For Preview Only I HAVE a DREAM a Readers Theatre Piece

A Readers Theatre Piece

By Robert Mauro

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For preview only I HAVE A DREAM A Readers Theatre Piece

By ROBERT MAURO

CAST OF CHARACTERS

# of lines MUSEUM GOERS MARTHA ...... old black female; civil rights 22 veteran HARRIET ...... Martha’s friend; old black 22 female; civil rights veteran SARAH ...... Martha’s granddaughter; 7 high school age RACHEL ...... Sarah’s best friend; young 6 white female TIMOTHY ...... another friend; young black male 4

MUSEUM EXHIBITS

Civil Rights Activists MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR...... museum guide; civil rights 95 leader; black male MOTHER ...... King’s mother 11 FATHER ...... King’s father; preacher 3 YOUNG MARTIN ...... King as a child 4 CORETTA SCOTT KING ...... King’s wife 34 ROSA PARKS ...... black rights activist 17 OLD BLACK MAN ...... segregation victim 5 STUDENT ONE ...... black college student 4 STUDENT TWO ...... another 3 STUDENT THREE ...... another 3 STUDENT FOUR ...... another 4 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE ...... white female 9 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO ...... white male 9 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER THREE ...... black male 4 VOTER ONE ...... black female 5

VOTER TWO ...... black male 5

ii RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only Segregationists KKK MEMBER ...... white male 21 SEGREGATIONIST ...... white female 16

BUS DRIVER ...... white male 5

POLICE OFFICER ...... white male 2 COUNTER MAN...... white male 2 WAITRESS ...... white female 2

SETTING Time: Present. Place: A Civil Rights Museum.

SET DESCRIPTION As a readers theatre piece, no specific set is needed although some stools can be useful in setting the scene. If used, ROSA should have a stool UP RIGHT, and four stools should be placed in a diagonal line UP LEFT for the four STUDENTS. A final stool can be used by KING at CENTER. Additional stools can be used, if desired.

iii

For preview only I HAVE A DREAM 1 LIGHTS UP on the MUSEUM EXHIBITS posed in tableaus across the stage with KING standing proudly at CENTER STAGE. YOUNG MARTIN, MOTHER and FATHER are posed DOWN LEFT. The STUDENTS sit on stools in an angled line UP LEFT with the WAITRESS and the COUNTER 5 MAN. CORETTA and CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE are standing arm in arm UP CENTER with the SEGREGATIONIST looking on. ROSA sits resolutely on a stool UP RIGHT with the BUS DRIVER threatening

her. The VOTERS are blocked by the POLICEMAN at RIGHT. The CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS TWO and THREE run to the aid of the OLD BLACK 10 MAN being beaten by the KKK MEMBER DOWN RIGHT. SOUND EFFECT: “WE SHALL OVERCOME” INSTRUMENTAL plays softly. MARTHA, HARRIET, SARAH, RACHEL and TIMOTHY ENTER DOWN RIGHT and begin to examine the MUSEUM EXHIBITS. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. breaks his pose and moves to greet them as their museum guide. 15 KING: Welcome to the Civil Rights Museum. I never thought I’d be in a museum, but here I am. That’s me in those black and white photos. “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” it says. MARTHA: Oh, yes. Sarah, come here, honey chile, look at all these photographs. Harriet, don’t they bring back our memories of the 20 civil rights movement?

HARRIET: They certainly do. I was in some of these demonstrations. SARAH: You were? MARTHA: Yes. (Indicating CORETTA and CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE.) Some were joyful… (Indicating the STUDENTS.) …some somber. 25 KING: (Gazes at CORETTA.) Yes. One of our many marches for freedom. (SOUND EFFECT: MARCHING FEET.) HARRIET: Everyone wanted to march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: Both blacks and whites together. SEGREGATIONIST: Well, not every white.

