“I believe in magic. I believe in being carried away.”
Broadway Black began reporting on Dr. Ntozake Shange over a year ago as she was returning to the stage as poet, performer, and storyteller at the Blue Note in NYC. I sat down with feminist poet and playwright Ntozake Shange to discuss her legacy and craft. Shange’s seminal choreopoem (a form of dramatic expression that combines poetry, dance, music, and song and a coined term by Shange in 1975) for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf has been holding space for dialogues about the lived experiences of Black women for over four decades.
The work has been handed down by generations of women, passed from mother to daughter, sister to sister, and friend to friend. It is taught in the classroom and produced locally. It has been produced off-Broadway, on Broadway and both the large and small screen. Shange’s canon of poetry, prose, and stage work has paved the way for Black women to take risks in the art of storytelling. Shange is undoubtedly a black literary and performance icon who remains relevant in our consciousness. Shange is one of the most important voices in American letters poignantly and creatively addressing the lived experiences of Black people, LGBTQ rights, women’s empowerment, racial inequality, domestic abuse, intertwined with the ongoing theme of loving ourselves fiercely.
On October 27th, 2018 our beloved Shange moved from an elder in our community to an ancestor. This is a transition that we hold close to our hearts. After all, elders are the keepers of the African American legacy and Ancestors are our guiding light as we set out on our paths. Honoring Shange’s legacy requires that we acknowledge immense contributions to the world, then move towards activating the audacity of her existence in our worlds.
Ntozake Shange promotional photo for Blue Note Jazz performance
Born Paulette Linda Williams, she adopted a Zulu name in the early 1970s, selecting Ntozake (en-to-ZAH-key), which means “she who comes with her own things,” and Shange (SHAHN-gay), meaning “one who walks like a lion,”. Shange is best known for the Obie Award-winning play for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. She also penned several novels including Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo (1982), Liliane (1994), and Betsey Brown (1985), a book about an African-American girl who runs away from home.
Ntozake Shange outside the Booth Theatre on Broadway for her production of For ColoredGirls…
Among the many accolades, it is important to remember that Shange was an artist by the purest definition. She spent decades honing her craft. She developed her poetic voice. She collaborated with artists of all genres and mediums. She experimented with sound, texture, words and played to create meaning. She listened to critiques but created the art she wanted regardless of their analysis. She started her art performing in with real people and kept her art for the people even after she debuted on Broadway. As artists, theatre-makers, and consumers of art, this is what we must never forget about Shange. Not only did she change the world with art, but her work is also a “radical reordering of western cultural aesthetic.” She reclaimed Blackness and reminded us of its beauty.
In my 2017, interview with Shange I asked her thoughts on ghosts, the supernatural and the afterlife.
“I believe in magic. I believe in being carried away. I think writing some poetry and some prose I get carried away. I don’t feel like I am in my body. I am in the language. I rejoice in that. I don’t mind being out of my body. Or being in an altered state which I find is close to magic. Being able to talk to my relatives who are in another plane, or who are existing afterlife, is magic but they are so real to me I don’t think of it as anything besides life. It natural to me and as far as my conversation and memories of them, they are just alive they are not dream figures or ghosts they are living to me. They are with me. I interact with them. That is how I see it.”
In the coming weeks and months and years continue to honor Shange. Gather in your homes, classrooms, in theaters, and in the streets to re-read for colored girls. Return to her poetry. Return to her prose. Dance as you think of her. Paint as you feel her. Collaborate as you get moved by her. Smile as you remember her and know that she is the magic that is guiding you as you create art and wake up daily to change the world.
Legendary Broadway star Carol Channing has passed away at the age of 97. Mostly known for originating the role of Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, her raspy voice was distinct and unmistakable.
Channing was born in Seattle and found her love of theatre at a young age due to passing out copies of The Christian Science Monitor in front of performance spaces. When it came time for her to go off to college, her mother revealed to her a family secret. She was partially Black. Her paternal grandmother was listed as ‘colored’ on her birth certificate making her father, George Channing, a Black German American. Her mother told her because she would be on her own now and didn’t want her to be surprised if “she had a Black baby.”
I know it’s true the moment I sing and dance. I’m proud as can be of [my black ancestry]. It’s one of the great strains in show business. I’m so grateful. My father was a very dignified man and as white as I am. My [paternal] grandparents were Nordic German, so apparently I [too] took after them [in appearance]
Channing went on to major in drama at Bennington College in Vermont but left school her junior year because of a mention in the New Yorker magazine. However, it was four years until she found another acting gig. She made her stage debut in “Never Take No for an Answer” and was an understudy in “Let’s Face It” but it was her role in the Broadway musical “Gentleman Prefer Blondes” in 1949 that made her a star.
In 1964 Channing stole all of our hearts as Dolly Gallagher Levi in “Hello Dolly!” and we never wanted her to go away again. It was the role that solidified and defined her as a Broadway staple. This lead to her starring in the movie musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie” as Muzzy Van Hossmere in 1967. She was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for her role.
Channing was a rightfully a Broadway icon and beloved by all. She won several lifetime achievement awards and was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1981. Her smile remained bright, and she worked well into her 90’s.
Rest In Peace Carol Channing!
Watch video of her below accepting her Tony Award and exceptional performance by the All-Black cast of Hello, Dolly! with Pearl Bailey.
