william steig drawing

Ntozake Shange

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide… When They Saw Tyler Perry’s Adaptation

For Colored Girls was good. No it wasn’t good. Well maybe it was good. But it wasn’t good enough. For people unfamiliar with Ntozake Shange’s 1975 play, it might have seemed good. Spectacular even. It’s a rarity. A drama about black women addressing rape, abortion, incest, and domestic abuse, allowing black actresses opportunity to flex their tear ducts. Many women unfamiliar with the play will adore it. Perry has given screen time to issues that are rarely discussed, reaching a wider and more diverse audience than Shange’s play alone might ever see. A generation of girls will hear what the movie has to say and that is important… but, But It could have been so much more. And that is […]