Heavenly Voices, a play birthed from the Mennonite Women of Color Oral History Project which tells the stories of 10 Mennonite women of color in their own words through the Ethnodrama theater filter, was a learning experience for me. While these women shared their stories from childhood through faith stories until late adulthood, I tried to understand their realities and add their stories into the collective story of all Mennonites in my mind. One of the main themes that struck me in each of their stories was the way their lives were filled with so much joy.
Coming into the play, I imagined I would hear of the hardship they each faced being women of color and even just being women in the Mennonite church, likely coming from other churches. There were times of hardship for all of them, but they didn't focus on this aspect over the course of the play. The focus was on the good times. Many of them said the faced very little racism in their lives but went on to talk about instances of racism later in their stories. The told of the Mennonite Church as well as other denominations of Christian churches helping them find peace and get their feet under them, not trying to bog them down or change them.
Maybe part of it is because they were already in Heaven, looking back on lives well lived, but each of the women told her story starting with beautiful parts of life, things she was thankful for, later told of the hardships, and ultimately came back to positive endings. They were joyful stories. They didn't tell of being outsiders in the Mennonite church (though many may well have felt like it at some point), but remembered quilting at the church with others and embracing their traditional songs and dances.
Those stories showed me that Mennonites overcome many different obstacles, not always including an immigration from Germany to Russia to The U.S. and struggling to overcome patriarchy in a small Kansas community, but maybe including drugs and poverty and racism and opposition to education or to their ethnic background. However, those stories also demonstrated how joyful and strong the lives of women could certainly be in spite of those obstacles from engaging in loving community and giving one's life to the Lord.
Kolton, your make an interesting observation when you point out the joy in this "ethnodrama." The portrayal of the women's faith is so down to earth and powerful. Can you imagine this as a play of stories told by traditional Mennonites of white European descent? How might the tone have been different? These stories bring a fresh perspective to the ways in which we experience faith, and a new definition of what it means to be a Mennonite.
ReplyDeleteKolton. I am so so glad that you made it to the play! In my time in this play, I have really heard feedback from white, Mennonite women, which I greatly greatly appreciate, but it is nice to hear a response from a male. Thank you for taking the time to reflect and contemplate on what you saw as well as what you learned through the words of these women!
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