The public acts of Dr. King you know. They are visible all around you... You know of the prizes and awards that he tended to think very little of. And you know of his concern for the disinherited: the American Indian, the Mexican-American, and the poor American white—for whom he cared much.

But add to all of these things the one thing that seems to me second to none in importance: He gave us back our heritage. He gave us back our homeland; the bones and dust of our ancestors, who may now sleep within our caring and our hearing. He gave us the blueness of the Georgia sky in autumn as in summer; the colors of the Southern winter as well as glimpses of the green of vacation-time spring. Those of our relatives we used to invite for a visit we now can ask to stay….He gave us full-time use of our own woods, and restored our memories to those of us who were forced to run away, as realities we might each day enjoy and leave for our children. He gave us continuity of place, without which community is ephemeral. He gave us home."

Alice Walker, 1973

• We help Black Americans discover connections to stolen land through research, data, and technology.

• We help families and descendants reclaim stolen land and secure restitution through traditional advocacy and digital amplification.

• We educate the public about the hidden history of Black land theft by whites through partnerships, content, and programming.

-E. Patrick Johnson, “Black Performance Studies: Genealogies, Politics, Futures”

1.Discard Linear Structure 

There is no beginning, middle and end. Time is experienced cyclically. 

2. Song and Dance 

Music, rhythm and movement are 

important aspects in Black Ritual. 

3. Use Repetition to Increase Emotional Intensity 

Repetition is an ancient method to aid in total spiritual involvement. 

4. Audience Participation 

Unlike traditional European performances, the fourth wall is blurred and the audience is expected to engage. 

5. Call and Response 

Used to build participation and repetition.

6. Liminal Space 

There is no hierarchy once ritual has begun. 

7. Celebrate Community 

Black Ritual Theatre is never about one person.

8. Achieve Transformation 

The ritual should transform its participants. 

Sources: "The Ritual Process" by Victor Turner, "Ritual Drama in the Contemporary Black Theatre" by Carlton Molette, “Black Performance Studies: Genealogies, Politics, Futures” by E. Patrick Johnson,

This text was written by and belongs to Lindsay A. Jenkins

These elements suited Teer, as she declared that in her theatre audience and performers would have the same electrifying experiences that she had witnessed in the Pentecostal churches of Harlem.

Young, Harvey. Embodying Black Experience (Theater: Theory/Text/Performance) (p. 5). University of Michigan Press. Kindle Edition. 

In 1878, an intrepid group of people from Louisiana — newly emancipated from slavery — traveled to Texas seeking a place to settle. Together, they bought a parcel of land and built a homestead. They wanted to provide financial security and opportunity for themselves, and for their descendants. At its peak, Sandbranch — the only unincorporated settlement in Dallas county, and its most impoverished area — was home to about 400 residents. Today, one hundred residents remain.