Dear all,
Once you’ve finished reading “For Colored Girls,” I want you to pick one specific quote from the choreopoem to write into and about. Write a paragraph about the quote or a specific element from the choreopoem, and why it stands out as important to you! Post it in the comments below
This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
“I can’t hear anything but maddening screams & the soft strains of death & you promised me you promised me … somebody/anybody sing a black girl’s song bring her out to know herself to know you but sing her rhythms carin/struggle/hard times sing her song of life she’s been dead so long closed in silence so long she doesn’t know the sound of her own voice her infinite beauty she’s half-noted scattered without rhythm/no tune sing her sighs sing the song of her possibilities sing a righteous gospel the makin of a melody let her be born let her be born & handled warmly” (Shange’s 2-3). Out of every line in Shange’s choreopoem, these particular lines stood out to me. Part of me doesn’t know why but it just did? As I read them over I think about common afflictions that women tend to experience on a whole in their marriages, in the households and even on the street. The voices of screams make you wonder who is screaming but more so, what is the cause of her scream. As you read on you get to understand that this girl was a hostage to her own self, she was held in bondage to where she doesn’t know her voice. She’s been kept away for so long – her purpose is a mere shadow. If I interpret this correct; when were not placed in the right space, or often experience harsh realities’ having an effect on their future self or who their destined to be.
“i want my arm wit the hot iron scar/ & my leg wit the
flea bite/ i want my calloused feet & quik language back
in my mouth/ fried plantains/ pineapple pear juice/
sun-ra & Joseph & jules/ i want my own things/ how i lived them”
This portion of the poem (and everything in correlation) stood out to me because it is a notion of self-acceptance, and wanting to be one’s self. At first the lady in green starts off by talking about someone taking her “stuff”, but she does not means physical, tangible stuff. She is talking about the type of stuff that makes up the person she is today, like her scars, habits, imperfections, and things of the like. At first, I though she was speaking as though someone was trying to copy her and take her identity in that way. But nearing the end of the sequence, she reveals it was a man. It could be possible that this man tried to get away with disrespecting and degrading her, leaving her questioning her self-identity, with his only feedback being an empty apology he does not truly mean. This leads to lack of trust toward this man, and all others.
“I found God in myself & I loved her / I loved her fiercely.” – pg 67
At the end of the choreopoem, the women described numerous trials and tribulations. These stemmed from growing up, ethnic identity in the modern world, broken hearts and much more. The collection of sorrows may come across as unbearable, but with the courage and determination that the women displayed, they worked their way through these challenges. They learned to appreciate their unique race, gender, beauty and to turn to each other for warmth and support. This quote reflects the power of self-love, the will to love yourself as a woman and creator, and to respect yourself. To me I interpret this quote with meaning, and that is why it is important to me. I can look back at the end of the day after all the suffering and struggles of life, and I can love myself because God is in me. It is easy to love others but it’s a wonderful achievement to hit a point where you let go of the shame and are able to truly love yourself. I like how the expression does not just say that she loves herself, but that she loves herself fiercely. Without amnesty. Loving yourself intensely is respecting yourself to the fullest despite your faults.
Lady in yellow says,
“we gotta dance to keep from cryin”
This specific quote stood out to me because it’s the line right before the lady in brown says the same thing but changes crying to dying. It’s a moment right before it gets so deep, it’s almost like you’re not prepared to read the extreme reality of the next line. I held on to this line because in a way crying can mean so much more than just physically tearing. It’s the emotional toll it can have on you, it’s the pain and the mental torment that hides behind the coping mechanism of dancing. The fact that as a woman you have to pick yourself up from the ground, your lowest point, depression and more to keep on living/dancing and you’re not even allowed to cry. It’s a harsher reality for the lady in brown, while she has this also to battle with she can not control being a victim of the color of her own skin. She cannot control the systematic racism this country we live in holds onto so tightly or how real and terrifying the plague of police brutality is. These lines connect in a way that shakes the reader, making you reflect on the matter that these two separate struggles have not come to an end.
“lady in red
without any assistance or guidance from you
i have loved you assiduously for 8 months 2 wks & a day
i have been stood up four times
i’ve left 7 packages on yr doorstep
forty poems 2 plants & 3 handmade notecards i left
town so i cd send to you have been no help to me on my job
you call at 3:00 in the morning on weekdays
so i cd drive 27 1/2 miles cross the bay before i go to work
charmin charmin
but you are no assistance
i want you to know this was an experiment
to see how selfish i cd be”
After reading this on page 13, I think this whole section stood out to me the most because it makes so much sense to me, personally. The last line, to see how selfish i cd be, may not make sense to others. Why would she call herself selfish if it seems like she has been being a good girlfriend to her partner? She done all of these things like leaving packages and notecrads and loving them for 8 months while being treated like crap such as being stood up and stuff, doesn’t seem selfish, right? But personally and in my opinion I would say that she is selfish because she loved them so much that she did all of the things she did for herself, not him. She wanted to prove that as a good lover and partner, she did all of these things such as leaving note cards and driving for miles because she wanted to show that she truly loved this person, which makes her selfish. And throughout the relationship, this partner was no help, showed no effort at all and the lady in red revealed that this was an experiment because it didn’t work and wanted to see how far she would go and do for this person she loved.
