SAID BY
THE FATHER AND SON
A Father. A Son. A Legacy.
Leon Walker + Rob Young Walker
AUGUST 15, 2026
LANGSTON HUGHES PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTE
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
Said by the Father and son are a non-profit project proUdly fiscally sponsored by shunpike
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU. PLEASE COMPLETE SURVEY AFTER SHOW.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY HOME
Welcome to the family home. This experience is more than a performance; it is a sacred space centered on truth, love, family, and the power of forgiveness. It is an exploration of fatherhood and the weight of legacy, those precious things families often leave unsaid, finally spoken out loud between generations. We invite you into our home.
Said by the Father and Son is a multi-disciplinary theatrical experience that weaves together the fibers of our collective memory. By combining the power of poetry, the rhythm of hip hop, and the soul of jazz with movement and family history, we create a space for honest conversation and ancestral connection.
Black Fatherhood & Family
Redefining legacy through the lens of protection, presence, and pure love between generations.
Generational Healing
Addressing the things left unsaid to break cycles and build a foundation of truth and forgiveness.
Cultural Memory & Identity
Honoring our roots through jazz, storytelling, and the vibrant echoes of Tacoma and Seattle.
Grief, Joy & Faith
Navigating the complexity of human emotion with spiritual resilience and artistic celebration.
THE FATHER
LEON WALKER
Before dedicating himself fully to the arts, Leon retired as a hearings officer for the Department of Corrections, where he witnessed firsthand the complexities of the justice system. Those experiences shaped his perspective and fueled his commitment to creating spaces for healing, understanding, and cultural pride.
As the former owner of JasLeRober Gallery, one of the largest contemporary African art galleries on the West Coast, Leon has long been a steward of cultural preservation. Located on Tacoma’s historic Martin Luther King Jr. Way and named after his children, JasLeRober was more than a space for showcasing the richness of African heritage. It was also a hub for community dialogue, education, and connection.
Through his poetry, Leon shares profound insights on life, family, faith, and the human spirit. His words are both grounding and uplifting, drawing from his personal experiences as a father, leader, and advocate. Whether performing on stage or engaging in community events, Leon’s artistry leaves a lasting impact, creating connections that resonate deeply with audiences.
With a legacy rooted in both art and action, Leon Walker continues to inspire and uplift, blending creativity and wisdom to spark meaningful conversations and positive change.
THE SON
ROB YOUNG WALKER
Rob Young Walker is an acclaimed filmmaker, music artist, speaker, creative producer, and social entrepreneur from Tacoma, Washington. Raised in a family rooted in cultural preservation, creativity, and social justice, Rob was shaped by his father Leon Walker’s poetry and cultural work, and his mother’s leadership in STEM equity.
As the founder of Excuse My Accent, CEO of Rob Young Productions, founder of KuanaʻIke, and board member of Write253 and Black Deported Veterans of America, Rob uses storytelling to bridge art, advocacy, culture, and community impact. His award-winning film Bring Them Home has earned 17 festival selections and four Best of Fest awards, screened at the U.S. Capitol in support of the Veteran Service Recognition Act, and helped fuel national conversations around deported veterans.
Rob has spoken at Harvard on creativity and civic policy and at Spirit Fest alongside cultural leaders on the power of creativity, impact, and collective understanding. As a hip-hop artist, his anthem “Excuse My Accent” reached over 3 million views, and he has shared the stage with artists including Lupe Fiasco, Too Short, and All-4-One.
CAST & FEATURED PERFORMERS
Leon Walker
The Father
A cornerstone of the production, Leon brings his lived experience of fatherhood and legacy to the stage with profound depth and truth.
Rob Young Walker
The Son
Creator and performer, Rob uses storytelling and hip hop to bridge the gap between generations and spark healing.
Travis Anderson
Host / Narrator
Guiding the audience through the journey, Travis provides the narrative thread that connects family history to the present moment.
Amanda Perez
Vocal Lead
Featured Song - Let Me Be Light, Gorgeous
Jameson Kelly
Vocal Lead & Guitar
Featured Song - Heathen & Going Home
Elaine Walpole
Vocal Lead
Featured Song - Falling In Love
Ruby
Guest Dancer
Juma Blaq
Special Guest Appearance
The Sound of Said by the Father and Son
Chris Harris
Drums
Nick Blodgett
Bass
Tyler Whill
Keys
Marcel Augustin
Saxophone
CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM
Presented BY ROB YOUNG PRODUCTIONS & L61 PRODUCTIONS
Executive Producer
Rob Young Walker for Rob Young Productions
Technical Director
Trevor Murray
For Ascendancy Audio Production
Photography & Videography
Johnny Schuler | Christain Hostetler
For L61 Productions
Creative Director
Jeremiah Schuler
For L61 Productions
Animations
Ben Yarbrough & Johnny Schuler
Event Production
Audry Hilbert
For Excuse My Accent
Musical Director
Rob Young Walker, Jeremiah Schuler
& Amanda Perez
Lighting & STAGE DIRECTION
Danielle Murray
Vocal Direction
SET DESIGN
Amanda Perez
Mateo Schuler for MCM Tacoma
Congressional Recognition
A Message from Congresswoman
Marilyn Strickland
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The Story Behind the Show
What began as a series of quiet Sunday morning conversations between a father and son in Tacoma slowly evolved into something much larger than either could have imagined. These weren't just talks about the weather or the news; they were deep excavations of family history, unspoken regrets, and the powerful bond of Black fatherhood. Leon and Rob realized that their shared truth had a resonance that needed to be heard beyond their own living room.
The journey from the Tacoma premiere to the Seattle stage at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute represents a homecoming of sorts. It is a transition from the intimate to the monumental, preserving the raw Tacoma origin while embracing the grand legacy of Seattle's cultural heart. The production is a tapestry of poetry and hip-hop, woven together to tell a story that is uniquely theirs, yet universal in its call for generational healing and love.
