The Color Purple - Review

Hey readers, as you know, we love a good show, and a few weeks ago, we saw the color purple.

While our reviews are usually about the content of the show, the versatility, and passion of the actors, and the overall beauty of the theatrics, this review will be a little different. I wanted to highlight some key themes throughout the show that I hope will give our readers some inspiration about how art often interrupts life and the hardship and beauty that comes with it.

1. Perseverance will always pay off

This show follows the main character Celie, who has quite a hard life. She faces abuse, hardship, and heartbreak, but even in the midst of all of this, she remains optimistic. There are times when it seems like she's been dealt a terrible hand, and it can’t get worse and it does. But even when it seems like there is nowhere else for her to go and nowhere else for her to turn, she finds optimism and beauty in the small things.

2. Grieving is necessary, and so is healing

Many of our characters, not just Celie, lose things they hold dear, whether that's loved ones, possessions, homes, or children, and this musical emphasizes the importance of grieving. In one scene, Celie believes her sister has died. Her sister is the closest person she has, and she finds comfort and peace in her. When she believes that she has died, she suffers the worst heartbreak imaginable. Although it takes time for her to come to terms with this, she learns to grieve and understand her sister's love is always with her.

The show also talks about healing, which is something so crucial. These characters are Black and poor living in 1910’s America. They face unimaginable trauma, from discrimination and racism to abuse in their own homes. This show follows the characters as each of them heals from this trauma, and it beautifully portrays how this healing is not always linear. These characters take many forms of navigating their trauma and finding peace within themselves.

3. Community is important

At the beginning of this show, Celie is alone, destined to marry a man she does not love and who does not love her. While living in her new home, she finds friendship and love within those that surround her like Sofia, Shug Avery, and Harpo. She leans on them and they lean on her during the most tumultuous moments of their lives. In watching this, it reminded me of how important my own community is and how we need human connection and one another. It also reminded me that even in the most unkind times, someone is on our side, and cheering us on.

Women’s Equality Day: 2022

Women’s equality day was on the 26th, and this day is one that I hold dear, but also have many feelings about. According to the National Women’s History Alliance, this day is celebrated in the United States on August 26 to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex.

While I for one, proudly exercise my right to vote, as a woman, and a woman of color I acknowledge that I was not considered in the first adoption of this law. While I support the Women’s Movement, the origins of this movement did not include women of color, despite us also yearning for these freedoms.

Also, in 2022, we still as women, have many things that we fight for including, equal pay, the right to safe and affordable healthcare, the ability to be in leadership positions, the protection from workplace harassment, and the list goes on. We have seen in the last year or so, that women have been fighting hard for rights that are not given freely. For one, birth care and childcare in America are not up to the standards of other leading nations. Many of these services in the states are extremely expensive and left to the mother or father of the child to pay for. Childcare is often not adequate and another burden for many mothers in the United States.

Not only that, but it is shown that women not only work full-time jobs but also tend to the needs of the home and family, leaving them exhausted and overworked. It begs the question, how much farther do we still need to go?

After wondering about this for some time, I sought answers from other women like myself. Here is a list of what needs to improve in the United States to truly achieve equality:

• To feel protected against harassment, and unwanted advantages

• Access to healthcare and autonomy of one’s body and choices

• Free menstrual products and advocates for menstrual health awareness

• Support for women who are birthing and have children

What are some things we should improve on to achieve equality? Let us know in the comments.

To Homeschool Or Not To Homeschool

Hello readers! Many of us have kids who are back in school and taking on the new year. But, for some parents, they’ve opted out of sending their kids back to in-person school. Instead, they’ve enrolled them in home school programs, which means their child is either being taught by them, the parent or the child is enrolled in an online, home-school program, where the curriculum is similar to the formats we saw during the pandemic. In other words, zoom school. Honestly, after hearing about the rise of parents choosing to homeschool their children, I was intrigued and understood.

For one, COVID-19 changed the way we viewed in-person activities, work and school included. And there are a few factors that would lead me to want to homeschool my child. As I gave it more thought, I realized, that when I have children of my own, homeschooling will be a very real option. Here are my three reasons I advocate for home school learning:

1. School Disparities Still Exist

One interesting fact I learned when doing a deep dive into homeschooling, was that this year, it was most popular among people in the Black community. Schools that are seen as diverse or have more of a minority presence, do not always get the same benefits, curriculum, and extracurricular activities as predominantly white schools. I know this first hand growing up in an area that was highly segregated with my town's school being mostly white, and having an abundance of resources and the town next door not having a fraction of that (and that school was mostly Black and Hispanic). Something as simple as a zip code changed the type of curriculum the students received and it was unfair. With homeschooling, I can ensure my child is getting a standard curriculum regardless of zip code.

2. Schools Are Not How We Remember Them - Social Media Has Killed School Spirit

When I was in school, I remember being excited about going there. Not because I was a super nerd (although I kind of was) but because it was a safe haven for my teenage self who was filled with angst and swore no one but my friends understood me. We had homecoming and pep rallies to look forward to. We had football games, and senior-ditch day, but those things no longer excite students like they excited my generation. While COVID did throw a wrench in things by canceling proms and graduations, now that we are getting back into those things, students don’t care as much. A few of my closest friends are teachers and told me that kids are more into their social media presence and personal lives than what’s going on in their school. They would rather post themselves doing a viral dance at a concert than watch a football game. Instead of playing senior pranks, they’d rather try to be influencers. And on top of it all - social media has allowed for more bullying in schools. When I was in school, all we had was Facebook, and not everyone had internet on their phone (this was only 2012 guys). So if someone had a problem with you in school, it stayed there. But now, it goes on Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and everyone can join in on it.

3. Schools Are No Longer Safe

I don’t have to expand on this - this country has a serious problem when it comes to school safety. When I was younger, the incidents you hear about frequently on the news today were isolated incidents you learned about and it was treated as such. We didn’t have active shooter drills (although we had bomb threat drills), and we didn’t have metal detectors at the front of our building. The school building, for the most part, was open 7am-7pm, and you came and went as you pleased. There was no fear of tragedy happening in the halls, which we can’t say about schools today. Schools are no longer looked at as safe havens, and home-schooling mitigates that.

Let us know how you feel about homeschooling, are you for, or against it?