On "Miss Evers' Boys" and Freedom...

I was so blessed to be able to see an AMAZING performance tonight...

it was a play entitled "Miss Evers' Boys" directed by renowned BLACK broadway director, Kenny Leon and starring the lovely, multi-talented Ms. Jasmine Guy!!!

She did effing AMAZING!!! she is DEF one of my idols in theatre...and YES she is from ATLANTA, GEORGIA...so i have EXTRA love for her!!! She is also a TRIPLE THREAT as she can sing, dance (she was AILEY trained!!!) and obviously act. the BITCH is BAD. Im a FAN.

The play was set back in the 1930's-40's when the U.S. government was holding an experiment on four men in Tuskegee, Alabama where they observed the effects that Syphillis had on them...but tricked them and told them that they were being treated. So basically the government sat back and watched these poor, ignorant men die and go crazy from Syphillis while they were watching and taking notes....this is a true story. It hurts me so much to know that they did this...but hey, it's AmeriKKKa... 

But yeah, this play really resonated with me and really got me thinking about my life and my people and what I owe to them and what I owe to myself...Alot of this play dealt with the battle Miss Ever's had to go through by staying true to her work (nursing), and staying true to her people...and the four men from Tuskegee unknowingly sacrificed themselves for their people by participating in the experiment.

hmmm...could i sacrifice MY LIFE, for MY PEOPLE???

would i myself DIE...so that thousands of others could LIVE???

would i be dedicated to my work sooo much that I could deceive people i love so that the wider world could be spared???

I may never know.

but there was an amazing quote from one of the characters in this play...Willie Johnson...after the Syphillis had taken over his body and left him crippled in one leg, his dreams of becoming a dancer in the cotton club in Harlem were shattered...this is all that he had to say:

"MY BODY, WAS MY FREEDOM..."

For Willie, dancing was the only thing in the world that he could do without restraint, in full capacity of himself...his soul was freed through the meticulous motions of his body's own divine creation...and it was taken from him. We must all learn from Willie.

WE must find whatever it is that FREES us and hold onto it for DEAR life.

I found mine...and my grip is getting tighter everyday.

fabulously,

                     Akilah ♥