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The
Voices of A Black Wampanoag Warrior & Artist
By Mwalim *7)
Storyteller,
Playwright & Folklorist
Considered by critics and
peers alike to be one of the true modern masters of the oral
tradition, Mwalim is a multifaceted, Black Wampanoag performing
artist, writer, filmmaker and educator. Once asked what he
considers to be his main art form, his answer is
“communication”. When asked what his most challenging project to
date has been, he responds, “Balancing being a single parent and
working arts educator,” as his almost-three year-old son could
be heard in the background playing a drum and singing to
himself.
Born in Bronx New York and
raised in Bronx, New York and Mashpee, Massachusetts, Mwalim (aka
Morgan James Peters, I) grew up immersed in the oral traditions
of his Bajan (Barbados) and Wampanoag cultural heritage. He is a
keeper of both the New World Griot and Ahanaeenun (Wampanoag
‘Medicine Clown’) traditions. While the Black Indian experience
remains a taboo for many eastern people, it is a reality that
Mwalim embraces in his daily life, as well as explores and
celebrates through much of his artistic work.
Mwalim first emerged to
public attention in the mid 1990’s in the east-coasts growing
spoken-word and storytelling scene, appearing in coffeehouses,
lounges and various poetry venues. In 1998, as a means of
generating an income in these venues, Talking Drum Press
published A Mixed Medicine Bag, a collection of his
original Black Wampanoag folk-tales. The book quickly became a
sought after piece of literature by multicultural studies and
native literature courses and enthusiasts worldwide.
In
theatre, he has distinguished himself as a playwright, director,
actor and teacher. Receiving his formal training from New
African Company in Boston, Mwalim's work has been presented
throughout the United States and Canada. An award-winning
filmmaker, Mwalim received his MS in Film from Boston
University. Much of his work has been producing experimental
shorts for museum and gallery installations, combining music and
spoken-word with visual images, as well as his freelance work as
an editor for various production companies throughout the
country.
He
was recently named “Filmmaker-In-Residence” by WGBH, Boston’s
PBS television station. He will be the residency programs first
narrative filmmaker, where he will be producing a film
adaptation of “Look At My Shorts”, a collection of Mwalim’s
short plays exploring contemporary Black Indian experiences in
Massachusetts. “Look At My Shorts” earned him the 2003
“Outstanding New Playwright” award from the New York Theatre
Forum.
His award-winning one-man show “A Party at the Crossroads” is
subtitled the tales and adventures of a Black Indian growing up
in a Jewish neighborhood, has been presented at the Mashantucket
Pequot Museum in Connecticut and as a part of the Indian Summer
series at the American Indian Community House in New York City.
His performance piece, based on memories of Mashpee of the past,
"Backwoods People" was presented at the 1999 National Black
Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, NC.
His romantic comedy, “Working Things Out” was a hit at the 2005
festival. Mwalim is the co-founder and Artistic Director of
Oversoul Theatre Collective, a professional Black and Native
American arts and education organization formed in 1994.
Currently he is completing his MFA in Playwriting at Goddard
College where he studies under Leslie Lee. His thesis project is
entitled “Wetu In The City” the story of a tribe of Waquasiq
Indians, whose territory was once the entire Bronx, now reduced
to a triple-square block in the South Bronx which a real estate
develop is now trying to take out from under them.
In 2000 he released a solo
CD-Single “Thief in the Night” (Midnight Groove/OTC Records)
which became an underground hit, followed by a limited edition
E.P. called “Jazzy-Soul Club Grooves” in 2001, which became a
favorite among dance music DJs in the USA, Canada, the U.K.,
Germany, and France.
His album “Bronx Jazz” is
due for release in late 2006. Mwalim is a published author of
several poems and short stories appearing in numerous
anthologies; a recipient of the MLK, Jr. Cultural Arts
Fellowship, New England Broadcasting Association Fellowship,
NAACP Media Artists Grant, Longwood Cyber Arts Fellowship, and a
three-time recipient of the Ira Aldridge Fellowship.
He has served as an
Artist-In-Residence at Cape Cod Community College (1997 - 1999);
The Frederick Douglass Unity House at U Mass Dartmouth
(1998-1999); Harlem Theatre Company (1999 - 2001); and The Point
CDC Theatre (2001 - 2003). He is a member of the Lincoln Center
Theatre Director's Lab, and a playwright-in-residence with New
African Company in Boston. Currently, he is a full-time
Assistant Professor of English and African/ African American
Studies at UMass Dartmouth, teaching Drama, Oral Traditions, and
Digital Filmmaking.
mwalim@gmail.com
/ http://www.mwalim.com /
http://www.myspace.com/mwalim7
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Ratification
The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788
By Pauline Maier
A notable historian of
the early republic, Maier devoted a decade to studying the
immense documentation of the ratification of the
Constitution. Scholars might approach her book’s footnotes
first, but history fans who delve into her narrative will
meet delegates to the state conventions whom most history
books, absorbed with the Founders, have relegated to
obscurity. Yet, prominent in their local counties and towns,
they influenced a convention’s decision to accept or reject
the Constitution. Their biographies and democratic
credentials emerge in Maier’s accounts of their elections to
a convention, the political attitudes they carried to the
conclave, and their declamations from the floor. The latter
expressed opponents’ objections to provisions of the
Constitution, some of which seem anachronistic (election
regulation raised hackles) and some of which are thoroughly
contemporary (the power to tax individuals directly).
Ripostes from proponents, the Federalists, animate the great
detail Maier provides, as does her recounting how one state
convention’s verdict affected another’s. Displaying the
grudging grassroots blessing the Constitution originally
received, Maier eruditely yet accessibly revives a neglected
but critical passage in American history.—Booklist |
posted 23 May 2006
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