Dr. Barbara Ann Teer, founder of the National Black Theatre in Harlem, was a pioneer in that she believed actors were not actors, but liberators. As the director of an Afrocentric piece, referring to performers as liberators is certainly appropriate. A liberator’s memory and what [they are] able to bring on stage is interrelated and is often what makes the process of acting and “becoming” such an exhilarating experience. For centuries, actors have utilized memory to recall certain emotions associated with a specific human behavior to achieve verisimilitude.

C.D. Sibley in Black Acting Methods