Can you tell me how to get to the crossroads? A cultural analysis of community rituals in five major plays by August Wilson

In my dissertation, I do an in-depth cultural analysis of how August Wilson presents black people meeting at the crossroads and engaging in cultural rituals in his plays Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, and Two Trains Running. Applying critic Houston Baker's definition of the blues matrix, scholarship about August Wilson's use of the blues, and the insights Wilson shared with me about his work when I interviewed him, I analyze how the black people in these plays embrace their identities through cultural rituals such as storytelling, singing and dancing, eating soul food, laughing, protesting and connecting with their ancestors. Blacks are spiritually and culturally empowered through these rituals. These cultural rituals not only spiritually empower blacks but help them to survive in a society that at times devalues their culture. Overall, I analyze how Wilson uses the blues-matrix and crossroads in his plays to reveal the cultural rituals that blacks engage in to reaffirm their cultural and spiritual worth in America. They come to understand the importance of celebrating their heritage. Wilson masterfully presents black culture on stage and teaches multi-racial audiences who come to see his plays the importance of celebrating one's heritage.