On March 23, 2012, in honor of Woman's History Month, Howard University's department of Theater Arts presented short scenes and monologues from playwright, August Wilson's works. These scenes came from the plays, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Seven Guitars, Fences, and Jitney.
Each scene depicted a woman and a man arguing about their relationship. In all cases, the male had done the female wrong in some way, either by committing adultery, ignoring her, or not putting their all into the relationship. In each scene, the male character practically begged to be taken back and forgiven. In most cases, after the male's charming and persuasive plea, the female would take the man back and attempt to forget about what had happened in the past.
Another famous work by Wilson is a play entitled Fences.....
At first I was taken aback by the portrayal of women and how easily they would succumb to the persuasive plea of men. Then I realized that although these plays took place during the mid-1900s, the relationships are much like those in 2012. In this day and age, women have been told that they have to think like males but act like ladies. However, at the end of the day, women are women, and despite the changes in society, women have not really changed.
On March 22, 2012, Howard University was graced with the presence of the amazing storyteller, Earl Lovelace. The Trinidadian author has written many great novels including, Salt, The Whine of Astonishment, The Dragon Can't Dance, and the Schoolmaster. Howard University students, professors, and those of the community were truly in for a treat in having Lovelace come and share an excerpt from his latest novel, Is Just a Movie.
The scene that was shared with the audience depicted a male who had just scored a role in an action film. His character's purpose in the movie was to be killed. The protagonist found issue with the fact that he was being paid to die. He felt that as a gifted actor, his talents should be portrayed in a way that viewers would recognize and respect.
The actor did not want his character to simply die. He wanted his character to be profound and remembered by anyone watching the film. Unfortunately, he was not the star of the film, therefore, his character's purpose was to illuminate the star by dying a quick, sudden, and meaningless death.
After coming to grips with the fact that he had to die, the protagonist became fixated with the way in which he died. It was bad enough that he was being paid to die; he decided to add meaning to the way he died in the film. When it came time to act out his death scene, he added a dramatic effect to the way his character died. The director quickly interrupted, saying that the protagonist was "dying too slow".
The actor argued that he did not want to solely die without it having
any emotion. He wanted his death to live. It was now the battle between
the importance of money and the importance of his dignity. Was he going
to conform to the wishes of the director and die a quick death for the
sake of a pay check? Or was he going to make sure that the viewers would
remember the poignancy of his death despite the fact that it would
over-shadow the "star" and contradict what the director had envisioned?
In case you wanted to hear some of Is Just a Movie for yourself....
In the book, Black Indians by William Loren Katz, the presence of Black Indians is highlighted. Some of the most prominent figures in African American history has Indian heritage. People like Paul Cuffee, Frederick Douglass, and Langston Hughes are all Black Indians. Beyond the discipline of history, in culture studies, it is evident that many African Americans in popular culture today are Black Indians.
Paul Cuffee was a Dartmouth Indian ship merchant. Cuffee was one of the first African American advocates and pushed for African American migration to Africa. He became the founder of 'back to Africa' movements in the United States having paid for the travel of 38 black Americans to Sierra Leone.
Frederick Douglass
Langston Hughes
Today, in African American popular culture, there are many Black Indians who play a big role in music and film. Rapper and Actor, Andre Lauren "Andre 3000" Benjamin has made an extremely big influence in rap and hip hop, being a part of the award winning group "Outkast". Some of his hits range from songs like "Hey Ya" to "Roses".
Another Black Cherokee Indian in African American culture is James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix. Hendrix revolutionized music and became one of the most famous guitarists in the rock genre. Today he is considered the greatest electric guitarist in the history of man. His hits range from songs like "Voodoo Child" to "Freedom".
In this video I talk about the book Black Indians by William Loren Katz and the points made about the separation of Africans and Indians during the slavery era.
Works Cited
Katz,William
Loren. Black Indians. Atheneum Books
for Young Readers. 1997.
The essay by Ivan Van Sertima entitled, "They Came Before Columbus", examines the parallels between the royal traits of Ancient Egypt and the Olmecs. This essay shows that many aspects of the Olmec monarchy originated from Ancient Egypt. Famous aspects of the Olmec monarchy such as the double crown, the royal flail, the color purple, and the artificial beard were all adopted from African royalty. This shows the influences of Africa on the world began before modern civilization was established.
The Royal Flail
The Double Crown: used in Ancient Egypt as a symbol of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
African influence did not stop with the Olmecs. There are traces of
Africa everywhere. For example, the Tango is a very big part of
Argentinian culture and was created by Africans. Although Argentina
claims to be a "pure" race and rejects their African backgrounds,
Africans played a large role in molding Argentina into
what it is today.
Works Cited.
Sertima, Ivan Van. "They Came Before Columbus". Revelations: An Anthology of Expository
Essays By and About Blacks. Pearson Custom Publishing. 2010.
Swingininthehood. A Brief History of the Black Roots of Argentina.
Youtube. 2011.
