Kryhoski is currently working as a freelance writer. In this essay, she considers the exploitation of the African-American woman as a function of the play.

The African-American woman - arguably the most disenfranchised individual in American history - takes center stage in Pearl Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky. Angel, the main character of the play, provides a portrait of the subjugated or enslaved. However tempted one is to characterize Angel's problems as being a byproduct of her own self-destructive behavior, Angel is a victim. During a time of great poverty, in the face of an economy spiraling out of control, Angel turns away from the camaraderie or goodwill and comfort of her peers to find a way out of the oppression she experiences from day to day.

Angel's life is presented to the audience in bits and pieces throughout the course of the play. From the...