Refuse It: A Black Woman’s Guide to 21st Century Rage by Phanesia Pharel

Through a series of vignettes, we explore the lives of Black women who challenge the status quo. The play was brilliantly divided into different chapters titled as so: Refuse to Mammy, Refuse to Shame, Refuse to Explain. Each chapter demonstrates how Black women confront daily acts of microaggressions. Dr. Bowenski leads the story as we go from the vignettes and into her therapist office. We used a shure mv7 mic for Dr.B’s narrations of the titles and to record her podcast. All of the transition music was sampled by various Black female artists such as: Beyonce, Doechii, Chloe x Halley, Lauryn Hill, Wendi, Rico Nasty, and Megan Thee Stallion. It was important for us to use these powerful artists because many of their work targets the exact issues that REFUSE IT lists.

“Love is the answer. But where do you get it?”