DOPE: "No Assistance" from "For Colored Girls..." by Ntozake Shange

without any assistance or guidance from you
i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day
i have been stood up four times
i've left 7 packages on yr doorstep
forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left
town so i cd send to you

you have been no help to me
on my job
you call at 3:00 in the mornin on weekdays
so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work
charmin charmin
but you are of no assistance

i want you to know
this waz an experiment
to see how selfish i cd be
if i wd really carry on to snare a possible lover
if i waz capable of debasin my self for the love of another
if i cd stand not being wanted
when i wanted to be wanted
& i cannot
so
with no further assistance & no guidance from you
i am endin this affair

this note is attached to a plant
i've been watering since the day i met you
you may water it
yr damn self

From "for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf"
- Ntozake Shange

DO SOMETHING: Jawn Murray vs. “Militant”,“Nappy-headed.”Black Women

"Yo, some nappy heads need to check they necks for red"
- The Fugees, "Nappy Heads"

I honestly have never heard of Jawn Murray before this evening. And after reading his comments on Twitter, in regards of the “militant” and “nappy-headed” naysayers of Tyler Perry's adaptation of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls...", I'm of the belief that I haven't missed much. I have heard of Tom Joyner, and from what I've seen of him (Mostly from watching Henry Louis Gates' "Faces of America" series), I am astonished he is associated with such a douche.



You're a Tyler Perry fan, Jawn... I get it. I am too... really! I've actually paid money to go see both "Madea Goes to Jail" and "Why Did I Get Married, Too?", in addition to Chris and I seeing "Madea's Big Happy Family" at Madison Square Garden... so I've contributed in my own meager little way to the mogul's multi-million dollar franchise. But... what's with the anger? And why is your anger targeted at women with natural hair? Did I miss a memo from the Nappy-Headed Women Coalition that we ALL HATE Tyler Perry? Does the belief that he is still too green as a director to tackle such a complicated piece of literature mean that we hate him? Hmm... so much to think about.

I am of the belief that Jawn Murray is not familiar with "For Colored Girls Who've Consider Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" or with Ntozake Shange.... because her work is FULL of women he's most likely consider both "militant" and "nappy-headed"... from Sassafrass to Betsey Brown and definitely Lilianne.

I wonder if he would give the women of Ntozake Shange's most memorable works the following advice?



How's that?!?!?!? Why don't we ask Ntozake Shange what she thinks?

(Side note: Isn't this a completely GORGEOUS picture? I am SOOO printing this out and hanging it up in my home!)

Wait a minute...Ntozake looks kinda militant. Just look at that Nefertiti nose-ring... I bet you underneath that (VERY Afrocentric! ::gasps::) headscarf there's some nappy hair under there!!! OH NOOOOOOOO!!!

I signed a Twitter Petition condemning his callous, insensitive and straight-up "ignant" defense of Tyler Perry at the expense of black women and I hope that you will join me in demanding an apology.

For more information, please go to: http://www.forharriet.com/2010/10/reporter-jawn-murray-calls-black-women.html

To sign the petition, click here.

DOPE: Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" Trailer Premiere

Say what you want about Tyler Perry... but he is getting us talking about Ntozake Shange and getting excited about seeing her work once again. And that is a tremendous blessing.



All I know was the preview gave me chills and I am so happy that it will be released a few short days before my 33rd birthday!!



If you have never read "For Colored Girls...." or never had the opportunity to see the televised stage version from the 70s (With a very young Alfre Woodard and Lynn Whitfield) be sure to check out them both before seeing this movie!!

DOPE: "a laying on of hands" Ntozake Shange

A Laying on of Hands
from "for colored girls who have considered suicide | when the rainbow is enuf"
by Ntozake Shange

i waz missing somethin
somethin so important
somethin promised
a layin on of hands
fingers near my forehead
strong
cool
movin
makin me whole
sense pure
all the gods comin into me
layin me open to myself
i waz missing somethin
somethin promised
somethin free
a layin on of hands
i know bout/layin on bodies/layin outta man
bringin him alla my fleshy self & some of my pleasure
bein taken full eager wet like i get sometimes
i waz missing somethin
a layin on of hands
not a man
layin on
not my mama/holdin me tight/sayin
i'm laways gonna be her girl
not a layin on of bosom and womb
a layin on of hands
the holiness of myself released

i sat up one nite walkin a boardin house
screamin/cryin/the ghost of another woman
who waz missin what i waz missin
i wanted to jump up outta my bones
& be done wit myself
leave me alone
& go on in the wind
it waz too much
i fell into a numbness
til the only tree i cd see
took me up in her branches
held me in the breeze
made me dawn dew
that chill at daybreak
the sun wrapped me up swingin rose light everywhere
the sky laid over me like a million men
i waz cold/i waz burnin up/a child
& endlessly weavin garments for the moon
wit my tears
i found god in myself
& i loved her/i loved her fiercely