1976 and 2019

The 70s are an elusive decade to me. I was taught in school to associate it with the elimination of racism. Even at home, a lot of my older relatives focused more on the changes that had been made in their lifetimes, and almost seemed to confine ugliness the past and ignore it in the present.

It is interesting to think about the different shows like “American Son” that have occupied the same space as for colored girls, especially ones that also focus on Black women.

Springer calls attention to the histories of Black feminism that is often left out of history in saying, “[…] The mainstream and black press vilified black women writers, in particular, Wallace and Shange. However, these women are considered pioneers of the contemporary black feminist movement for daring to assert, if not ideologically feminist consciousness, a gender consciousness integral to the struggle for black liberation in the 1970s.” When I read this sentence, my mind went to what I had just seen scrolling through Facebook- the Public’s revival of for colored girls has just been named a NYT Critic’s Pick. Granted, Ben Brantley should not be held as the authority on what constitutes good theatre, but it is hard to conceptualize that a piece centering women of color has gone from being highly criticized (while still successful, I should note), to being a work that seems to be a part of the theatrical canon.

However, I think focusing solely on these successes can be dangerous. On one hand, I think it can be a form of self-protection, similar to what I think my relatives who had survived Jim Crow have done. However, I think it’s important to think critically about the successes and the reasons behind them. It seems that right now in the “post-2016” mindset, people are desperate to prove that they aren’t like that, whatever that is. While I wasn’t around to see the original production, I also wonder what has been left out of history, just like the Black feminists Springer writes about, that would explain why the theatrical women of color were so well-received while women of color in real life were not. I wonder if in 40 years, people will be unlearning and relearning the history of Black feminists, both of the 1970s and of the 2010s. Will they remember why it is so important for this for colored girls to be happening, and to be happening now? Will they know that the audiences are often filled with wealthy, white patrons of the Public who are trying to make America post-racial again? Will they know about Shange’s life and struggles? Will they know about mine?