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Last Updated: May 30th, 2008 - 11:49:13 |
Mama’s lil’ baby loves shortening, shortening,
mama’s lil’ baby loves shortening bread.
Shortening bread is made from a simple recipe in about 20 minutes; a much shorter time than it took to come up with the Black mammy stereotype.
In “The Mammy Project,” which played at the American Theatre of Actors in New York City, Michelle Matlock used film, mime, rap lyrics and historical references to explore the origins of the Black mammy, and how that image is still a part of American culture. Moving deftly from Aunt Jemima to Mammy in “Gone With the Wind,” to modern-day references (i.e., Whoopi Goldberg in “Corrina, Corrina” and Nell Carter in “Gimme a Break”), Matlock convinced and illuminated with layered character development and well-scripted monologues. Matlock’s one-woman performance was everything a work of this nature should be—well researched, thought provoking and entertaining. An expert mime, Matlock used bulging eyeballs and full-toothed grins to enhance her characterization of the docile, subservient Black house servant.
Nancy Green, who portrayed the original Aunt Jemima, is conjured up in this production. Green—though not a cook—was hired by the manufacturers of the Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix to be the face of the brand at the 1893 World’s Fair Exposition. Matlock portrayed Green as a former slave, grateful for the chance at lifetime employment, who doesn’t quite understand how her scripted characterization of the down home, plantation-loving, rotund, house servant is an affront to African Americans of her time. After being snubbed by African Americans on “Colored Day” at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition, Green exhaustingly says, “ I reckon I will survive this colored day.” Using the catch phrase, “I’s here,” Green’s portrayal comforts the mind of Whites who long for the antebellum, pre-Civil War days. Green’s monologue is also interspersed with speeches by civil rights activists Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington (Cast Down Your Buckets Where You Are), Ida B. Wells (The Reason Why?), and Hallie Q. Brown that speak of racial pride and self-determination.
In a hysterical fictionalized scene from “Gone With the Wind,” Mammy hilariously relates how tired she is of being witness to ‘Miss Scarlett’s’ sexual indiscretions. Here Matlock cleverly established that Black female servants were the true representations of reason and moral standard in the antebellum South.
In another monologue, Matlock portrayed a suburban White woman who collects Mammy memorabilia. The collectibles remind her of a simpler, less complicated world, where everyone knew their place, especially colored folks. Declaring racial equality and pleasure at Black achievement, she still has to move out of her suburban enclave when the first Black family moves in.
Although “The Mammy Project” was just a little over sixty minutes in length, Matlock gave the audience an insightful and funny perspective on the role of the mammy in society. She also encouraged audience members to break free of any boxes or constraints that might impede their personal growth.
William S. Gooch, III lives in New York City and is a contributing writer to SeeingBlack.com.
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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