Early Bird, 2004

Performing as my grandmother,Dew Drop Lady, and adorning the cultural signifiers of a "schmatah" and housedress enables me to fit easily within a community of senior citizens.  We share in an oral vernacular that includes conversations about food and retirement.  In the midst of our like-minded dialogue, I inform the seniors that although I am Jewish, I am also black.  Exclamations are made: But your features are so beautiful!  Based on the tenets of Jewish tradition, I am advised to "go according to my [Jewish] mother."