AAA Reveals 'Shades of Blackness' with Individualism, Politics

Author: Charlie Goulding

Last Saturday, the African-American Alliance (AAA) presented its annual Night of Black Culture, an event which, as organization President Crystal Belle '04 notes, "was created by the AAA [as] a way to celebrate and promote black culture on campus."

This year's show, entitled "Shades of Blackness," was filled with a number of passionate, as well as genuinely touching moments on stage.

The night began with a graceful solo dance performance by Toni Spence '04. Spence moved rhythmically to the bluesy yet hopeful sounds of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come."

The largely interpretive piece took on a more "real" vibe when Brian Pletcher '04 emerged from behind the curtain and seated himself on stage mid-song. Pletcher unfolded a newspaper and angrily waved away Spence as she approached him. Pletcher then exited, leaving Spence alone to finish her neatly spun, highly-defined piece.

Kelly Gray '07 followed with an a capella rendition of Brian McKnight's "When." Before beginning to sing, Gray meticulously picked off all extraneous strands of fabric from his white collared shirt, drawing a humorous response from the crowd.

Understated, and without trying to show off, Gray simply sang the song, and this imbued it with a genuineness and beauty that is often diluted by many of today's performers who focus their energies on sliding between notes. The song clearly meant something to Gray, whose rendition did a service both to the piece itself and the message of perseverance which it represents.

Belle took the stage next. She was passionate, angry, lucid, eloquent and powerful. She began her performance of a self-written poem by standing up from the chair on which she had sat and throwing it off stage. Ostensibly, the chair tossing came out of nowhere, but Belle's poem justified the jolting intro with its political shrewdness and biting insights.

Belle focused on Black History month, which she referred to as "28 days of delayed justice," and other examples in which popularly cited signs of racial progress mask the continued "enslavement" of black culture.

As another example, Belle referred to Colin Powell - the person people think of when someone asks, "Will we ever have a black president?" - as the marginalized "dove in the Bush administration." According to Belle, the fight for equality has come a long way, but her incisive criticisms undercut the notion that America has progressed far enough.

This was Belle's last Night of Black Culture, which she also organized. Over the years, her artistry and dedication has won the deep respect of her peers - emcee Michael Cooper '06 introduced her as "someone I know I look up to."

Belle added in an interview that she is far from finished in the spotlight - she plans on "pursuing a career in performance poetry as well as becoming an urban news reporter."

A troupe of steppers followed, and their performance was a microcosm of the whole night - well-prepared, sharp and entertaining.

The routine divided the groups between two competing factions, and genuine tension was created on stage as the two leaders "sized each other up" (one literally did so with the use of a measuring tape). This moment of humor broke the tension, and the two sides joined forces once again, stepping their way smoothly into intermission.

Immediately after intermission, Pletcher gave a juggling performance that was absolutely amazing.

Pletcher has fine-tuned his juggling act to perfection and could very well pursue the talent as a career. Audience response to his performance was muted, however, precisely because his juggling was unable to build off of the energy of the preceding act.

Natalie Fisher '06 recited another self-written poem in the same unique style that has defined her earlier work. Fisher blurs the line between prose and poetry, invoking an academic, analytical, stream of consciousness approach that invites listeners to sit down next to her as she analyzes a scene.

This particular scene depicted an artist painting the skins of people of various races. The message was clear: one must blend many colors together in order to create white skin or black skin, or any other shade of skin - no skin color consists uniformly of one ingredient.

In this sense, Fisher's poem stressed the interconnectedness and the sameness of things, in contrast to other poems and monologues during the show which highlighted the distinctiveness of black culture - what makes it special.

Said Belle, "The reason why we chose the theme 'Shades of Blackness' was to show the many different talents of the members of our organization." Fisher's poem not only showcased her talent, but it also added another dimension to the theme's title, suggesting we are all shades of the same color.

The night concluded with the guest performer - a well-regarded performance poet named Jerry Quickley, who has appeared on such shows as HBO's Def Comedy Jam. Quickley spoke like his name, and his casual, light-hearted, "chill" demeanor belied a fast-paced, sharp, satirical poetic voice that carried immense power.

Quickley got the crowd going with a poem he wrote after he was contracted by Nike entitled "Maximum Sell Out." Nike asked Quickley to write anything he wanted, so long as it included the word's "Nike" twice and "AirMax" twice. After reading in Newsweek about Nike's alleged sweatshop operations, Quickley penned the poem. His performance prompted a passionate response from the audience.

Quickley's final poem, about his experiences in Iraq, demonstrated his depth of social awareness and intense sensitivity to the effects of war.

Accompanied by a series of slides Quickley took on his trip, the poem stressed love, not war, in a way that was anything but shallow and clichÈ. "I refuse to choose war, 'cause I choose you," Quickley ferociously declared to all those affected by terrorism and war both domestically and abroad. Quickley repeated this line multiple times, a tactic he frequently employed to hammer home an idea.

It capped off a night of powerful social messages, emphasizing that the fight for peace and equality is far from over The weapons at our disposal continue to be love, strength, independence and perseverance.