Melda Beaty's Blog, page 2

February 1-17, 2019

Pittsburgh, PA

Vol. 24, No. 3:

A Pedagogy of Inclusion: BTN’s Dr. Paul Jackson

Meeting the Challenges: Charles Weldon and the NEC

Ron OJ Parson: A Legacy of Good Work and Influencing Others

@media only screen and (max-width:1025px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-3{margin-top:0px!important;margin-bottom:!important;}}Black Masks Magazine

Black Masks is a long-established Black theater and entertainment magazine. Created in 1984, this publication has gained the support of both Black theater and entertainment practitioners and audiences. The founder and publishing editor is playwright Beth Turner.

In its thirty-fifth year of publication, Black Masks has subscribers throughout the U.S., and in the Carib-bean. Published quarterly, the magazine features articles on Black performing artists and Black arts groups, and overviews of important Black theater and entertainment issues. Each edition also carries comprehensive listings of current U.S. and occasion-ally international Black theater and entertainment events. The articles in Black Masks are based on original interviews and research. Print subscriptions are only $25 a year. Electronic subscriptions are $20.

@media only screen and (max-width:1025px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-4{margin-top:0px!important;margin-bottom:!important;}}Order this Issue

Summer 2019

This article is featured in Vol. 25, No. 2

Also in this issue:

Black Colleges (HBCUs) and Black Theatre

Erosion of Authenticity: Black Theatre’s 21st Century Challenge

Editor’s Notes: Get on Board

In Memoriam: Camille Billops

Arts Hotline

To order this issue, send check or money order for $4.00 to

Black Masks

P.O. Box 6642

Tallahassee, FL 32314

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Read the full article in Black Masks Magazine

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Next Iteration Theatre Company, Red Fest 2017, November 3 Houston, TX 7:oopm

http://www.nextiterationtheater.com/r...

The stage is set, but there is still time to get your seat on the front porch at The Ensemble Theatre in Houston, TX May 11-June 4, 2017! www.ensemblehouston.com

The Ensemble Theatre
Houston, TX www.ensemblehouston.com

It’s November 4, 2008 in Marks, Mississippi. Come meet Ms. Honey, Ms. Martha, Sister Stallworth & Ms. Alberta on the front porch of society. What does the election of the first black president mean to four elderly black women in rural Mississippi?

http://www.nbtf.org/

In 31 days, I will travel with my stage play, Front Porch Society, to Winston-Salem, North Carolina for the National Black Theatre Festival. The reading of my play will occur on Friday August 7th at 11:30am. The cast includes:

Irma P. Hall (SoulFood)

Margaret Avery (The Color Purple)

Aloma Wright (Scrubs)

Stanley Mathis (The Book of Mormon)

(and others)

If you are in Winston-Salem, on that day, please stop by the festival. Readings are free!

The title of the sermon was “Making Sense out of Life,” and the church was packed. All eyes were fixated on the minister with Bibles open wide to the chosen passage of scripture. There I was doing my best to emulate the congregation, except my journal sat perfectly on top of my open Bible. Something the minister said sparked my own “passage of scripture.” Right there in the middle of the call and response, my pen raced frantically to keep pace with the thoughts coalescing in my mind. When I lifted my head again, I had written a page and half of notes full of scenes and dialogue. I closed my journal with an emphatic “Amen.”

I don’t always carry my journal with me because I often write without pen, paper, computer, or notes.  My mind and my eyes became my journal at the age of nine. They write for me when I’m driving, sitting on a park bench watching my children play, enjoying dinner with a friend, listening to public radio, watching an avant- garde film, and yes, even during a Sunday morning sermon. I record life and write this way because writing has become a part of me.

Writing is a direct reflection of how I understand life. It has become the thing I know how to do well, and lately it is all I want to do.  I’m in love with writing, and dare I say a bit obsessed. I should probably give writing some space and not try to monopolize all its time. The truth is I want to be with writing all the time. I want to go out on dates with it and places that I’ve only dreamed about. I yearn to spend alone time with writing when the apartment is quiet and the kids are asleep and it’s just us. I want to be with writing forever. In the words of the talented singer, Luther Ingram, if loving [writing] is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.

I vote that the 1985 hit song “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves” by Annie  Lennox & Aretha Franklin officially become the theme for Women’s History Month every March. I learned this month at a public program entitled “Black Female Voice in Theater” sponsored by Victory Gardens Theater that “sisters” like Nambi Kelley, Gloria Bond-Clunie, Dawn Jones, and Lydia Diamond have been and are creating some amazing plays. They enlightened the audience of eager playwrights and lovers of plays that play writing chose them and they write out of a “need to fill a hole.” They are more interested in writing about our shared humanity with others and not necessarily about the color of one’s skin or gender.  I got the feeling that the responsibility to tell our stories as a race is one they feel less obligated to tell, but if they choose to, it is done with honor and truth.

As a play wright, I too am motivated to create plays that move the discussion of race out of the muck of oppression and “woest me” attitude. I love the richness of our race, the strength of our women, the color of our language, and the endless possibilities of what we can imagine and achieve. It’s universal, and Lennox & Franklin capture this tie that binds in this rhythmic and empowering song. We are sisters creating new narratives for larger and more diverse audiences and doin’ it for ourselves.

HAPPY NEW YEAR VISITORS:

For me the New Year began December 2013, when I received confirmation from Pastor Greg about having a vision. I decided right there that 2014 would be a year of vision for me. I vowed to create a vision and make a plan to allow my vision to manifest in the new year and so far so very good. Despite the bitter cold in Chicago in the new year, I smile daily because my writing efforts are paying off.

Two years ago, I interviewed with John Jerney, a hopeful and determined entrepreneur. He heard a radio interview I did months before and contacted me for his upcoming online magazine. The interview was fabulous and professional. I was promised to be the featured author. For weeks, months, and years we corresponded as he and his business partner worked on presenting the best online magazine for epublishing aficionados and those aspiring to be.

ePublishing Yourself Magazine is on the cutting edge of epublishing technologies from production to selling and a great resource for authors and readers. It is the reason I patiently waited for the publication to share with you. It is available (as a beta version for now) and free for a limited time. I want you to be one of the first to get your own copy to read and share. http://issuu.com/epublish_yourself_ezine/docs/epuby_issue_one_volume_one_23jan14

It is full of VISION!

 

 

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, I think it is only appropriate that I write my review of Americanah as a “Black American Reviewing a Book by a Non-Black American.” Adichie opened my eyes to cultural myths, misconceptions, and ignorance in a way I’ve only heard about. A dear Caribbean friend of mine and I used to bump heads over our ideals of culture, but as I read Americanah, I began to see affirmations and legitimacy of her views and my own. Ifem is the poster child of intellect and unequivocal renderings on life, race, culture, relationships, and people. She thinks and talks with a confidence that I envy, yet vow to do more of. You may need a dictionary for this novel. Adichie’s “way with words” is massive. She forces you to expand your own just to keep up. I rooted for Ifem and Obinze because they represented a definition and example of “love” that transcends all clichés. Can’t wait to read more about Ifem & Obinze’s life in maybe “Africanah.”

View all my reviews