Testimonials

Boston, MA - Boston Center for the Arts
Your performance sponsored by Up You Mighty Race was wonderful!

Pittsburgh, PA - Pittsburgh Playwrights Theater
Wow! What a wonderful play that would help so many! I will spread the word throughout the school district of Pittsburgh.
-- Kira Y., Educator

Lincroft, NJ - Brookdale Community College
Dr. Goddess, I saw you at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, NJ about a month ago. Your presentation has given me a different outlook on my situation as a single mother. Your performance was magnificent and helped me to feel like I am truly understood. People at times do not realize how hard life can be for people in my situation. My children have not seen their father in almost 8 years. I hope to see you again in our area soon. All my respect and love to you.
-- Carol

Winston Salem, NC - National Black Theatre Festival International Colloquium
“Dr. Goddess is real, raw, honest. The characters are interesting and entertaining; engaging the audience around many social issues concerning the Black community. The most profound piece of the show [that] rings often in my ear is, ‘anything with a phat beat’. I work with teens and the hip-hop culture is so ripe and full and important to their self-expression, but I appreciate the way Dr. Goddess explores issues within the hip-hop community in such a creative and original way. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, the NBTF performance was my second time seeing the presentation and I will definitely see it again if I have the chance.”
—Rosiland Cauthen, Community Programs and Education Associate, Center Stage Theater, Baltimore, MD

Houston, TX - University of Houston, Downtown Campus
“Hello Dr. Goddess, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your show at UHD on Monday March 28th. It had an impact on me that I cannot express. I remember so many of the issues you talked about—the march in Selma, the sit in at the diner, the desegregation battles in Alabama. Unfortunately, I was young and my mother was raised in Tennessee so she would proclaim how important it was to keep the races separated. Fortunately, I had a father raised in New York that taught me how important it was that all Americans need to be treated equally with all the opportunities and liberties granted by the Constitution. Believe me there were some interesting ‘Discussions’ at my house after the nightly news. As an adult I am so glad I took my father's view to heart. I work in a Junior High School with a very diverse population and I would never make it without the wisdom of my Father. Working in Junior High and knowing the high price the African American made to get this close to equality, it sickens me when I hear my students putting each other down, calling each other ‘N*&^%’ I just want to strangle them. They have no idea the price paid by the generations before them, and what’s worse they don’t care. Any suggestions, I’m desperate. I feel like I am witnessing the destruction of everything past generations have achieved. Thank you once again for opening my eyes even wider.”
—MW

Houston, TX - National Association of African American Studies
“Dear Ms. Ellis, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the outstanding performance you provided on February 16, 2005. All members of the National Association of African American Studies and Affiliates in attendance expressed a heartfelt intrigue with the nature and scope of the presentation. There were a number of times during your one-woman production that the audience connected with comments made on your part. The clapping of the hands, laughter and in some cases, the call and response clearly exemplified the audience’s engagement. I am also impressed with your ability to change character as often as you did during the performance. It was obvious to me and many of our colleagues that you had invested countless hours in perfecting the production. You are to be commended for your professionalism and artistic ability.”
—Lemuel Berry, Jr., Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs

Holly Springs, MS - National African American Student Leadership Conference
“Thank you so much . . . I feel like I can now know where I am supposed to go with my education of my own history. Dr. Ellis I can tell you that when I came to the conference I really didn’t know what to expect and when I got there and became interested I was almost pulled into a false sense of knowledge and was gladly snatched up by one of my group members. I came with a desperate thirst for knowledge of how I could empower myself and pass the knowledge to others. You seemed like a bright beam of intelligence amidst all that blackness and I was able to come up to breathe and take a minute to process all of what was said . . . . and I agree with whoever told you that we would love for you to come to Jackson State and do what you feel (and I mean every word in that sense) Dr. Ellis you’re real and real cool and that is something that is missing for us who want to get it together. Also I didn’t quite agree with that statement about Kanye West that brother just hasn’t had a conversation with you! Stay Beautiful Dr. Ellis!”
—AS, Student, Jackson State University

Chicago, IL - Gwendolyn Brooks Writers Conference
“Daayyyyiimmm! I didn't know I was sittin' next to FIYAH!” (“Fire!”)
—Chuck D, Public Enemy

Greencastle, IN - DePauw University, Ladies Aligning for Cross Cultural Excellence
“Dr. Goddess adds a dose of wit, humor, and spunk to her performances that is absent from many of the contemporary spoken word artists.”
—Chinonye Chukwu, Student Leader, October 2004

Toronto, Canada - Women in Theatre and Performance Conference
“The WTP audience was lucky enough to see another fabulous performance by Professor Kimberly C. Ellis as ‘Dr. Goddess’. Moving elegantly from dry comedy to deep pathos, Ellis wooed her audience taking us on an emotional roller coaster ride. Ellis' performance revealed her dynamic abilities as performer, writer and social critic as she employed a multitude of genres, commenting on the subtleties and nuances of race, gender and language in innovative and surprising ways.”
—Crystin Davies, University of Australia, Review for Conference Newsletter

Bronx, NY - Lehman College Hip Hop Conference
“On Friday, October 21, 2005, at the end of the Lehman Conference on Hip-Hop, a performance celebrating the conference’s themes of hip-hop, culture, identity and power took place. The final act of the performance featured excerpts from Kimberly Ellis’s one woman show, ‘Dr. Goddess,” a show which showed dramatic skill and which effectively captured these themes. Playing a range of characters and drawing on the power and energy of hip-hop and other African-American musical traditions, Dr. Goddess asserts an affirmative message, on behalf of her audience, about one’s own inherent strengths and the need for a belief in oneself. Like the anthems of James Brown or the raps of Public Enemy and Queen Latifah, Dr. Goddess' message is multilayered and very effective.” —Thomas Conroy, Conference Organizer and Professor, Lehman College

Los Angeles, CA - Embodi Black Female Performing Arts Festival
“I’ve known [Dr. Goddess] for years. She’s intelligent and hilarious. Seeing this show made me nostalgic and proud about my past, aware, sensitive and more responsive to current issues and hopeful and encouraged about the future. And I laughed my ass off at every single turn. This show is a MUST SEE! If you don’t, you’ll regret it!”
—Lamman Rucker, Actor, (“As the World Turns,” “All My Children,” “All of Us,” “Half & Half”), Los Angeles, California