As an only child growing up in Yonkers, New York, Hanifah Walidah amused herself by creating her own world of music and acting. Overcoming stage freight by performing, she found liberation and release in becoming someone else. In her recent production "Black Folks Guide to Black Folks: A Play About Homophobia in the Black Community," she takes on nine characters.
The comedy-drama production runs at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24-26 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S. at Yesler Way in Seattle.
The production features straight, gay and transgendered characters that live in Around-the-Way, USA. It's a neighborhood of people linked together through love and life lessons all played by Walidah, who says she made a concerted effort to primarily focus on reaching black audiences with her show and that the piece is not written for white people, though white people (and those of other races) have enjoyed the production.
"I know a white audience would come, but a lot of black folks don't come to the theater," she said. "I wrote it to promote some sort of thought amongst my people."
Walidah, who has been performing professionally for more than 10 years, dives into the lives of each character. Her intricately woven, thematic skits devote 10-20 minutes per scene to explore issues of sexuality, health and relationships in the black community with a particular focus on homosexuality and homophobia.
"Black folks are the most conservative people, don't let people tell you any differently," she said, noting that she describes conservatism as a desire to feel right and safe. "They are progressive in their culture because it's reactionary. But ultimately, black Americans in particular still come out of a mentality of wanting to feel right about themselves, and that they are really conservative."
Her goal is for people to see beyond labels and to try to see someone else as they may see themselves.
"I really wanted to give a human face," Walidah said about her one-woman play. "I wanted to present a show that could handle the topic without preaching or using a lot of political jargon. I wanted to approach it from a humanistic approach."
The idea for the show came during a time when a few friends were writing a self-help book for artists. Feeling a frustration about how homosexuality was received in the black community, Walidah - who is both lesbian and black - joked that there should be a straight, black person's guide to gay black people. Soon after the New York resident decided to write something that addressed the issue. Premiering in Oakland in 2002, the show has since been performed nationally at festivals, colleges and other theatrical venues.
"[The show] was really out of frustration, out of people who kind of hold the progressive label, but don't really march that tune or don't know how to march to that," Walidah asserted.
To present characters that fit archetypes in the black community, she interviewed various individuals to gather a breadth of experiences. Walidah then melded those experiences into the issues with which the characters are dealing. She describes the experience as though she were a conduit to express the stories of each character, knowing that the issues and people she presents on stage most likely also exist in real life in some way.
"They're just people," she said. "You're jumping into people's lives and you can't deny them the scope of life by giving them this label. You can't pin someone down when you jump into their lives and the daily grind and the tears."
Homophobia is not unique to the black community, Walidah said, noting that she views human sexuality as a fluid state that is not so much about who you sleep with but how you communicate, calling sexuality the language of the body. She described a fear of the feminine - "woman phobia" she calls it - as the origin for the sense of homophobia that exists amongst various communities.
"There are gay black people, gay white people and gay Sri Lankans throughout every community," she said. "I bring it back to being human. What we need as human beings is to feel welcome."
Though controversial in nature, Walidah said she has been embraced by all of her audiences.
This includes two groups for which she felt apprehensive toward: black teenagers and members of the conservative South. In each case the shows were well received, she said, noting the show for the teens was the best reception she had ever had. After the Seattle dates, Walidah performs her show in Massachusetts next and says she has no plans to stop touring it around anytime soon.
"I have looked into eyes after the show to know that they are inspired," she said. "It's about the people, but that's the whole point and it's their truth."
Tickets for "Black Folks Guide to Black Folks: A Play About Homophobia in the Black Community" are $12- $15 and available through Brown Paper Tickets at www.cdforum.org or by calling 1-800-838-3006. The Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas is sponsoring the show. For info, visit www.blackfolksguide.com.
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