30 KKK MEMBER: Yeah. Not me and my Klan buddies. SEGREGATIONIST: Not any of us that believed in segregation!

KKK MEMBER: We KKK men wanted King gone! RACHEL: Look at this. It’s a copy of Abraham Lincoln’s momentous decree, his Emancipation Proclamation. 35 KING: That document may have freed some of my people. But not all of my people. It did, however, give millions of Negroes hope that they were finally going to be free. SEGREGATIONIST: Not if we could help it. MARTHA: It was because of the Klan and other white racists that true 40 freedom for Negroes would not come for some time.

1 For preview only 1 KING: Yes. There was the Klan. They terrorized my people. OLD BLACK MAN: They lynched us. KING: And there was old Jim Crow. TIMOTHY: Who was Jim Crow? 5 HARRIET: It wasn’t a person. It was a set of unwritten laws. KING: Old Jim Crow kept my daddy and his daddy’s daddy and my mother and her mother’s mother shackled with the chains of a new form of slavery—segregation. SEGREGATIONIST: Jim Crow was perfectly fair. We called it separate 10 but equal. MARTHA: It was separate, but not equal. HARRIET: Facilities, schools, jobs—opportunities were never equal for our people under Jim Crow. KING: State laws were drawn up by white racist politicians to perpetuate 15 the disenfranchisement of men and women of color. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: This troubled many of us Northern whites. And many decent Southern whites. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: So some of us white folk became civil rights workers to fight racist laws, like Jim Crow. 20 KING: Those laws kept the black man and the black woman from experiencing true freedom. HARRIET: They kept all Negroes from the American dream. KING: I wanted freedom for my children and for my people. Not segregation. When you see tears well up in the eyes of your little 25 girl because she can’t go to a beach or amusement park she just saw on TV, what do you say to her? RACHEL: What did you say? KING: It was hard to say anything. I wanted my children, and all God’s children—all men and women—to be free and enjoy life, liberty 30 and the pursuit of happiness! RACHEL: Segregation is wrong. This museum makes that perfectly clear. SARAH: It certainly does. It truly shows how terrible segregation was. KKK MEMBER: (Steps forward.) Not to the Klan it wasn’t! 35 KING: People lived without opportunity or hope under segregation. MARTHA: One cannot live without hope. KING: (Crosses DOWN LEFT.) I remember my Mama and Daddy. Two black parents looking down into the eyes of their newborn babe. Me. 40 MOTHER/FATHER: (To KING.) Hello, son.

2 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only 1 KING: When I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, things were not as they are today for my people. HARRIET: Back then we were called Negroes, at least by the good people. 5 KKK MEMBER: We called ya nigras on a good day. (Laughs.) KING: This hurt my mama. I was born on January 15th, 1929. MOTHER: Hello, Martin. Hello, child. Say hello to your mother and father. You’re such a strong boy. You’ll need to be in such a world. KKK MEMBER: Yer darn tootin’! A world of whites only. And we 10 enforced that with the rope and the whip! KING: It was a world where no Negroes or Jews need apply. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: No Jews or dogs or coloreds allowed. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: It hurt me to see anyone treated that way, so I became a civil rights worker. 15 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: We saw what discrimination did. It was an especially cold, cruel world for a little black child or an adult of color.

KING: My father was a minister as was his father before him. And they all knew the pain of discrimination.

20 FATHER: (To MOTHER.) He’s quite a fellow. We’ll call him Martin Luther King, Jr. Hello, Son.

MOTHER: As he grew, he became such a quiet child. KING: In response to the pain of racism and the utter destruction of pride that segregation caused, Mama always taught me to be

25 strong and believe in myself.

MOTHER: (YOUNG MARTING runs past MOTHER to DOWN CENTER.) Martin! Slow down, son. How was school? What did you learn? KING: I was silent. Mama knew I was hurting. She put her arm gently on my shoulder. 30 MOTHER: (Places her hand on YOUNG MARTIN’S shoulder.) Martin? What’s the matter, son? How was your day?

YOUNG MARTIN: Those boys made fun of me again. KKK MEMBER: I was one of those white boys before I joined the Klan.

We KKK good ole boys, and our youngins, gave those nigras what

35 for.

MOTHER: You pay them no mind, son.

YOUNG MARTIN: I try not to, Mama.

MOTHER: I want you to listen carefully to what I have to say. Are you listening to me, Martin?

