Performing Race

Performing Race

by Janice Mautner Markham, May 22, 2022

In the research study Performing race: Using performance to heal the trauma of race and racism on college campuses (Performing race 2020) Williams-Witherspoon (W-W) explores “From Safe to Brave”, a performance piece utilizing stories of fifty-seven voices from Temple University students, faculty, administrators, and local community members. The creative-works project was developed from six different community discussions. In looking at research design methodology, the project utilizes qualitative and interpretivist forms to include representation from those with lived experience. The personal accounts and storytelling included topics such as power dynamics, institutional racism, activism, violence and privilege. This study is a strong force in multiple fields of study including race relations, community activism, political theater and creative, interactive activism. 

            As Agusto Boal infamously noted, “It is not the place of the theatre to show the correct path, but only to offer the means by which all possible paths may be examined”. (Theatre of the Oppressed, 1985) W-W and her collaborators followed suit, using the theater as a blank canvas to explore a variety of themes under the umbrella of racism. A primary goal was to empower those creating art in the telling of their stories and experiences. This is the first step into true interpretivist and qualitative research in which new ground is broken without the need to fit into any pre-existing study or theory. There is a certain trust that comes with this construct, in that the hierarchy of director to writer to performer is realigned, and every participant is equally crucial to the project. This mode of study and creation of an artistic work is already in the vein of honoring social justice and human rights, as each person involved has a necessary and valued part to play, literally. 

            A common theme throughout the research and artistic discovery was this concept of a shared lexicon. In this case, the primary words included were: power, privilege, racism, prejudice, institutional racism, violence and activism. A positivist approach could make the assumption that a standard set of definitions would guide the study. However, this research by W-W takes a more qualitative and exploratory analysis, by first making no “out the gate” assumptions on the meaning of each word, and secondly having no preconceived notions regarding how each of these words manifest in the monologues. For example, even the concept of “activism” can mean very different things to different individuals. This variety of viewpoints  not only played out within the work itself, but also in the follow-up, when asked, “Is this art or activism?” 

            Staying in that vein, the question could be posed, “If autoethnography is taking place, is it automatically activist in nature if the teller is an individual from a marginalized group?” This part of the research was fascinating, as there were seeds of Critical Race Theory woven in. The prompts themselves were quite transparent and direct. The first one asks the participant to recall the first memory in which race was a concept in their lives. The first prompt is also telling in that it is not phrased in a pejorative sense. The question is not asking what was your first personal encounter with racism, it is just asking about race. The facilitators, while working clearly within a framework, even with their set lexicon, still strived to allow the artist/creator to have wide parameters in which to consider the prompts. The next question asked for a more pointed memory of racism, then a flip of the coin for their happiest memory, and finally a “where were you when” question regarding first hearing of Philando Castile’s murder. 

            Community members as social scientists, as experts: In the construct of retelling lived experience, the actor/writers become, as Lesly Delmenico describes them, as “social change agents, claiming public presence”. (Performing Public Presence, 2019) Artwork such as this, with community members telling stories from personal perspective, fights the “White Savior” narrative that is finally being discussed in our current zeitgeist. Hollywood has been caught up in this type of narrative when the common story line of so many films produced is through the eyes of the white person, as in the compassionate White person who saves the day. Films such as “The Green Book”, “The Blindside”, “Freedom writers” and “The Help” all suffer from this mode of story-telling, and one of the biggest criticisms is that the majority of the directors, writers and producers are White. As noted in In Justice! Magazine, “The Help contains zero Black voices. Writer-director Tate Taylor (white) based the screenplay on a novel by Kathryn Stockett (white). It was produced by Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Brunson Green (white, white, and, you guessed it, white). The Help explores Black issues through a White lens. Black people appear onscreen, but they voice white words.” (In Justice! 2020) The reviews of “The Help” are fascinating from a socio-political standpoint. It is rare to see the lack of Black voices being called out, even in more progressive news outlets. Here is NPR, responding to some critics of the film pointing out the Black stereotyping and white savior-ism: “My view of this controversy is easily stated: I don't know I don't know I don't know. I concede the novel and movie are heavy-handed. But I also think they're full of good, evocative details — closely observed depictions of the coping mechanisms of both servants and employers. The white Southern belle's passive aggression, condescension, and sheer misuse of power come through vividly.”(NPR, 2011) You don’t know? There is no exposing of the dangerous trope of the White Savior and the lack of Black leadership in the film. I am hoping that in the decade since the film has been out, there is a bit more awareness of this issue. “From Safe to Brave” creates a narrative with a revolutionary concept: That the creator/writer/storyteller does not need to be white, rich, powerful, connected or in academia. They just need to have a story, and in this case it’s many stories wrapped in struggle.  

