Blackonteurs Brings (Re)Claiming Black Joy to Life on Stage

(RE)CLAIMING BLACK JOY was the theme of UP’s 2022 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, but what does it mean to reclaim Black joy? What does it look like? How do we create spaces for Black joy to thrive?

One answer to these questions is the Blackonteurs, an all-Black troupe of Portland-area storytellers and performers, founded by Jason Lamb and University of Portland alum Leann Johnson ’84. They, along with four other storytellers, performed in Buckley Auditorium on March 19, as the culminating act of UP’s MLK Day On activities, postponed from January due to COVID.

As a returning alum, Johnson’s biggest priority was giving Black students an opportunity to see themselves on stage. According to the UP Office of Institutional Research, Black students made up just two percent of the total undergraduate population in the fall of 2021. To perform here is to say Black joy can thrive here too.

Reflecting on the existential crises of our time—white supremacy, climate change, and the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic—all of which the younger generations must face in their own way, Johnson sees events like the Blackonteurs as a way to show up for those students, affirm them, and provide joy and respite, even if only for a couple of hours.

To Johnson, Black joy is reflected through oral history in Black culture. And celebrating the stories of several performers makes the point that Black joy does not follow just one narrative. Since the conception of the Blackonteurs, Johnson and Lamb have been very intentional about showcasing a variety of Black voices, stories, and tones. Featuring storytellers Chloe Stallworth, Dahlia Belle, Oz du Soleil, and Lance Edward, the March 19 showcase was no different.

Belle, for example, dipped in and out of comedy and tragedy with her story about growing up with a mother who tried to prepare her for a race war as a child, and how it shaped her life as a Black trans woman.

“I think it’s important to have the full range of Black experiences honestly represented rather than the typical trauma mining of popular media,” says Belle.

“Even when we talk about pain, we do it in a tone of celebration,” says Johnson. “We’re so stereotyped and dehumanized as a people. Part of the dehumanization happens because of that lack of nuance. When we can pull out the strands of our humanity and uniqueness, it makes it much harder to say we’re all one thing and perceive that thing as a negative.”

In addition to feeding the audience with a diversity of stories, the creators and storytellers agree the showcase did a lot to feed their spirits as well.

Stallworth, for example, contrasts her performance on the Blackonteurs stage with her experiences being vulnerable in diversity workshops and receiving, what she says, were mostly “golf claps” from the largely white attendees.

“There’s nothing that quite equates to putting yourself out there for your community, for the benefit of your community,” says Stallworth. “It makes me feel like I’m not nearly as alone in a town that’s predominantly white, in spaces that are predominantly white.”

Let’s hope this is only the first of many Blackonteurs performances to grace the University of Portland campus.

BRUCE POINSETTE is a writer, educator, and organizer based in the Portland metro area. His work focuses on social justice, culture, and the arts.