Finding Blackdom - Mittie of South Virginia Street
A one-act play reading
A historical dramedy written by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson, and produced by Marissa Roybal and Blackdom LLC.
WHEN: June 23-25, 2023 | Friday and Saturday at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
COST: $10 suggested donation
>> Buy tickets online or make reservations (pay at door) at 505-424-1601 <<
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Teatro Paraguas is pleased to present a staged reading of Finding Blackdom - Mittie of South Virginia Street, a historical dramedy written by Dr. Timothy E. Nelson, and produced by Marissa Roybal and Blackdom LLC.
Historical facts:
In September 1903, thirteen black men led by Isaac W. Jones and Francis M. (Frank) Boyer, signed the Articles of Incorporation to establish the Blackdom Townsite Company to build the only incorporated all-Black town of Blackdom, New Mexico. By 1919, the town struck oil and established the Blackdom Oil Company. In its almost thirty-year life span, the idea and physical manifestation of the town endured drought, doubt, and revival, and in its last decade, became home to oil exploration.
In September 1919, Mittie (Mattie) Moore Wilson homesteaded a square mile of land three miles south of Blackdom. She struggled to meet proving-up requirements until she received help from a few influential people of the town. Moore, a bootlegger who ran a house of prostitution in Roswell twenty miles north of Blackdom, was one of the area’s wealthiest citizens.
The main character in Dr. Nelson’s play is not Mittie, but her right-hand confidante Dixie, played by Danielle Reddick. The play also centers on the character of Maceo (played by Loveless Johnson III), a traveler who has come to visit Blackdom. The elusive Mittie (Sasha McGhee and Dee Anaya) is omnipresent and appears at the end of the play.
The one-act play has intermittent talkback with Dr. Timothy Nelson, whose research focuses on the concept of Afro-Frontierism: people of African descent reclaiming their own history and culture and creating a new narrative that is based on their own experiences and perspectives.
Most narratives on the western expansion of the United States fail to mention the significant history and contribution of Afro-Americans, who settled as free men in the West after the Civil War.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Through his 2015 dissertation as well as his current outreach, PhD Historian Timothy E. Nelson’s work uncovers and advocates for untold stories through various forms of art: academic books, trade books, screenplays, paintings, photography, videography, and by digitally applying his theory of colonization within the digital frontier.
Dr. Timothy E. Nelson Marissa Roybal
Timothy E. Nelson, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of Blackdom Productions LLC
Marissa R. Roybal, COO and Co-Founder of Blackdom Productions LLC
Marissa Roybal, imbued with the value of self-sufficiency and an entrepreneurial spirit, puts her skills to work to foster cultural change, with Dr. Nelson.
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This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts and the Dept. of Cultural Affairs, and the Santa Fe Community Foundation.