Saturday, October 27, 2018

REST IN POWER NTOZAKE SHANGE

I saw the choreopoem FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH on a stage in San Francisco at a time when I thought I just didn't have it in me to understand a poem.

When I saw this feminist piece acted out on a bare stage but for the black women in different colored dresses, I didn't understand how wrong I was about my heart-mind connection.  

This poem broke through and got to me.

I don't think I'd have been moved to tears by Warsan Shire,  Nayyirah Waheed,  or Claudia Rankine 
if not for Ntozake Shange's words helping me get over that first hurdle.

The words "Rest In Power" have never applied better.

In addition to her Obie Award-winning choreopoem, Shange wrote novels including 'Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo' and poetry collections like 'Nappy Edges.'




https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ntozake-shange-dead-colored-girls-playwright-was-70-1155732


Read a lovely slice of this work in the next post

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