Jeannie Barroga was born in Milwaukee in 1949. She graduated with a B.A. in fine arts from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in 1972. After graduation, she moved to northern California and felt a connection with this place that hosts rich and diverse cultures and people from different backgrounds. Since then, the San Francisco Bay Area has been home for Barroga and a prominent stage for her career as a playwright. An active Member of the Dramatists Guild, she’s a nationally-produced playwright, teacher, director, and local video producer. Recently, for development on Buffalo’ed, Ms. Barroga was awarded the Wallace Alexander Gerbode/William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grant. “A dramatization of the presence of the Buffalo Soldiers in the Philippines in 1899, Buffalo’ed raises questions of national loyalty to the American policy of Manifest Destiny. Formed during the Civil War, the Buffalo Soldiers were renowned for their bravery and were “invited” to participate in more wars for “freedom,” including the war in the Philippines. Faced with conflicts of loyalty and dignity, a number of these soldiers defected to the Philippine cause.
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