ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin - Scholar, artist
Scholar and artist Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin transforms historical material about black identity into theatrical performances.

Why you should listen

Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin is currently developing At Buffalo, a musical theatre piece created from historical records documenting representations of black experience at the 1901 World's Fair in Buffalo, New York. It exposes the impacts such performances still have on our everyday enactments of racial and national identity.

More profile about the speaker
Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin | Speaker | TED.com
TED2019

Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin: A historical musical that examines black identity in the 1901 World's Fair

Filmed:
1,378,177 views

In this lively talk and performance, artist and TED Fellow Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin offers a sneak peek of her forthcoming musical "At Buffalo." Drawing on archival material from the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition, a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, the show examines conflicting representations of black identity exhibited at the fair -- highlighting unsettlingly familiar parallels between American society at the turn of the century and today, and asking: Are we all still part of the show?
- Scholar, artist
Scholar and artist Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin transforms historical material about black identity into theatrical performances. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
The archive.
0
3063
1444
00:17
One may envision rooms and shelves
1
5317
3342
00:20
stocked with boxes
and cartons of old stuff.
2
8683
2464
00:23
And yet, for those who are
patient enough to dig through it,
3
11623
3675
00:27
the archive provides
the precious opportunity
4
15322
2777
00:30
to touch the past,
5
18123
1754
00:31
to feel and learn from the experiences
6
19901
2525
00:34
of once-living people who now seem
dead and buried deeply in the archive.
7
22450
5003
00:40
But what if there was a way
to bring the archive to life?
8
28038
4325
00:44
Jon Michael Reese: "The world
is thinking wrong about race."
9
32387
2839
00:47
Melissa Joyner: "This country insists
upon judging the Negro."
10
35250
3203
00:50
JMR: "Because it does not know."
11
38477
1579
00:52
AYGTK: What if one could make it breathe?
12
40080
1969
00:54
MJ: "By his lowest
and most vicious representatives."
13
42073
2658
00:56
AYGTK: Speak.
14
44755
1150
00:57
JMR: "An honest, straightforward exhibit."
15
45929
2039
00:59
AYGTK: And even sing to us,
16
47992
1319
01:01
so that the archive
becomes accessible to everyone.
17
49335
2417
01:03
What would performing
the archive look like?
18
51776
2531
01:06
A performance that is not
simply based on a true story
19
54331
3116
01:10
but one that allows us
to come face-to-face
20
58264
3334
01:13
with things we thought
were once dead and buried.
21
61622
2566
01:16
(Piano music)
22
64212
1017
01:17
This is what "At Buffalo,"
a new musical we're developing,
23
65253
2753
01:20
is all about.
24
68030
1158
01:21
Using collections
from over 30 archival institutions,
25
69212
3532
01:24
"At Buffalo" performs the massive archive
of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition,
26
72768
5804
01:30
the first World's Fair
of the 20th century,
27
78596
2023
01:32
held in Buffalo, New York.
28
80643
1271
01:33
Now, if you've heard of this fair,
29
81938
1681
01:35
it might be because this is where
then-US president, William McKinley,
30
83643
3299
01:38
was assassinated.
31
86966
1166
01:40
For nearly 17 years,
32
88156
2223
01:42
I've stayed inside the gates
and the archive of this fair,
33
90403
3071
01:45
not only because of that story
34
93498
1984
01:47
but because of a real
life-and-death racial drama
35
95506
3452
01:50
that played out on the fairgrounds.
36
98982
2405
01:53
Here, in a place that was like
Disney World, the Olympics,
37
101411
3285
01:56
carnivals, museums, all in one,
38
104720
2254
01:58
there were three conflicting displays
of what it meant to be black
39
106998
4238
02:03
in the United States.
40
111260
1547
02:04
The archive says white showmen presented
41
112831
2713
02:07
a savage black origin
42
115568
2119
02:09
in the form of 98 West
and Central Africans,
43
117711
3135
02:12
living and performing war dances
44
120870
1706
02:14
in a recreated village
called Darkest Africa.
45
122600
3560
02:18
And across the street,
46
126633
2436
02:21
a happy slave life,
47
129093
2873
02:23
in the form of 150 Southern
black performers,
48
131990
3714
02:27
picking cotton,
49
135728
1357
02:29
