Blackness, Performance, Freedom
In college, Halloween has become just another excuse to party—a social occasion not unlike other weekends (besides the costumes, of course). But when we were little, Halloween was a family time of pumpkin-carving, ghost story-telling, and trick-or-treating. I hadn’t carved a pumpkin in years, and even the smell of the seeds brought back a waft…
When we broke out into breakout rooms in the beginning of October, our group chose to stage the scene on page 142 of Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo where Cypress dances to the familiar music that ends of having been coming from Leroy. Our group was very focused on the lighting choices we could make in…
A few weeks ago, we worked in small groups to imagine how we would might stage a performance depicted in Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo. In my group, we looked at the performance titled “Blackout” which starts on page 102. It is unclear when the performance ends, but we assumed that it ends on the chapter…
Two of my journals have looked at how fashion impacts the message of music videos such as Beyoncé’s “Formation” and Childish Gambino’s “This is America”; for this post, I want to look at the clothing – or lack of clothing – in Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat” music video; in light of reading “Sound Gestures” by…
Having now personally reenacted the Moon Journey written by Indigo, I know these traditions to be capable of inciting a powerful emotional response. This realization pushed me to reexamine the purposeful placement of the recipes throughout the novel in order to achieve a better understanding of the three sisters and the text generally. The recipes…
The love song “All the King’s Horses” by Aretha Franklin that is referenced in Jason King’s “Which way is down?” encompasses the metaphor of falling as well as acts as an example of the black female singer’s desire to be heard. King’s article uses the metaphor of the act of falling and climbing a ladder…
Plays are not meant to be read, but to be staged. Of course, in the process of staging a play, or studying text for academic analysis, the play must be read. This reading provides a different, clearer understanding of the playwright’s intentions. Instead of wondering about the director’s or designer’s work, we as readers are…
Last week, I enacted the scene in Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo on pages 74-75, where Sassafrass cooks dinner. I made a variation of the fish with red sauce and a vegetable side. Like Sassafrass, I did breathing exercises while preparing the ingredients and relevés while waiting for the fish to broil—embodying her physical state and…
The film Guava Island embellishes and create new meaning for Childish Gambino’s music. In its essence, Guava Island is a musical. It was intentional to not have Glover’s music as a soundtrack, but rather embedded into the text. We hear full performances from Glover as Deni. They include background dancers and surrealist effects just like…
In one of my journal assignments, I performed a healing ritual from Ntozake Shange’s Sassafrass, Cypress, and Indigo titled “Suitors with the Moon’s Blessing” and discovered the importance of learning about the world through many types of mediums. For this post, I want to look at a different healing ritual found on page 25; I…