SANKOFA AFRICAN AMERICAN THEATRE COMPANY

"I haven’t quite gathered the words to capture what it felt like to watch this show in this place. I grew up in New Cumberland. The West Shore Theatre sits among so many childhood landmarks: the diner we’d visit when my grandparents were in town, the old candy shop we’d sneak to to spend spare change we scrounged up, the post office, the fire station. It’s a hometown that felt safe and welcoming as a child, but one I’ve since learned to see in a different light.

 

New Cumberland was always very much a white community. I got to feel safe because of my whiteness. There’s a grief in realizing that places and spaces you hold dear might not be safe for your own children. It’s part of the reality of being a white parent raising black children.

But on Saturday night, I sat in that beautifully restored theater, among an audience of people who matched my son’s skin more than my own, and watched a cast of black men and women sing and dance in a celebration of blackness. They brought Black Church to Bridge Street and invited all of us in. I’m crying again writing this. I was home, and it felt like my son was home, too. Something I never thought could be possible. What a gift"