Uni Q. Mical performs a series of poems and monologues: "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back", "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?", and "Confessions of a Punk". These performances are excerpts from a poetic stage production, The State of Black Bodies (directed by Mona Webb & Dazie Grego). Unique co-wrote the manuscript for The State of Black Bodies as a part of Pr3ssPlayPoets (a 4-part Black Women's Poetry Collective formed at Mills College) from 2015-2018. 

The State of Black Bodies was featured as part of the 2018 National Queer Arts Festival, organized by San Francisco's Queer Cultural Center. This footage was filmed June 2, 2018 at Eastside Arts Alliance, Oakland, California.
Videographer courtesy of Queer Cultural Center.

 

  • "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "7 Generations Forward, 7 Generations Back", a poem which engages the physical and ancestral realms. Uni Q. imagines the words of ancestors, delivering guidance to their descendants on earth about their responsibility in the present day.
  • "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "Why Can't You Just Dress Like Her?" an original poem addressing the complexities of discussing gender across generations of Black women in their maternal lineage.
  • "Confessions of a Punk"
    Uni Q. Mical performs "Confessions of a Punk A**", an original monologue detailing the tribulations of being a seven-year old Black girl growing up in Park Heights in the 1990s, but feeling too awkward (and well, like a punk) to be a fighter - much to the dismay of her family members and peers. The scars she avoided (and, endured, as a result) had more than physical impact. Here, she shares her funny, heartwarming, and, at times, agonizing story on just how.