Click the image to view video from the play. Post your responses here. Do not forget to put your name in the post.
18 comments:
Shannon
said...
Shannon Weprin February 27, 2011 AFRS 256
How big of an impact can one man have on an entire crowd? A huge one! And that is exactly what Donald Lacy did - impact an audience with his enticing personality and showmanship that, personally, blew me away. The show, held in Mckenna Theater on SFSU’s campus, was fantastic, entertaining while still thoughtful. Lacy used a combination of humor and hard facts to present the issues of racism through his own personal experiences. He spoke of his childhood encounters with race -- being harrassed by the police and being ridiculed for having “light skin” for a “black boy.” Fluidly, he transitioned from emotional recollections of his younger years to comedic ones that played on the stereotypes, which he claims always seem to be based on facts, of the African American community, i.e. “Black people love chicken.” But don’t worry, he didn’t just bag on one race; he made sure everyone got their fair share of teasing. While he poked fun at the White, Asian, Latino, and Black communities, I noticed something: though racial stereotypes should predominately not be taken lightly, the fact that we were all recognizing truth in every silly jab, created a sense of unity. We are all different -- we all have tendencies worth laughing about -- but that almost makes us all the same. In order to tie Colorstruck into our course material, I find that Dawn-Elissa Fischer’s and Marcyliena Morgan’s “Hiphop and Race” article is the most fitting. Fischer and Morgan speak to the development of HipHop, it’s origin’s and it’s operational definition. While reading the chapter, I could relate many of Lacy’s childhood experiences to the concept of the “American Nightmare” (a contrast to the “American Dream”), “examples of how one must develop a sense of self-worth, overcome obstacles, and continue to fight for freedom and equality” (Fischer & Morgan, 2010, Pg. 516). Due to one of the overall themes of Lacy’s play, racism being a present-day issue, I believe this is his goal: to continue to fight for equality through his wonderful show.
Works Cited Fischer, D., & Morgan, M. (2010). Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.. Retrieved from https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/file.php/11359/Morgan_and_Fischer.pdf
In "Color Struck", Donald Lacey described how racism can occur within an ethnicity through his personal experience growing up as a light-skinned African American. He was seen as an outsider by members of his own race because his skin was not considered dark enough. Mr. Lacey drew upon music, visuals, humor, drama, dance, and spoken words to entertain and enlighten the audience of his message about institutionalized racism. I can relate to some of the pictures he showed of Hurricane Katrina that revealed how African Americans were essentially left to die after the disaster since they didn’t receive assistance for 5 days. However, I personally saw a constructive side of the aftermath through the eyes of a young African American girl while I was down in Mississippi helping with post Katrina repairs in spring 2006. The girl’s eyes didn’t harbor any hate or fear, but were filled with spirit and hope in spite of what had happened. Participating in programs like Alternative Spring Break gave me experiences that allowed me to further relate to Donald Lacey’s moving performance.
Directions: Submit your ticket stub to your assigned TA and/or otherwise document your attendance (sign in at the play, take a cell phone picture of you at the performance, say hello to your TAs and professor and show us your stub the night of the performance, etc). Post a SHORT 100-200 word response to the play to both the ilearn site and the def professor blogspot (following all guidelines of the extra credit rubric- except for the citation guidelines: you are excused from citations for this and only this extra credit opportunity)
Attending the play/comedy “Colorstruck” by Bay Area Activist and Donald Lacy was a unique experience. I have mixed feelings about this play. Overall I learned a lot and was impressed by Lacy’s performance. It was funny and sad all at the same time. I think that most of the things that he said in the play were true. The only thing that I really did not like is when he was talking about Obama and how he said that all white people are still racist. I disagree with this statement. Yes, I believe that there is still racism in America and some white people are racist but certainty not all. In the middle of the play Lacy cried out “Why do some of them hate us so much?”, I really appreciated that he said the word “some” in the question. The part where he showed the gruesome old pictures of the hangings of some African American people was the hardest thing for me to watch. This was so disgusting to see that (white) people did these kinds of things and I cannot grasp how people could have done those things. It makes me sad to know that so many people thought they way they did and did those horrible things to African Americans in those days. As any race, it is so extremely important to study, know, and understand history and why it happened. It is important to African Americans to know about themselves and it is important for all other races to understand what happened and why it happened so that history can never repeat itself. The part I appreciated the most was the ending and when the teachers were recognized. When they talked at the end it was so great to hear from them. They talked a lot about how this world needs change and how African American People need to emprise their race, learn about their history, and how all people need to come together and destroy any racism. They best thing said was when the professor said, “We need to create a new world, NOT a new world order!!” If people know the history and information behind this statement, you will understand. We as people should stand up together and fight for our rights as HUMANS, equally, not divided my race or anything else.
