Speaker 1: Bandana Country Episode one. You ever stare at a child's
painting and might start off with mommy and daddy, maybe
a pet, a teacher, or an imaginary friend. Maybe the
sun wears shades over googly eyes, and the scenes of
reality just continue to give. It could be the family
towering over the house beside them. Any animal from the
zoo may talk, and better yet, be your closest confidante,
and you're reminded that through the right person's eyes, the
world is still magical.
Speaker 2: You coming, Yeah, I just need a minute.
Speaker 1: Want me to wait with you. I'll wait with you.
I'm in a magical place, a place where multi colored
glass bottles, a door and tree branches and people speak
and tongues alone, heads bowed beside brown water, and if
you listen closely, you can hear Bandana Country reassure itself
he has not forsaken us.
Speaker 3: I'm ready.
Speaker 2: I'm not ready.
Speaker 4: I'm not ready.
Speaker 5: Fuck this.
Speaker 1: That's my girlfriend, Solange on one of the worst days
of her life. And we'll get there. But first, Okay,
it's our first night in Bandana Country, and Solange's family
seems to be having a party.
Speaker 6: Praise the Lord.
Speaker 5: Sister Rosa Hi, missus.
Speaker 6: Up to come on, mat chap.
Speaker 5: We're practically family now you can call me ain't ger.
Speaker 4: Just let.
Speaker 1: Sorry. Solange's aunt set her real name, so I bleeped
it out for her privacy.
Speaker 6: Y'all living together after all back in my day, that
made your family. But I guess everybody else in that
New York has a roommate.
Speaker 1: Oh sure, but we're not not to come home and
get you a plate. I did, by the way, best
bac and cheese I've ever had, and catfish with hushpuppies,
and something called polk salad, which is fried with eggs.
But as I went about stuffing my face full of
what would turn out to be acid reflux and dreadful constipation,
I kept hearing this.
Speaker 4: So you're in the roommate.
Speaker 7: Roomate, roommate woom right.
Speaker 1: Solonge, You okay, they're calling me your roommate.
Speaker 4: Shug.
Speaker 2: We've been over this still you sat your going to
talk to them? And I have so many times? Then
why do they all think they don't They're just saved,
sanctified and holy those feel hug Bendanna Country suffers from
lesbian deprivation. Give them your thoughts and prayers.
Speaker 1: The launche does that cold reality in one breath, a
joke in the next. But I'll never fully adjust to this.
It feels unreal. It's like Stepford Wives and Get Out
had the blackest baby in the most rural stretch of America,
and it can only utter five words praise the Hello hymn.
Speaker 7: Roommate.
Speaker 1: Day two in Bandana Country. We've been here just over sixteen.
Speaker 5: Hours since the Rosa Sister Rosa.
Speaker 1: Oh hi. The woman running toward me is Mary, a
redbone cartoon princess of a woman with big, expressive brown eyes,
a gap in her front teeth, and permed chin length hair.
I met her the first time I visited years ago,
and I've seen her every time i've been back since.
For me, Mary's as much a part of Bandanna Country
as the apple trees, ponds and seemingly never ending church services.
You don't have to run, Mary, I'm not going anywhere,
sister Rosa.
Speaker 6: I've been looking all over for you.
Speaker 4: Me. What for?
Speaker 6: Found a lucky rock? A got to give it to
someone bad? Look of the wise? What's she doing out here?
Speaker 1: Uh? Thank you? I'm just getting some beer. Mind, if
I keep.
Speaker 6: Recording, don't bother me, Now, what's it about.
Speaker 1: Well, this moment, you know, coronavirus us leaving the city
feels like a paradigm shift. I'm going to document what
I can during the days and reflect at night, and
maybe I'll manage to capture some truth at this moment,
like a diary. We're a job application, this American life.
Speaker 6: Oh well, I can tell you everything you need to
know about that coronavirus.
Speaker 1: Uh okay, you know those cliffs over the expressway. I
do know those cliffs over the expressway. Each time I
find myself here, I mark my entrance and exit with
a WinCE through them. Nestled into a natural dead end
of swamp and forest, the only road in or out
of Bandana Country inevitably whined between twin crumbling faces. You see,
dear listener, to borrow from a mean one does not
simply visit Bandana Country. We flew into Nashville and waited
with the other non driving cousins for our chariot, in
the form of a classic pickup truck. Relegated to the
back in a sloppy system that privileged age and marriage,
I sloshed around with suitcases and bags, thankful for Solange's
uncle's timid driving. Two hours later, and very nearly there
yet the sun began to sink between the cliffs, and
I drank in the view as long as I possibly could.
But here, at the threshold of Bandana Country, a series
of ominous signs mark our route, no U turn road, narrows,
falling rocks, snowslide, the hazard, various animal silhouettes, deer bear,
and something so lounge Litter told me was elk amidst
the sea of hazard orange. The lone white sign announces
approaching Bandanna Country, a prayerful place.
