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FIRES in the MIRROR: ,:Crown Heights, ··Brooklyn and Other Identities

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FIRES in the MIRROR: ,:Crown Heights, ··Brooklyn and Other Identities From Smith, Fires in the Mirror (1997) - ...·· --~ ~ .. FIRES IN THE MIRROR: ,:Crown Heights, ··Brooklyn and Other Identities BY ANNA DEAVERE SMITH * DRAMATISTS* . PLAY SERVICE INp. Photo by William Gibson/Martha Swope Associates A scene from the New York Shakespeare Festival production of"Fifes in - the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brook.lyn and Other.Identities." Set design by James Youmans. !;"' TABLE OF CONTENTS FIRES IN THE MIRROR: CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN AND OTHER IDENTITES is part of a series developed by Anna Deavere Smith called ON THE ROAD: A SEARCH FOR .·IDENTITY 9 AMERICAN CHARACTER. The Crown Heights material in NTOZAKE SHANGE-The Desert 11 FIRES IN THE MIRROR was created for and performed as .·ANONYMOUS LUBAVITCHER WOMAN_.... Static 13 part of George C. Wolfe's Festival of New Voices at the New GEORGE C. WOLFE- 101 Dalmatians 17 York Shakespeare Festival Uoanne Akalaitis, Artistic Director), in New York City, in December, 1991. It was dfrected by MIRRORS 21 Christopher Ashley; the scene design Wa.S by James Youmans; AA,RON M~ :PERNSTEIN...,.. Mirron and Distortions 23 the costume design was by Candice ~Donhelly; the lighting de­ sign was by Debra J Kletter; the music was composed by Jo­ HAIR 25 seph Jarman and the production stage manager was Karen ·ANONYMOUS GIRL- Look.in the Mirror 27 Moore. The show wa8 performed by Anna Deavere Smith. .· THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON-Me and James's Thing 29 RNKAH SIEGAL-Wigs 33 RACE 37. ANGEIADAVIS ..... Rope 39 · RHYTI1M 45 . MONIQUE "BIG MO"MATTHEWS.~ Rhythm and Poetry 47 SEVEN VERSES 52 LEONARD JEFFRIES- Roots 53 LETIY C01TIN POGREBIN_;_ Near Enoligh to Reach 61 ·.... MINISTER CONRAD MOHAMMED- Seven Verses 63 LETIY C01TIN POGREBIN- Isaac 69 ROBERT SHERMAN- Lousy Language 73 CROWN HEIGHTS BROOKLYN, AUGUST1991 77 RABBI JOSEPH SPIELMAN- No Blood in His Feet 79 THE REVEREND CANON DOCTOR ·HERON SAM_;_ Mexican Standoff 85 ANONYMOUS YOUNG MAN #1-Wa Wa Wa 89 MICHAELS. MilLER- "Heil Hitler" 95 HENRYRICE- Knew How toliseCertain Words 97 4 5 r \ From Smith, Fires in the Mirror (1997) NORMAN ROSENBAUM -My Brother's Blood 103 CHARACTERS NORMAN ROSENBAUM- 16 Hours Difference 105 ANONYMOUS YOUNG MAN #2-Bad Boy 107 SONNY CARSON -Chords 111. NTOZAKE SHANGE ----' Playwright, poet, novelist RABBI SHEA HECHT- Ovens 115 THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON- Rain 119 ANONYMOUS LUBAVITCHER WOMAN- PreschooJ, RICHARD GREEN- Rage 12~ teacher ROSLYN MALAMUD- The Co11p 127 REUVEN OSTROV- Pogroms 133 GEORGE C. WOLFE- Playwright, director, producing CARMEL CATO.....:... Lingering 135 director of the New York Shakespeare Festival AARON M. BERNSTEIN - Physicist at Massachusetts Insti­ tute of Technology. ANONYMOUS GIRL -Junior high school black girl of Haitian descent. lives in Brooklyn near Crown Heights. THE REVEREND AL SHARPTON - Well-known New York activist, minister. RIVKAH SIEGAL- Lubavitcher woman, graphic designer. ANGElA DAVIS- Author, orator, activist, scholar. Professor in the History of Consciousness Department at the University of California, Santa. Cruz. MONIQUE "BIG MO" MATTHEWS ---' Los. Angeles rapper. LEONARD JEFFRIES - Professor of African-American Studies at City University of New York, former head of the department. LETIY COTTIN POGREBIN - Author Deborah, Golda, and Me, Being Female and Jewish in America. .One of the found­ ing editors of Ms. magazine. MINISTER CONRAD MOHAMMED - New York minister for the Honorable Louis Farrakhan. ROBERT SHERMAN - Director, Mayor of the City of New York's Increase the Peace Corps. 6 7 RABBI JOSEPH SPIELMAN - Spokesperson in the Lubavitch community. '!'HE. ~VEREND CANON DOCfOR HERON SAM - Pastor, St. Mark's, Crown Heights Church. ANONYMOUS YOuNG· MAN #1 - Crown Heights resident. · - MICHt\EL S. MILLER - Executive Dire~tor at thejewish · - _ Coimriunity Relations Council. HENRY RICE .:........ Grown Heights resident - - . NORMAN ROSENBAUM - Brother of Yankel Rosenbaum.­ -A··-bams_ter. from Australia. ANONYMOUS YOUNG MAN #2 ~ African-American IDEN'fffY .- yo\ing man; late teens, eariy twenties. Resident of Crown _. Hc;!ight:S. ----.:SONNY CARSON --- Activist . .-~BI ·SHEA- HECHT -: Lubavitcher- rabbi, spokesperson. - <. • /' ' •• RICHARD GREEN - Direct()r, Crown Heights Youth Collec­ tive. Co-director Project CURE, a.BlaCk·Hasidic basketball. team that developed after the riots. ROSLYN MALAMUD - Lubavitcher resident of CroWil -Heights. REUVEN OSTROV - Lubavitcher youth, member, project CURE; at the time of the riot, was seventeen years old. Worked as assistant chaplain at Kings County Hospital. CARMEL CATO - Father- of Gavin Cato. Crown Heights resident, originally from Guyana. 