This essay analyzes the Kennedy Center's June 2003 solo autobiographical performance piece, Weights, by Lynn Manning, a blind African American performer and playwright. In Weights, Manning tells the story of his sudden transformation from life as a "black man" to life as a "blind man" after surviving a gunshot wound to the head. The essay argues for the continued relevance and efficacy of identity-based politics and representational practices by examining through the lens of "postpositivist realism" Manning's performance text and the audience, which included at least one hundred fifty people with disabilities.
