Sally's Rape

Sally's Rape is a 45-minute performance art piece from 1991 that played at The Kitchen in New York City. The show was inspired by McCauley's enslaved great-great grandmother Sally who had a child fathered by her enslaver, the product of sexual violence. In one portion of the piece, McCauley stands naked on a bench. A white woman enters and tells the audience that the bench is an auction box and encourages the audience to bid on McCauley's body—something McCauley described as a ritual intended to engage the audience with her in addressing the historical experience of African-American women who were objects of white abuse, and opening a dialogue with the audience.