Passing

Publisher Marketing: "Passing" is a one-woman play that has inspired audiences across the country to challenge traditional views about race in America. Based on the true story of the playwright's great-grandmother, it takes place in the 1940's, its timeless message of courage and love still resonate today. Minerva Roulhac was born at the turn of the century in the segregated south. She was orphaned as a child. Despite her Caucasian appearance, she was adopted by a former slave. She stayed in Marianna, Florida's black community while her brother, Jordon ran away from home and started a new life, "passing for white." Jordon's decision caused a painful divide between him and Minerva. After overcoming life-threatening obstacles, she found love with Robert Roulhac. Together, they raised eight college-educated children and stood against prejudice. Minerva lived to be nearly 100 years old and in this play, she imparts the wisdom that helped her survive everything from Jim Crow to the Great Depression. EXCERPT: I roomed with Emma Mae Thompson. She had silky auburn hair and gray eyes with little touches of blue. She dressed in the finest fashions and had a figure that the fellas went crazy for. Back then, I was mostly skin and bones. Chile, I didn't get these hips 'til after I had my babies. Her father owned one of the biggest insurance companies in Memphis. They were quite wealthy by colored folk's standards. When I introduced myself to Emma Mae, she took me in with those bright eyes of hers and said, "You could pass if you wanted to. There's no hope for me with these big ole lips, but you could pass." I made it clear that I wasn't interested in passing and that I considered myself a colored woman through and through. "Look at us, Minerva. Do you know that we can have any colored man we set our sights to? They all want to marry a pretty yellow woman with good hair. When I was in Europe, they thought I was white! For God's sake, there are Eye-talians darker than you!" I didn't even like looking in the mirror sometimes because it made me aware of what others saw. All those times I went to town and people thought that Mama Aggie was my maid... and the times white people stared at me while I sat in the colored section... and how my own people treated me better because I looked white... I tried not to think about the pain. But whenever it got to me, Mama Aggie would say, "There's nothing wrong with the way God made you." Contributor Bio:  Harper, Dara Dara Harper has been an artist and storyteller since the age of 7. She attended the Detroit High School for Fine and Performing Arts and graduated from the International Academy of Design & Technology in Chicago with a degree in Interactive Media. She won the Best African American Filmmaker Award at the 2000 Brooklyn Film Festival for her short film, "la Revolution." While residing in New York City, she became a member of the Harlem Writer's Guild. Her feature film, "Sweeter Without Sugar" was an official selection at the African American Women In Cinema Film Festival. Her debut play, "Passing" had a sold-out run Off-Broadway and was nominated for a 2009 AUDELCO Award. Her follow-up play "Shades Of War" was selected as a top pick by "The Village Voice," "Time Out New York," "Caribbean Life Newspaper," "The Michigan Citizen," "The Detroit News" and "The Detroit Free Press." "Grits & Grace" is her second novel, she also authored "Magic In Moon Time."