The Intelligent Black Woman (2018-2020)
The Intelligent Black Woman was a bold, multi-disciplinary performance I created to celebrate the brilliance, resilience, and lived experiences of Black women through movement, music, poetry, and education. This evening-length work brought together undergraduates from the Five Colleges, local artists from Springfield, MA, and my collaborator Jamila Jackson to explore themes at the intersection of race, gender, culture, and healing. The performance was presented as part of the AFROmation Festival, a collaborative, community-centered project I co-curated with Jamila Jackson in partnership with the Northampton Center for the Arts, School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, and the Five College Dance Department.
Structured as both performance and communal ritual, The Intelligent Black Woman moved fluidly through solos, group works, spoken word, original writing, and freestyle. Drawing from African Diasporic movement practices, the piece honored the historical and cultural contributions of Black women to these forms. At its core, this work reflected on affirmation as a form of intelligence and survival, asking: How does intelligence and the importance of affirmation bring healing to communities? Rooted in my own experience as a Black woman, educator, and artist, the performance highlighted the deep emotional and cultural labor that Black women carry. I wanted audiences to witness not just our artistry but our truth, power, and vulnerability.
Originally scheduled for April 2020 at 33 Hawley Street in Northampton, MA, the performance had to be reimagined as a virtual event in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The work maintained its intimacy and impact, creating a digital space for connection, healing, and affirmation. The virtual format allowed the piece to reach a broader audience while preserving the urgency and soul of the live experience. The Intelligent Black Woman stands as a testament to the power of art to hold space, provoke dialogue, and affirm Black women’s voices even in times of crisis.
AFROmation Festival was an educational and performance-based initiative designed to bridge diverse communities through dialogue, scholarship, and embodied practice. Rooted in the MFA thesis of both myself and Jamila Jackson, the festival asked: How does intelligence and the importance of affirmation bring healing to communities? Although we originally envisioned the festival as an in-person series of performances, workshops, and public discussions, we reimagined it as a virtual event in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even in this adapted format, AFROmation remained committed to exploring the intersections of affirmation, feminism, and the rhythms and movements of the African Diaspora. The Intelligent Black Woman served as the culminating event of the festival, offering audiences a powerful virtual embodiment of the festival’s themes and grounding our intentions in the lived and creative experiences of Black women.
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