For information about the show, go to fufu & oreos.

Obehi Janice delivers a thoughtful exploration of the identity struggles she has faced in her life during the 90 minute performance of “fufu & oreos” at the 119 Gallery in Lowell, MA. The show opened on May 13 and will end with performances on May 20, 21 and 22. Throughout the show, Obehi sings, tells anecdotes, and performs skits related to memories of events in her life which shaped her identity as a black-American-Nigerian-Christian woman.

Obehi’s serious exploration of identity in the form of humor keeps the show light and fun. She tells stories from childhood about experiences in the hair salon in which her mother worked. In one story she says, “I knew I was black but I didn’t know I was dark.” She explains that at the mall in which the hair salon was located, she had an unusual experience with a stranger she encountered who proceeded to ignorantly “explain” why her skin was dark. The witty songs, skits, and stories continue non-stop.

     
Photos by Doug Sparks.

The black-American versus Nigerian duality Obehi explores through the “Rima and Rose” skit provides a particularly fresh perspective that really complements the more well-known conflict of black-American versus a white-American dominated culture. In this skit, a very verbose black-American television host gives a lengthy introduction to her Nigerian guest who explains fufu, a Nigerian dish made of pounded yams. The more reserved Nigerian guest demonstrates how fufu is eaten with the hands and tells its significance: “It fills us and we eat it together.” She also posits questions about the ingredients in Oreos, such as vanillin – an artificial flavor, common in American products but not to be found in fufu. This exploration leads into Obehi’s story about her decision to become a vegetarian, a “stamp of whiteness.” Not to mention that she eats fufu with a fork, “which is very wrong.” These statements make the audience think carefuly about which dualities Obehi is exploring at a particular time or if she could be exploring more than one duality at once – is it Nigerian versus American, Nigerian versus black, black versus white, or white versus Nigerian?

Photo by Doug Sparks.

Obehi ends with a humorous song about the men she likes of different ethnic origins and their qualities,
including white men and computer hackers, which not only reveals her possible taste in men but ultimately
summarizes the discoveries she has made about herself in terms of accepting her own varied identies.

In the Q & A afterward, Obehi gave some poignant advice about others experiencing similar identity crises by saying the way she dealt with the situation was by “finding [her] voice and speaking out loud about it.” The creation of “fufu & oreos” represented two years of work in continuing to develop her voice so that she could present it to a wider audience, after performing her first draft at Georgetown University her senior year of college.

On Saturday, the performance was followed by a delicious traditional Nigerian meal, complete with fufu and Oreo cookies. The food provided a tangible way to connect with the imagery presented in the show and to try out the the fufu talked about throughout. The night ended with dancing and socializing, showing that the fufu indeed brought people together.

Food and dance followed the show to complete the night.

Jeremy Navarro of Funk Skuad.

BREAK! HUNGER, a charity event organized by the Vietnamese Student Association of UMass Lowell, took place at Cumnock Hall on Saturday. This charity fundraiser for The Walk for Hunger was Umass Lowell’s first B-boy competition, with 21 break dancing crews showing their dance moves. Between 150 and 200 dancers and audience members attended the event. The Vietnamese Student Association
raised $700 from this event and $400 from a walk, for a total of $1100.

Derek Huynh, Vice President of the Vietnamese Student Association, said the idea for the event started in the summer of 2010 at an executive board retreat. He wanted to put on an event that UMass Lowell had never done before. Since he knew a few people who were trying to bring a break dancing team back, he thought this would be a good way to help them as well as bring together the public and UML students.

Left: Xuyen Tran of WTJ. Right: Shaquille Worsley of Straw Hat Pirates.

Huynh comes from the popping scene, where popping is a dancing style often confused with break dancing. At the event, there were both poppers and B-boys. He said, “Many B-boy crews back in the day had poppers and some B-boys popped…they came from the same neighborhood…they came from the same style and I wanted to bring that out.”

Left: Alda Phung AKA Lim Phung-Lim of Funk Skuad. Right: Tony Lim AKA Tony T-Baggz of Problemz Kru.

He chose The Walk for Hunger because he had participated in that event for three years and liked how the non-profit organizes many participants for its events. He had seen “break for cancer” events in the past, but never had seen “break for hunger” events, inspiring him to put one on. He thought that a perception exists about some organizations at UMass Lowell not doing much to contribute to the community, so events like these are a great step toward disproving that notion.

Huynh said, “Honestly I felt amazed it turned out the way it did…I felt honored to have so many people come down and participate in my event.”

London Long of UniverSOUL.

The biggest challenge of the event was UMass Lowell’s policy on admitting people under age 18 to events. Many B-boy crews had members under that age and Huynh said that it would be unfortunate if those members could not attend because they are the future of B-boying. He eventually worked out an agreement with the school so that B-boys under 18 could participate in supporting their teams but not compete.

Jay Wong AKA DimSum of Swift Chicks and an Orphan.

These crews from all around the Lowell and Boston area had interesting names: Problemz Kru, Lawtown Assassins, Krazy Legion, Ace Legion, 1st Infantry, Kuda Air Max, UniverSOUL, Straw Hat Pirates, 2 Swift Chicks and 1 Orphan, Orphanage Cru, Red Devils and 1 Cambodian, Area 69, Bogey Breaks, 3-Dimensional, Hunger Crew, Dangerous Styles Crew, WTJ, Funk Skuad, Krazy 88′s, Heroes of Neworth, and Soul Step.

Chris Suarez AKA Conceited of Ace Legion.

The final battle took place between Problemz Kru and Lawtown Assassins, but in the end, Problemz Kru showed some better dancing moves and won the competition with a cash prize of $300, not to mention the respect of the other crews. Huynh is looking to make Break! Hunger an annual event and grow it so that it has more participants and audience members. He would like to raise more money at next year’s event and make the cash prize larger to attract more groups. Next year’s event will also determine if Problemz Kru can keep its Break! Hunger title.

Aaron Olivarez AKA Shinobi of Straw Hat Pirates.