I’m what they call a “mixed” kid. My mother has golden hair and fair skin, and my Nigerian father is as dark as can be. As a child, I was a bit too light, my caramel face splattered with freckles, to blend in with the black kids, while my hair was a bit too kinky to be the “right” kind of pretty for the white kids. Growing up with just my mother and grandmother, I had predominantly white friends and did not fully understand what the terms “oreo” and “exotic,” or the question, “What are you?”, meant or implied. I went from wondering why I didn’t get that “mixed hair” to wishing I did, when kids asked me how often I washed my hair. When the transition to high school came, I began to feel my blackness in the form of the pressure to represent. I saw the racial achievement gap in action, as one of two faces of color in an AP course. I didn’t know who I was, who I should be, or what to be proud of.
This is what USC Visions and Voices’ “Race Relay: A Multimedia Production about Race Relations” explores, adding leaps and bounds more. Taking place on February 9 at the California African American Museum in Exposition Park, this immersive theatre experience was compiled and directed by Denis Hamilton, Fred Sugerman, and Christo Pellani. The program combines recollections of personal experiences with projected images from various media to engender a safe space and an open dialogue about race relations.
The event takes place in three parts: a show, an open discussion, and a meditation/reflection period. We began with a drum circle type jam session, instruments provided. Seven actors placed in a circle gave true testimonies of their and others’ experiences regarding racial identity. We were forced to look at each other in that circle, each face imagining the injustices being narrated. It was emotionally charged, to say the least—a rare chance to address the humanity in the faces of a diverse group of strangers.
Lest this 2 ½ hour experience be a too heavy or taxing, there were also some elements that were as humorous as they were telling, such as “10 Things Not Racist People Say” or “Ask a Black Man!” The energy throughout these events was palpable and it culminated in a dance shakeout in which everyone expressed to each other the moments that impacted them the most.
A moment that particularly struck me involved a video that showed a black man being wrongfully shot by a white police officer. There were only two kids in attendance—one was a black child and the other was white—but I observed them the whole time, perhaps yearning for a hopeful glimpse into the future generation. When this video played, the white boy looked shocked, his mouth falling open; the black boy just nodded along, barely blinking. It was eerie, but familiar, a reminder of the work still to be done to achieve racial justice. I flashed back to my gap year acting as a classroom mentor at a school for non-white children in a high-need community in Brooklyn. I remembered how for some kids, fighting is not something to be avoided but learned. I thought of the 8-year-old who, when asked why he was acting up, talked about the shootings in his neighborhoods; I also thought of the young girl who asked me, “Miss Angelique, can girls be leaders, too?”
This seemed to be the theme of the night at the California African American Museum: empathy for each other and an understanding that our realities are different depending on our environment. Race Relay forced us to highlight harsh truths and realities and recognize what it means to be complicit and really hear each other. Judging by all the glistening eyes in the room at the end of the event, it succeeded.
If you would like to continue the dialogue, a Part 2 will be offered along with a virtual reality experience for those who could not attend the first session. Come by either the California African American Museum (CAAM) in Exposition Park at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 22, or the USC McClintock Building, Room 108 at 12 p.m. on Saturday, March 2. RSVP at visionsandvoices.usc.edu.
This event is co-produced by Anita Dashiell-Sparks of the School of Dramatic Arts, Lavonna B. Lewis of the School of Public Policy, Helaine Head of School of Cinematic Arts, and CAAM.