Surviving Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls"

So, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf holds a sacred place in my heart. I first read the book in high school. I'm not sure why my tiny all-white high school had it and I'm certain I was the first one to check it out in over 20 years, but when I read Ntozake Shange's words...man!!

It was like I was transported to another place...another home where there was pain and sorrow, but where the women who were hurting chose to overcome. The book was tragic and hopeful at the same time and, as the angst-ridden teen that I was, I felt a sisterhood with the characters that has lived on to the present day. I must admit (because I never have before) that I stole the book from the library (teeheehee). Not exactly stole, I guess. I just never returned it to the library. I reported it as lost and kept the book in my secret box of things. Please forgive me:) I'm sure I paid some sort of re-stocking fee...

Anyway...

So, no, I was not excited to see that Tyler Perry was adapting it for screen. Though I did enjoy Why Did I get Married 1 and 2, Perry's best known works (Madea 1, 2, and 3) were worst than horrible. The thought of him getting his blacksploitation hands on Shange's work seemed somehow sacrilegious. When the announcement of the film happened months ago, I steeled myself and decided that I would never set foot in that theatre.

Now, fast forward to today. It's been in theatres for weeks and it's the only thing my friends want to talk about. The reviews are mostly positive and Tyler Perry is working the media rounds like a pro. ::Sigh:: I have to admit, my interest has been piqued.

If you're like me, you're gonna need a bit of extra coaxing to get through this film. Check out Bassey Ikpi's hilarious "For Colored Girls" survival guide below.

I think I'm gonna see it this Saturday. Jesus take the wheel.

:)

For Colored Girls Who Need Motivation When the Oprah Endorsement Ain't Enough
BY Bassey Ikpi
via Huffington Post

1. Watch every single Tyler Perry movie before this one. All of them, from Diary of A Mad Black Woman to Madea Saves Christmas. This way, you'll be familiar with all of Perry's work and there will be no surprises. And then remember that For Colored Girls will be better than any of those movies. It has to be.

2. Don't read Ntozake Shange's play before you see the movie. This is not her play. This is something else. Something different. You know how Starbursts have real fruit juice in them but it isn't fruit? Think of For Colored Girls as Starbursts and FCGWHCSWRiE as fruit. This makes sense, trust me.

3. Go with friends. Go with as many friends as you can round up. Sit in the same row. Hold hands. Say a quick prayer and just lean on the person next to you when the melodrama ain't enough.

4. Remember that it could be worse. He could have cast himself as Lady in Wig. Madea could have been in this movie. She is not. This is good news.

5. Though I'm still hesitant, I do know that Tyler Perry is a marketing genius. If this is successful, maybe -- just maybe -- more movies that tell our stories in better ways can be made. Maybe, if this is successful, Tyler Perry will understand the need for black women to tell their own stories and start putting his billions of dollars into producing and assisting female directors creating meaningful, smart projects. If this is successful, this is a real possibility.

Or he will make For Colored Girls II: Still Colored and Sad.

The Last Time I Said "Do Over"

I'm BACK!! I've been traveling and such and I'm finally back and ready to share some great poetry with you.

During my most recent trip to the NYC, I met an awesome Nigerian author who's working on a coming of age story about a little boy growing up in a Nigerian boarding school. I was so so honored to get to hear bits from his unpublished manuscript...and so inspired that I'm featuring nothing but African poetry for the next week or so...at least until I get it all out of my system:-) I will beg and plead for this anonymous author to send through some stuff for me to post, but until then, check out the piece below by Bassey Ikpi.
I've already featured her work a few times on this site and I can't think of a better way to kick off my very own African Poets Week.

This piece is no exception. Honestly, I watched the vid a few times because it was so my elementary school life. Like....I haven't heard the word "Do Over" since 1995. LOL. I'm a nerd, but Bassey is, quite simply...amazing. I found the words on the Turning word into Verb blog and decided to include them below...for those of you who prefer to read.

Enjoy!!



