DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709090257

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: NEIGHBORHOOD EXCHANGE 

TYPE: PUBLIC LIFE 

SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

ONLY A HANDFUL OF THOSE WHO STREAMED PAST

Only a handful of those who streamed past stopped to watch Billie Montgomery Cook and Renee Escoffery Johnson perform at Saturday's Civil War Days.

Most opted for the nearby war enactments or browsed through an assortment of ``Heritage, Not Hate'' T-shirts and miniature Confederate flags.

Cook and Johnson, representing The Not Just For February Players, were unfazed.

Their presence was a powerful statement, the women said.

The Players are a troupe of actors and actresses who dramatize African-American themed performances.

Cook and Johnson read slave stories from a volume entitled ``Bull Whip Days: Compilation of Slave Narratives.''

They said they were invited by the library to participate in hopes of giving the event a broader, cultural appeal.

Too many people don't recognize the contributions slaves made during the Civil War, they said.

It was the first time The Players had participated in the Chesapeake Central Library event.

Elizabeth Griffing, in charge of adult programs at the library, had seen The Players during Black History Month and thought that they would enhance the Civil War event.

``In talking to her,'' Cook recalled, ``I said, `I don't get it. Do black people come to this? Will we fit in?' ''

The answer was yes.

``We've always been concerned about creating a balanced picture. This gives a complete history,'' said Margaret P. Stillman, director of the library.

The Players acknowledge that even many blacks would rather forget about the days of slavery. But they say there is learning in dramatizing the past.

``It is hard for them to hear it,'' said Cook. ``But it has to be heard. We have to understand the struggle has changed, but it's still here.''

The slave narratives tell the story of a strong people who often had to act as chameleons to survive. They also demonstrate the slaves' strong sense for community-building and family.

There are lessons, too, of unity, such as how the slaves transformed swamplands into what are now roadways, or how they participated for both the Union and Confederate forces.

With theatrical passion, Johnson recited ``Midway,'' a slave narrative by Naomi Long Madgett:

``You've lashed me and you've treed me

``And you've everything but freed me

``But in time you'll know you need me and it won't be long.''

The Players will next perform in the Freedom Tour during Portsmouth's Umoja Festival Sept. 19-21.

``It's almost that you have to take history to where it will do the most: the community,'' said Johnson. MEMO: For information about The Not Just For February Players, contact

its founder, Billie Cook, at 397-9242.

Story ideas for this column, call Mike Knepler, 446-2275. ILLUSTRATION: Billie Montgomery Cook

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