I walked into Colorstruck having no idea what to expect. As I walked into the auditorium, being one of the few white people attending, I was greeted warmly by the elder attendees of the show. I felt very welcomed by the Oakland natives all asking me questions about my feelings toward the show and my views on life. As the lights dimmed and the show began, a woman came on stage and sung a beautiful song that lifted engaged the entire crowd. When she came out and did this piece, I assumed the entire show would be a compilation of artists, but boy was I completely wrong. Next, Donald Lacy came out. As a graduate of SFSU’s acting program, he easily grabbed the audience’s attention by taking the role of a disc jockey at a radio station talking to his viewers behind images of historic African Americans. He then came out and proceeded to talk to the audience as a stand up comedian for hours. His humor was widely based on personal experience growing up in a racist society, at the heart of the Black Panther movement, Oakland, California. He tied in many of the topics we have been discussing in “Hip Hop Workshop”, such as hip hop and race, the role of the disk jockey, dancing, stereotypes, hip hop artists, and much more. While the majority of the show was funny and lighthearted, the tables would turn and become extremely deep at certain points, bringing up topics from lynching to police brutality. At the end the audience was given a delicious meal and we were able to ask a group of extremely intelligent people questions about the show and anything else. This show really opened my eyes to the world around me.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show. In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show.In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show. In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
Donald Lacy is a very unique individual with a unique view. This act was very empowering and insightful for me. He shed light on racism by using comedy geared towards black people, which I found very entertaining. When he began to shed the light hearted comedy to inlay a serious message, the transition was flawless and timed well, as my jaw was tired from laughter. When he got serious, he really made me feel accountable that I need to be a part of the movement for reparations from slavery and social injustices past and present. He also talked of how our blackness was powerful, so that others try to contain it. This powerful blackness came to be the creator of hip hop, a genre of music made by urban youth that even swells with its blackness “in its development of African American culture and language, in particular African American English (AAE),” and its, “oft-recited origin narratives” (Fischer, and Morgan 511).
Works Cited Fischer, Dawn, and Marcyliena Morgan. Re-presenting reality. 511. Print.
Misgana Habtezion Professor Fisher AFRS 256 February 20, 2011 I, Myself, was Colorstruck Going to Colorstruck, preformed by Donald Lacy, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I was not exactly sure of what to expect before attending, however quickly knew I was going to enjoy the performance. Starting out with a photograph slide show of significant African Americans, it was understood that he would be discussing everything African American. He began a conversation with the audience, making jokes about what Oakland has become and transitioning into to more serious topics, yet having a non-serious tone, making it easier for us, as the audience, to be comfortable with each topic. Talking about everything from the meaning of good hair, to the dark days of the African American’s past, Lacy had no reservations. He had a point and wanted himself to be heard. He attributed his success to his professors, which of whom he brought on stage after the show. I found that to be one of the highlights to the show, mainly because he took his gift around the world, then brought it home and showed his appreciation for where it all began. I would definitely recommend this show to others, and would want to attend his other shows. While informing us about the trials and tribulations his people have endured, he showed that they overcame adversities and can look good doing it. His message is uplifting and I encourage all to attend any of his shows.
Crazy good show!! I'll be honest, I did not know what to expect coming to this show, and did it only for the extra credit. Little did I know that his show would blow me away and influence my perspective on viewing people of color. The show was at the Mckenna Theater and Donald Lacy was on fire. He opened up with hilarious comedy, and entertaining impersinations of different races. As he continued to keep the mood light throughout the whole show, he eventually slid in to the real business; his personal encounters with racism. He spoke of his child encounters with racism--how he was harassed by police for being black. He told the story of how he was pulled over by police for not having a "permit" to ride his bike on the sidewalk, and how he was so scared that he walked his bike home from then. His story further confirmed the fact that racism was and is still prevalent in today's society. In relation to Dr. Def's hip-hop class, her publication titled "Hiphop and Race" is appropriate for this analysis. Dr. Fischer analyzes how the media driven American dream is in reality the opposite to the lives of people of color; she calls it the American nightmare. The blatant racism that Lacy went through is similar to what Fischer talks about in the article. The main theme of the article is that in order for any person, regardless of race must have a high quality of one's self in order to strive for equality and to overcome barriers set in people's live. In closing, Donald Lacy's performance successfully brought new age racism to the forefront of my mind, and continued to show why people of color must continue to fight for equality and to succeed in whatever they do.
