I’ve never felt more acutely aware of leaving one year behind, and moving into the next. I’m very proud of getting the play up and running. It still reverberates in me on a daily basis. What it said about me, about coming-of-age mentally and physically, about the loss of Charles and about the transcendence of moving forward as a person in a different category. It registers as an achievement, even though it hasn’t brought me a Pulitzer Prize, just yet. Never did I think I could learn 20-plus pages of script. It’s a daunting task. I spent countless moments going over lines, moments and transitions. I had to find my rhythm and be comfortable with it. It took me to awkward places. It took me to want to constantly revise. But finally, I had the script in the right place for me. Below, I’ve included a few excerpts from the play. And if you scroll alllllllll the way down, you can see the entire performance.

“I’m a B-Side Man”

Because of my very busy summer I’m setting sail away from the New Day Campaign.  I was an Advisory Board member, band even though New Day is positioned to become a non-profit force, I can’t commit to the time it takes. For 2017, my free time has to be first and foremost. Selfish? Who cares? It’s where I am right now. New Project? Can’t see it. New initiative? Still can’t see it. 

“College in Vermont”

No arts-related items are on my immediate calendar, and it’ll probably stay that way for a good while. If I just ride my bike and read a few new books, I’ll be as happy as Mary’s Little Lamb.

“Dancing in Iowa”

And finally, if you’re feeling inspired, below is the entire play. When I first viewed it I thought, well maybe someone younger would do a better job, but the more I watched the more I realized NOOOOOOO, I’m at the right age for this. I made a conscious choice not to add images or more props. I thought an audience would be willing to take a 60 minute journey with a “mature” african-american male, regardless of how open, sarcastic, painful and somewhat non-traditional that journey is.

Entire “B-Side Man” Performance