Aishah Rahman's "The Mojo and the Sayso" at Fordham Theater

The Fordham theater students selected a very prescient, tour-de-force play "The Mojo and the Sayso" by African Amer playwright, Aishah Rahman (b. Harlem 1936-2014.)  Although I'd prefer not to use any label outside of nationality, it's imperative to denote Ms. Rahman as an African Amer writer.  Born in Harlem in 1936, Rahman was raised as a foster child.  She graduated from Howard & Goddard Univ and was a Prof. of Literary Arts at Brown University.  During the 1960's, Rahman wa active in the Black Arts Movement.  Her writing content blazens with corrosive social commentary.  Her writing style infuses a "jazz aesthetic" that penetrates the listener and maintains its hold.  Written in 1988, "The Mojo and the Sayso" is prescient of today's racial upheaval.  An African Amer couple has just received a large payout for the "wrongful death" of their 10 yr. old son Linus on the 3rd anniv. of his passing.  Linus was shot in the back as he & his father (both unarmed) were fleeing from officers.  The wife has turned for solace to the church and the husband puts all his energy into building a car.  Their older son, Blood, is a deeply troubled & volatile.   His parents fear for their safety around Blood as well as for his  welfare.  Police shootings of men of color and their vindications is at the wrenching heart of this play along with the collateral fallout to victim's families.  "How much money is a boy's life worth?" asks his griefing mother.  Religious fanaticisim & fraudulent church leaders are also lambasted in this tour-de-force play.  The student's production is remarkable.  The acting and staging was superb.  I was  transfixed and deeply stirred by "The Mojo and the Sayso."  I chuckled at actor Josh Fulton's program shout out "to the splendiferous cast & anybody else that had anything to do with the making of this production. No thanks to Elizabeth Kline."