Work Cited Fischer, D., & Morgan, M. (2010). Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
When I first walked into the theatre to watch the show, I noticed that I was pretty much the only asian there, although I'm sometimes in these kinds of situations when hanging out with my friends and going to certain events, I still felt uncomfortable, but I was still excited to see the show, so I sat in the second row and was immediately drawn to the beautiful voice of the woman who sang. After, Donald Lacy started, but was only viewed as a shadow, acting as a radio announcer. My first thought was that this was going to be like this the whole time, but I was wrong. He came out vibrant and energetic and jokingly informed us (the audience) that he isn't a white man, he was just a very light-skinned African American man. Throughout the show, Donald Lacy used comedy and hard evidence and facts to speak about racism in our society, about how racism is institutionalized. To prove to the audience of this, his next topic was stereotypes. He said that watching the news with your eyes closed, anyone could tell what race did what crime because of the crime committed. He first started with Caucasians, African Americans, Filipinos, and lastly, Asians. As he was telling us the crime being committed, he would point out to a person in audience of that race, and immediately the crowd would laugh, because we knew that this was true. Once he finished stereotyping Filipinos, I knew what was coming next: Asians, and since I was nearly in front of him, my gut was telling me that I was going to be used for this one. And I was right! I'll admit, I was DYING of laughter, but when he pointed to me, it kind of hit a nerve, but I continued to laugh because I knew asians were supposedly terrible drivers. For the rest of the show, he told us his experiences of racism at home and on airplanes and showed us photos of African Americans being lynched and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the victims that were left there to die. That made me feel so much sorrow and anger, anger towards the people who could have the ability to do anything like that to another human being. Overall, this play was amazing and opened my eyes to the everyday signs and evidence of institutionalized racism in our society. I'm thankful for the knowledge taken from Donald Lacy's production, and will never forget this experience.
Donald E. Lacy is a great comedian! He spoke of his life experiences such as being light skinned and how it affected him. Although in real life it must of been quite hard to be teased by kids at school, he still jokes about it and makes others laugh. He mentioned that when he was younger, kids at school would tease him and tell him he was not colored. He would go home, confused, and tell his mother what the kids would tell him. She simply assured him of his color by telling him he was just light skinned. Lacy also made us laugh with a few racial stereotypes and sayd that we can guess the race of a person that commited a crime by just closing our eyes while the news are on. It was all for laughs though. Also, he mentioned how people would confuse him for a different race. One situation was when he was in an airplane and he sat next to a White woman and she thought he was going to bomb the plane, then he mentioned he was from Oakland and she held on to her purse like it was her life. He made us laugh with his facial expressions of the lady. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist. It has not been left behind in history. He showed us pictures of Black people in history hung to death and it was extremely sad to see these images. What he sayd about history and racism was that White people where minority and felt like they needed to make Black people hate themselves for having dark skin. He even found the color black and white in the dictionary and their definitions. The definition of White was pure and angelic and the definition for Black was evil and darkness. Even the dictionary seemed racist. Overall, i got to learn a little more about him and racism today. Also, about stereotypes and how everyone is affected by them. I would recommend seeing him. He is funny and legit.
Donald E. Lacy is a great comedian! He spoke of his life experiences such as being light skinned and how it affected him. Although in real life it must of been quite hard to be teased by kids at school, he still jokes about it and makes others laugh. He mentioned that when he was younger, kids at school would tease him and tell him he was not colored. He would go home, confused, and tell his mother what the kids would tell him. She simply assured him of his color by telling him he was just light skinned. Lacy also made us laugh with a few racial stereotypes and sayd that we can guess the race of a person that commited a crime by just closing our eyes while the news are on. It was all for laughs though. Also, he mentioned how people would confuse him for a different race. One situation was when he was in an airplane and he sat next to a White woman and she thought he was going to bomb the plane, then he mentioned he was from Oakland and she held on to her purse like it was her life. He made us laugh with his facial expressions of the lady. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist. It has not been left behind in history. He showed us pictures of Black people in history hung to death and it was extremely sad to see these images. What he sayd about history and racism was that White people where minority and felt like they needed to make Black people hate themselves for having dark skin. He even found the color black and white in the dictionary and their definitions. The definition of White was pure and angelic and the definition for Black was evil and darkness. Even the dictionary seemed racist. Overall, i got to learn a little more about him and racism today. Also, about stereotypes and how everyone is affected by them. I would recommend seeing him. He is funny and legit.
In the play called Colorstruck by Donald Lacy, an activist artist and philanthropist, he mentions various topics about African Americans and how we separate ourselves from each other. Donald talked about skin color and how when he was younger the kids would tease him and tell him he wasn’t Black even though he was. In the past I learned that a white man named Willie Lynch wrote a letter to slave owner telling them how to keep African Americans enslaved. The letter stated that in order to keep slavery going, slave owners needed to make their slaves hate themselves and each other in the following ways: age, color and gender. Also Donald commented on Black peoples hair and how we use all these chemicals to change from our natural look. In the play he showed us different hair styles that occurred over the years. In one of the photos there was Christopher Reid aka “Kid”, an Hip hop artist, with his high fade. When it came to Hip hop looks meant a lot and in some cases the higher the fade or fro the cooler you were. I enjoyed the play because it was interesting and very informative.
