of a business mom and dad, attending parochial and Milwaukee Public schools; of music always being the dominate force in his life, as if he was born to do only that…and succeeding. Speech recalled helping his parents at age eight deliver the Milwaukee Community Journal to the doorsteps of Black community residents. “I’ve witnessed their struggle to keep it (the newspaper) alive and also their determination to retain a voice for the Black experience. I guess the desire to make a difference is in my blood…and my desire…and that of my family burns deep in the way my wife and I have brought up our children.” Now the Grammy winning songwriter, producer and singer has made a documentary titled, “16 Bars,” that is premiering October 20th at the Oriental Theater. “16 Bars” is about a unique rehabilitation program in Richmond, VA Speech was involved with that allows prisoners to write and record their own songs. Speech spent 10 days working with the inmates to write and record their original music in a makeshift recording studio. It’s in that studio the inmates unearth painful elements of their pasts as they create original music. Through their collaboration with Speech, the inmates begin to move forward with their lives. The music of the film serves as a rare testimony to the messy truth behind the criminal justice system’s revolving door. “16 Bars” premiered last October.