Sometimes silence is the loudest kind of noise
BY Bassey Ikpi

Like sometimes it was best when
Girls were girls and boys were boys.
Like back when freeze tag was a mating dance.
Like back when "Do Over" meant you got another chance.
Like back when anxiety was worrying if Wonder Woman would make it out alive.
Like back when freedom was sliding backwards on a slide.
Like back when success was jumping off a swing and
Landing on your feet, then
Doing it all over again.
Like new shoes made you run faster.
Like getting Ms. Gross again for math was a disaster.
Like failure was a word we hadn't even learned to spell yet.
Like promises were sealed and kept with pinky bets.
Like a challenge was a double dare.
Like ugly was a cock-eyed stare.

And you liked it...
More

To My Secret Crush;-)

I Want To Kiss You
By Bassey Ikpi

Stumbled on this chica randomly, but I can way relate to having "a crush on a friend who just wants to be friends." Man!! This poem oozes of everything I wish I could say to him. You know who you are, boo...actually...you really don’t :-( To all girls (and maybe guys) out there...secretly pining for the one.

Enjoy!



For more info on Bassey, check out - http://www.basseyworld.com/main.php

I ::HEART:: Africa AND #Work/Life Crossover

I'm very corporate. As much as I deny it, my 9-5 seeps into my normal life on the daily. So, in proper corporate drone fashion, I have decided to write a "recap" of our African Poets Week:-)

Its been a bit of a challenge to find new and interesting poems to share with you all, but it's been a fantastic adventure. I've learned so much about the diversity of African poetry and have fallen even more in love with my beloved Motherland. It's been real, but like all good things, this must come to an end. Maybe this can become an annual project?? We'll see. Anyway...thanks so much for humoring me on this trip through the famous and obscure poetry of Momma Africa:-) I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!

In case you missed these awesome works, here are the highlights. If you read something you like, be sure to pass it on. Poetry is meant to be shared.

Day 1
Nigerian Poet Bassey Ikpi
Sometimes silence is the loudest kind of noise

Like sometimes it was best when
Girls were girls and boys were boys.
Like back when freeze tag was a mating dance.
Like back when "Do Over" meant you got another chance.
Like back when anxiety was worrying if Wonder Woman would make it out alive.
Like back when freedom was sliding backwards on a slide.

Day 2
Cameroonean and Senegalese Poet David Diop
Africa

Africa, tell me Africa
Is this your back that is bent
This back that breaks under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying no to the whip under the midday sun.

Day 3
Nigerian Poet Chinua Achebe
knowing robs us

knowing robs us of wonder.
Had it not ripped apart
the fearful robes of primordial Night
to steal the force that crafted horns
on doghead and sowed insurrection
overnight in the homely beak
of a hen; had reason not given us
assurance that day will daily break
and the sun's array return to disarm
night's fantastic figurations--

Day 4
South African Poet Ewok
That's Joberg

a call to all colors like spiritual acrylics
paints a picture of possibility
for all the world watchers to see
to see how forgiveness arouses a peoples pride

Day 5
From a Movie about Africa:-)
Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

Day 6
Sudanese Poet Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Dream

Poetry - may you be a green body.
May you be a language
in which I wander
with my wings and my self.

Day 7
Ghanaian Poet Kofi Anyidoho
My Song

Some had some splendid things
What was mine?
I sing. They laugh.
Still I sell My Song
for those with ears to buy
My cloth is torn, I know
But I shall learn to wear it well

To the Children of Immigrants

If you are the child of immigrant parents, you should be able to relate to Bassey Ikpi piece below.

"those arms mothered my mother
taught her how to mother me
i inhale the history from her skin
and she tells me of a small, scared girl
carried away on an iron bird to america
seems like that same bird has returned
only to replace that perfect girl with me
this strange tongue-tied woman
the one that can barely say hello
without the clicks and moans
the dips and tones
of the white mans language
it breaks my heart to realize that i can only love her clearly
in english"

Unless you're one of us, you can't fully appreciate how unnerving it is to feel like you're living in limbo between two cultures. Never truly feeling like the motherland is home. But not ready to recant your native citizenry for this new, American one. I feel you. Despite the cultural schizophrenia we have all inherited, I'm still amazed by how awesome our parents are. Can you imagine leaving all that is familiar for something you "hope" will be better a better world? So, to my mother - who braved lands unknown to bring us up in a world of greater opportunity...thank you. Happy birthday Mommy!!

ps...if you love Bassey as much as I do, check out her FB fan page.