“There was Shakespeare, there was costume design, there was Greek theatre. Musicians, painters, ceramic artists, dancers. There were a bunch of older Black women teachers. They knew all about the Black female literary tradition, the Black theatrical tradition. So you’re just being poured into. I’m cutting off my hair, I’m going natural. I’m having this awakening. Being affirmed. Like ‘Of course this can be your life,’ being an artist. It can be a liberatory act, it can be an act of transformation.”