For Colored Girls

Dedicated to the memory of Sean Bell and Michael Donald...Respect... ...VOTE...Fight, Fight the Power, You've GOTTA Fight the Powers That Be! (Thanks, Isley Brothers and Public Enemy)

For the love of My Sister, Ntozake Shange


Y'all know how much I love poetry. Bonnie, are you with me? WE LOVE POETRY. For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, is my absolute FAVORITE production of poetry set to stage. After a more than 20 year quest, I have replaced my Original Broadway Cast Recording of the show. In addition, the vendor burned a CD version for me to use as I archive the vinyl. I played my first album to death, my former husband can attest to that one...Hmmm, did you have something to do with the first ones' disappearance? I always suspected you... lol. Anywho, a sister couldn't have been more excited when she saw the familiarly shaped shipping carton. Got weak in the knees and couldn't get the tape off of the box fast enough ( or should I say enuf?) I slipped off the protective plastic sleeve and stared at my treasure for a little bit. Opening the cover, Lady in Red, Trazana Beverley, caught my eye first. Then I said aloud, "Hello, Old Friends, I have missed you more than you could ever know." We'd met at the Henry Street Settlement, at the Joseph Papp Theatre and on vinyl. I considered them longtime friends who knew me as well as I knew them. They'd shared their stories with me and certainly, I shared mine with them. Yes, that how poetry affects me, it is a shared experience with the writer and the words. Since these eight ladies were the vehicle for the words, they are forever intertwined with the work. I remembered as a Theatre student practicing my monologue, no assistance; and as a real adult woman who had to make adult decisions embracing, a laying on of hands i found god in myself. This entire work celebrates womanhood. The joys, pains, sorrows,love, discoveries and experiences. April is National Poetry Month. Sisters, do yourself a favor and check the choreopoem out of the library in book form. PBS has a video version that was filmed several years after the Broadway production. It is a very different experience from the Broadway stage show. Worth a view, though.