Anna Deavere Smith is a reporter, actress, playwright, professor, social activist, and MacArthur genius. Deadline reports that the multi-talented “Nurse Jackie” star has added yet another accomplishment to her resume: She’s been named as the 35th recipient of the George Polk Career Award, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism.
“Notes From the Field: Doing Time in Education,” Deavere Smith’s latest critically acclaimed project, uses “interviews with politicians, religious figures, students, teachers, and convicts to draw a direct line from de facto segregation in the U.S. education system to the epidemic of young black males in prison,” Deadline writes. Deavere Smith portrays 19 individuals in the one-woman performance piece. “Let Me Down Easy,” “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992,” and “Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities” are among her theatrical works. Her screen credits include “Madam Secretary,” “Black-ish,” and “The West Wing.”
According to Deavere Smith’s official website, she is the founding director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, which is “dedicated to supporting artists whose works address social issues and engender civic engagement.”
“This was not a traditional choice for us, because [Deavere Smith] doesn’t fit neatly in the category of journalist,” John Darnton, curator of the Polk Awards, told Deadline. “But in stepping back a bit, we realized she’s first of all a reporter in the way she goes about researching her topic. A dozen of us spend a lot of time debating the question of who should get the career award, but in this case it sailed right through. We all agreed.”
Administered by Long Island University, the Polk Awards commemorate the late CBS correspondent George Polk, who was murdered in 1948 while covering the Greek civil war.
