CHARLOTTE – Following sold-out performances during the National Black Church Week of Prayer for HIV/AIDS, the Carolinas Black Pride Movement (CBPM) has announced it will produce a special, one-night encore performance of the acclaimed hit “Before it Hits Home.”
The play tells the story of Wendal Bailey, an African-American bisexual man who comes home to his family with a son and HIV. It is directed by CBPM President Jermaine Nakia Lee and written by Cheryl West.
CBPM had worked with several local African-American churches to produce the play on March 6 and 7, during the Black Church Week of Prayer.
“Historically in the African-American community, the black church has not embraced the healing and care of people who are HIV-positive,” Lee told Q-Notes for a video report in late February. “People in the African-American race have been shunned in the church.”
Omar El-Amin, a straight actor who played the bisexual Wendal character, said the play “hits home” the issue of HIV/AIDS in the black community.
“The play really deals with AIDS in the family unit in such a way that it makes it realistic,” he said. “The first time I was reading it, I was almost to tears.”
The encore performance will take place on March 21, 7:30 p.m., at the Afro-American Cultural Center, 401 N. Myers St., Charlotte, NC, 28202. Tickets are $12 and available through the Cultural Center online at www.aacc-charlotte.org or by phone at 704.374.1565.