At 23 years old, Safiya Martinez was looking for a job teaching in public schools in New York. To get her credentials faster, she chose to teach at one of the toughest middle schools in the South Bronx, in a program for challenged kids.
That experience, and the people she met in her five years there, are the subject of a one woman show called "So You Can Hear Me”— playing now at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco. Martinez utilizes her performing arts training to bring to life a number of characters she met during that time, in hopes of raising awareness about the issues that face inner city special needs programs.
Recently, Safiya Martinez joined KALW’s Hana Baba in the studio to tell us more about her transformative experience.
Click on the player above to listen to the full interview.
“So You Can Hear Me” is showing at the Marsh Theatre in San Francisco through August 24th.