No Place To Land

In the era of Mass Incarceration, there is an ironic parallax, and
while primarily viewed as invisible within our own communities that
register as LGBTQI+ , and living in a "crowded closet" within our
own families and religious and social structures in outer society,
it is the purpose of this work, sharing the many stories and
experiences of Incarcerated Americans that identify as what is known
as Gay, and Bi-sexual, specifically from an Urban Cultural
perspective.

Here, the reenactment of inner prison experiences, speaks on behalf
of the many unheard voices and unengaged Human Rights violations
corrections from within the company of those that continue generations
of an agenda to expect for inner city youth to exist antithetical to
our own nature, from, the otherside.

Although based on true experiences, this LIVE performance version and
the ethnographic name and subcultural interchangeability format was
designed to create urban connectivity freedoms of directors, and
performers that engage this work.

Enjoy your reading, and Lead By Creation.

A Place To Land
a play by: Floyd Smith

Act 1

A young black man enters a prison group yard for the 1st time.
He goes to the recreation shack and checks out a Basketball,
which he hasn't felt in over 4 years of going through the towns
County Jail Court Journey, and State Prison Reception Center.

With the need to tighten the laces on his shoes before heading
towards the basketball court, he looks around the yard to find
a place to adjust his laces, a place to land.

With darting eyes to survey the yard, he notices how the prison
yard is racially segregated, Asians in one area, whites in
another, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Transgenders,
Gamers, and several Black subcultural groups like gangs and clicks.

Walking toward what the young man viewed as close to his natural
social habitat, which is an area near a Domino table of well aged
black men, he sits down next to a neatly dressed black man that
appears to be watching an ongoing 3 on 3 basketball game, a pick
up game.

Youngster - Anybody right here? Need to lace up real quick

Elder - You're about to try to play ball while saggin wit some
skinny pants on? Skinny Jeans?

Crowd of black inmates LOL

Y - So, now I'm supposed to respect whatever it is you plan to
say next?

E - What? Respect? You youngstaz got the hair going nowadays, bet
you call yourself a homosexual too, huh? You see, you wouldn't
understand respect, because the white man got you saying that
you are something that he made up.

Y - So, let me get this straight, I never said I was a "homosexual",
but now I am saying it, I am a homosexual, so what are you,
heterosexual? Is that what you call yourself?

E - One hunnit percent heterosexual

Y - Anybody else heterosexual? Or just the O.G.? Anymore black
Heterosexuals?

Crowd of black inmates - Heterosexual fosho, yep

Domino game stops, vacuum silence, all eyes on the youngster, and the
entire crowd gathers around and on the side of the Elder, as the
youngster stands with Basketball under arm, says:

Y - I do know my history enough to tell you that you are right,
in 1868, just three years after the abolishment of slavery
in America, a white man named Karl-Maria Kertbeny did coin
the word, homosexual, but that same white man also coined
the word heterosexual, so, you, and all of the rest of y'all
just called yourselves something that a white man made up, I
was simply looking for a place to land.

Crowd gasp -

Y - This ain't about respect, this is about disrespect, so like
I said earlier, after you got a t me real disrespectfully,
"so, now I'm supposed to respect whatever it is you plan to
say next?". I'll fly away now.

E - I've been in prison, and walking these yards for most of my
life, and I ain't never heard about no Karl-Maria Kertbeny,
or where that word cam from, ( pause) so I can respect that.

Y - Cool, you coming out tomorrow?

E - I don't see why we need to wait for tomorrow to start over
right now, I'm Eric, that's Peanut, Chally Boy, Swervo, Bam,
Richard, Ham, Bando...

Y - Parallaxboi.

End scene

A Place To Land

Act 2

Parallaxboi,walking away from a group of black inmates onto an empty
half court to shoot around.
Swervo, the youngest of the group also joins Parallaxboi to shoot around.

Swervo - That was crazy, (smiling) they ain't never heard nothing like
that before, they want to know why you asked of they was coming
back out tomorrow, and why you ain't over there with the punks?

P - I didn't see no punks, fags, or none of that, I did see some Transgender
looking people tho, and I'm not with them for the same reason you're not
over there with the Crips, so, I was just asking to figure out if I wanted
to be around all of that again tomorrow, that's all.

S - They respect you, and it was me with the extra Q'z, anyway, so you're into
older dudes? Or why didn't you come over to where the younger homies are?

P - So now we are going into age discrimination? Brah, I was just tying up my
shoes man, ain't nobody out here tryna choose, sup wit all the Q'z man?

S - I ain't trippin', you see this yard? Look at all of these heads, yeah,
that's my work, I cut hair, old heads, young heads, all heads that's why
they call me Swervo, because I swerve heads, you feel me? All that's me.
(both LOL, soul handshake)

P - Aaawh, that's what's up, you got me? What da Swerve hit for?

S - This ain't no hustle, I been doing this all of my life, no charge,
everybody got they own thang, cutting hair is mine, you sound like you
got something to say, so, come sit and speak, that's how we do, and you
pretty much created a crowd with that 1868 shit, Karl-Maria?...

P - I get it, I'm there

S - Parallax, gotta look that up.