Destiny's Daughters
9 Voices of P. J. Gibson
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
MASON
I gotta tell you... The more we speak on this, and the worse she gets, the more sick I become about all of this. Now from the time the Pinchbacks bought my family together to the time Lincoln signed that proclamation, I've been proud to be a Black man in this country. My father died a Black man in a Black man's skin, dark skin. And he was proud to be a Black man. And when my Mother died, light as her white skin was, she died proud to be a Black woman. And I tell you right now, I'll be damned if the blood of my blood is gonna live under my roof, eat from my plate, sleep in the bed I made for her, wear the clothes I place on her back and point her narrow nose up at her people, my people-- in contempt. I won't have it. She's a Black woman, light she may be, but she's not bright enough to look down on a man because his skin's too dark. I tell you, I have half the mind to...
REGINIA (Worried.)
What you thinking on Mason?
MASON
I'm thinking.
REGINIA
I know you're thinking Mason. It's what you're thinking on that's got me...
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN (To REGINIA.)
Sometimes we have to think on the greater good Reginia.
REGINIA
Now don't go talking in riddles Mother. I come from the same cloth as you. I know what's been
foretold, and I know God only blessed us with one mixed up child to see us through to this responsibility. I know this, but...
(To MASON.)
We can't be rash with our actions. Too much rides on the results. Now, mind you I know Filbert's a hard working man. Though he's a good man, he's simple. Filbert's not the man we need to... Mason, just because he's a good Black man doesn't mean he's a suitable Black man.
MASON
Who is suitable? What Black man is ever going to be suitable for Octavia? I'm through playing with her. She's getting old. We're getting old. This whole thing is getting old. When I married you, Regina...
(To GRAND ANNIE ALLEN.)
You, Mother Allen, told me of my responsibility. Now I'm going to do what I have to do.
REGINIA
What are you going to do? Who else are you going find? The decent ones are married or they've left town.
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN
He can go to Tinson.
Both MASON and REGINIA turn to GRAND ANNIE ALLEN as in disbelief.
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN
What?...
REGINIA
Tinson, Mother?...
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN
What's wrong with Tinson?
MASON. (To GRAND ANNIE ALLEN.)
What kind of men in Tinson would you want with our...
REGINIA
Can't hardly a soul in Tinson read a lick of a line.
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN
Now just you hold on Reginia Olivia Allen. I am truly appalled to hear such words escape your lips. Did you come outta my womb reading? Did you come onto this earth graced with this etiquette and charm you're so proud of?
(To MASON.)
If the Pinchbacks hadn't found God, bought your father, bought your mother, bought you and treated you like people, humans, who do you think you'd be? You'd be like many a man over in Tinson and a few other places, free but lacking in a few formidable skills like: being able to read, write, sign your name, work figures, run your own lumber mill and tinker in inventions. How came you by this good fortune? Did the skies open up and spill opportunity on you, or was it by
the grace of the goodness in some one body's heart and soul that you're not like the men in Tinson?
(To REGINIA and MASON.)
Now I know our Octavia's like something we could never have imagined, but we cannot let her infect us with a sickness we can't cure. Too much is riding on us. We owe too much to too many who came before us.
(To REGINIA.)
If a man can't read, teach him. Somebody taught you. I was there watching you learn one letter and word after another.
(To MASON.)
If a man ain't got a skill, lead him to one. If he needs a little helpin' hand to get a dream up off the ground, lend him a dollar. We do not come from a people who shun our own.
(To REGINIA.)
How can we ask an unknown generation, somewhere far down the line, in a future we'll never see to have the courage and fortitude to do what we can't, right in the here and now?
(To REGINIA and MASON.)
Now, I'm not saying anymore on this,... for the moment. I'm leaving open the door just in case I remember something I've forgotten. If it need be, I'll revisit this here discussion, because this has stirred up some deep, deep rooted concerns.
(To REGINIA.)
You understand?
REGINIA
Yes Mother.
