Harlem Duet

Dreams, both literal and figurative, operate as a motif throughout Harlem Duet. In the Prologue, the character She speaks of 1928 Harlem as what the African American community had always dreamed of: a place to live among themselves without fear, a community where artistic expression was alive and vibrant, and, as Billie calls it later in the play, a sanctuary. This optimistic view of Harlem is fortified by the sound of Martin Luther King Jr.’s recitation of his 1964 “I Have a Dream” speech at the play’s opening. While King’s iconic words were a defining moment in the civil rights movement, his dream of freedom and justice for all was countered by an equally compelling activist at the time, Malcolm X. An excerpt from his “The Ballot or the Bullet” speech opens Scene 1, evoking not an American dream but an American nightmare for the Black community. King’s position of nonviolent protest is shut down by X’s call for Black Nationalism and autonomy.

Each character in Harlem Duet has a specific dream: Amah hopes to open her own beauty salon and have another child; Magi wants to find a good man with whom she can share a life;

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