Donald E. Lacy spoke about his life experiences of being light skinned and how it affected him though the stereotype in the society. He jokes about how’s his school life of being teased. He was confused about being called non-color when he was young in which he presents it in a funny way in the show. In fact, he noticed he is just light skinned later on. He also jokes about some racial stereotypes that how the way people would guess the race of a person would most likely commit what types of crime. Lacy also makes fun of how people would be confused about his race base on his skin color. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist somehow, and I guess this is the message he is trying to deliver. It was a very depressing moment to see the pictures of Black people in history hung to death that Lacy shows. Overall, I learned more about his story as the same time also the racism of today’s society.
I attended Donald Lacy’s one-man show “ Colorstruck” performance at McKenna Theater on February 17th 2011. Initially I did not think I would enjoy the show, but as soon as the opening scene began my mind completely changed. Donald Lacy mixed in elements of comedy and African American history while informing the audience about institutionalized racism. Donald Lacy spoke about his life experiences and growing up as a light skinned child in Oakland. I am grateful that I was able to attend this play, not only because it was an extra credit opportunity, but because I really enjoyed seeing families together, elders and one of my professors from freshman year, Dr. Oba T’Shaka. There were many strengths to this play and very little weaknesses. The strengths of the play were that it was insightful, it had a comedic yet historical tone, and it was educational. The only weakness to the play in my opinion was that I was unable to understand some of the jokes that were in reference to places in Oakland. I was glad to be able to experience Black theater at its finest and I would definitely recommend this play to my family and friends.
Truthfully I was not looking forward to the performance of Colorstruck by Donald Lacy. It was partially due to prejudging through YouTube videos, the last minute nature of my attendance, and mostly due to my splitting headache. It started off slow with a man behind a screen telling a story and progressed with some facts within the realm of black history. My mood quickly changed when Donald Lacy, alumni of San Francisco State and playwright, unveiled himself on stage and began to tell a comedic autobiographical monologue. I was soon hooked, highly engaged in his racially charged jokes laced with serious realities. With no reservations Lacy charged ahead addressing such thoughtful issues from lynching to the dangerous idea that the Obama presidency ushered in post-racial society. He also played with the distinctions of race and blackness in particular. “Race is a socially constructed distinction… that intersects with and is mutually constituted by class, gender, ethnicity, nation” and many other identities (Harrison 2002:48). Lacy spoke of his struggle to find a place in society emphasizing his light skinned color and what that meant for the way people perceived him and the way race was classified. I especially liked that he allowed us to join him as his journey came full circle bringing his (and my) former Africana studies teachers on stage to present them with awards.
“Color Struck” was a catchy title that caught my attention from the start, so I took it upon myself to actually attend the play. Walking into the auditorium I did not know what to expect since I had never been to a one man show before. As Donald Lacy showed up as a shadow I thought to myself what this play was actually about. When Donald came out I can honestly say I was somewhat thrown off a little, why you may ask well I was trying to figure out his ethnicity was he, mixed or just a light skinned African American. Soon my question was answered he was indeed a light skinned African American. Donald focused on racism and stereotypes that exist in our society and the affect they have on people. His humorous approach made it a comfortable setting for such an uncomfortable but serious issue that needs to be addressed. He shared his personal experience with racism, being a very light skinned African American. He also stated that racism was institutionalized and that stereotypes today are the source of the problem. Once again in a humorous matter he began to say the stereotypes that are associated with different ethnicities such as Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians. As he was saying the stereotypes the audience participated and shouted out what the ethnicity that was associated with the specific stereotype. The auditorium was filled with laughter not because these stereotypes are funny but for the simple fact that everyone knew what linked up to each other. The mood in the room suddenly changed once Donald began to get serious and showed photos of history and how people were killed as a result of racism. This brought out the seriousness of the issue and how it is still exist. The play was an eye opening experience for me, racism is still around and being institutionalized makes it even harder because we need to be aware and make sure we don’t categorize one another with the stereotypes that exist today.
18 comments:
Shannon Weprin
February 27, 2011
AFRS 256
How big of an impact can one man have on an entire crowd? A huge one! And that is exactly what Donald Lacy did - impact an audience with his enticing personality and showmanship that, personally, blew me away.
