Dallas comedian Sydney Plant on sharing Black women’s stories

Editor’s note: As the pandemic continues, KERA and The Dallas Morning News are working together to document its impact on the arts and culture scene in North Texas. Julianna Morano of The News speaks with three Dallas artists about how their work has progressed since the COVID outbreak. This is the first in the series.

More than 18 months after the COVID-19 pandemic, some artists have realized that their work has changed forever.

It’s not that bad.

For three local artists, shutdowns and virtual events meant a loss of connection. At the same time, they say that they have found a new clarity in their purpose as an artist and performer.

And everyone has discovered ways to keep bringing light and joy into the world.

This story centers on Sydney Plant, an improvised comedian and storyteller from Dallas. After the pandemic suspended the live shows she considered her life’s work, she realized that creativity is her form of self-care. So she found a new source of expression.

In the coming weeks we will be sharing poet Gabby Elvessie and multimedia artist Nitashia Johnson’s artistic journeys through the pandemic.

How the Shutdown Plant took the joy away

In March 2020, Plant was at the top of the world.

Women of Candor, their live show that sheds light on the stories of African American women, got off to a stimulating start. She had several additional shows at the Stomping Ground Comedy Theater in Dallas and enough material for a spin-off podcast.

Then COVID-19 hit and she watched venues close across Texas and across the nation.

Sydney Plant wears a shirt she designed. (Jason Janik / special article)

She started her job as a hospital manager from home. And she could no longer train and rehearse with the women from her show who had walked backstage just a few weeks earlier to laugh or cry with her at the end of a moving performance.

“Women of Candor was born by following the word joy,” says Plant. “In many ways, losing Women of Candor to the pandemic has taken away my joy.”

Creativity is what keeps Plant, 46, going. She describes it as her “self-care” regimen. So she turned to a new outlet to further raise the voices of black women: a line of t-shirts.

Black Ladies Unlimited T-Shirts

The Sydney Plant t-shirt lines include the “From the Culture” and “Emancipation” collections.(Jason Janik / special article)

Her online store is called BlackWomenUnlimited.Shop, where she sells a range of graphic t-shirts. The shirts range from empowering to satirical.

One of the “Emancipation” collection in the series is called “Citizen Ship” and is paired with the image of a slave ship that comments on the tense history of black Americans of becoming citizens through slavery.

Another – in the “From the Culture” collection – is a “wink and a nod” at the movie poster and the title of Boyz N the Hood. The “Girlz N the Hoodz” shirt shows two black women sitting in a salon under a hairdryer.

“We talk a lot about the black barber shop, but we talk about the hair salon and the barber shop [are] also part of this world, ”says Plant.

The “Citizen Ship” t-shirt from the “Emancipation” collection by Black Women Unlimited.(Black women unlimited)

All t-shirts amplify the voices of black women in a way that is “not filtered for anyone” – they channel the spirit of Plants Women of Candor shows.

Plant focuses on her t-shirts until she can return to live shows. She’s hoping to start another spin-off podcast as she intends to use the shirts as conversation starters. She hopes the podcast will be a platform to have these conversations with people who are into their shirts.

“When we run out of cotton [and] We can’t make shirts anymore, I’m going to reinvent to honor the voices and legacy and future of black women, ”says Plant. “My mission will always be the same.”

A version of the Sydney Plant interview was broadcast on KERA-FM (90.1). This story will also appear on artandseek.org and will be published in the Arts & Life section on September 26th.

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