Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine NK LCM February 2018 Anniversary Issue | Page 50

Ship Ahoy
The opening scene from the
O’Jays Venue concert in Indiana
was the visual depiction of a song
from the album of the same name,
Ship Ahoy. Actually, they had
two openings. First, smoke/fog
floated upward and around the
stage, and this haunting music
echoed setting the stage for the
images that were displayed on
the screen. Stark and unsettling
images of the Negro, Colored,
African American-Black
experience as African captives,
the Middle Passage, and brutal
effects of the Atlantic Slave Trade.
The song ushered in a crescendo
of waves crashing against the hull
of a ship and the cracking sounds
of a whip flaying open the flesh
of our ancestors. The entire
scene before the trio swept onto
the stage, was nothing short of
disturbing. It brought to mind
The Coming by Daniel Black in
its intense interpretation of The
Middle Passage—a part of history
that rarely is told or understood.
Professor Black stated in a reading
at a Chicago gallery, that the
reenactment of The Coming sent
patrons running from the theatre
because the pain, agony, and
reality portrayed by the actors was
too much for them to absorb and
process.
images from the Civil Rights Portion of the Ship Ahoy Performance
50 | NKLC Magazine