Life is theater.
Theater is life.
Stay in Character.
Baba Professor C. Lee Turner made his return from Orun (Heaven) to Aiye (Earth) on Sunday, October 4th, 1931. It was the second decan of Libra season, the kind of energy that is half Aquarian. Venus, Saturn, and Uranus were a trilogy in his cosmic design…with a tiny dash of the Moon. She was waning in Cancer. In the Afrikan way of the stars, it was the season of The Distance. He was a theater arts connusiuer, and broke many barriers and set many records in the world of Theater. He was my professor during my appointed time at Prairie View A & M University. I met him in the summer of 2002, before my first semester in college. I would have never dreamed of majoring in theater until I met him. He did a tenure in the Army before finding his path on the stage. Ironically, I forfeited my military scholarship to follow my spirit to the black box in Hobart.
Baba C. Lee Turner is the father of many theater players, directors, costume designers, scene and set designers, light and sound engineers, and troupes. He achieved many accolades, includung the Kennedy Center and state titles. He has a performing arts center named for him. Through him, we learned to put together productions in days that would have otherwise take weeks! However, I cannot say that theater is where we really bonded. In fact, there were times where we were thorns in each other’s sides. We bonded when I experienced a glimpse into my spiritual gifts that I wasn’t ready for….
It was a regular, cool autumn night in Prairie View Texas, Hobart Hall. Rehearsal had finally ended, and Goddess only knew what time it was. It was a common suggestion that women shouldn’t walk the campus alone after dark as a safety precaution. My spirit and the box cutter in the pocket of my jeans begged to differ. I headed towards my dorm on foot, allowing the night air to calm me. I had just passed the water fountain at the center of campus and was passing the huge amber tower light over the John B. Coleman Library. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It was a shadow. I immediately went into attack mode, ready to do what I needed to do in the event I was in danger. I saw no one. Looked behind bushes….saw no one…..looked around again thoroughly…no one there. I saw shadows of people running around on the campus yard, and there was no one there to cast the shadow. I could not believe my eyes. I began to question myself. Did I eat something that didn’t agree with me? Am I losing my mind? All the while my mind was racing these questions, my stance in a trance, these shadows continued to run around under the amber light, under the library. I snapped out of it enough to run the rest of the way home. I knew I wasn’t running from a person. I was running away from what I saw. Who cold I tell this to without sounding crazy? Captain Morgan, that’s who. I got loaded when I made it back to my dorm. Get it together! I told myself. You are the first woman in your family to go to college. Don’t mess it up, I said. I went class the next day with a world-class hangover. I usal campus diva attire was replaced with plaid pajama pants and a fitted tee. I usually feathered jet black hair was disheveled, and I didn’t care. I could barely feel my feet as I floated into Professor Turner’s classroom. I was a dean’s list student that couldn’t remember my professor’s lecture to save my life. When class was over, I just sat there, still in a daze from last night. He came and sat next to me, and gently patted my knee.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked.
I dissolved into tears and panic. “You’re going to think I’m crazy!” I exclaimed. I then preceeded to tell him what I saw.
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Prairie View was a plantation before it was a college,” he explained. “What you saw…were the spirits of the slaves.”
It was such a relief to hear him affirm that I wasn’t crazy. “Why can’t anyone else see them?” I asked.
He shrugged. “They allow themselves to be seen by who they want to be seen by.”
“Can you see them too?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Why do you think I write them in my new face plays? Now go home and get some rest….and don’t come back to my class with a hangover again!”
C. Lee Turner was one of the first to affirm my supernatural talents, and that was reason enough to stick around. From that point, I didn’t care that I didn’t get lead roles, or become one of his favorites. He understood a part of me that many others didn’t know about. He had the gift of sight himself.
Life is theater, and theater is life. I studied characters to understand more about the human condition. It would come in handy in ways I never imagined.
C. Lee Turner returned to Orun (Heaven) from Aiye (Earth) on Tuesday, January 19th,, 2021. It was the third decan of Capricorn season, the kind that is half Taurus. In the Afrikan way of the stars, it was the season of The Baobab Tree. The day vibrated on a 16/7, the day of divine completion. The moon was waxing in Aries. 222.9 The Mothership honors C. Lee Turner as a distinguished ancestor. Ase.
