THE STORY: MY RED HAND, MY BLACK HAND. This play tells the story of one girl’s courageous search for belonging and acceptance in the two very distinct cultures that make up her heritage—African-American and Native-American. The play unfolds as the girl describes the past, present and future of her parents’ cultures and their fusion into her own. She tells us about the “Red” Tlingit and Lakota parentage of her father, who leaves the reservation to play blues rock in Boston. And the “Black” rural Virginia Background of her mother, who goes to Boston seeking the big-city life. Her parents meet at a dance and fall in love, but not without the complications of prejudice from their families.
“Scorching…terrible and touching…M. Orlandersmith is herself wholly original, a riveting combatant in a story, like all war stories, that stamps her as one who has been there.” —The New York Times.
“[Orlandersmith’s] depictions of the characters in her native East Harlem neighborhood—some broken, some on the way down—are passionate and full of insight. —The New Yorker.
Included in the collection
The Gimmick and Other Plays.