“I found god in myself, and i loved her, i loved her fiercely”
I chose this quote because I thought it was just as relevant today as it was when this was written. Through the whole choreopoem, all the different women had all talked about all the horrible things they had been through throughout their lives like failed relationships, abuse, sexual assault, sickness etc. This quote is very powerful because I see it as they found a way to love and appreciate themselves inside and out regardless of what had happened to them. They had the strength and resilience to get through these adversaries. Them turning to each other was a moment of empowerment and I think that was their god.
“rise up fallen fighters
unfetter the stars
dance with the universe
& make it ours”.
This quote stood out to me because I found it inspiring. After all the woman have been trough they are still able to reach the sunshine at the end of the storm. They are able to do it not because they have to, but because they chose to live in accordance to who they are, and who they want to become. This is important because I feel that the choreopoem revolves around this quote in all aspects.
“& this is for all the colored girls who have considered suicide/but are moving to the end of their rainbows.” This quotes stood out for me the most because it was the quote I was searching for since the beginning of the choreopoem. Since the beginning of the book, I was wondering the significance behind the ladies in different colors and the connection to the rainbow. Shange managed to tie the entire book up with just one quote, which is why I think the quote holds so much importance. This quote was honestly a mic drop for me. It enlightens you to why the ladies were different colors, why Shange chose the title, and the significance and symbolism behind the rainbow. While also empowering girls enduring troublesome times and letting them know that they too can move to the end of their rainbow. It ends the book which can be deemed a hard read for some on a positive note, that the situation you are enduring may be difficult but it most definitely doesn’t have to be the end and I love that. I love that she chose to end the book like that!
Lady in Blue
“i usedta live in the world
then I moved to HARLEM
& my universe is now six blocks”
This was my favorite poem because I think it describes New York from the perspective of an everyday New Yorker and even an immigrant family. I think New York can be glamorized on screen or in literature, which is upsetting because its not a true representation of the experiences we have here. Even though we can travel anywhere by train, new York can feel like an enclosed place, away from nature, and like it’s own separate little world riddled with anxiety. The lady in blue also points out the cat calling nature that’s so prominent here, and the ladies having to watch their backs while waiting for the bus. I recall walking home one day from the train and an older guy was urging, almost forcing a younger guy to catcall me and I felt very bad for that kid. I wonder if men are taught to behave that way as a result of toxic masculinity.
“we waz grown, we waz finally grown”
this part of the poem stood out to me first. Most kids are excited to become adults, thinking all of the benefits that come with being on. Like taking charge, doing whatever you want or go wherever you want, etc. but this is not always the case. Being a child is hard, and so is being an adult, but with differences. Becoming a grown woman lays a pile of expectations and other problems that jump into the way, whether we see them coming or not. You can’t just go around having fun, you have responsibilities, and it’s not just adult women that have to deal with them either. In page 16 to 21, the narrator talks about rapists and how men use women, and share them around with their friends. One of the many dangers and struggles women have and still face today.
Quote: “I’m only human, and inadequacy is what makes us human, and if we was perfect we wdnt have nothin to strive for, so you might as well go on and forgive me pretty baby, cause i’m sorry.”
I read this quote and it stood out to me because it makes me think of the fact that there are women who either accept their flaws and grow from them and keep striving for better rather than being complacent and there are women who focus so much on being inadequate for one reason or another, whether it’s society telling them they are lesser or them putting themselves down for comparing themselves. I like this quote because it sets that aside and my interpretation is that we all have flaws and do things we regret, so why focus on those regrets that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things because we’re all imperfect anyway and that’s okay.
“bein alive&bein a woman&bein colored is metaphysical;dilemma/i haven’t conqured yet”
This quote really speaks for the chreopoem because they are colored women who are trying to live their lives but they always find themselves facing problems. They face with it head on but they always seem to suffer behind the scenes. They seemed to fall for the idea of love which made them fall for toxic men.
the chreopoem really described what it was like being a colored woman by bringing about the idea of rape, abortion,love, sisterhood, and suffering. this quote could actually connect with the last qoute “& this is for all the colored girls who have considered suicide/but are moving to the end of their rainbows.” because they are all alive colored women who have a lot of problems but they are all trying to find their own happiness .
“She wanted to be a memory, a wound to every man arragant enough to want her.”
This quote stood out to me because i felt it was a very powerful thing to say. As a women (even in today’s age) we are told to be seen and not heard when it comes to relationships and that we should be sweet and docile when dating. It reminds me of a monologue from a Beyonce song called Flawless, where a clip from a TedTalk by Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngai Adichie is played and she explains everything wrong with sexual equality today and why we should all be feminists, one of those issues being, “You should aim to be successful, but not too successful, otherwise you threaten the man”. This quote is a direct opposite and almost like a defiant response. The man should in fact be threatened, and by being given a taste of their own medicine, at that, in true feminist fashion.
cdnt have people
lookin at me ^pregnant
i cdnthavemyfriendsseethis
This part stood out to me so many woman are ashamed of the choices they make based on what other people may feel or think of them, we still go through his fight today in society where we have other people trying to tell woman what to do to their body’s and how they should feel.