Remembering "Hot Grits:" An Ode to Black Female Punk Rock in Seattle

By Priya Frank


Working in the arts in Seattle for several years, I have had the opportunity to see many types of performances in a variety of spaces. Many entertain and inspire; some have let me know what I don’t like, so that I know in the future what not to go see. And there are a few that have stayed with me long after the stage has gone dark. Those performances I cherish and keep in my mental memory box, feeling that what I saw couldn’t be reproduced and how fortunate I was to have been able to witness this unique and groundbreaking moment in time. At Re-Bar in October of 2008, Dirty Girl Productions’ “Hot Grits” exploded onto the Seattle scene, with a unique concept that producer and conceiver of the play, Denee McCloud, refers to as a “3 a.m. idea.” This was one of those moments.


“Dirty Girl” Productions was a production company dedicated to supporting modern and pioneering work produced by African American women. Written by Jude Hill and directed by Tyrone Brown of the Brownbox Theatre, the story of “Hot Grits” followed the lives of four Black women as they entered into the punk rock world where they were not necessarily welcome, and although the focus of the play centered on a band, it was set within a theatrical production. They intentionally cast actors who did not know how to play the instruments they were cast for, so not only did the dialogue have to be learned, but also the instruments, they played, the songs they sang, and the challenge of being able to come together as both a musician and an actor hats within this multi-layered performance. Incredibly all of the songs and music were written by the cast and produced by Dirty Girl productions.

During the play, the audience follows the Seattle band as they struggle to achieve notoriety while facing their own battles with drugs, alcohol, sex, racism, sexism, love, and their search to find their own identities within these issues. Through this journey, Lola, Jordan, Amber and Kenya find one another, and to an extent, themselves, through their common love of punk rock music. McCloud, who was the founder and producer of the production company, said that “Hot Grits is the result of an extraordinary team of artists and creators that have come together to wake Seattle up from a self-induced coma.”


Because of its exploration of a genre seemingly new to Seattle, reviewers of the play seemed confused and unsure about this introduction to a new concept. The Seattle Times Misha Berson called it an “…an attention-grabbing concept…” while Seattle Weekly’s Virginia Zech stated, “Ordinarily I couldn’t care less about swearing in a play, but when a show has nothing to tell me I would rather be told gently… I was deeply disappointed to see semi-glorified drug abuse. On the upside, the costuming and set design are excellent. Many respondents to these articles felt completely opposite, but were not surprised by the lack of support from mainstream news sources. In response, many that had seen the play challenged these negative reviews stating:

• I'm really not surprised that once again, the Seattle Weekly is completely out of touch. I…LOVED it. I think it would have been odd if there were NO obscenities in a punk performance/play…

• "I am so tired of folks assuming that if a play/story/film is about black women that it has to be political or serious. If this was a play about white women in a punk band it would have been glorified as empowering."

• Hot Grits is a unique, original and fun show! I applaud Dirty Girl Productions for raising the bar on what music and art can be in this city, and for exploding the assumptions on what Black females can be & do.

It seems like when a concept is introduced that has the ability to fall into more than one category and addresses issues in a variety of ways, the reception it receives is less than supportive, even in a place that seems to boast a “progressive” attitude, such as Seattle. It seems difficult to place an identity on something when it cross more than one “boundary” such as race, class, sexual preference, etc. Confronting these complex forms of identity calls into question not only the redefinition of acceptable culture and acceptable art forms, but also as Jocelyn Guilbault refers to in her piece, Interpreting world music: a challenge in theory and practice, calls for “a redefinition of bonds, boundaries, and borders…through music people position themselves differently according to specific spaces, times and interests and, by doing so, mobilise different politics of identity.” (P 34, 40)

More than just entertaining, seeing these kinds of performances allows me to examine the critical work that art does to highlight theoretical concepts within the context of an artist’s craft. When the artist performs, they ask questions and create a kind of dialogue within the representation of their bodies and voice. This in turn provides an opportunity for certain messages to be spread in a powerful way. Unfortunately, it isn’t surprising that folks in mainstream media felt that the story didn’t have anything to say. Unlike Misha Berson, I believe that the story had many things to tell us, relating to relationships, music, struggle, and being finding comfort in your own skin. It was exciting to see women of color living their lives and dealing with issues many other women of color also do, and whether or not we would have chosen the same actions is irrelevant.

