More About Ralph

Ralph and Mary Remington with daughters Brianna (left) and Bridget (right)

Ralph has a long history of political activism, starting at age 13 working with squatters rights people, helping with moving the homeless into vacant housing in North Philadelphia.

As president of the student body at The Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts Ralph led the student protest movement for better conditions, books and respect, culminating in a bargained agreement with the school principal and the district superintendent. He also protested against South African apartheid in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

After graduating from Howard University with a B.F.A. in 1984, Ralph served three years in the United States Army (1985-1988), stationed in Frankfurt, Germany (honorably discharged). He speaks conversational German.

During the first Gulf War he was an anti-war protest organizer for Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

For seven years, as a social service director at Pillsbury Neighborhood Services (which served 20,000 Minneapolitans annually), Ralph grappled with some of the major municipal issues affecting people’s lives such as homelessness, joblessness, welfare to work problem-solving, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS/HIV infection, school truancy and neighborhood economic development. He worked with almost every area of the city including the North side, West Bank, Central, Bryant and Powderhorn communities.

As a member of the Leadership Team at Pillsbury, Ralph helped to advise the President, Tony Wagner on day-to day problems. He analyzed spreadsheets, dissected monthly budget and financial statements and assisted with final drafting of Pillsbury's ten million dollar agency-wide annual budget. Ralph was also responsible for all personnel hiring and firing and supervisory management at Pillsbury House Theatre. Additionally, he was the Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity officer for five years. Ralph became very familiar with Title VII (Civil Rights Act) and was responsible for helping to ensure enforcement.

As the producing artistic director of Pillsbury House Theatre Ralph led the creation of a $500,000 fully professional union theater from the ground up. The mission of the theatre was to provide a platform for marginalized people to have their muted voices heard. While at Pillsbury, he also founded "Breaking Ice," a touring multiracial sociopolitical improv company. In this capacity Ralph conducted and facilitated over 300 workshops and seminars for various institutions and corporations around Human Resource issues in the workplace, such as: incorporating diversity, understanding protected classes, conflict resolution, sexual harassment, gay and lesbian sensitivity, sexism and racism.

Ralph's background also includes educational outreach with Olympia Dukakis' The Whole Theatre, Irondale Ensemble Project, Illusion Theatre and Newark Boys & Girls Clubs. He was also a company member of The Guthrie Theater. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota, using theatrical arts to address issues of violence and racism.

Ralph has sat on numerous government and private foundation panels. As Director of Community Engagement at Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) he hired and supervised 19 staff and was responsible for a $750,000 annual budget. As Executive Director of Media Artists Resource Center (the MARC) in St. Paul, he helped initiate a non-profit merger with IFP (Independent Feature Project) and raised $100,000 in new resources over a seven-month period. Ralph hase secured major funding for educational and cultural projects through aggressive vision of cultural inclusiveness.

Ralph understands labor issues. He belongs to two trade unions and recently led the organizing committee for the Teamsters at America West Airlines in a successful campaign for dignity and respect (Los Angeles International Airport)

As an African-American theatre artist and one of the few black founding producing artistic directors in the country, Ralph has largely dedicated his life to the empowerment of marginalized and disenfranchised people through artistic and dramatic expression. Ralph has always melded the arts with political activism.

Ralph is a graduate of Camp Wellstone.