The show, held in Mckenna Theater on SFSU’s campus, was fantastic, entertaining while still thoughtful. Lacy used a combination of humor and hard facts to present the issues of racism through his own personal experiences. He spoke of his childhood encounters with race -- being harrassed by the police and being ridiculed for having “light skin” for a “black boy.” Fluidly, he transitioned from emotional recollections of his younger years to comedic ones that played on the stereotypes, which he claims always seem to be based on facts, of the African American community, i.e. “Black people love chicken.” But don’t worry, he didn’t just bag on one race; he made sure everyone got their fair share of teasing. While he poked fun at the White, Asian, Latino, and Black communities, I noticed something: though racial stereotypes should predominately not be taken lightly, the fact that we were all recognizing truth in every silly jab, created a sense of unity. We are all different -- we all have tendencies worth laughing about -- but that almost makes us all the same.
In order to tie Colorstruck into our course material, I find that Dawn-Elissa Fischer’s and Marcyliena Morgan’s “Hiphop and Race” article is the most fitting. Fischer and Morgan speak to the development of HipHop, it’s origin’s and it’s operational definition. While reading the chapter, I could relate many of Lacy’s childhood experiences to the concept of the “American Nightmare” (a contrast to the “American Dream”), “examples of how one must develop a sense of self-worth, overcome obstacles, and continue to fight for freedom and equality” (Fischer & Morgan, 2010, Pg. 516). Due to one of the overall themes of Lacy’s play, racism being a present-day issue, I believe this is his goal: to continue to fight for equality through his wonderful show.
Works Cited
Fischer, D., & Morgan, M. (2010). Doing Race: 21 Essays for the 21st Century. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.. Retrieved from https://ilearn.sfsu.edu/file.php/11359/Morgan_and_Fischer.pdf
In "Color Struck", Donald Lacey described how racism can occur within an ethnicity through his personal experience growing up as a light-skinned African American. He was seen as an outsider by members of his own race because his skin was not considered dark enough. Mr. Lacey drew upon music, visuals, humor, drama, dance, and spoken words to entertain and enlighten the audience of his message about institutionalized racism. I can relate to some of the pictures he showed of Hurricane Katrina that revealed how African Americans were essentially left to die after the disaster since they didn’t receive assistance for 5 days. However, I personally saw a constructive side of the aftermath through the eyes of a young African American girl while I was down in Mississippi helping with post Katrina repairs in spring 2006. The girl’s eyes didn’t harbor any hate or fear, but were filled with spirit and hope in spite of what had happened. Participating in programs like Alternative Spring Break gave me experiences that allowed me to further relate to Donald Lacey’s moving performance.
Tom Nguyen
AFRS 256
Spring 2011
Jessie Peterson
2/22/11
“Colorstruck” Extra Credit
Directions: Submit your ticket stub to your assigned TA and/or otherwise document your attendance (sign in at the play, take a cell phone picture of you at the performance, say hello to your TAs and professor and show us your stub the night of the performance, etc). Post a SHORT 100-200 word response to the play to both the ilearn site and the def professor blogspot (following all guidelines of the extra credit rubric- except for the citation guidelines: you are excused from citations for this and only this extra credit opportunity)
Attending the play/comedy “Colorstruck” by Bay Area Activist and Donald Lacy was a unique experience. I have mixed feelings about this play. Overall I learned a lot and was impressed by Lacy’s performance. It was funny and sad all at the same time. I think that most of the things that he said in the play were true. The only thing that I really did not like is when he was talking about Obama and how he said that all white people are still racist. I disagree with this statement. Yes, I believe that there is still racism in America and some white people are racist but certainty not all. In the middle of the play Lacy cried out “Why do some of them hate us so much?”, I really appreciated that he said the word “some” in the question. The part where he showed the gruesome old pictures of the hangings of some African American people was the hardest thing for me to watch. This was so disgusting to see that (white) people did these kinds of things and I cannot grasp how people could have done those things. It makes me sad to know that so many people thought they way they did and did those horrible things to African Americans in those days. As any race, it is so extremely important to study, know, and understand history and why it happened. It is important to African Americans to know about themselves and it is important for all other races to understand what happened and why it happened so that history can never repeat itself. The part I appreciated the most was the ending and when the teachers were recognized. When they talked at the end it was so great to hear from them. They talked a lot about how this world needs change and how African American People need to emprise their race, learn about their history, and how all people need to come together and destroy any racism. They best thing said was when the professor said, “We need to create a new world, NOT a new world order!!” If people know the history and information behind this statement, you will understand. We as people should stand up together and fight for our rights as HUMANS, equally, not divided my race or anything else.