GRAND ANNIE ALLEN
So, I think I'll take me a square of Sister Wiggin's sugar walnuts and leave you two to think on
who we are, what Octavia has become and them men folk over in Tinson.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Gibson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in Washington, D.C. and Trenton, New Jersey. An avid traveler, it is the world from which she draws her fodder, having traveled extensively in Africa, Europe and Mexico. She, holds a M.F.A in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University and a B.A. in Drama, Religion and English from Keuka College. To date she has written over thirty plays. Widely produced, her plays have been presented throughout the United States, Europe and Africa. Gibson has numerous poems and short stories to her credit. She has been the recipient of many honors including: the Bushfire Theatre of Performing Arts Seventh Annual "Walk of Fame" where her signature and hand print is imprinted in their Sidewalk of Fame; a Shubert Fellowship; a playwriting grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; two prestigious Audelco Awards; two PSC-CUNY Research Award grants and six playwriting commissions. In addition to her writing Ms. Gibson is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. She has taught eleven years at the University of California at Berkeley, and a Black Theatre graduate course at the Levin Theatre - Douglass College campus, Rutgers University. She has also been an Artist In Residence at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She holds a Proclamation from the city of Trenton, New Jersey and a Key To The City from Indianapolis, Indiana. Other published works include: Long Time Since Yesterday, Samuel French publisher, which also appears in the anthology Black Thunder; Brown Silk and Magenta Sunsets in the anthology 9 Plays By Black Women, New American Library publisher, and "Konvergence" appearing in the New Plays For The Black Theatre anthology, Third World Press. Excerpts from My Mark, My Name appears in the Applause Theatre Books anthology Voices of Color. Her poetry appears in the Long Journey Home anthology, Meta Press and Erotique Noir - Black Erotica anthology, Doubleday publisher.
About the Author
Destiny’s Daughters – Voices of P.J. Gibson is a must have, for all serious connoisseurs of quality theatre and exceptional writing. Black Theatre has given many commanding voices to the America stage; Gibson is an exceptional voice. The nine plays included in this rich collection is a sampling of the powerful and varied voices of Gibson. She brings to the American stage a richness, exemplified in her characters; compelling, poetic language; and kaleidoscope of plots. Illustrated in the period dramas Deep Roots and My Mark, My Name, Gibson not only deals with the intricacy of layered characters, but she also addresses plots true to the historical period from which the characters are drawn. Her dramas Annie Maye’s Child and Unveilings delve into the psychology of selfishness, exposing characters who act without remorse, or commit horrid acts because of their duty to a predestined mission.
Actors, directors, and scholars have long known the impact of her voice. Gibson moves beyond the cliché. Her skill and vision bleeds through in the strength of her craft. A true student of the theatre, Gibson’s works are rich in the range of their storytelling, not limited to style. Moving about her palette of words, she writes choosing from a wide spectrum of colors, ideas, characters and plots which delve deeply into the psychological and sociological consequences of choice. Disclosure of secrets is a theme which weaves itself through this collection, masterfully drawn by the pen from which she writes. Her plays, which have been produced throughout the United States, are greatly used in college and university curricula, devoured in a host of acting scene classes and selected for the power of her monologues by many actors for audition purposes. Monologues abound in this anthology.
Gibson writes about women: strong, powerful, vulnerable, delusional women. She confronts controversial subjects head on, with no apology, as seen in the abuse theme based Masks, Circles: Healing the Pain and the contentious choices made by women in the Ancestor Trilogy. She also writes with a lighter and sensuous pen, as noted in the One Act "The Other Side of the Passion Curtain" where, through the theme of innocence, character is used to expose the consequences rooted in the seductive wake of heated desire.
Since the publication of Long Time Since Yesterday, Brown Silk and Magenta Sunsets, and "Konvergence", Gibson has been frequently asked -- "When will there be more published plays?" The time has come. For those who have come to love and admire the power of Gibson’s voice – Destiny’s Daughters – Voices of P.J. Gibson has arrived.
When this new anthology by P.J. Gibson arrives in bookstores, black theatres, black studies departments, and community theatres across America will rejoice. I know I will! Gibson is a major voice in black theatre in particular and American theatre in general.
Woodie King J.
Producing Director
New Federal Theatre
Destiny’s Daughters contains P.J. Gibson’s work alone, and it is a treasure trove of lessons for life, artfully presented. Indeed, this rich and varied collection makes the playwright’s voice a welcome one to letters.
Joan E. Hepburn, PhD
English Department
St. Olaf College
P.J. Gibson writes of women with a passion and clarity that mesmerizes.
Gloria Naylor
Author