Health-care in the spotlight, Sharon Williams brings her ‘Plight’ on stage

Sharon Williams began writing "Plight" three years ago, after she was deeply shaken from a phone conversation with an old friend who told her several of her black male friends had been incarcerated.

Seattle University's College of Nursing co-sponsored a performance of the play, which explores race and health-care, followed by a discussion panel at Swedish Medical Center May 7.

In "Plight," Williams plays herself. At the outset of the play, she breaks down sobbing in the shower because of the tragic fates that have befallen the men in her life.

Magic Johnson announces his HIV-positive status on her 16th birthday. Her cousin was found murdered in the trunk of a car. Each year, her brother called her on the anniversary of his best friend's slaying.

Williams' character eventually decides to journey home to find a paper she wrote in high school, "The Plight of the African American Man."

Throughout the production, as Williams searches for the paper in her childhood bedroom, she stumbles upon mementos that help her explain her troubling events and tragedies she has experienced.

The scenes from the play were based on events in her life, says Williams, who graduated from Seattle U last year.

"Every story that I told came from me," she said. "All of these stories were personal."
Williams used news bulletins, graphics and music to help tell her stories. She also used her physicality to keep the audience engaged.

During one memorable scene, an Uncle Luke song blared over the sound system and Williams broke into a lively dance. A discussion panel took place after the performance called "Health care for Vulnerable Populations." David P. Lee, Barbara West and Jamie Johnson made appearances as panelists.

Azita Emami, the dean of the College of Nursing, said the play and the discussion panel fit with the college's goal of providing quality nursing care to marginalized populations.

"This play is completely in line with the message we want to send to our students about people from vulnerable populations," Emami said.

Panelists discussed ways in which African-American men not only sometimes experience an increased health risk for chronic medical conditions like diabetes and cancer and how minorities also experience incarceration at a disproportionate rate.

Beth Branchaw, marketing and grant writing assistant for the College of Nursing, explained that in celebration of its 75th Anniversary, the College of Nursing has been putting on numerous events focusing on more than just health-care.

"We not only want to have things that are specifically health related," Branchaw said. "We want to have more of a spread of connections between other sorts of issues."

Jamie Johnson acknowledged that not all black men face the same challenges and cannot all be categorized as part of a vulnerable population.

"Black men are very diverse," she said. "I'd say for the bottom stratum—those who are in dire straits—I think their plight is the same [as that of the men in the play]."

West, whose five uncles all died from cancer or diabetes, addressed the health risks associated with a lack of access to professional medical care.

Johnson, a mental health professional, agreed with West.

"In general, most men won't go to the doctor," she said. "Many African-American men go through the mental health system via the emergency room."

Nothing about the lack of resouces black men face in America would change, the panelists said, until society as a whole decides to do something about it.

"When you hear people talk about the state of black men […] don't think that it's just a black issue," Williams said. "It's a community issue."

"If we can raise up that population of black men to stop killing each other, to stay off drugs, things of that nature, then our whole community will change."

Sam may be reached at skettering@su-spectator.com