I walked into Colorstruck having no idea what to expect. As I walked into the auditorium, being one of the few white people attending, I was greeted warmly by the elder attendees of the show. I felt very welcomed by the Oakland natives all asking me questions about my feelings toward the show and my views on life. As the lights dimmed and the show began, a woman came on stage and sung a beautiful song that lifted engaged the entire crowd. When she came out and did this piece, I assumed the entire show would be a compilation of artists, but boy was I completely wrong. Next, Donald Lacy came out. As a graduate of SFSU’s acting program, he easily grabbed the audience’s attention by taking the role of a disc jockey at a radio station talking to his viewers behind images of historic African Americans. He then came out and proceeded to talk to the audience as a stand up comedian for hours. His humor was widely based on personal experience growing up in a racist society, at the heart of the Black Panther movement, Oakland, California. He tied in many of the topics we have been discussing in “Hip Hop Workshop”, such as hip hop and race, the role of the disk jockey, dancing, stereotypes, hip hop artists, and much more. While the majority of the show was funny and lighthearted, the tables would turn and become extremely deep at certain points, bringing up topics from lynching to police brutality. At the end the audience was given a delicious meal and we were able to ask a group of extremely intelligent people questions about the show and anything else. This show really opened my eyes to the world around me.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show. In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show.In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
Donald lacy performanced a great show "colorstruck." Throug beginning of early 20th century to 21th century nowdays, African American have been treated unfairly throughout a century. Donald lacy have adopted chronicle events use as substance material to construct the show. In the show, Donald lacy used himself as example to tell audience how he had been treated and discriminated in his youth about early 1970's. his example demonstrates himself as a victim under the period of racism in Okaland, California.
ki fung lam
afrs 256
spring 2011
Donald Lacy is a very unique individual with a unique view. This act was very empowering and insightful for me. He shed light on racism by using comedy geared towards black people, which I found very entertaining. When he began to shed the light hearted comedy to inlay a serious message, the transition was flawless and timed well, as my jaw was tired from laughter. When he got serious, he really made me feel accountable that I need to be a part of the movement for reparations from slavery and social injustices past and present. He also talked of how our blackness was powerful, so that others try to contain it. This powerful blackness came to be the creator of hip hop, a genre of music made by urban youth that even swells with its blackness “in its development of African American culture and language, in particular African American English (AAE),” and its, “oft-recited origin narratives” (Fischer, and Morgan 511).
Works Cited
Fischer, Dawn, and Marcyliena Morgan. Re-presenting reality. 511. Print.
Keven Douglas
AFRS 256
Misgana Habtezion
Professor Fisher
AFRS 256
February 20, 2011
I, Myself, was Colorstruck
Going to Colorstruck, preformed by Donald Lacy, I found myself pleasantly surprised. I was not exactly sure of what to expect before attending, however quickly knew I was going to enjoy the performance. Starting out with a photograph slide show of significant African Americans, it was understood that he would be discussing everything African American. He began a conversation with the audience, making jokes about what Oakland has become and transitioning into to more serious topics, yet having a non-serious tone, making it easier for us, as the audience, to be comfortable with each topic. Talking about everything from the meaning of good hair, to the dark days of the African American’s past, Lacy had no reservations. He had a point and wanted himself to be heard. He attributed his success to his professors, which of whom he brought on stage after the show. I found that to be one of the highlights to the show, mainly because he took his gift around the world, then brought it home and showed his appreciation for where it all began. I would definitely recommend this show to others, and would want to attend his other shows. While informing us about the trials and tribulations his people have endured, he showed that they overcame adversities and can look good doing it. His message is uplifting and I encourage all to attend any of his shows.
Erik Hallworth
AFRS 256
3/2/11
Crazy good show!! I'll be honest, I did not know what to expect coming to this show, and did it only for the extra credit. Little did I know that his show would blow me away and influence my perspective on viewing people of color. The show was at the Mckenna Theater and Donald Lacy was on fire. He opened up with hilarious comedy, and entertaining impersinations of different races. As he continued to keep the mood light throughout the whole show, he eventually slid in to the real business; his personal encounters with racism. He spoke of his child encounters with racism--how he was harassed by police for being black. He told the story of how he was pulled over by police for not having a "permit" to ride his bike on the sidewalk, and how he was so scared that he walked his bike home from then. His story further confirmed the fact that racism was and is still prevalent in today's society. In relation to Dr. Def's hip-hop class, her publication titled "Hiphop and Race" is appropriate for this analysis. Dr. Fischer analyzes how the media driven American dream is in reality the opposite to the lives of people of color; she calls it the American nightmare. The blatant racism that Lacy went through is similar to what Fischer talks about in the article. The main theme of the article is that in order for any person, regardless of race must have a high quality of one's self in order to strive for equality and to overcome barriers set in people's live. In closing, Donald Lacy's performance successfully brought new age racism to the forefront of my mind, and continued to show why people of color must continue to fight for equality and to succeed in whatever they do.