Said by the Father and Son captures the moments families often leave unsaid, the broken pieces, the laughter, and the resilience. By bringing these real conversations to the theater, Leon and Rob invite us all to heal in real time, acknowledging that legacy isn't just what we leave behind, but how we speak to each other today.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY HOME
THE STORY BEHIND THE SET
THE LIVING ROOM
At the center of Said By The Father and Son is the Walker family living room, not as a symbol or imagined setting, but as a real place shaped by memory, art, conversation, struggle, laughter, and inheritance. It is the kind of room where stories are passed down, lessons are learned, disagreements are worked through, and the values of one generation are placed into the hands of the next.
THE ART
The African artwork seen throughout the stage comes from Rob and Leon Walker’s own family collection. Many of these pieces once lived inside the family-owned JasLeRober Gallery, a cultural landmark in Tacoma, Washington, and one of the largest African art galleries on the West Coast. The gallery was more than a place to display art. It was a gathering space, a place of education, and a celebration of African history, Black identity, creativity, and community.
When the doors of JasLeRober closed for the final time, Rob was the last person to stand beside his father and witnessed the end of an era. After years of the gallery serving as a beacon for culture, art, and community, Rob looked at Leon and asked, “What do we do now?” Leon answered, “When one door closes, another reopens. We put faith in our God.”
THE LIVING ARCHIVE
For the Walker family, these works of art have always carried meaning beyond their beauty. Each piece reflects a connection to heritage, ancestry, imagination, and the responsibility to preserve what came before. They represent the importance of knowing where you come from and understanding that history can live not only in books, but also in the objects, images, stories, and traditions that surround a family every day.
SET DESIGN BY MATEO SCHULER FOR MCM TACOMA
EVERY POEM
HAS A STORY
The History Behind The Art
01. The Pain
LORRAINE MOTEL
Written by Rob Young Walker
Rob Young Walker traveled to Memphis to honor the life of his late mentor, Theodore Palmer. Before his passing, Theodore urged Rob to visit the Lorraine Motel. He believed that standing inside its history would awaken something in him.
As Rob walked through the halls, now preserved within the National Civil Rights Museum, history no longer felt distant. It was not simply written on walls or held behind glass. It was walking beside him.
He felt the presence of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who stood at the edge of freedom and gave his life so that generations beyond him could move closer to it. In those halls, the words began to come.
Rob imagined Freedom as a woman, the greatest love of a man’s life. She was not a love he desired only for himself. She was a love Dr. King was willing to suffer for, fight for, and even die for so that his children, their children, and people he would never meet might one day know her embrace.
01. The Healing
ROOTS OF
MY DREAMS
Written by Leon Walker
Where Lorraine Motel carries the pain of sacrifice, Roots of My Dreams reveals what grew from it.
Inspired by Alex Haley’s Roots, Leon Walker wrote the poem for the winner of the Miss Black Washington Pageant during Black History Month in the late 1980s. Through the poem, Leon explored ancestry, identity, and the dreams that survive even when the people who first carried them are gone.
Soon after writing it, Leon had the extraordinary opportunity to meet Alex Haley and place the poem into the hands of the man whose work had inspired it.
Haley became emotional as he read. He told Leon that the poem had captured the heart of his historic work in a single piece, then signed copies for him.
In that moment, history came full circle. The words of one Black writer had planted a seed in another, and that seed had grown into a poem capable of moving the man who first inspired it.
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01. The Blessing
THIS THING
ABOUT A NAME
Written by Leon Walker
This Thing About a Name, originally titled What’s the Fuss?, began as Leon Walker’s poetic birth announcement for his son, Robert “Rob Young” Walker.
Leon did not want to introduce his son to the world with an ordinary announcement. Being the creative spirit that he is, he chose to welcome him through poetry, using image, rhythm, and intention to mark the beginning of a new life.
What began as a creative gesture became something deeper. Line by line, Leon was not only announcing a child. He was speaking identity, possibility, and love over his son. The poem became a blessing, a declaration, and a father’s first offering of language to the life he would help shape.
For Leon, a name was never just a name. It carried history, inheritance, imagination, and hope. In that first poem, he began stitching together words that would become part of the fabric of his son’s being.
02. The Beginning
Written by Rob Young Walker
The poem is written from the perspective of Rob’s spirit before birth, speaking directly to God and negotiating the kind of man he wishes to be sent to. He asks for a father who will guide him with wisdom, challenge him with truth, introduce him to poetry, and teach him how to understand both himself and the world around him.
The piece imagines a soul choosing not simply where it will be born, but whose hands it can trust to help shape its life.
Throughout the original poem, Rob interwove the titles of poems Leon had shared with him while he was growing up. Those titles became traces of memory, revealing how deeply his father’s words had become woven into his identity.
Rob later presented the poem to Leon at his 70th birthday celebration. It was his way of showing his father that the poetry, guidance, and love poured into him throughout his life had taken root.
Together, these two poems introduce the heart of the show: a father speaking life into his son, and a son answering with gratitude, memory, and love.
IT WAS CLOUDS WE WALKED ON
SPONSORS & PARTNERS
Major Sponsors
Community Partners
SPECIAL THANKS
We extend our deepest gratitude to our family, whose stories and support are the heartbeat of this production. To the cast and crew, your dedication and talent have brought this vision to life in ways we could only imagine. Thank you to our sponsors and community partners for believing in the power of this narrative. A special heartfelt thanks to the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute for providing the space to share our legacy, and to you, our audience. Thank you for your presence, your deep listening, and for joining us in this collective journey of truth, love, and generational healing. Welcome to the Family.