singing and dancing minstrel shows
50
137109
2246
02:31
in a recreated antebellum attraction
called Old Plantation.
51
139379
5047
02:37
As a response,
52
145284
1706
02:39
the black Buffalo community championed
the third display of blackness:
53
147014
4007
02:43
the Negro Exhibit.
54
151506
1200
02:45
Codesigned by African American
scholar W.E.B. Du Bois,
55
153395
3619
02:49
it curated photographs,
charts, books and more,
56
157038
4635
02:53
to show black Americans
as a high-achieving race,
57
161697
2929
02:56
capable of education and progress.
58
164650
2780
03:00
When I first encountered this story,
59
168373
2251
03:02
I understood from my own life experience
60
170648
2309
03:04
what was at stake to have members
of the African diaspora
61
172981
3016
03:08
see each other like this.
62
176021
1667
03:10
For me, as the child of immigrant parents
from Ghana, West Africa,
63
178046
4142
03:14
born in the American South,
64
182212
1944
03:16
raised in Manhattan, Kansas,
65
184180
2745
03:18
(Laughter)
66
186949
1175
03:20
and having attended the same
elite school as Du Bois,
67
188148
3127
03:23
I could see that the Buffalo fair
effectively pitted
68
191299
2738
03:26
the black Northerner
against the Southerner,
69
194061
2065
03:28
the educated against the uneducated,
70
196150
1839
03:30
and the African American
against the African.
71
198013
3182
03:33
And I wanted to know:
72
201510
1788
03:35
How did these three distinct groups
of black folk navigate this experience?
73
203322
5047
03:41
Unfortunately, the archive
had answers to questions like this
74
209021
3850
03:44
underneath racial caricature,
75
212895
2277
03:47
conflicting information
and worse -- silence.
76
215196
3579
03:51
(Piano music)
77
219212
3095
03:54
Still, I could hear musical melodies
78
222331
4408
03:58
and see dance numbers
79
226763
1283
04:00
and the rhythms of the words
80
228070
1384
04:01
coming off the pages
of old newspaper articles.
81
229478
2499
04:04
And learning that this World's Fair
82
232001
1674
04:05
had music playing everywhere
on its fairgrounds,
83
233699
3942
04:09
I knew that live, immersive,
spectacular musical theater,
84
237665
3896
04:13
with the latest technologies of our time,
85
241585
3016
04:16
is the closest experience that can bring
the archival story of the 1901 fair
86
244625
4635
04:21
out of boxes and into life.
87
249284
2776
04:24
Stories, like Tannie and Henrietta,
88
252585
3015
04:27
a husband and wife vaudeville duo in love
89
255624
2785
04:30
who become at odds over performing
these "coon" minstrel shows
90
258433
3120
04:33
while striving for their
five-dollar-a-week dream
91
261577
2300
04:35
in the Old Plantation attraction.
92
263901
2017
04:37
Like African businessman John Tevi,
93
265942
2715
04:40
from present-day Togo,
94
268681
1682
04:42
who must outwit the savage rules
of the human zoo
95
270387
3404
04:45
in which he has become trapped.
96
273815
2111
04:47
And stories like Mary Talbert,
97
275950
3540
04:51
a wealthy leader
of the black Buffalo elite,
98
279514
2476
04:54
who must come to terms
99
282014
1202
04:55
with the racial realities
of her home town.
100
283240
2639
04:57
MJ: "The dominant race in this country
101
285903
2025
04:59
insists upon judging the Negro
102
287952
2038
05:02
by his lowest and most
vicious representatives."
103
290014
2531
05:04
AYGTK: Like Old Plantation
and Darkest Africa.
104
292569
2310
05:06
MJ: "... instead of by the more
intelligent and worthy classes."
105
294903
3190
05:10
AYGTK: When fair directors
ignored Mary Talbert
106
298117
2441
05:12
and the local black Buffalo community's
request to participate in the fair,
107
300582
3535
05:16
newspapers say that Mary Talbert
108
304141
2134
05:18
and her club of educated
African American women
109
306299
2588
05:20
held a rousing protest meeting.
110
308911
2341
05:23
But the details of that meeting,
111
311276
1817
05:25
even down to the fiery speech she gave,
112
313117
2293
05:27
were not fully captured in the archive.
113
315434
1992
05:29
So, "At Buffalo" takes the essence
of Mary's speech
114
317450
3762
05:33
and turns it into song.
115
321236
2185
05:36
(All singing) We must, we are unanimous.
116
324251
2871
05:39
We must, we are unanimous.
117
327744
3783
05:43
MJ: We've got something to show --
118
331551
2452
05:46
we're going to teach a lesson in Buffalo.
119
334027
3690
05:49
It would benefit the nation
120
337741
3561
05:53
to see our growth since emancipation.
121
341326
4039
05:57
Colored people should be represented
in this Pan-American exposition,
122
345389
6056
06:03
it would benefit the nation
123
351469
3595
06:07
to see our growth since emancipation.
124
355088
4404
06:11
(All singing) They made a great mistake
125
359516
6472
06:18
not to appoint someone from the race.