40 YOUNG MARTIN/KING: Yes, Mama.

For preview only 1 MOTHER: You must always remember this. You are as good as anyone else. SEGREGATIONIST: Ha! That’s a laugh! MOTHER: Don’t you listen to those white racists! You are as good as 5 anyone else. You always remember that, Martin. (YOUNG MARTING nods and returns to his position DOWN LEFT.) KING: I never forgot it. MOTHER: (To AUDIENCE, watching YOUNG MARTIN.) I wanted Martin to be proud of his heritage, of his humanity. 10 FATHER: Yes, sir. Black or white, it is all the same to God. MOTHER: In the Lord’s eyes, we are all equal. (MOTHER and FATHER return to their poses DOWN LEFT.) KING: My parents taught me well. I looked up from my book and told my mother— 15 YOUNG MARTIN: You know, when I get to be a man, Mama, I’m gonna make things better for you and me and Daddy and everyone. KING: So I studied hard and eventually went to Morehouse College and Crozer Theological Seminary to study theology. HARRIET: Great all-black colleges. 20 KING: I can picture the library in Crozer now. I was sitting in a chair behind a table. Piles of thick books sat to my left and right. SEGREGATIONIST: I didn’t know nigras read books. KKK MEMBER: We Klan boys don’t read books! No, sir. I read comics myself. 25 SEGREGATIONIST: Me and my hubbie, Bubba—who’s in the Klan—we love Lil’ Abner. KKK MEMBER: I like Daisy Mae. But books? A waste of time. SARAH: (To KING.) So, you wanted to be a preacher like your daddy? KING: I was not primarily interested in being a preacher, no. Threatening 30 fire and brimstone was not in my blood. TIMOTHY: (To SARAH.) Dr. King wanted to find a way to help our people. This museum sure makes that clear. KING: I had always had a place in my heart that told me to speak out, to try as best as I could to make our world a better place 35 for all God’s children. So, after much thought, I realized that the pulpit would be a fine platform to talk about the kind of change I imagined. MARTHA: Therefore, Dr. King studied theology. KING: I would be like my father, Daddy King, and his father before him. 40 I would be a preacher, and I’d speak out for social and economic change. 4 For preview only 1 HARRIET: Trying to find a way, he did a lot of extra reading in the school library. RACHEL: That doesn’t sound fun. KING: Actually, it was motivating. I read all the great thinkers such as 5 Plato, Socrates and Aristotle. HARRIET: Dr. King even came across a wonderful essay by Mr. Henry David Thoreau. It was called “Civil Disobedience.” MARTHA: And it was at Crozer that Dr. King found Gandhi. KING: You see, after hearing a speech back in 1948 by D. A. J. Muste 10 and Dr. Mordecai W. Johnson, I learned that Gandhi was making social and political change through nonviolent confrontation. HARRIET: (Thinks.) As a man of God, Dr. King knew our rights to equal employment, equal education, equal housing and equal access to the voting booth were being denied. 15 OLD BLACK MAN: And that had to be changed! KKK MEMBER: Not if we could help it! (Prepares to hit the OLD BLACK MAN, who cowers.) KING: Stop! (The OLD BLACK MAN and KKK MEMBER stop in their starting tableau positions.) All around me my black brothers and 20 sisters were being beaten—or worse. Nevertheless, I could not

lash out at others. For unlike some, I was not a man of violence.

MARTHA: Dr. King had no hate in his heart.

HARRIET: But there was much sadness for the plight of our people. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: His love of all humanity moved me as a 25 white woman to join his movement.

KING: I would remain like Gandhi—a nonviolent man. I chose to endorse only nonviolent demonstration.

CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: Dr. King held many sit-ins and kneel- ins. I was there.

30 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: I was even at Dr. King’s pray-ins. KING: I was fighting the good fight for freedom. And I knew that it would be a reality for my people one day.

KKK MEMBER: Not if we help it! KING: Regardless of the actions of others, there would be no violence 35 on my part or the part of my people. We may have to endure jail and many other hardships, but not forever.

