The African Grove Theatre Analysis

This is how I see it My thoughts after watching the video and reading the debate was in sync with my thoughts after each lecture day; modern day slavery. August Wilson stated in his speech “Are those theatres funded on sociological or aesthetic criteria?” which could mean American theatres are grouped according to race and status. Stephen Price paid off some Irish firemen to take down The African Grove theatre company that was founded by William Alexander Brown just because of jealousy and the feeling of supremacy. Mr. Brown who was an African American could not fight back, and Mr. Price who was caucasian had an upper hand because he being white was protected by the system (the government). In the speech, Mr. Wilson talked about the work of …show more content…
And it is really ironic how he could not tell his mother that and hid the fact that the library had been his school for the past five years. Even though the teachers were the ones who made the black kids feel as though they were worse than pets with just the simple use of words, using their authority to their advantage, African American mothers still wanted their children to be learned. This is also similar to the story of Rachel in the play, Rachel by Angelina Weld Grimke. Rachel and her brother, Tom were both educated, but could not find job for which they qualified compared to their white school mates who already held positions them both cannot dream of. After finding out how her father and older brother died and how black kids were treated in school everyday, Rachel who had always dreamed of being a mother turned that anticipation to disgust. This made her vow never to …show more content…
Their culture represents art in its simplicity; dance, drums, music. They are naturalist and this is one of the reasons they would not be allowed a chance. It is really ironic how African Americans would not be given proper recognition for their work but the whites would still go see it. “We need those misguided financial resources to be put to better use. We cannot develop our playwrights with the meager resources at our disposal. Why is it difficult to imagine 9 black theatres but not 66 white ones? Without theatres we cannot develop our talents. If we cannot develop our talents, then everyone suffers: our writers; the theatre; the audience.”. That is as powerful as it can get. Even without the funds from the art foundation, some black theatres thrived for a while. That lets people know that blacks are not lazy and unproductive as the society depicts. They produce gold out of a barren mine, they turn things around when others could have given up. With the financial support and resources at their disposal, one can imagine the future of the African American theatre. “So much of what makes this country rich in art and all manners of spiritual life is the contributions that we as African Americans have made. We cannot allow others to have authority over our cultural and spiritual products.”. This means without the rich culture of African Americans, there would be no art in America. Most of the recognized African