Revisiting Whoopi Goldberg's Monologues | Opinion

Awestruck, my wife and I were filled with admiration while watching Whoopi Goldberg's original one-woman show "Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway" and the recent staging "The Whoopi Monologues," featuring five extraordinary actresses. Goldberg, the long-time host of ABC's "The View," is an American icon, a national treasure, and a global queen known for her rock and roll charm, hip-hop swag, and bluesy wordplay.

Her monologues tackle a wide range of issues, including self-hatred, low self-esteem, drug addiction, abortion, classism, the Holocaust, immigration, sexism, and the struggles of the differently-abled. Through four female characters and one male character, Goldberg takes us on a journey of laughter, tears, and profound introspection. The new production, presented at New York City's Lincoln Center, adds a character with menopause, making it more relatable to modern audiences.

Goldberg's work reminds us that the experiences of Black women in America are significant and deserve recognition alongside other groundbreaking works like Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf" and V's "The Vagina Monologues." Her path to success was not easy, as she had to overcome the challenges of the Reagan era, the crack epidemic, the AIDS pandemic, and nuclear threats.

Still, she carved her own way by creating a symphony of voices that sing America, as Langston Hughes did before her.

This is the gift Whoopi Goldberg has given us all. Her monologues remind us that women, especially Black women, are powerful, complex, and deserving of respect. As my mother saw herself in Whoopi, many others can do the same. In never silencing her inner monologue, Whoopi continues to give permission to others like her to embrace their stories and imaginations.