I was raised on the Westside of Chicago, Illinois where I wrote my first play. It was a homogeneous community of block club parties, double-dutch, elder women griots sitting on front porches, and kids racing home before the streetlights came on; a community rooted in the Yoruba African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child.” Then came political and economic changes, and my once cohesive community began to change. Families divided, incomes depleted, and drugs became a source of quick money and temporary highs. Nevertheless, I wrote about my shifting community because it nurtured me, informed my identity, and shaped my creative voice. Today, I am still nurtured, informed, and shaped by similar communities throughout Black America. Our communities define my artistic goal and vision to create theater that humanizes the plethora of narratives (injustices, dreams deferred, contributions, fortitude, “firsts,” etc.) of Black women today and throughout history.
Theatre is the ideal landscape for their narratives to co-exist with the audience. Here my art juxtaposes their truth, voice and experience against the backdrop of present day issues. Theatre allows me to recreate and humanize women's narratives.