![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/4e36ad3b6ff91101c235b6229b2dd833.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This poem was commissioned by Culture Matters as an act of solidarity with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (above) who has recently suffered racist abuse for having the audacity to play Juliet in ‘Romeo and Juliet’. See\u00a0here<\/a>. For the story of Rachael Baptiste, the black singer and actress who played Juliet in the eighteenth century, see here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The True Story of a Sable Maid\u2019s Appearance in the 18th Century<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n by Jenny Mitchell<\/em><\/p>\n My skin\u2019s not black as night but close, yet I played Juliet. When chains were held It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night, The rest was lost as slow hands clapped till rebels in us both said Kiss<\/em>. A long, slow Those villains in the audience threatened to bombard the stage, then pull it down. But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? We gulped a drink, but black or close enough is never weak so death This poem was commissioned by Culture Matters as an act of solidarity with Francesca Amewudah-Rivers (above) who has recently suffered racist abuse for having the audacity to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":575,"featured_media":16742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1660],"tags":[3093,1875],"class_list":["post-16745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-2","tag-francesca-amewudahrivers","tag-romeo-and-juliet"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
towards my feet, I danced across the stage \u2013 a quadrille at a ball \u2013 and though
his skin is white \u2013 not dove but tanned, Italia close to Africa \u2013 my love
was booed into the wings when first he saw my face and said \u2013<\/p>\n
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope\u2019s ear;
beauty too rich to use, for earth too dear!
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows \u2013<\/em><\/p>\n
grind with hips as well, my Romeo alert between the folds of a white dress,
diaphanous enough, they said, to show I was no virgin child but broken
by a team of men as all black girls are damned as whores.<\/p>\n
And with the weight of envy on their heads, they also called for blood,
expecting mine to run black as the heart they said I had. To save our lives,
my Romeo and I ran to the balcony where he adored me more with this \u2013<\/p>\n
It is the east and Juliet is the sun!
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief.<\/em><\/p>\n
was not our fate. No poison in the end but Romeo and me asleep. Believing
we were robbed of life, the audience walked from the hall with howls
that echo still, insisting on a clear divide when white descends from black.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"