By Lem Peterkin
Jennifer Falu has transformed her celebrated poem, “Loses Things” into a powerful one woman play entitled “LOVE, Above All Things: Testimonial of a Woman who Loses Things … Praise Gave it Back.”
The nontraditional experience of sharing and healing took place at Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY during Women’s History Month. The workshop production of “LOVE, above all things” was presented in collaboration with SeasonWalk Productions and Mt. Pisgah.
Season Walk Productions is dedicated to producing with vision and developing projects which promote the intelligence and rich heritage of people of color.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to bring this blessing to the world,” said Denise Gray, its president and producer.
Approximately one year ago, during a Sunday service at Mt. Pisgah — otherwise known as “church extraordinaire” and led by the renowned Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood, Jennifer Falu, an award winning spoken word artist shared tje poem, “Loses Things” with the congregation. The feedback was overwhelming!
In this poem, Falu shared with the audience about losing things like her keys and the painful experience of temporarily losing custody of her children to the foster care system.
“Jennifer Falu is a gift to the world that ought to be experienced,” states Rev. Youngblood. “For those of us who do, our lives are made better. And for those of us who do not, well…”
Falu’s family, church family and friends rallied to her support.
With the unwavering loyalty and blessings of her pastor, church members Denise Gray, producer and president of SeasonWalk Productions and Obie-award winning director, Jesse Wooden, Jr., Falu was encouraged to share her story and be a catalyst for healing.
The play is a journey into the first few days of the three-year-plus battle that Falu is still fighting, to get her children back. She is joined onstage by Jaime Falu, her father and a percussionist in the show.
Jennifer thanks all those who have loved her through this journey. “You never know how far you will go until you have children… This show is dedicated to my children, – Makaiya and Bree.”
Falu recently won the first place in NBC TV’s Amiri Baraka Poetry Slam and is currently ranked third internationally in the Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is a celebrated performance artist throughout NYC and across the country and as a member of the 2006, 2009 and 2012 Nuyorican Poets Café Slam Teams, became the top female poet of the year in 2006, ranking third in 2009 and 2012.
As a performer, Falu has shared the stage with Jennifer Holliday, Carl Thomas and Patti LaBelle. She makes her film debut in the soon-to- be-released movie, “Mania Days” alongside Katie Holmes.
