This collection will challenge the reader as well as the performer. In our present America African American boys and men are often criminalized. When this happens from a distant there are young black boys in search for their heroes. The men that look like them, live like them and can teach them how to not only be men but be strong black men. In this collection we tell three different stories of the search for black superheroes. Looking for My Superhero deals with a young boy who finds his heroes in the toys he plays with while remembering the father that he once had who walked away from him. He then realizes that his hero can live in his mother as well. To Older/ Wiser where we see a teenage boys’ attempt to speak about is hero. It forces him to actually look. He finds his heroes in the comic books he read and expands to the African American history he knows. Lastly, we have Black Men Run which addresses a teenage boys reality of what the world would look like if black men were in charge. A historical reminder that leaders are bread and born in all races and we can definitely thrive and see the world differently no matter who is in charge. A strong, heartfelt and emotional collection that will make the audience stop, listen and search their hearts for what is really true in life.
PO- African American Boys Looking for Their Superheroes
Looking for My Superhero
Early Saturday morning cartoons
Thirty minutes flying by like The Jetsons
The Power Rangers
He Man
Batman and Robin
G.I. Joe
My daddy always said, “Son there are no real superheroes but the ones from back in my day are the best you’re gonna get.”
He said this as he walked away
On his way to a place that wasn’t work because he never paid the bills
A place where the drugs he bought made him happier than I ever did
With an Army toy in one hand and a Transformer truck in the other I asked,
“None of you have father’s and you turned out okay. I want a father…but if I can’t have a father I want a superhero.”
The toys never talked back
He never came back
In my younger years that caused great disappointment
Speaking and not being spoken too
Talking and no one listening
It seemed to imitate my life
“Daddy”
Silence
“Daddy I’m home from school.”
More silence
“Daddy, Mommy said if I’m a good boy we can come and visit you, what is the County Jail?”
So much silence the toys I slept with at night wouldn’t even talk to me.