From the Director: Daniel J. Bryant
Director Daniel J. Bryant
Water is a complicated element.
It heals, destroys, rescues, erases.
It drowns. It saves.
It holds memory. It washes away pain.
–Christina Anderson
Black people’s relationship to water is also complicated. In fact, there is a well-known myth, or some variation of it: “Black people are afraid of water” or “Black folx don’t know how to swim.”
Remnants of this myth still exist, despite the fact that water is and has always been inherent in our spiritual practices — the essence of life, a place of renewal for baptism, honored and personified in the deity Oshun, the River Goddess of Love and Beauty, or Ocean Goddess Yemaya, known as Mother Earth, the life giver in the Yuraba tradition.
But, just as Black folx have held a sacred space for water, there is also the trauma Black Americans hold of it — the trauma remembered in their DNA of their very humanity being snatched from them as they were shackled and forced on a long, treacherous journey across dark oceans into 400 years of slavery. Even then, rather than endure the evil of those diabolical times, thousands of Black people looked to water as a haven, choosing to give up their life to Yemaya, by jumping off of slave ships into the depths of the ocean, in order to keep their humanity.
In the ripple, the wave that carried me home, Janice is coming to terms with her legacy to water, her political inheritance, and the trauma of growing up as a child of civil rights activists in a questionable post-slavery era — when this country denied Black and Brown folx access to the essential element of water in public spaces. And rather than dismantling integration and opening up public pools to everyone, community pools across the country were permanently closed, many even still to this day.
This poignant story offers a powerful return to the water and takes us on the incredibly personal journey of finding strength, freedom, and joy through forgiveness.
More about the ripple, the wave that carried me home:
the ripple, the wave that carried me home Plot Summary
Spoiler alert! A brief overview of the ripple, the wave that carried me home.
Diving Deep: How Pool Segregation Sprung a Movement
Since the first public pool was opened in Boston in 1868, there have been strict regulations on who can and cannot share the water.
Segregation & Swimming Timeline in the United States
The history of swimming pool segregation in America is long and complicated. This feature highlights the major events between 1800 and 2022.
Kansas: A Background of the Play's Setting
Learn more about the development of the state of Kansas and the origin of Beacon, Kansas.
Rodney King, the L.A. Riots, and the Aftermath
Learn about who Rodney King is and the impact this incident sparked in 1991.
A Brief History of Police Violence
Police violence in America can be traced all the way back to the 1700s. Read more to learn about the progression and changes between the early 1700s and now.
Reviews of the ripple, the wave that carried me home
"A poignant, transporting, and quietly subversive story of racial justice, political legacy, and family forgiveness." –TheaterMania
the ripple, the wave that carried me home Reading List
Calling all readers! Multnomah County Library put together a reading list inspired by our production of the ripple, the wave that carried me home.
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