Check out a performance by Hot Grits at a Magic Wheels motorcycle club gathering in Georgetown in 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvIXM4PajUE

References:
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/threadcount/2008/10/stage_review_dirty_girl_produc.php
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2008275337_fringe170.html
http://mobile.theskanner.com/article/2008/10/16/HOT-GRITS-A-Punk-Rock-Play-On-Music
Guilbault, Jocelyne. Interpreting world music: a challenge in theory and practice. Popular Music (1997) Volume 16/1. Copywright 1997 Cambridge University Press

Clean Greens Farm Visit- Saturday, June 19th

Posted by Priya

Teach Out! Engaging our Local Food Cycle
AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT AND WORK FOR A LOCAL COMMUNITY FARM
Coordinated by the Food Justice Project of the Community Alliance for Global Justice
Second Event of 2010! Clean Greens Farm, Duvall, WA
Saturday, June 19th, 10am-3pm

CAGJ’s Food Justice Project invites our members and others to learn about and build connections with key players in the local food region through monthly visits to farms, community kitchens, and community gardens! The site visits will include hands-on work that is needed by or is appropriate to the sites, opportunities to debrief and reflect at the end of the site visit, and calls to action! Each visit will allow for carpool options and many will also feature a bike route guided by a CAGJ member. Through these visits, CAGJ hopes to facilitate a place for the voices of our local food producers to be heard and their knowledge and skills to be recognized and celebrated.

The Black Dollar Days Task Force developed Clean Greens in response to the under-representation of African Americans among the ranks of those farming in Washington, as well as the lack of foods relevant to the African American as well as African immigrant food cultures locally. Operating on 22 acres, Clean Greens produces chemical-free, organic food for inner city residents.

**Please note, space is limited, so RSVP's are required. To RSVP, or for more information, please email Molly at mollyjade@gmail.com. We will send you directions and carpooling details upon receiving your RSVP, as well as information about what to wear and bring. All activities will be appropriate for children and we can work out disability accommodations if needed.

WOCC Social: June 9, 5-7, District Lounge in Hotel Deca

Posted by Priya



The Women of Color Collective Invite you to our End of the Year Social: Wednesday, June 9, 5-7pm, District Lounge in Hotel Deca. We hope you will take a few moments to stop by and enjoy good company!

Meeting Notes

Posted by Mandy and Priya

This meeting was held on Saturday, May 29, 2010 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Seattle, Washington

Agenda:

• Debrief From Tuesday
• Collabing with main campus/other UWB programs such as MAPS
• End of vear- video and potluck (next year)
• Website/discussion board
• Open-blog, group closed
• Becoming a club- “undermining our street cred”
• Goals
• Blog
  

Ideas to Reflect Upon:

1. Why is it that the pain of people of color is looked at in certain ways- when our bodies are in that space, how we are viewed, and how that is looked at and put on display?
2. The separation of issues- disconnect between what the dominant culture recognizes as oppression through the readings, but not connecting it with the real world, therefore the problem is about “us” without any accountability to their own action.

Official Club Status:

1. Email S. to ask to become our advisor.
2. Recognizing the problem of “official-izing,” losing our street cred as an organization for radical women of color—but buying into the model for now to better reach young women of color—becoming known
3. Submitting origin story versus constitution—if that fails, then submit constitution—trying to undermine the process.
   

Goals:

1. Creating a space on the UWB campus that allows female graduate students of color to network.
2. Creating a graduate-undergraduate mentorship program
3. Discuss current issues that graduate students of color, particularly women of color, face in the academia
4. Sharing different growing experiences
5. Solidarity
6. Recognizes ways in which oppression manifests within the classroom
7. Safe space
8. Having an outlet to share those experience and gain further insight- get advice for dealing with such issues from peers/mentors
9. Collaborate between programs and among campuses
   

Process for Becoming a Known Collaborative Space on Campus:

1. Became an “official” club--list of goals, mission, partnerships, course of action, faculty advisor, status as a club
2. Send information to programs for inclusion in newsletters for fall
3. Pick date of first event- welcoming new grad students of color- Friday Oct 8- doing it on campus for space- happy hour
4. Promotions:
   

• Send announcement to ASUWB president
• Graduate programs ie send to Leslie equivalent
• UW Diversity and Recruiting
  

To Do:

• Blog article
• Origin story
• Class assignment, who did what—participants list
• Meeting times, dates
  

In Remembrance of Ronald Takaki

Posted by Priya

One year ago this week, we lost one of the pioneers of multicultural studies in this country, Ronald Takaki. Known as an academic, historian, ethnographer, and author, Takaki’s work included texts such as A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, A Pro-Slavery Crusade: the Agitation to Reopen the African Slave, Iron Cages: race and culture in 19th century America, and India in the West: South Asians in America.

