Purdue News

February 5, 1999 Play at Purdue pairs social issues with blues tunes WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The Purdue University Black Cultural Center will present the play "Blues Women Don't Wear No Shoes" on Tuesday, Feb. 16, as part of the 1999 BCC Spring Cultural Arts Series. The 7 p.m. show in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center, is free. The one-woman play written and performed by Reanae McNeal, from Imani Revelation production company in Erie, Ill., follows the lives of six black women who address social issues such as racism, sexism, homelessness, AIDS and domestic violence. Blues songs are used as a form of communication as the women attempt to come to grips with their past, their present and their futures. The playwright has been described as "very powerful and creative" by Njoki Kamau of Northwestern University's Women's Center. Ohio Wesleyan philosophy Professor Carol Powers says "There is an extraordinary sense of fairness and justice in Reanae's message that cuts across the margins of oppression and offers hope to all women and other oppressed groups." CONTACT: Renee Thomas, Black Cultural Center director, (765) 494-3091; e-mail, rathomas@hfs.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page