• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Sunday, October 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
      • Photo of the Week
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Notices
      • Legals
      • Announcements
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Shá Cage brings the story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly to Park Square Theatre

by MSR News Online
November 7, 2013
8
SHARES
158
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

By Dwight Hobbes

Contributing Writer

 

Shá Cage has emerged as one of the Twin Cities’ most powerful proponents for strengthening the image and celebrating the hearts and souls of Black women.

The accomplished actor, performance artist and spoken-wordsmith began this initiative in the late ‘90s, co-founding the still regrettably unsung MaMA mOsAiC, Minnesota’s first ensemble of color projecting women’s consciousness. Cage reflects, in an MSR interview of few years back, “Signe Harriday, Jeany Park and I founded [it], which was the beginning of my professional career as one who creates theatre for, by and about women and aimed at employing women behind the scenes.”

- ADVERTISEMENT -
Shà Cage (middle) plays Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly in the Park Square Theatre production of Mary T. & Lizzy K. Photo courtesy of Park Square Theatre
Shà Cage (middle) plays Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly in the
Park Square Theatre production of Mary T. & Lizzy K.
Photo courtesy of Park Square Theatre

These days, lauded by no less a personage than Cornel West as “inspiring and evocative,” there is nothing unsung about anything she does from projecting consciousness to heading up the internationally renowned Minnesota Spoken Word Association with husband e.g. bailey, a venerated artist in his own right; to acting at prestigious venues like Mixed Blood Theatre, Intermedia Arts and, currently, Park Square, where she continues her commitment in the cast of Tazewell Thompson’s Mary T. & Lizzy K.

Mary T. & Lizzy K. looks at the friendship between Abraham Lincoln’s wife and her seamstress, Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly, a freed slave who, it turns out, did a great deal more in life than put pretty clothes on Mary Todd Lincoln. Shá Cage plays Elizabeth Keckly.

Asked what she finds most rewarding about portraying Keckly, she says, “I appreciate that this plays makes room for [her] story to be told. Of course, there are all these incredible people in history, particularly African Americans, that played a significant role and were worthy of being known, but very few are. She was one of those individuals very few know about.”

True enough, if the books were more forthcoming about American history there’d be a considerably less pressing need to unearth African American history. “She was a designer of fashion extraordinaire and made these amazing gowns for many of the elite in Washington, D.C.,” which included the wives of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis.

Importantly, she did not forget where she came from. Keckly had purchased her freedom and that of her son. “She helped slaves who had recently come to D.C., helped them integrate into life, get their certificate [of freedom].

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“She taught young girls how to sew and took on many apprentices to give them a skill to make a living with, which is something her mother gave her.”

Among her most prominent contributions was the founding of the Contraband Relief Association. The CRA provided food, shelter and clothing to newly freed slaves, empowering a general movement toward Black autonomy. A networking godsend, it helped to place African American teachers in Blacks schools and was a boon to Union soldiers, helping the sick and wounded recover.

The organization utilized that age-old community cornerstone, the Black church, for fund-raising gatherings. Among them were the Twelfth Baptist Church, Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Israel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Siloam Presbyterian Church, with the vocal support of such leaders as Frederick Douglass, J. Sella Martin and Wendell Phillips. “[Elizabeth Keckly] helped women see they had a role in life,” Cage sums up, “that could be self-generated.”

With Shà Cage in Mary T. & Lizzy K. are five-time Emmy nominee Linda Kelsey, Stephen D’Ambrose and Nike Kadri, directed by Richard Cook.

 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Mary T. & Lizzy K. runs through November 10 at Park Square Theatre. For more information, call 651-291-7005 or go to www.parksquaretheatre.org.

Dwight Hobbes welcomes reader responses to P.O. Box 50357, Mpls., 55403. 

 

To see more stories by Dwight Hobbes stories click HERE

- ADVERTISEMENT -

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

THis Week’s Editorial Cartoon

Next Post

Entrepreneur creates dentures with special appeal to people of color

MSR News Online

Reach the MSR staff at msrnewsonline@spokesman-recorder.com.

You Might Also Like

Prosecutors charge Nevada man for the murder of Tupac Shakur
Arts & Culture

Prosecutors charge Nevada man for the murder of Tupac Shakur

Black Business Spotlight: Syndicate Music Group
Black Business Spotlight

Black Business Spotlight: Syndicate Music Group

Concerns mount over ‘extreme’ school board candidates in Minnesota
Local

Concerns mount over ‘extreme’ school board candidates in Minnesota

Don’t forget to check your blood pressure
Health & Wellness

Don’t forget to check your blood pressure

Wanted: Younger workforce ready to learn about climate jobs
Go Green

Wanted: Younger workforce ready to learn about climate jobs

Gopher tennis coach rebuilds a competitive team
Sports

Gopher tennis coach rebuilds a competitive team

Next Post

Entrepreneur creates dentures with special appeal to people of color

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Sep 12
September 12 @ 6:30 pm-December 18 @ 9:30 pm Recurring

Vic Volare Presents MUSIC FOR MARTINIS ft: Vic’s Fabulous Nightclub Academy

Oct 3
October 3 @ 8:30 am-October 4 @ 5:30 pm

Insects: Little Body, Big Impact | Nobel Conference 59 | Virtual or In-Person

Oct 4
6:00 pm-8:00 pm

An Evening with Liz Cheney

Oct 5
8:00 pm-10:00 pm Recurring

Dianne McIntrye Group In the Same Tongue

View Calendar
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • Women’s Wellness
      • Parenting Today
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: