Confessions of a Colored Girl...Part 1

My Love is Too......Sanctified

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf is one of my favorite plays. Well, actually it's a choreopoem; a totally new genre created by Ntozake Shange herself. I had the honor of performing in a production of "Colored Girls" in college at North Carolina Central University in 1991 as the Lady in Orange. Later in 1996 I produced a performance of Colored Girls with a good friend Shelby at the Afro American Cultural Center to a sold out house every night.

This piece is so powerful and raw and in your face; even though it was written more than 30 years ago young women (and men) can still relate to the women who are known in the play only by their names. Except for Crystal. Who can forget Crystal and Bo Willie Brown??

I was proud of Tyler Perry's effort to bring For Colored Girls into the new millenium and onto the big screen. Because Tyler is most widely known for his comedy I was afraid that he would turn my favorite play into some sort of comedic farce but he definitely did not. He selected an incredible cast of amazing women and I went to see it the day it came out.

So, having said all that; I have been thinking about creating a series called "My Love is Too..." (some of the most memorable lines from the choreopoem) where I explain in my own way what my love is "too" of. This is part one in that series. I'm just doing reflection and introspection. Yeah, a colored girl let's you inside her head and heart for a moment..

photography by Jasiatic

When I think about SANCTIFIED love I think about how I struggled to accept God's love for me. I spent so many years not recognizing how much God truly loves me and the fact that He wants to give me such great blessings and healing and peace, and joy. I thought I could create it on my own. And He I was created, before I ever had one disappointment or struggle or failure or experienced on hurt; God had already placed IN me the tools and gifts I needed to make it through each situation. When I took hold of this I was liberated and cleansed; SANCTIFIED.