SARAH: Wow. I had no idea how much you went through, Grandma. MARTHA: It’s true. All of us, every black man, woman and child, had to strive for justice by enduring much. 40 KING: Yes. My dear wife, Coretta, experienced much of the sufferings of our people. (CORETTA moves forward to join KING at CENTER.) 5 For preview only 1 RACHEL: She was beautiful. KING: The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. It was while I was attending Boston University that I met Coretta Scott. Thank God almighty for Coretta! 5 CORETTA: I was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. I loved music. At first, I was not impressed with Martin. Why in the world should I be? What was there to impress me? He was

so quiet. And a preacher. I was an independent woman. I was not

ready to marry a preacher and spend the rest of my days as some 10 meek, little housewife. KING: The woman had a mind of her own!

CORETTA: I would not be led around by any man. But then I heard him preach.

KING: (Preaches.) We will not endure these injustices—these

15 inequalities, these humiliations, these discriminations—we will not endure them forever! CORETTA: It took me a bit, but… you know, the way Martin spoke was almost musical. TIMOTHY: Wasn’t Dr. King really shy? 20 KING: (Chuckles.) Unfortunately, yes, and Coretta didn’t like shy men either. CORETTA: No, I didn’t. Yet there was something different about Martin. He was not your ordinary Southern Baptist preacher. He had this… this dream. 25 KING: Yes. I had a dream. CORETTA: We often talked about Martin’s dream. Yes. Martin knew where he was going. He had a wondrous—and yet simple—dream. Freedom for all. That’s what made me fall in love with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 30 SARAH: That’s so romantic. KING: Coretta had a dream too. CORETTA: Like me, he wanted more out of life than second-class citizenship— KING: Which in those days was all the Negro people could hope for! 35 SEGREGATIONIST: That or a lynchin’! CORETTA: True. Those white racists were out to get us. Martin wanted to change all that. OLD BLACK MAN: He was not like anyone else I had ever met. CORETTA: His dream gave him this tremendous ability to overcome 40 his shyness and move an audience— MARTHA: A nation— 6 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only 1 HARRIET: Dr. King could and did move the spirit of our people. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: Of all good people. CORETTA: I was not easily impressed, but Martin impressed me. KING: I grew to admire Coretta for her independence of mind and her 5 strength of spirit. CORETTA: And for my self-assured character?

KING: Absolutely! (Pauses.) After I received my doctorate in theology

from Boston University, I married Coretta Scott.

CORETTA: Then we went out into the real world—the South of the 10 1950s.

KKK MEMBER: Where the KKK ruled the day and roamed the night!

KING: I began preaching at the age of 27 in Montgomery, Alabama. One day at my church, the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, I heard

of Ms. Rosa Parks.

15 ROSA: (Stands and crosses to CENTER.) Yes, he certainly did! KING: Indeed I did, Rosa. It was December first, 1955, and Rosa Parks, a seamstress, had been shopping. CORETTA: She was carrying heavy shopping bags. RACHEL: She looked tired. 20 HARRIET: She waited at the bus stop. Her feet hurt. ROSA: (Exhausted.) Oh, yes, did my feet hurt! KING: When the bus came, Rosa Parks boarded it. (ROSA “boards” the bus UP RIGHT and sits on her stool.) All she wanted was to sit down and rest. 25 CORETTA: It was a busy day, and the bus filled up fast. She and some other black people were told to get up and give their seats to some white people. KKK MEMBER: And we were going to make sure all them nigras did what they were told—or else! 30 KING: All the black riders got up, save Rosa Parks. She simply refused. BUS DRIVER: All you black folks, get to the back of the bus! ROSA: I would not get up. KING: Rosa would not. She sat there steadfast and proud! BUS DRIVER: Lady, get up. 35 SEGREGATIONIST: Yeah, nigra! BUS DRIVER: There are white folks that want to sit down. They’re tired from shopping. ROSA: But I’m tired too. I worked all day and then shopped. I’m tired. Yes. I am tired too. 40 BUS DRIVER: Lady, get up. 7