Work Cited
Fischer, D., & Morgan, M. (2010). Doing Race: 21
Essays for the 21st Century. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
When I first walked into the theatre to watch the show, I noticed that I was pretty much the only asian there, although I'm sometimes in these kinds of situations when hanging out with my friends and going to certain events, I still felt uncomfortable, but I was still excited to see the show, so I sat in the second row and was immediately drawn to the beautiful voice of the woman who sang. After, Donald Lacy started, but was only viewed as a shadow, acting as a radio announcer. My first thought was that this was going to be like this the whole time, but I was wrong. He came out vibrant and energetic and jokingly informed us (the audience) that he isn't a white man, he was just a very light-skinned African American man. Throughout the show, Donald Lacy used comedy and hard evidence and facts to speak about racism in our society, about how racism is institutionalized. To prove to the audience of this, his next topic was stereotypes. He said that watching the news with your eyes closed, anyone could tell what race did what crime because of the crime committed. He first started with Caucasians, African Americans, Filipinos, and lastly, Asians. As he was telling us the crime being committed, he would point out to a person in audience of that race, and immediately the crowd would laugh, because we knew that this was true. Once he finished stereotyping Filipinos, I knew what was coming next: Asians, and since I was nearly in front of him, my gut was telling me that I was going to be used for this one. And I was right! I'll admit, I was DYING of laughter, but when he pointed to me, it kind of hit a nerve, but I continued to laugh because I knew asians were supposedly terrible drivers. For the rest of the show, he told us his experiences of racism at home and on airplanes and showed us photos of African Americans being lynched and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the victims that were left there to die. That made me feel so much sorrow and anger, anger towards the people who could have the ability to do anything like that to another human being. Overall, this play was amazing and opened my eyes to the everyday signs and evidence of institutionalized racism in our society. I'm thankful for the knowledge taken from Donald Lacy's production, and will never forget this experience.
Anelle Maldonado
Professor Fischer
AFRS 256
March 6, 2011
Donald E. Lacy is a great comedian! He spoke of his life experiences such as being light skinned and how it affected him. Although in real life it must of been quite hard to be teased by kids at school, he still jokes about it and makes others laugh. He mentioned that when he was younger, kids at school would tease him and tell him he was not colored. He would go home, confused, and tell his mother what the kids would tell him. She simply assured him of his color by telling him he was just light skinned. Lacy also made us laugh with a few racial stereotypes and sayd that we can guess the race of a person that commited a crime by just closing our eyes while the news are on. It was all for laughs though. Also, he mentioned how people would confuse him for a different race. One situation was when he was in an airplane and he sat next to a White woman and she thought he was going to bomb the plane, then he mentioned he was from Oakland and she held on to her purse like it was her life. He made us laugh with his facial expressions of the lady. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist. It has not been left behind in history. He showed us pictures of Black people in history hung to death and it was extremely sad to see these images. What he sayd about history and racism was that White people where minority and felt like they needed to make Black people hate themselves for having dark skin. He even found the color black and white in the dictionary and their definitions. The definition of White was pure and angelic and the definition for Black was evil and darkness. Even the dictionary seemed racist. Overall, i got to learn a little more about him and racism today. Also, about stereotypes and how everyone is affected by them. I would recommend seeing him. He is funny and legit.
Anelle Maldonado
Professor Fischer
AFRS 256
March 6, 2011
Donald E. Lacy is a great comedian! He spoke of his life experiences such as being light skinned and how it affected him. Although in real life it must of been quite hard to be teased by kids at school, he still jokes about it and makes others laugh. He mentioned that when he was younger, kids at school would tease him and tell him he was not colored. He would go home, confused, and tell his mother what the kids would tell him. She simply assured him of his color by telling him he was just light skinned. Lacy also made us laugh with a few racial stereotypes and sayd that we can guess the race of a person that commited a crime by just closing our eyes while the news are on. It was all for laughs though. Also, he mentioned how people would confuse him for a different race. One situation was when he was in an airplane and he sat next to a White woman and she thought he was going to bomb the plane, then he mentioned he was from Oakland and she held on to her purse like it was her life. He made us laugh with his facial expressions of the lady. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist. It has not been left behind in history. He showed us pictures of Black people in history hung to death and it was extremely sad to see these images. What he sayd about history and racism was that White people where minority and felt like they needed to make Black people hate themselves for having dark skin. He even found the color black and white in the dictionary and their definitions. The definition of White was pure and angelic and the definition for Black was evil and darkness. Even the dictionary seemed racist. Overall, i got to learn a little more about him and racism today. Also, about stereotypes and how everyone is affected by them. I would recommend seeing him. He is funny and legit.
