Interview with JACK MORGAN
“How did you get mixed up with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon?” I asked DiGiovanni.
(Laughs) “I think I met Matt when I was about 12 and Ben when we started high school together,” DiGiovanni told me. “And we did theater—we had a very wonderful theater program at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. And these two guys are such wonderful human beings.”
A year ago, DiGiovanni first produced this one-woman show for a Master of Fine Arts degree thesis performance.
“Ben came and saw my thesis performance and just said afterwards ‘I think this is really great and important and I’d like to help you get it to a wider audience.’”
Matt Damon also saw it and agreed with his friend. Thus DiGiovanni’s tour was conceived. So exactly what is One Drop of Love? It’s talking about one of this country’s most difficult subjects: race.
“I never know what kinds of experiences the people in the audience have had with race and racism,” DiGiovanni explains.
The whole show revolves around this premise.
“I start off the show as the character from a 1790 census, on which there were only three racial categories.”
In her show, she goes around her audience, linking audience members to one of those racial categories.
Walking through an audience, she names them: “Okay, white…black…mulatto…Chinese? Yes, hello…quadroon…no, I see you! An Indian…”
It’s one part history, one part performance art.
“There are people who look at me and shake their head and say ‘no, that’s not what I am!’ Which is very much the point, because that’s how the census was counted until 1970. A census worker would just go around and guess the race of the person they were looking at.”
She says race, in a sense, isn’t even real.
“We know from the human genome project that it is not in our genetics; it cannot be identified in that sense. However, since the idea of race was created in this country, we have all become to believe in it as strong as we believe in religion, as strong as we believe in those we love, We’re past the point of teaching it to one another and we’re at the point of accepting it as part of our daily lives. And that’s what I’m asking people to re-consider.”
So that is her premise: That race really doesn’t exist. It was created for commerce.
“It was for profit, it was for power,” she adds emphatically.
If this is beginning to sound a little too serious, you should note this:
“It’s a very funny show. There are many light moments.”
Ms. Cox DiGiovanni speaks in many voices during the show. Her own family had a several-year schism with ethnicity at its cause. When Giovanni accepted a marriage proposal from a European, her black father rejected her. But just last year her fractured family mended.
“If I can end up reconciling with my father then we all can. There is hope for us all [laughs].”
I asked: “We don’t all have to be stupid forever—is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes! I like that! (laughs) We don’t! We don’t all have to be stupid forever!”
DiGiovanni’s lineage is decidedly mixed, as really are most of us, whether we know it or not. But with that as backdrop, here’s something to ponder:
“If we’re still talking about race, we haven’t gotten rid of racism,” DiGiovanni says.
Hi Fanshen,
I saw your show One Drop of Love this evening (1/31/2015) in Cambridge, MA. Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed it! The show was really engaging and for me, personally, it tapped into memories I haven’t thought of in a while, as a former Pilot school student (class of 73) growing up in Cambridge in the 60s and 70. I was particularly drawn into the personal stories you tell and the emotional connections with the people in your life. The show was fantastic. With regard to the Q&A, I thought it started well, but there was an undercurrent of anger with regard to some topics (for example, attack on capitalism) that took away from the uplifting nature of your show. I may be a bit naïve in looking at the tremendous progress I think has been made over the last 40 years in many respects (still have a way to go). I would think ideally we would like to live in a world where differences are valued and we wouldn’t have to carry so much baggage with us that puts distance between us. What I really wanted to hear at the end was more about kindness and forgiveness; generosity and community. What common experiences do we have that bring us together versus all the differences that set us apart? Anyway, in your blog you asked for thoughts, and this is what comes to mind right now. Thanks again for an enjoyable evening. Wishing you all the best and much success. Best regards, Paul
Paul – thanks so much for coming to the show, supporting the Kimbrough Scholars Program, and for continuing the conversation afterwards – which is exactly what I hope to have happen! I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. Here’s where I am about this for the moment: I’m very deliberate about the order of the final words of the show: peace, justice and THEN, perhaps, even one drop of love. I agree that peace, kindness, community and love can get us far, but I don’t expect those who have been harmed by oppressive systems (racism, classism, ableism…) to be the ones who have to lead in this. I think they are constantly hoping for a little more kindness and love shown to them, but rarely get it – and instead are often told (not that this is what you’re saying) “You should be more kind to others and forget about our differences.” I think it’s on those of us who enjoy privileges they don’t to do the hard work of being kind, countering hegemonic ideas and being compassionate even when they may choose to separate themselves from us, point out our differences from them, and even treat us in hurtful ways. I believe once our strong commitment to loving them and their being treated the same as everyone else is felt – THEN we can talk about what unites us more than divides us. What do you think?