Performer and activist John O'Neal is best known for his Junebug Jabbo Jones cycle of plays, and for founding Junebug Productions and co-founding the Free Southern Theater. Revitalizing the memory of the civil rights movement and the knowledge that the movement is not over, O'Neal was awarded the prestigious Ford Foundation Award for "The Leadership for a Changing World? for his work in the theatre. His career as a playwright, performer, and leader has spanned more than fifty years.