In the play called Colorstruck by Donald Lacy, an activist artist and philanthropist, he mentions various topics about African Americans and how we separate ourselves from each other. Donald talked about skin color and how when he was younger the kids would tease him and tell him he wasn’t Black even though he was. In the past I learned that a white man named Willie Lynch wrote a letter to slave owner telling them how to keep African Americans enslaved. The letter stated that in order to keep slavery going, slave owners needed to make their slaves hate themselves and each other in the following ways: age, color and gender. Also Donald commented on Black peoples hair and how we use all these chemicals to change from our natural look. In the play he showed us different hair styles that occurred over the years. In one of the photos there was Christopher Reid aka “Kid”, an Hip hop artist, with his high fade. When it came to Hip hop looks meant a lot and in some cases the higher the fade or fro the cooler you were. I enjoyed the play because it was interesting and very informative.
Kit Lam
910222786
AFRS 256
Donald E. Lacy spoke about his life experiences of being light skinned and how it affected him though the stereotype in the society. He jokes about how’s his school life of being teased. He was confused about being called non-color when he was young in which he presents it in a funny way in the show. In fact, he noticed he is just light skinned later on. He also jokes about some racial stereotypes that how the way people would guess the race of a person would most likely commit what types of crime. Lacy also makes fun of how people would be confused about his race base on his skin color. Although it was hilarious to see him on stage, we know that racism still exist somehow, and I guess this is the message he is trying to deliver. It was a very depressing moment to see the pictures of Black people in history hung to death that Lacy shows. Overall, I learned more about his story as the same time also the racism of today’s society.
Krista Stinson
AFRS 256
I attended Donald Lacy’s one-man show “ Colorstruck” performance at McKenna Theater on February 17th 2011. Initially I did not think I would enjoy the show, but as soon as the opening scene began my mind completely changed. Donald Lacy mixed in elements of comedy and African American history while informing the audience about institutionalized racism. Donald Lacy spoke about his life experiences and growing up as a light skinned child in Oakland. I am grateful that I was able to attend this play, not only because it was an extra credit opportunity, but because I really enjoyed seeing families together, elders and one of my professors from freshman year, Dr. Oba T’Shaka. There were many strengths to this play and very little weaknesses. The strengths of the play were that it was insightful, it had a comedic yet historical tone, and it was educational. The only weakness to the play in my opinion was that I was unable to understand some of the jokes that were in reference to places in Oakland. I was glad to be able to experience Black theater at its finest and I would definitely recommend this play to my family and friends.
Saron Selassie
AFRS 256
Spring 2011
Colorstruck EC
Truthfully I was not looking forward to the performance of Colorstruck by Donald Lacy. It was partially due to prejudging through YouTube videos, the last minute nature of my attendance, and mostly due to my splitting headache. It started off slow with a man behind a screen telling a story and progressed with some facts within the realm of black history. My mood quickly changed when Donald Lacy, alumni of San Francisco State and playwright, unveiled himself on stage and began to tell a comedic autobiographical monologue. I was soon hooked, highly engaged in his racially charged jokes laced with serious realities. With no reservations Lacy charged ahead addressing such thoughtful issues from lynching to the dangerous idea that the Obama presidency ushered in post-racial society. He also played with the distinctions of race and blackness in particular. “Race is a socially constructed distinction… that intersects with and is mutually constituted by class, gender, ethnicity, nation” and many other identities (Harrison 2002:48). Lacy spoke of his struggle to find a place in society emphasizing his light skinned color and what that meant for the way people perceived him and the way race was classified. I especially liked that he allowed us to join him as his journey came full circle bringing his (and my) former Africana studies teachers on stage to present them with awards.
“Color Struck” was a catchy title that caught my attention from the start, so I took it upon myself to actually attend the play. Walking into the auditorium I did not know what to expect since I had never been to a one man show before. As Donald Lacy showed up as a shadow I thought to myself what this play was actually about. When Donald came out I can honestly say I was somewhat thrown off a little, why you may ask well I was trying to figure out his ethnicity was he, mixed or just a light skinned African American. Soon my question was answered he was indeed a light skinned African American. Donald focused on racism and stereotypes that exist in our society and the affect they have on people. His humorous approach made it a comfortable setting for such an uncomfortable but serious issue that needs to be addressed. He shared his personal experience with racism, being a very light skinned African American. He also stated that racism was institutionalized and that stereotypes today are the source of the problem. Once again in a humorous matter he began to say the stereotypes that are associated with different ethnicities such as Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians. As he was saying the stereotypes the audience participated and shouted out what the ethnicity that was associated with the specific stereotype. The auditorium was filled with laughter not because these stereotypes are funny but for the simple fact that everyone knew what linked up to each other. The mood in the room suddenly changed once Donald began to get serious and showed photos of history and how people were killed as a result of racism. This brought out the seriousness of the issue and how it is still exist. The play was an eye opening experience for me, racism is still around and being institutionalized makes it even harder because we need to be aware and make sure we don’t categorize one another with the stereotypes that exist today.
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