For preview only 1 ROSA: Call me stubborn. Call me what you will, but I am tired too. I have a right to sit down. I shall not be moved. KING: Yes. SEGREGATIONIST: No! 5 BUS DRIVER: Lady, you have no right. KING: It was true. In the South, we black folk didn’t. We had to relinquish our seats to white people. Now, I would certainly and most gladly give up my seat to an elderly person, regardless of their color. 10 CORETTA: But why should my mother or your mother have to give up her seat to a healthy, young white man? KING: Rosa Parks was tired and found a seat in the front of the bus. ROSA: I sat down and, well, there I stayed. I was dog-tired, law or no law. 15 KING: When the white police officer came to arrest her, Rosa asked him— ROSA: Why do you push us around? POLICE OFFICER: It’s the law. KKK MEMBER: You bet your life it is!

20 ROSA: Well, it’s an unjust law. And my feet hurt.

KING: Those aching feet and Rosa’s great pride and determination to

sit as any hard-working, tired human being should be entitled to, started the civil rights movement in these United States. CORETTA: Yes, sir!

25 ROSA: Dr. King and other black leaders quickly organized a boycott of the bus line.

KING: We were in for 382 days of beatings and shootings. (SOUND EFFECT: RIOTS, GUNFIRE and MARCHING FEET.)

KKK MEMBER: Get those nigras! Sic the dogs on ’em! (SOUND 30 EFFECT: VICIOUS BARKING DOGS.) ROSA: We marched and carried picket signs.

KING: We would not strike out at any one individual, but at the pocketbook. ROSA: The very next day after my arrest, just about no Negro rode

35 the buses.

KING: As part of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we organized our own transportation system, thanks to donations from people all over the country and the world. CORETTA: Martin was arrested. 40 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER THREE: So were many others.

8 For preview only 1 KING: As a result of our peaceful boycott, our churches were bombed. (SOUND EFFECT: EXPLOSIONS.) CORETTA: Our house was bombed. KING: Before Rosa Parks’ great deed, however, all black men and 5 black women had little respect or freedom. ROSA: I would not be moved! KING: Yes. And many followed her example. Eventually the U.S. Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional to discriminate against black people on Montgomery buses. 10 ROSA: So we won. TIMOTHY: Peacefully. (ROSA and the BUS DRIVER resume their opening pose.) KING: Well, while we were peaceful, there were others who used violence. 15 KKK MEMBER: Every chance we got! KING: But my people remained calm and peaceful. Later black and white Freedom Riders rode the buses to demonstrate our right to ride and sit where we pleased. MARTHA: We paid taxes. We should have had the right to ride. 20 SARAH: Yeah! You tell ’em, Grandma. MARTHA: I always did, and I always will—even if they beat me! KING: Many of those courageous Freedom Riders were beaten as the police looked on and did nothing. KKK MEMBER: Those police boys were some of my best buddies. 25 (Laughs.) Hey, I was a cop, too. KING: Many Freedom Riders were arrested. (Indicating the students UP LEFT.) But more was still to come. MARTHA: Back then, even the schools were segregated. SEGREGATIONIST: And they should have stayed that way! 30 KING: Not only were places of education in the South segregated, but our black schools received inferior materials. STUDENT ONE: An equal education was almost impossible to achieve, regardless of the 1954 Brown versus the Board of Education decision to desegregate schools. In 1957, President Eisenhower 35 had to call out the National Guard to protect four black students at Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. STUDENT TWO: And in 1962, President John F. Kennedy had to use them again to protect James Meredith, the first black student admitted to the University of Mississippi. Even President Johnson 40 had to call out the troops.

9 For preview only 1 STUDENT THREE: During this time, we students were tired of this unequal treatment. It was time to make a stand. We became fast followers of Dr. King and supporters of his peaceful demonstrations. STUDENT FOUR: So in 1960, the four of us gave one demonstration 5 that really made waves. HARRIET: (Nods.) It involved lunch counters. WAITRESS: And some very angry white folk. KING: Those four black college students were led by Joseph McNeile. HARRIET: Those brave young men decided to sit down at an all white 10 lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. CORETTA: They only wanted to be treated as equals. STUDENT ONE: We got hungry and thirsty just like anyone else. STUDENT FOUR: Yes. And we had the money to pay for our meals. STUDENT TWO: And our soft drinks. 15 ROSA: They wanted the right to be served. CORETTA: Exactly, Rosa. But none of us had that right in 1960.

