Out of This World – The Stranger

Once I moved to Seattle from the Massive Island, Hawaii, in 1997, was 10 years outdated and anticipating to go to highschool and reside a life not not like Lisa Turtle’s in Saved by the Bell. I believed I might be a cool child. I didn’t even notice Seattle was an actual place till I moved right here, I believed it was only a made-up metropolis used as a backdrop for Sleepless in Seattle. The unknown made me really feel limitless.

However whoa, I used to be approach off.

On the primary day of faculty, I used to be clowned by everybody after they assumed I used to be a substitute trainer. Didn’t assist that I used to be dressed like a 40-year-old and already totally developed. I stood out in all of the flawed methods and wished to flee again to homeschool.

Bizarre to say, however the bullying was a godsend—I anxious much less about being the subsequent Lisa Turtle and as an alternative centered my power elsewhere, on music, theater, and writing. I might write songs and poems and make up characters with all these completely different character traits. And it acquired me on stage at a younger age. I gained my first prize for a poem about Martin Luther King Jr. at age 12 and was within the ensemble each summer season for a efficiency piece known as The MAAFA Suite (later Sankofa Theatre) on the Moore. 

Youngsters stayed merciless—I felt like I used to be an oddity with my afro, low alto/tenor voice, and distinctive fashion of garments—however their cruelty fueled my creativity. I might write in my journal about my future as a well-known singer and actor and follow my signature commonly. It wasn’t lengthy ’til I discovered my first little crew of weirdos who had been into a variety of the identical issues I used to be. They staged annual Shakespeare within the Park performances and held on Broadway on Capitol Hill. I used to be round 12 years outdated and I keep in mind how thrilling it was to see adults (although largely white) out and proud. In these small circles, I found my attraction to not solely boys however women, too. It’s the place I discovered the time period bisexual and I used to be too excited to proclaim it. Though it felt liberating, I nonetheless longed to make these realizations alongside Black youngsters.

By highschool, I had drifted from my little good friend group. I used to be their solely Black good friend they usually didn’t perceive once I known as them out on the racist issues they’d say in passing about me or different Black youngsters. Across the age of 15, I acquired into activism with the Quaker group American Service Buddies Committee. Not solely was it ethnically numerous, nevertheless it was additionally LGBTQIA+ pleasant. From 15 to 19 years outdated, I organized, marched, and protested as a part of Youth Undoing Institutionalized Racism and Queer Youth Rights.

It was fantastic to have discovered one other secure house, nevertheless it got here with its personal points. Seattle felt progressive, however I noticed how a lot it took as a teen to make constructive change in a metropolis that was extra serious about industrial progress. The type of activism I used to be pursuing took a variety of my power, and on the finish of my senior 12 months of highschool, I used to be at a crossroads: Activism or artistry? I made a decision to do each, however my approach.

Whereas attending Cornish School of the Arts, I nonetheless handled folks’s ignorance about my sexuality and my Blackness, however I used to be holding myself occupied with my inventive pursuits. I used to be nonetheless performing, was in a few bands, and, in my senior 12 months, fashioned my psychedelic, house rap jazz group THEESatisfaction with my companion on the time. We made our debut at my senior recital, and it was then that I discovered a few of my closest buddies who understood me and all my complexities.

My music profession took off—THEESatisfaction performed numerous reveals at venues like Neumo’s, the Crocodile, and Nectar, and toured North America, Europe, and China. We opened up for Erykah Badu, Massive Freedia, Little Dragon, and Black Star and we signed to Sub Pop in 2011. I used to be in an entire new world. I knew Seattle wasn’t prepared for one thing as experimental as two ladies in a relationship, rapping and singing collectively about being Black, being queer, and coping with oppressive programs at massive, however hell, we did it anyway. And we felt some pushback. Some folks liked us however usually assumed we had been sisters, and a few of the individuals who knew we had been a pair hated that and tried to maintain us from alternatives or mispronounce our names once we hit the stage. And after some time, there was additionally inner battle. 

It was fairly painful when the group formally led to 2016. I knew it was time to do what I had journaled about as a toddler and launch a solo profession. It was time to introduce the world to SassyBlack, the Excessive Priestess of Psychedelic Soul & Hologram Funk. 

SassyBlack was born in 2013. I deemed myself SassyBlack as a result of the identify was relatable, catchy, and uncooked. I may very well be my fullest self with this identify, which turned a double-edged sword, however one I wasn’t afraid to parry with. At first, it was new and tough, however I liked it as a result of it was all me. It wasn’t till my second EP, Private Daylight, got here out in 2015 that it actually hit me. I felt a wave of power like nothing I’d ever felt. Every venture that adopted spoke to my Blackness, queerness, womaness, and otherness. And with this new stage identify got here a flood of latest concepts. I felt renewed. I returned to writing quick tales and creating characters like I did as a child, however this time it was primarily based on my life and my travels. Particularly the teachings I discovered—some the laborious approach. SassyBlack turned the primary character I might carry to life, making approach for Emerald Jett.

Emerald Jett’s story began as a theme music and was impressed by reveals like Residing Single, Broad Metropolis, Star Trek: Deep Area 9, and Flight of the Conchords. She was a weirdo Black lady like me however with powers. I wished to flesh out her musical world however by no means had the time. In 2019, every part modified. I used to be in a automotive accident and suffered from intense neck, shoulder, and again ache, making it not possible to go on my tour for my third album, Historic Mahogany Gold. I used to be devastated. I didn’t know then, however that will be my final probability at touring for years to come back.

Throughout lockdown, I acquired an e mail from the fifth Avenue Theater about a chance to compose for a one-woman present. There it was once more, storytelling calling me in a brand new format. I took the gig and requested to be on the record for extra alternatives like that. 

Just a few months later, I heard they had been accepting submissions for First Draft, a musical growth program that helps new performs from marginalized communities. Emerald Jett’s time had come. I knew for positive her story could be a unusual musical about somebody who wanted a change as desperately as I did with a sci-fi funk twist. I used to be accepted into this system and acquired steerage, funding, and script readings with a solid. It was life-changing.

I’m internet hosting my first public Seattle studying of Emerald Jett on August 9 on the Northwest Movie Discussion board as a part of my 10 Years of SassyBlack celebration. Producing a musical is pricey, so I’m creating new methods to carry it to life whereas I proceed to revise the script and fundraise.

These previous 10 years have been an enormous shift in the way in which that I work, create, love, and reside. Rising out of my overly excited, fast-paced self right into a extra conscious, centered, and well-positioned artist has been exhausting. I’m nonetheless feeling the rising pains, and I don’t suppose these emotions will ever go away if I do it proper. By writing and composing initiatives like Emerald Jett, I can get to the core of my emotions and be extra current. I discovered to cherish my uniqueness and use it as a superpower. The issues that made me an outsider additionally formed my artistry and gave me the braveness to be SassyBlack and, extra importantly, myself.

The Emerald Jett Studying with SassyBlack is Friday, Aug 9 at Northwest Movie Discussion board, 7 pm, $12-$15. Study extra about her upcoming initiatives at sassyblack.com.