Art & Authenticy

Participating in Danzy Senna’s reading of “Where did you sleep last night?” was a remarkable experience to get a feel of who the author is truly is. Her passionate reading on her works added a whole new level of meaning to how she felt during her harsh childhood experiences. I felt that the various passages that she selected for this reading were special moments, however, there was one passage, in particular that I would’ve liked her to have read which was the moment she received the pre-assembled desk from her father. That particular moment was in a sense, a revelation for Danzy Senna, because her disappointment and sadness was clouded by the anry bitter remarks of her relatives. I was glad that she got around to narrate through her entire memoir because, to me, her memoir felt like a growing up experience so to speak. Although, she jumped around from various bits and pieces of not only her childhood, but also her adulthood, these moments culminate into a full memoir and by going through this process, she got a better understanding of not only her father, but also her mother as well. When she was excited to attend that movie that she wanted to go, but didn’t want to leave her mother left out, showed how there are still signs of guilt for abandoning her mother for her father in a sense. Nonetheless, these moments in her life proved to be a valuable experience and I was glad she was able to share them with the audience in her reading as well as her question and answer session.