For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, by Ntozake Shange

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For Colored Girls Who have considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange was performed at the Vortex Repertory Company in Austin, TX. This choreopoem composed of poems, music, and dance is a supportive force of literature and vitality to be reckoned with that not only challenged the status quo and ideologies of black women sublime during the Black Power movement, but also relates to contemporary black women in the United States. The depiction of struggles and faint destinies embodied by the interconnected lives of the actresses brings light to the accustomed realities of African Americans through theatrical conventions and transparent intimacy. This mechanism destroys the fourth wall and captures the emotions of oppressed African American women and the African American community by valiantly defining what it means to be “colored” and a “woman” while serving as the voice of agency. Furthermore, the state of agency and aesthetics addresses the perpetual stereotypes such as race, gender, and hypersexuality, thus striving to overcome obstacles and raise an awareness of empowerment. As a poet and Black feminist, Ntozake Shange’s objective was to inform the African American community of the underlining problems that exist within it, and to give black women a sense of an agency and self-empowerment. Shange envisioned the seven different women to “be nameless & assume hegemony as dictated by the fullness of their lives” (Shange xii). Although the performance demonstrated hegemony, the question of who sets the standards for gender roles is left open-ended. This was probably done as a tactic to challenge commonly held thoughts of black women and their perceptions of their role in society. For instance, maybe some black wom... ... middle of paper ... ...cover one’s voice, song, and joy to create a legacy for other black woman successors to advance and persevere. Works Cited 1. Fanon, Frantz. "Black Skin, White Mask." The Fact of Blackness. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1968. Print. 2. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf: a Choreopoem. By Shange, Ntozake. Dir. Zell Miller, III. VORTEX Repertory Company, Austin, TX. September, 16, 2011. Performance. 3. Hammad, Lamia Khalil. "Black Feminist Discourse of Power in For Colored Girls WhoHave Considered Suicide." Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 3.2 (2011): 258-67. Web. 4. Jones, Joni L. "Cast a Wide Net." Theatre Journal 57.4 (2005): 598-600. Print. 5. Shange, Ntozake. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf: a Choreopoem. New York: Macmillan, 1975. Print.

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