            “From Safe to Brave” is ideal for those of us studying arts and activism, as W-W details each step of the process. The creation of this project was akin to collecting and assessing data. There is the personal narrative collections process, transcription, assessing inclusion/script development and editing. Where this work adds an additional layer is the step that includes read throughs, looking at dramatic builds of the overall piece, staging and performance. It’s one thing for a group of individuals to share personal accounts in a safe environment, but it is quite another to extend that vulnerability in a public sphere. During the rehearsal process everyone involved from every demographic, age, race and background had to deal with the triggering impact of the stories. And, following this step, the participants experienced the impact of being emotionally naked in front of an audience. I was taught by my mentor, the late Dr. Walter Dallas, that theater “should always be a little unsafe”. There should always be one foot hanging off the cliff emotionally to be transported to another place. According to W-W, these students, staff and community members did just that. 

            One of the aspects of W-W’s study that is most profound is the follow-up. Being that this was a project to fulfill a grant, the talk-backs and panels after the show were crucial to the heart of assessing impact. Student responses were quite illuminating in how many individuals were surprised at the accounts and volume of racism experienced on their own college campus. A major coup for W-W had to do with faculty response to the process, study and performance. Each professor surveyed committed to not only using the piece as a teaching tool to discuss systemic racism and other inherent themes, but they felt inspired to tackle the subject more overall in their teaching. This of course, provides the glorious ripple effect of the arts and activism. 

            Although this study and analysis of “From Safe to Brave” followed interpretivist and qualitative research design methods, there was attention paid to numbers and statistics as well. This is a crucial aspect of the overall picture, as we are talking not only personal accounts, but representation. A few notable statistics include race and gender:

• 50 .3% of US citizens are women (2010 Census, www.census.gov/ quickfacts/fact/table/US/LFE046218, accessed July 11, 2020) 

• 49% of the individuals in the academy are women (Flaherty, “More Faculty Diversity Not on Tenure Track”)

• 3% of women in the academy are Black .5 National Center for Education Statistics, https://nces.ed .gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=61 

(Performing Race, Addendum)

The statistical aspect of this research helps to solidify and ground the work, and take it beyond personal account. We see in these real numbers the deficit in representation, and that the struggle for marginalized voices to be heard is still ongoing. W-W also recognizes the vibrancy and popularity of HBCUs in the addendum and follows these accounts and percentages with notes and works cited. 

            Ultimately W-W’s research study is about getting those stories told, widening the tent of perspective and understanding how human struggles, racism and activism have been woven into the American experience. These stories have power in their truth and authenticity. “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” (Sonny’s Blues, 1957) 

Primary source:

Williams-Witherspoon, K. (2020). Performing race: Using performance to heal the trauma of race and racism on college campuses. Storytelling, Self, Society, 16          

Additional works cited:

Boal, A. (1985). Theatre of the Oppressed, New York: Theatre Communications Group

Delmenico, Lesley (2019) “Performing Public Presence: African Migrant Women Create Uncomfortable Conversations in London .” Theatre Research International, vol . 44, no . 1, 2019, pp . 67–81 

Johann, B. (2020) The Problems with Hollywood’s White Savior Narratives, An Injustice! magazine, June 12, 2020 https://aninjusticemag.com/the-problems-with-hollywoods-white-savior-narratives-2ed0bd5e5cf6

Edelstein, D. (2011) “The Help”, Movie Review “Heavy-Handed ‘Help’ Saved By Great Acting”, NPR, August 12, 2011 https://www.npr.org/2011/08/10/139086532/heavy-handed-help-saved-by-great-acting

Baldwin, J. (1957) “Sonny’s Blues”, Partisan Review