BLACK GIRL UGLY

Ashley Brockington, Chiquita Brooks, Courtney Dowe, Lil T

It ain't easy comin' up Black not to mention female, in these so-called United States. Have you ever considered how difficult it is to cultivate a healthy self-image growing up surrounded by the superficial din of white media? In Black Girl Ugly Courtney Dowe, Li’l T. and Chiquita Brooks take you into the collective subconscious of Black Girls trying to hold fast to their love of self.

Through movement, poetry and song they juxtapose their immersion in the "truth" of white girl beauty with the reality of Black Girl Ugly. True to their legacies, these artists offer no tidy endings in this story of black girl victory. The contra-fictions persist – it’s the nature of the beast called Racism.

Open: 06/10/2010
Close: 06/26/2010

Theater: WOW Cafe Theatre
Address: 59-61 East 4th
New York, NY 10002

Cost:$10.00 - $15.00 or Call: at 212-777-4280

	Ashley Brockington Ashley Brockington is a dancer and an athlete. Trained in Modern and West African Dance at the University of the Arts and Howard University, she is passionate about exploring personal history through song and dance. In 2000 she began training in the circus arts and performing with Circus Amok in New York City. In the past couple of years, Ashley has been throwing her energy backstage and taken up producing small community theater in the Lower East Side. She cut her producer’s teeth at the Rivers of Honey Cabaret, spearheading the 2007 season and continuing to produce as a part of the Rivers of Honey Production Team. Ashley has recently has kicked off a new show, The Cabaret Cataplexy at The Slipper Room with her creative partner, Monstah Black http://www.myspace.com/cabaretcataplexy. In June 2009, Ashley co-wrote and starred in Black Girl Ugly, an investigation of Black Women’s Self-Esteem. This was the second season of creating a piece with two other Black Women participants. Look forward to the third installment in 2010 at the WOW café Theater.
	Chiquita Brooks An artist in word and deed, Chiquita is known for pushing the envelope, not people. She can be seen sporting glitter at any given time and wearing fishnets on Sundays. This native Floridian hailing from a town that ends in ville, is as pleased as punch to be performing in the Big city! She is thrilled to be working with such talented Blacktresses, and truly thankful for the healing BGU has allowed in her life. She finally learned to laugh at herself. HA!
	Courtney Dowe Courtney Dowe is a self-taught protest-singer/songwriter. Her debut album,ACCOMPLICE, was recently released by Blackout Studios (the same independent label as Fertile Ground). The title track of her LP exposes the brutal persecution of Falun Gong under the Communist Regime in China. You can find Courtney soothing New York City commuters late nights in our city’s subway system or Sunday nights at Sintir in the East Village. Look for Courtney on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.
	Lil T An artist who gives a new meaning to the phrase triple threat. Raised in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, T dove head first into the arts at the tender age of 10, after loosing her mother to a battle with ovarian cancer. Upon receiving her Masters Degree in Acting from Brooklyn College she went on to participate in several productions that including Freedom Train Productions Resident Playwright reading series, performing in two readings by Ione Lloyd, Black Tale as Red and Dirty Little Black Girls as Chinara, where she was quickly bite by the playwriting bug. Writing and Performing in a One Woman show,Fishing In Brooklyn. Beginning as a childhood memory and then blossoming into a full-length play. Aside from performing, Li'l T also dedicates her time to teaching, serving as a teaching artist at Walton High School in the Bronx, partnering with Opening Act, a non-profit organization that provides theater to at risk high schools throughout New York City.