theater
West Coast premiere of ‘Freight’ starring J. Alphonse Nicholson is must-see theater
November 28, 2023Is a Christ-like vow of poverty truly the answer to the Black dilemma in America—or space travel to Saturn?
Read more
Race relations North/South, today/yesterday, city/plantation
November 17, 2023NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans Opera (NOO) promoted its production of Blue as “the southern premiere of the most talked-about new American opera.” I’d been meaning to get back to the Crescent City to see it...
Read more
‘Tacos La Brooklyn’ centers cultural identity: Who appreciates and who appropriates?
October 6, 2023The playwright asks us to examine our view of family, interracial dynamics, cultural appropriation, gentrification, and the pros and cons of the street venture scene all the while immersing us in a distinctly Los Angeles social...
Read more
Drama ‘Blood at the Root’ explores the background to the Jena Six case
September 22, 2023“This story is inspired by a series of incidents, media reporting, and social action in Jena, Louisiana, in 2007.”
Read more
‘The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen’ in review
September 15, 2023Ever hear of William Dorsey Swann? Me neither. Another of those many buried figures in the history of Black and queer liberation.
Read more