8 From Smith, Fires in the Mirror (1997) CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN, AUGUST 1991 RABBI JOSEPH SPIELMAN No Blood in His Feet 9:30 A.M. Tuesday, November 12, 1991. A la-rge home on President Street in Crown Heights. Only natural light, not very much light. Dark wood. A darlrish dining room with an enormous table, could seat twenty. The Rabbi sits at the head of the table. Lots of stuff on the ~ble. He wears a black fe­ dora, black jacket, and reading glasses. As he talks, he slightly slides around the tape-"recorder microphone, which is in front of him at the table. The furniture in the dining room, including _his chair, is, for the most. part, very old, solid wood. There are children playing quietly in _another room, and people come in and out frequently, but always whispering and walking carefully not to make noise, unless they speak to him directly. The children at one point come over and stare at me. Many people were on the sidewalk, talking, playing, drinking beer or whatever - being that type of neighborhood. A car · driven by ari individual - a Hasidic individual - went through the intersection, was hit by another car, thereby causing it- to go onto the sidewalk. The driver on seeing b4nself in such a position that he felt he was going to definitely hit someone, because of the amount of people on the sidewalk, 79 From Smith, Fires in the Mirror (1997) As one of the EMS ambulances were coming, he steered at the building, one of the Hasidic ambulances or the Jewish ambulances so a~ to get out of the way of the people. came ObVIously, for the most part, on the scene. he was successful. The EMS responded with three ambulances on the scene. But regrettably, They were there before one child was killed the Jewish ambulance came. and another child when the Jewish ambulance came, was wounded. two or three police cars were already on the scene. Urn, The police saw the potential for violence seeing what happened, and saw that the occupants of the car he jumped out of the car were being beaten and were afraid for their safety. and, realizing At the same time the EMS asked there may be a child under the car the Hasidic ambulance for certain pieces of equipment · he tried to physically lift ' that they · the car were out of, from the child. that they needed to take care of the Cato kid, Well, as he was doing this and, the AfrO:.Americans were beating him already. urn, He was beaten so much he needed stitches in the scalp in fact, I was ... and the face, The Hasidic ambulance left, leaving behind one of the fifteen or sixteen- stitches passengers. and also That passenger had a walkie-talkie and he requested that I there were three other passengers in the car come down to pick him up. that were being beaten too. And at that time there was a lot of screaming and shouting One of the passengers was calling 911 and it was a mixed crowd, Hasidic and Afro-American. on the cellular phone. The police said, "Rabbi get your people out of here." A Black person ·· · I told them to leave and I left. pulled the phone out of his hand and ran. Now, Just stole the - stole the telephone. a few hours later, The Jewish community two and a half hours later, has a volunteer in a different part of Crown Heights, ambulance core a scholar which is funded totally from the nations - from Australia, there is not one penny of government funds - Yankel Rosenbaum, and manned by volunteers - who, urr, who many times at their expense - I think he had a doctorate or he was working on his supplied the equipment that they cany in order to save doctorate, lives. 81 80 was walking on the street and for the sole reason - on his own- not that he did anything to anyone - I mean he was totally oblivious - just from the fact that he happened to be Jewish. and he was accosted by a group of young Blacks And the Mayor went with me to the emergency room about twenty of them strong to visit Mr. Rosenbaum. which was being egged on by a Black· This was approximately one and a half hours before he male approximately passed away. forty years old and balding, I noticed at the time that his feet telling them, were "Kill all Jews - completely white. look what they did to the kid And I complained to the doctor kill all Jews." on the scene, and all the epithets that go along with it, "He's having a problem with blood circulation "Heil Hitler" and all of it. because there's no blood in his feet." They stabbed him, And she gave me some asinine answer. which later on the stab wounds were fatal And the Mayor asked her what his condition is: and he passed away in the hospital. "Serious but stable." The Mayor, In the meantime he was screaming and in pain hearing about the Cato kid, and they weren't doing anything. came to the Kings County Hospital Subsequently they, um, to give condolences to the family of the child who had they started giving him anaesthesia in a time that regrettably been killed.
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