Let's Not Forget Alice Childress

The 10/10/11 issue of The New Yorker includes a review article, "Black and Blue," that reminds us about the African-American playwright and novelist Alice Childress. Her plays include "Florence" (1949), "Wedding Band" (1966), and "Wine in the Wilderness" (1969). The occasion for this New Yorker article is the current Washington, D.C. revival of Childress' 1955 play, "Trouble in Mind," about black actors who are trapped playing limited stereotypical roles such as the "mammy" role. As the author of this article, Hilton Als, states, "Anyone who has spent time around black performers knows that little has changed, except that now they're less likely to play maids than misunderstood prostitutes or thugs." Yet the main character in "Trouble," Wiletta, wants to be an actress, keeps going, and never backs down despite all the obstacles she encounters. Childress herself started as an actress, and in 1925 was nominated for a Tony for Best Supporting Actress. But "she found little dramatic material that represented the lives of black women she knew, so she began writing it herself" (Als). Some readers may also remember Childress' successful 1973 young-adult novel, "A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich," which is set in Harlem and is "a merciless yet compassionate examination of how the world has failed a thirteen-year-old heroin addict named Benjie" (Als). This strong woman, this gifted writer, Alice Childress, who died in 1994, should not be forgotten. Let's hope that the current revival of "Trouble in Mind," along with this Hilton Als article, will help to keep her memory and reputation alive.