Speaker 5: But back to Mary, Yeah, Bishop received a vision of
their last spring, received from the.
Speaker 6: Lord a vision of the coming plague.
Speaker 1: Uh huh.
Speaker 6: He followed his spirits up the hill until it took
him to the edge of the cliffs.
Speaker 1: And they here roughly nine hundred and eighty miles from
the Boudika Cat, who's quietly fallen into the custody of
our entire block. People like Mary believe in things like
prophecies and divine communicays the way I believe in getting
a freshly baked acupaty right in time for the subway.
It's not likely, but occasionally it does. Happen. It happens
often enough that I usually cite the Pattyman when I
show up fifteen minutes late to work, which is most days.
Speaker 2: We're just country.
Speaker 1: Sug Shug short for sugar is Solange's nickname for me.
Unlike yours, truly, she has a career to protect, so
I'm using a pseudonym for her. She originally wanted to
be called Beyonce, but as two card carrying members of
the Beehive, we decided to avoid the sacrilege. I suggested
Kelly or Michelle, then Solange, so she let me out
of the doghouse. I mean, sure, but there are country
people of state.
Speaker 2: We're black country.
Speaker 1: I'm black. But it's like magical realism.
Speaker 5: Out of here, Rosa.
Speaker 2: It's not a Tony Morrison novel. It's my home. It's
just rule and Pentecostal, and we do just fine without
your Yankee condescension. Thank you.
Speaker 1: If you're like me, you snicker at the sincere use
of the word Yankee, and Pentecostal doesn't mean anything to you. So,
at the risk of offending my girlfriend again, I'm going
to give you some context. You know, those scary Christians
who speak in tongues and handle snakes. Well, they are
my girlfriend's relatives. Yeah, but it's not like Jesus said
something about putting bottles on trees.
Speaker 4: And how would you know if you do? Touche?
Speaker 2: And since you'll be resting your heathen head in my
big Mama's house for God only knows how long I'd
chill out with the casual blasphemy if.
Speaker 4: I was you.
Speaker 1: I can't even say his name, though.
Speaker 2: Can you put some respect on the Savior's name?
Speaker 5: That may be a problem.
Speaker 2: Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 1: Until I met her family, Solange was the only person
I knew who earnestly exclaimed Jesus take the wheel. I
love it when she says it. I find it charming.
And even though I needlessly doubled down on comparing her
heritage to magical realism, I promise I don't purposely irritate
her just to hear her say it.
Speaker 2: Jesus take the wheel, Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 1: Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 3: Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 2: Jesus take the wheel.
Speaker 3: Rosa fine.
Speaker 1: I don't purposely irritate her often just to hear her
say it. But back to Mary and the story, that's
sweeping Bandita country like Gangbusters.
Speaker 6: There the Lord warned Bishop about a great plague and
a trial for the souls.
Speaker 4: Of the righteous.
Speaker 1: What does that mean exactly?
Speaker 6: There is a blight working its way around the world.
That don't sound like a plague to you.
Speaker 1: She had me there.
Speaker 6: Bishop warned us at us prayer warriors, we will be tested,
and not every one amongst us is gonna have faith
to move mountains. It won't be easy, but we can
keep that plague. I'd have been there in the country.
As long as we gather in his name, we got
an emergency service tonight.
Speaker 4: Have I caught you in time to tell you about it?
Speaker 1: Thanks the brainchacking?
Speaker 4: Wrong's up?
Speaker 6: You see what's happening in New York? That don't tell
you something?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it tells me people shouldn't be popped in together
during a pandemic. Sorry, Mary, but if MTA didn't kill me,
I'm not gonna let your church to it. I was
surprised when Mary suddenly reached out and grabbed me firm.
Speaker 4: He had struck us with plagues before.
Speaker 6: And the blood shall be to you for a token
upon the house this waggee are. And when I see
the I will pass over you, and the plague shall
not be upon you to destoy you. When I smite
the land. Do you know what happened to the people
who diedn't follow the Lord's word?
Speaker 4: I did know what happened.
Speaker 1: I may be a dirty heathen, but Spora from the
Prince of Egypt played an outsized role in my bisexual awakening.
So yeah, I basically went to seminary. All the other
firstborn sons in the land died.
Speaker 6: But this plague is coming for all of us unless
we come together, humble and prayerful. That's all we have
to do. Just as the Lord revealed to vision, right,
it's true. Sure, as I'm standing in front of you today,
I was there.
Speaker 1: You were on the cliffs with your pastor when Jesus said.
Speaker 4: Lord, have mercy.
Speaker 6: I was in church when Redship shared it's bush. If
you don't believe me, you can ask around all of
Bendana country was there.
