Play shows different side of American history

If Bessie Delany was still alive, she would likely be shocked.

More than 100 years old when she died, Delany never saw Barack Obama get elected – an event she once said wouldn’t happen for a thousand years.

Even though Delany died in 1995, she and her sisters’ story lives on in theaters around the country in the play “Having Our Say.”

The Cardinal Stage Company chose “Having Our Say” to kick off the new year long before Obama was elected president.

“We thought it would be a great coincidence and a lovely bit of serendipity if the stars aligned on this,” Artistic Director Randy White said.

“Having Our Say” is set as an intimate conversation between the audience and Bessie and Sadie Delany during their elderly years.

Based on their autobiography, the play serves as an oral history of women’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, all the way from the post-Civil War era to the 1990s.

Former IU professor Gladys DeVane portrayed Bessie Delany in the production. DeVane said the play retold history from a perspective not usually found in textbooks.

“This is a part of our history that history doesn’t teach us about,” DeVane said. “There were strong, viable families with strong black men that taught their children values and morals. This isn’t our history as in black history; it’s our history as in American history.”  

DeVane’s character is outgoing, vocal and sometimes a little brash, she said, but she said she doesn’t worry about some of Bessie’s more colorful lines.

DeVane said the balance between Sadie Delany, played by Mijiza Soyini, who is originally from Indianapolis, and Bessie Delany gave the audience a real perspective between two people.

While Bessie is aggressive, Sadie is more inclined to use the system. DeVane said Obama’s election broke the ceiling that many felt was over black americans.

“I think – no, I know – that this is a signal that anyone can be whatever they want to be in this country,” DeVane said.

The presence of a predominantly white audience also shows how things have changed since the Delany sisters’ youth.

“You don’t learn unless you make yourself uncomfortable,” DeVane said, referencing the sometimes awkward process of getting to know someone
else’s culture.

In some ways, it’s more important for people who are not black to see plays like this because it breaks the stereotypes they might have about black families, DeVane said.

“I think if the Delany sisters were alive today, they would shout with happiness,” DeVane said. “But they would temper it by saying we still have a long way to go.”