126
366351
5600
06:25
We must, we are unanimous.
127
373382
2721
06:28
We must, we are unanimous.
128
376844
3481
06:32
We must, we are unanimous.
129
380349
1566
06:33
AYGTK: Mary Talbert successfully demands
that the Negro Exhibit come to the fair.
130
381939
4484
06:38
And to have the Negro Exhibit in Buffalo
131
386805
2357
06:41
means that the musical must tell the story
behind why Du Bois cocreated it ...
132
389186
4682
06:47
and why Mary and the black elite
felt it was urgently needed.
133
395694
4540
06:53
JMR: "The world is thinking
wrong about race.
134
401933
3190
06:58
They killed Sam Hose
for who they thought he was.
135
406980
3597
07:03
And more men like him, every day,
136
411966
1944
07:05
more Negro men, like him, taken apart.
137
413934
3760
07:11
And after that -- that red ray ...
138
419169
2687
07:14
we can never be the same.
139
422980
1667
07:17
(Singing) A red ray
140
425665
3539
07:21
[A man hunt in Georgia]
141
429228
1253
07:22
cut across my desk
142
430505
1930
07:24
[Mob after Hose;
he will be lynched if caught]
143
432459
2189
07:26
the very day
144
434672
2246
07:28
Sam's hands were laid to rest.
145
436942
3282
07:33
Can words alone withstand the laws unjust?
146
441974
6977
07:40
[Escape seems impossible]
147
448975
1288
07:42
Can words alone withstand the violence?
148
450287
5428
07:50
Oh, no, oh.
149
458038
5071
07:55
[Burned alive]
150
463133
1235
07:56
[Sam Hose is lynched]
151
464392
1335
07:57
Oh, no, oh.
152
465751
4905
08:02
[His body cut in many pieces]
153
470680
1933
08:05
Oh, no, oh.
154
473426
2984
08:08
[Burned at the Stake]
155
476434
1397
08:09
[Ten Cents Slice Cooked Liver.]
156
477855
2230
08:12
[Fight for souvenirs.]
157
480109
1466
08:20
(Both singing) Who has read the books?
158
488760
3286
08:24
Our numbers and statistics look small
159
492070
4936
08:29
against the page.
160
497030
5094
08:34
The crisis has multiplied.
161
502148
3429
08:37
Our people are lynched and died.
162
505601
2706
08:40
Oh, Lord.
163
508331
2357
08:42
Something must change.
164
510712
5797
08:50
AYGTK: Something must change.
165
518762
4609
08:56
"At Buffalo" reveals
how the United States today
166
524397
3236
08:59
stands at similar crossroads
as 1901 America.
167
527657
3540
09:03
Just as the name of Sam Hose
filled newspapers back then,
168
531617
3555
09:07
today's media carries the names of:
169
535196
2638
09:09
JMR: Oscar Grant.
170
537858
1663
09:12
MJ: Jacqueline Culp.
171
540101
1422
09:13
Pianist: Trayvon Martin.
172
541910
1467
09:16
AYGTK: Sandra Bland.
173
544021
1334
09:18
And too many others.
174
546133
1698
09:20
The 1901 fair's legacies persist
175
548834
4015
09:24
in more ways than we can imagine.
176
552873
3230
09:30
MJ: Mary Talbert
177
558315
1183
09:31
and the National Association
of Colored Women
178
559522
2101
09:33
started movements against lynching
179
561647
2875
09:36
and the myth of black criminality
180
564546
1991
09:38
just as black women today
started Black Lives Matter.
181
566561
3540
09:42
JMR: And some of the same
people who fought for
182
570601
2880
09:45
and created the Negro Exhibit,
183
573505
1852
09:47
including Du Bois,
184
575381
1911
09:49
came to Buffalo,
four years after the fair,
185
577316
2604
09:51
to start the Niagara Movement,
186
579944
2191
09:54
which set the groundwork
for the creation of the NAACP.
187
582159
3347
09:57
AYGTK: It's not just black folks
188
585530
1682
09:59
who had a peculiar experience
at the 1901 fair.
189
587236
2794
10:02
An official handbook informed fair-goers:
190
590403
2907
10:05
MJ: "Please remember:"
191
593334
2015
10:07
JMR: "... once you get inside the gate,"
192
595373
1975
10:09
AYGTK: "... you are a part of the show."
193
597372
2794
10:13
Performing the archive in "At Buffalo"
194
601071
2070
10:15
allows audiences to ask themselves,
195
603165
2603
10:17
"Are we still inside the gates,
196
605792
2515
10:20
and are we all still part of the show?"
197
608331
4598
10:29
(Music ends)
198
617072
3413
10:32
(Applause and cheers)
199
620509
6887

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin - Scholar, artist
Scholar and artist Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin transforms historical material about black identity into theatrical performances.

Why you should listen

Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin is currently developing At Buffalo, a musical theatre piece created from historical records documenting representations of black experience at the 1901 World's Fair in Buffalo, New York. It exposes the impacts such performances still have on our everyday enactments of racial and national identity.

More profile about the speaker
Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin | Speaker | TED.com