In 1972, Takaki began teach at Berkeley, where he is largely credited for the development of an undergraduate ethnic studies major and an ethnic studies Ph.D. program. For the next 30 years he continued to be an important contributor in the growth of the Berkeley program and was involved in developing the school's multicultural requirement for graduation. Takaki retired from Berkeley in 2004 and after a 20 year battle with multiple sclerosis, ended his own life on May 26, 2009.

I was first introduced to Takaki through his book A Different Mirror as a freshman at Shoreline Community College in my Multicultural Studies class. Up to that point, my experience in understanding the “the people’s history” was pretty limited, apart from watching the “Eyes on the Prize” series in a high school history class. Reading it was the first time I felt like my people were being acknowledged as a part of history, and it gave me a sense of importance and pride in my own ethnic identity. Takaki’s book opened me up to understanding ALL of our contributions to this country, apart from the stories told in history textbooks that left out so many of “us.” I had the privilege to meet Dr. Takaki later that year when he came as a guest speaker to the college, and he signed my copy of A Different Mirror. Several years later I graduated from UW as an American Ethnic Studies major and reading this book inspires my continued passion for the study of power and culture relations in the US. Reflecting on Takaki and his tireless efforts to implement ethnic studies programs within university establishments, I can’t help but think about the Arizona bill targeting ethnic studies courses in the Tucson public school system. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Horne, argues that ethnic studies classes teach children that they are oppressed and that they should resent a particular race. At the end of A Different Mirror, Takaki, referencing the title of the book, addresses the impact of ethnic studies and perhaps provides some insight as to his response if he were still with us today:

“To become visible is to see ourselves and each other through a different mirror of history. As Audre Lorde pointed out, ‘ It is a waste of time hating a mirror or its reflection instead of stopping the hand that makes glass distortions.’ By viewing ourselves in a mirror which reflects reality, we can see our past as undistorted and no longer have to peer into our future through a glass darkly.”(P 426)

Arizona- Everyone’s Injustice

Posted by Priya

Today I was privileged to participate in making my voice heard on main campus during a demonstration in Red Square. Organized by the UW chapter of MECHA, a few hundred students gathered to oppose the myriad of racist Arizona initiatives and spread awareness about the effects these laws have on all of us. Some of the phrases being chanted included "education not deportation," "Si Se Puede" and "Mr. Obama, please don't deport my mama!" The location of the protest was appropriate, as not only is Red Square one of the most frequented areas on campus, it is also right outside of UW President Mark Emmert's office. Armed with megaphones, a diverse group of speakers, including students, Seattle Public School teachers, and UW employees provided words of inspiration, rage, and passion. The crowd consisted of a sea of mostly brown faces, an uncommon occurrence on a campus where Caucasians make up 50% of the undergraduate student population, and even more of a percentage when graduate students, staff and faculty are taken into account. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) this population was largely missing from the demonstration. The president of the UW Black Student Union chapter spoke at the march, representing BSU's support and showing solidarity for both the cause and MECHA. She summed it up when she quoted Dr King during her speech: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

This is exactly why everyone should be concerned with what is happening in Arizona, because it is a reflection on all of us, whether we fit the targeted description of "illegal" or not. We can't just think about this as someone else's problem, and breathe a sigh of relief because this time the group we identify with has been overlooked- we must realize that our group could be next. As UW African American Studies professor John Walters used to say in his classes, the success of the civil rights movement could not have achieved the success it did without the participation of "good black people, good brown people and good white people…" I am reminded of white participants such as Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner who were murdered in Mississippi in 1964 while registering black voters during Freedom Summer. Just because I am not of Latin descent doesn’t make me feel any more disconnected to this issue. This is my issue, because when my friends or family or colleagues or cohort are targeted, then I am as well. When I stood there in Red Square today, amongst a predominantly Latin population, I did not feel like an outsider because our outrage and desperation to do something and make our voices be heard was a commonality that bonded us. And in that brief moment, I actually felt connected to a UW campus community for once.

Photos courtesy of MEChA de UW:

Notes from Initial Meeting

Posted by Priya

This meeting was held on Tuesday, May 20, 2010 from approximately 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. in Bothell, Washington.

Hey Ladies,

It was awesome to get together last night and brainstorm on our collaboration project.

Here are the ideas we came up with:

• Identity Forum/Forums that we each come up with and start the conversation, and each of us come in with our thoughts (Perhaps on Blackboard)

• Blackboard/ Blog

• Issues of skin tone

• Resources: cultural events, volunteer opps, Bothell “to do’s”

• Dinner/meet and greet- possibly quarterly

• Family event

• Collaboration with UW-Seattle on events- cross campus collaborations

• Critical reading dialogue

• Peer reviews- for capstones and other pieces

• Quarterly meetings/outings

• Values section

• Include in the values-“this stays in the room”