Speaker 1: Shortly after this conversation, it became clear that coronavirus was
indeed a kind of plague. Within a couple of weeks,
the virus had swept the world, but it was the
only thing in the news most days, and my home
had become the national epicenter for infection and death's while
in Bandana Country people flocked to church to give thanks
for being spared.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's probably true, you're not serious. I'm pretty
sure Anger told me a plague was coming last spring.
Speaker 1: Why are you so casual about this? You're pretty sure
your aunt told you about the coronavirus.
Speaker 2: No sug. One of the many apocalyptic visions Anger shared
with me was Bishop's prophecy about an impending plague.
Speaker 1: And you don't feel like sharing this incredibly important prophecy
with me or the.
Speaker 5: CDC Jesus take the way.
Speaker 1: Oh see, it's charming when she says it.
Speaker 2: Bishop Ballard is old school Apostolic. He's preached a thousand
doomsday visions. And he's not the only one. These Christians
prophesy so regularly. We have a service for it every Tuesday.
If it's not a plague, it's a red sky, a
nuclear apocalypse, the Antichrist, the gay agenda. One of them
was bound to be kind of right.
Speaker 1: This prophecy by process of elimination approach sounded nearly as
absurd as everything Mary had said, But I was able
to verify that their pastor had indeed shared an apocalyptic
sermon about a plague less than a year before. Here's
a clip courtesy of the Upper Room Apostolic Church's media archive.
Speaker 7: I saw a terrible sight, sickness sweeping the earth, and
the devil with me at a reason to keep the
saints out of the sanctuary. The devil was there, jumping
at a reason to quiet the shepherds and the ministers,
and the prophets and the healers. But the devil didn't know,
I said. The devil didn't know that the Lord was
gonna let us in, So the devil kept win. That's hite, Saints.
A plague is coming for us. But now the army
of the faithful is for warned and fore armed. So
what are you gonna do when the plague comes? What
you're gonna do when the locusts descend from the heavens,
and the firmaments and the seas turned blood red. I
tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna be in
the sanctuary, preaching down the raptors, praising the Lord in
his infinite glory.
Speaker 1: You can hear the problem right the benefit of current events.
It sounds incredibly prescient the way Nostradamis's predictions felt after
World Wars, and needless to say, his position differs a
bit from the CDC and the World Health Organization and
most doctors, epidemiologists and high school science teachers. I want
to call it wantonly dangerous, and it is dangerous, but
it's also something else, something deeper. And that's something deeper.
Well that's the subject of this show.
Speaker 4: Can you hear me? Okay, yes, but I don't know
why you bother with all this stuff. And you know
I'm right. I know you heard the signment. Bishop saw
the coronavirus coming, and he told us to come to
the sanctuary. This social distance and nonsense is just the beast.
Speaker 6: Just to be safe, you're playing right into the devil's hands.
Speaker 1: We go back and forth like this for a while.
So I'm going to jump forward to the good bed.
Speaker 4: Bishop laid hands on each and every one of us.
He held people who didn't even know they were sick,
warned us of impending trials and tribulations. And you know
what he told me what my faith will be one
of the most crucial weapons in the fight for souls.
So I'm gonna keep sharing the good word with you.
I'm gonna keep showing you the way home to our
Lord and say your rosa, because he loves you and
I love you, and there's a place for you and
glory if you just follow them. There's a place for everyone,
you know, and we can save them all. I'm gonna
open my heart, follow and Bishop's footsteps, an apple, heed
whatever the Lord has in store for me. Just think
of the gift Bishop could give us all because he
opened his heart to receive wisdom. He's saving lives. Well,
I'm gonna do the same, Rosa, and we gonna save souls.
Speaker 1: I don't know about souls. I barely know about life,
all the intricacies of breath, circulation, muscles, sinew bone. But
I do know. The morning after this conversation, Mary would
follow her heart to the same cliff where a Bishop
Ballard opened his I don't know if she saw a
mystical vision. No one does, because the rock supporting the
cliff crumbled where she stood, and Mary plummeted several dozen
feet to her death.
Speaker 7: I'd say untimely, but whether the Lord's try, Whenever our
time comes, the Lord will take us however He's going
to take us the trial wasn't never about saving lives,
since it's always going to be about saving souls.
Speaker 1: The people of Bandana Country seem to believe that Mary's
soul was an excellent condition, slim comfort, because just as
they could look back on Bishop's sermons with hindsight, I
can look back on Mary's death and tell you it
was a harbinger of what was to come, because by
the end of the summer, Mary would be just a
number amongst the dead. Next time on Bandana Country.
Speaker 3: You were listening to Bandana Country written and directed by H. Harvey.
Line produced by Tim Craig. Audio produced by Max Adeh,
starring Miakogavia as Rosa, Jasmine Boone as Solange, and featuring
Tim Craig and Brittany Michelle as chorus, including Anker, Mary, Bishop, Ballard, uncles, aunts,
and newscasters. Produced and presented by Black Revolutionary Theater Workshop,
twenty twenty five. All rights reserved.