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A POWERFUL PERSPECTIVE
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by Renee Roberson
Students and professors at Davidson College have written and collected stories about the important contributions of African Americans to both the campus and the town over the years. It’s a rich history, but not all the memories and stories are pleasant. Many of us are familiar with the story of how Black barber Ralph Johnson was condemned by white students at Davidson College in the mid 1960s for only cutting the hair of white men. He knew he would lose his business if he changed his practices, and when he did acquiesce, he lost the support of many of his white customers and was forced to close his shop anyway.
In regard to the African American community that remains in the town, they’ve kept many of their experiences and hurt held close, within their own families, hesitant to discuss specific incidents with others. The first African student admitted to Davidson College in 1962, a young man from the Congo named Benoit Nzengu, received hate mail after an article The Charlotte Observer ran about his enrollment, as did the university president. While many African American families created businesses in Davidson, after arriving to the area as slaves, they were not allowed to enter a majority of the stores and restaurants. a Story of integration
In 2016, The Davidson College Archives and Special Collections blog shared a post titled “It Hasn’t Been Exactly Easy”: Early Student Reflections on Integration at Davidson. The post shared the story of Benoit Nzengu, but it also discussed his friendship with Davidson resident James Howard, who was a college employee. Nzengu would visit with Howard at his home in Davidson, and Howard once told him this, “The separation between our two communities is these railroad tracks; you cross it to go to work, cross it again to go back to your house, and that’s it.”
In 2020, after George Floyd died at the hands of law enforcement officers in Minneapolis, Minn., Davidson Community Players realized it was time to take a “long hard look at our past, present, and most importantly, our future,” says Sylvia Schnople, Artistic Director of DCP. They met with Charlotte playwright Nichole M. Palmer to ask if she’d consider interviewing members of Davidson’s African American community and weaving their stories into a play the theatre could present.
“We, as an organization, realized that to truly be a ‘community’ theatre, we needed to reach all our community which meant finding new ways to do so,” says Schnople. “The project had two main purposes from the beginning, 1) To tell the stories of our Black community and 2) To offer opportunities to area Artists of Color both onstage and backstage.”
DCP had worked with Palmer in their youth program and knew her ability to guide students in the creation of interesting characters and stories. “I wanted a playwright who had the ability and desire to go out into our community to truly listen and hear the many stories that have been untold for so long. Nichole, being from outside the region, brought a fresh eye to the stories held within our community while also addressing the many issues that face the Black community in America today.” Palmer said when she first began putting feelers out to people in the community she could interview, she heard only from Davidson College professors and students of color. She worried she wouldn’t be able to make her deadline because she didn’t have enough material to begin a draft of the play.
gaining the truSt
After about a year, Palmer met with Davidson resident Ruby Houston, who recently retired from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools after a 36-year-career, Reverend Dora DuBose, and Harold Rice, CEO of Ada Jenkins Center. The women wanted her to meet with the elders in the community. Palmer realized there was a lot of fear and distrust among community members, as there had been other artists before who had come in, studied the history of Davidson’s African American community, and then left. Palmer gathered phone numbers of family members who had moved out of the area to places like New York, Louisiana, Texas, and Alabama to get a more wholistic viewpoint.
“After listening to all the stories, I realized as an African American community, the past, present, and future blend together,” says Palmer. “That’s how we exist. Being able to understand your past is pretty much how we’ve been socialized.”
Crafting a work of art
Palmer had taken a class through the Kennedy Center for playwrights in the summer of 2021, and she says this opened her up to writing techniques she hadn’t previously explored. As a fan of science fiction and Afro Futurism, she’s also inspired by the work of Octavia Butler. She began weaving together a script that would include a Court of Consciousness, Present Day in Davidson, and flashbacks to include silhouettes, vignettes and letters from the past. She shared her first draft with Nan-Lyn Nelson, a Charlottearea playwright and veteran Broadway actor originally from New York, for feedback. At the time, Nelson had no idea Palmer was envisioning her as the director for the play. At first hesitant, she finally agreed.
“My strong suit is as an actor and a playwright,” says Nelson. “I felt like this script was speaking to me in a way I could flip the hat to direct it and visualize it. I direct the way that I write, which is intuitively. When you have such good material, it makes it a lot easier. I did ask hard questions. I wanted her to push the envelope more, because of the subject matter. You can hear and feel it without feeling like a finger is being pointed at you. It is the story of America, one of thousands of stories. These are stories that need to be told. When they’re told well, that’s theatre, and that’s art.”
After four drafts of revisions, DCP presented a reading of “Prophesy to the Bones” to the community last fall. The play centers around a New Yorker named Deborah Ingram who returns to Davidson after inheriting a home from a family member. During her visit, she learns the story of her past and must choose whether she will embrace her ties to the area or sell the home and return to her adopted state and her husband. Palmer took careful notes, knowing she had to go deeper before the final product of the play was finished.
“Draft five meant characters had to be thrown out,” says Palmer. “New scenes were built. Letters turned into vignettes.” She infused some dreamscapes that are very poetic into the play. “Deborah was too put together,” she says. “Nan was teaching me how thematically, everything needs to connect, even in the slightest ways.”
a powerful DireCtion
“In directing it, I’m really emphasizing that we don’t approach it in your typical theatrical way,” says Nelson. “We approach it with deep respect and understanding and the history. We really make that be the foundation for what comes out of your mouth. Even for Deborah’s character, she is living in the present, but she’s connected to all those people from the past.”
The reading brought about powerful emotions from the performers and the audience members.
“After the staged reading in November, we received many comments from the community about the conversations people were having as they left the theatre,” says Schnople. “Our hope is that the community conversations continue, new opportunities for artists of color are created and all voices are heard, which will only make our community a more welcoming place for current and future residents.”
Left to right: Nichole Palmer and Nan-Lyn Nelson Modern Sophistication
about propheSy to the boneS: anD other StorieS blaCk folx whiSper
The work, commissioned by Davidson Community Players and written by Nichole M. Palmer, explores the history of the African American community in Davidson as seen through the eyes of successful college professor and former Davidson resident, Deborah Ingram, who returns to the town to confront the realities of her past as she navigates the path toward her future. Veteran Broadway actor, playwright and educator, Left to right: Nichole Palmer and Nan-Lyn Nelson will serve as the director for the production. Visit www. davidsoncommunityplayers.com to learn more.
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