As a part of Ujamaa’s Black History Month events, the group welcomed Yvette Heyliger and her cast with their presentation of “What Would Jesus Do?: The Play” in WestCo café. The story revolves around a minister’s wife, Mrs. Wilson, whose exposure to HIV through her husband leads her to address the issues of HIV/AIDS in her community. Using the church as the cornerstone for this presentation, this play also focuses on the growing AIDS problem in America. Saturday evening’s performance featured four excerpted monologues from the play addressing the issues of HIV in the African-American community.
“I went to a friend of mine in Harlem, the late Tunde Alan-Samuels, and the National Black Theatre and I asked him what I should write about,” Heyliger said. “He said, ‘Yvette, you have to write about HIV in our community.’ So I began doing research and meeting with individuals who could give me insight.”
The monologues represented four different stories of the disease’s impact on African-American women. The first story was about a college freshman who had unprotected sex when she lost her virginity. Her story began like those of many students, who start their college experience trying to fit in and make plans for the future but inevitably fall victim to a moment of bad judgment.
Another story concerned the rarely-discussed topic of woman-to-woman spread of disease. Although the Center for Disease Control has limited information on this type of transmission, the risk remains prevalent. Oral sex alone does not pose a serious threat, but the sharing of toys or digital play poses a higher risk. Rashida Richardson ’08 read facts such as this to help emphasize the levity of the AIDS pandemic.
“I just wanted to involve more interesting social aspects that address the black female community, which usually isn’t addressed,” said Richardson, co-coordinator of ASHA (AIDS and Sexual Health Awareness). “[The facts] played very well into the issues especially with the monologue of women having sex with women. Not many people know about that and there aren’t many cases. The information that I had was a powerful complement to the monologues.”
Both Richardson’s commentary and the strength of the monologues helped emphasize the significance of this growing dilemma. These monologues drove the point home that taking care of oneself is the number one priority.
“All we have to do is take a step back and realize that there is an epidemic in the black community, and as our people continue to die we can no longer be ignorant to its affects and to the preventive measures we can take to protect ourselves,” said LaShawn Springer ’08.
“I hope the monologues encouraged people to practice safe sex with their partners and to get tested,” she added.
Saturday’s performance was well received by the audience, and resulted in a cast-led Q&A session to determine the impact of this work on the college environment. Although awarded a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts/Individual Artist Program to write the play and later a re-grant to continue her work by the Harlem Arts Alliance/Rockefeller Foundation, Heyliger continues to work on getting more exposure for her work. The first showing of this play was held in observance of Worlds AIDS Day 2005, and since then has been performed at college campuses, juvenile detention centers, and churches.
“We have performed this play in schools and prisons; in fact, we are performing at a juvenile prison in a few weeks,” Heyliger said. “These children, both girls and boys, are already sexually active. Some are pregnant, some have STDs, some HIV, and some are performing in homosexual activity. However, they are not necessary educated about the repercussions of their actions.”
Heyliger said she hopes to reach a wider audience by producing her work in the theatre in New York. For more information about this play and other works by Yvetter Heyliger, visit twinbiz.com.
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