FROM THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA Production Notes
From the Director | Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland | The Mississippi DeltaFrom the Director
As I began to take on the challenge of directing this amazing woman’s life story, unavoidable thoughts of my life crowded my mind, thoughts of being African American, a female and born and raised in the south, as Dr. Holland was. My south and her south were different for many reasons and the same for many more reasons. The task of dealing with a play like this can become difficult. You start to question the path your life has taken, your failures, your triumphs and always your regrets.
From the Mississippi Delta in its truest form is a memoir – a memory piece told to the audience by all the females that are Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland – the little girl, the civil rights activist, the prostitute, the daughter, the mother, the inmate and the sister from the south. As her story unfolds it is my hope that her life will speak to your spirit in a way that can bring healing and closure to something’s and remembrance and honor to others.
This is a story about a woman, so I say to all my sisters (regardless of your color) if you are searching, it’s all out there and in here, and to my brothers (regardless of your color) I say the same. We are all from somewhere, from someone and from something destined to be somebody. You can’t dream what you can’t imagine.
I encourage you to read the book From the Mississippi Delta – each page turn will take you deeper into the extraordinary life of Dr. Holland. You will find her writing to be very vivid and her images raw and real. As a child she always wanted to be a majorette and would dream about leading a parade with crowds of people following, while she high stepped, twirling her baton. She was never in the crowd, never watching from the sidelines, she was always out front with everyone applauding and cheering her on. I leave you with her words:
“Everyone has a past, and these things are a part of mine. […] If you’re so far down and out you feel you can’t get back, I assure you from the bottom of my soul, the journey home is shorter than you think. […] Make a promise right now that you will never, ever give up your dreams. If you’ve been a ho’, be a doctor, too. If you’ve hurt a man, be a healer. The world began when you were born. It will be whatever you make of it.”
Donna Baldwin-Bradby
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