MUSIC. ART. CULTURE. LIFE. With a Dose of Soul
Song of A Soul Sistah: We Sing A Black Girl's Song
A Philly Film Tribute to Ntozake Shange
We Sing A Black Girl’s Song is a 2023 Black Music City grant funded short film project that honors the legacy of Ntozake Shange; actress, poet, author, playwright and creator of the classic choreopoem/literary theatre piece For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Filmed at The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia; the project features an intergenerational cast of over 30 Black women artists living in the Philadelphia area. Focusing on how music and the arts have helped Black women survive and thrive throughout time, and the importance of Black women telling our stories; the project asks the question, “What does sing a Black girl’s song mean to you?”
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SONG OF A SOUL SISTAH
Film Screening
Thursday September 19
James Madison University
Conference Room 7
3:30pm - 4:45pm
"Sing a Black girl's song. Bring her out to know herself. Let her be born, and handled warmly."
- Lady in Brown
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
Moderator
Rahnda Rize is a multidisciplinary performance-based artist (singer/songwriter, theatre artist and poet), film producer and graphic designer who hails from Philadelphia. She is a graduate of Temple University's School of Broadcasting and Communications, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art & Black Cultural Studies with a concentration in Performance Creation. She is a recipient of the 2023 Black Music City Grant which she was awarded for her short performance film project Song of A Soul Sistah: We Sing A Black Girl's Song; Philly Tribute to Ntozake Shange. Rooted in soul, gospel and old school/conscious hip hop, she is inspired by such artists as Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Donny Hathaway, Teena Marie, Jill Scott, Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu, the Clark Sisters, Common, NAS, KRS One, artists of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s such as Gil Scott Heron, Sonia Sanchez, Ntozake Shange and more. She is gearing up to release her debut music Ep The Soul Cathartic in the Fall of 2024.
IG: @RahdaRize
Panelists
Pat McLean-Smith is a poet, teaching and visual artist and author of two books of poetry, “Poetry Pulls Pain.” and “Healing Her Hurts.” The recipient of several awards, including the Sonia Sanchez/Audre Lorde Poetry Competition, the Judith Stark Creative Writing Competition, and the Leeway Foundation’s Art and Change and Transformation Award. Her poetry can be found in several publications, such as “BMa: The Sonia Sanchez Literary Review – Legends and Legacies,” “Life Spices from Seasoned Sistahs”, and “Check the Rhyme: An Anthology of Female Poets. She is also featured in the poetry anthology “For Women: In Tribute to Nina Simone,” APAIRY Literary Magazine and “Philly Jawns: For
Women Revisited”
IG: @mcleanpat & @tomorrowsgirlswomen
Pheralyn Dove is a poet, visual artist, and author. Primarily known as a writer and performance poet, she has emerged in recent years as a visual artist, working in mixed media, photography & abstract expressionism. The Leeway Foundation and the Philadelphia Jazz Project have recognized her artistic vision with grant awards. In March 2022 Pheralyn was awarded a grant from the Black Music City Foundation to write & produce a spoken word, music and multimedia project in honor of The Heath Brothers, Philadelphia’s internationally renowned jazz musicians. She also spent 20 years as a cultural arts journalist for publications including The Philadelphia Tribune & Inquirer.
IG: @Pheralyn
Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, PhD (Cultural Anthropology), M.A. (Anthropology), MFA (Theater), Graduate Certificate) Women's Studies, B.A. (Journalism); is a Senior Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives and Innovation in the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts at Temple University and a Full Professor specializing in Urban Theater and Community Engagement in the Theater Department in the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. Immediate-past President of the Faculty Senate at Temple University. Williams-Witherspoon is the author of Through Smiles and Tears: The History of African American Theater (From Kemet to the Americas) (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011); The Secret Messages in African American Theater: Hidden Meaning Embedded in Public Discourse" (Edwin Mellen Publishing, 2006). A hybrid researcher/scholar/performer, Williams-Witherspoon has had over 28 plays produced, 20 productions, 13 staged readings, 8 one-woman shows and she has performed poetry in over 120 national and international venues. Williams-Witherspoon is a contributing poet to 49 anthologies and magazines, author of 11 books of poetry, 9 book chapters, 7 journal articles and 2 books on African American Theater. She is the recipient of a host of awards and citations. Her scholarly work centers around pedagogy, women's issues, the African diaspora, performance rituals and community engagement.