Manifesto

In Act II, Sonya gives a monologue, in which she contextualizes herself in relation to the Mammy caricature. There are two parts to her monologue, in two very distinct voices. Read the first half of the monologue below, and think about whose voice Sonya is channeling.





skin so smooth
hair so soft
ass so big
pussy so tight
skin so smooth
hair so soft
ass so big
pussy so tight
hair so soft
skin so black
pussy so tight
ass so smooth
skin so black
hair so big
skin so black
pussy so tight
breasts so warm
soft
smooth
big
breasts
give me
give me
you are mine
soft, so
smooth
tight
big
big
big
big
big.
i cant feel you
but i sure want to
touch you-
every
part
of
you
(belongs
to
me.)

mammy, let me suck on,
let me suck out
your self-
worth with my
lips
covering your
mouth
don't try to speak, or even
scream, your words are not
welcome here, in this place
where nobody knows your
name, just the outline of your
body (fingers feeling in the dark
of you, looking for pleasure, or
a place to crawl back into- who knows?)
don't try to move, you are stuck
feet glued to the floor beneath that
floor-length apron, hand chained
to the handle of that wooden broom.

Writing Activity #3:

The second part of Sonya's monologue helps to break the silence around the ways in which black women’s bodies are commodified; in many ways, it is Sonya's Black woman manifesto in which she verbally takes back “ownership” over her body. Think about ways in which you have felt marginalized, silenced or powerless. What did that powerlessness look like? Write a manifesto that reclaims your own personal power.

It is also important to know that not everyone expresses their personal power through words. This is a clip of a choreographed dance that an ensemble member made in response to Sonya’s monologue.



Allow participants to create their manifestos in whatever ways they see fit. They can write, dance, sing, or find any other ways of creatively expressing themselves!