Menu Close

Tag / black love

Treading Water: Frank Ocean’s “channel ORANGE”

– PRIDE MONTH 2020 –

The apartment was empty.

None of Gwen’s pots rumbled on the stove, and Dania wasn’t holding any conversation in their living room. The sun shone through the window––in their haste to leave, none of the trio had thought to close the blinds, and keep the sun from discoloring the art on the walls. It was, on this hot summer evening, quiet at home.

The streets were not quiet. Protests across the country had flamed every night for nearly three weeks, met with violent responses from government forces and police squads. Images of burned-out storefronts and activists washing pepper spray from their faces had filled every social media timeline, to a degree never seen before in the modern political age. The last few years had been an impossibly stressful time, the conscience of the country bending to accommodate the strain being put onto it. But, at least to the other protesters who shared the street with Gwen, Eleanor, and Dania––at least to them, the dam had finally burst.

Continue Reading

Brave Space Talk: The New Colony’s “The Light”

As soon as the performers, Jeffery Freelon Jr. and Tiffany Oglesby, had left the stage, the space was taken over by an earnest young white man with a neatly cut beard.

“Thank you all so much for attending this evening’s production of The Light, by Loy Webb,” he beamed, as the audience began subtly pulling on their coats. “If you have the time to stay, we will be holding a talkback here in the theatre, following the performance. The New Colony is a non-profit company, and we raise much of our revenue from donations…”

The sales pitch continued. Gwen looked over at Eleanor, raising a hand to indicate interest. Do you want to stay?

Eleanor’s hands shuffled to indicate back to Gwen. If you want to.

Continue Reading