KING: The color of our skin shouldn’t matter. It’s the content of our character that matters. You would think this was a reasonable idea.

MARTHA: But in the South of the ’50s and ’60s, it was not reasonable

20 to many white folk.

STUDENT ONE: The angry white customers and workers poured their drinks on our heads. STUDENT THREE: And worse.

WAITRESS: We sure did.

25 COUNTER MAN: (Laughs.) It was fun!

SEGREGATIONIST: Uh-huh! It sure was. STUDENT TWO: Others could have intervened, but just stood with arms folded while we were abused. KING: I heard what was happening and came to help. (Takes his 30 stool UP LEFT and sits with the STUDENTS.) I sat down with those students and many more came to join us. (Other ACTIVISTS join

them.)

STUDENT FOUR: I guess you could say the hunger for freedom was

pretty strong. 35 KING: It not only gnawed at our bellies, but at our hearts!

STUDENT THREE: When Dr. King joined us, we were so proud.

STUDENT FOUR: He was with us all the way.

KING: We sat down and did not strike out at those who dumped their hot coffee on us or those who poured mustard and catsup on our

40 heads at those lunch counters. We endured these humiliations.

10 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only 1 STUDENT ONE: And we were the ones arrested. COUNTER MAN: I called the cops! POLICE OFFICER: And I came. Yes, sir. I believed in segregation too, you know. 5 KING: (Moving back to CENTER.) We all went to jail. Those young black people who suffered those indignities were truly great Americans. CORETTA: These were hard times for men and women of color. KING: In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was a bastion of the cruelest Southern racism in the country. 10 KKK MEMBER/SEGREGATIONIST: (Chanting.) Keep the South white! Keep the South white! Keep the South white! Keep the South white! KING: So we decided to march in Birmingham to demonstrate our civil rights. 15 OLD BLACK MAN: We called this our Children’s Crusade since so many of our young people took part. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: Both black and white. KING: Beforehand, I made what we called the Poolroom Pilgrimage. I went from one poolroom to another instructing the young people 20 on nonviolent tactics. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: Dr. King recruited two hundred young people who were willing to demonstrate and go to jail. KING: And so many more took part. People of all races and religions. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: We marched peacefully. Blacks and 25 whites together. KING: But we were met by Commissioner Bull Connor and his police. HARRIET: They sprayed us with fire hoses. MARTHA: Those fire hoses had over seven hundred pounds of pressure. They could rip the bark off a tree. 30 KING: (SOUND EFFECT: VICIOUS BARKING DOGS.) Besides being sprayed by the fire hoses, we were attacked by vicious police dogs, and our women and children were beaten. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER THREE: Over three thousand of us went to jail. 35 KKK MEMBER: And we wanted to throw away the key! KING: Jail was an interesting experience for many reasons. I discovered that the plight of our white jailers was in many ways similar to ours. CORETTA: You see, while in jail, Martin befriended some of the white guards. 40 SEGREGATIONIST: Yeah. One was my husband, Bubba.

For preview only 1 KING: Most of those guards were good family men. And quite poor. CORETTA: When Martin heard what their salaries were, he said perhaps they should join us. KING: I did. For it was clear that we were both being oppressed. We 5 didn’t stay in jail long, but things continued to be turbulent. During this time, our homes and churches were bombed. KKK MEMBER: I tried to keep busy.

KING: But we continued to march.

MARTHA: Some people cursed us and told us to string ourselves up 10 by our bootstraps. HARRIET: But most of us didn’t even have any boots! KING: Our freedom marches truly expressed the words “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Birmingham was a success. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: It raised the consciousness of both 15 the North and the South. (SOUND EFFECT: LOUD GUNSHOT. The ACTIVISTS scream. Beat.) KING: Then Medgar Evers was shot in the back while getting out of his car in front of his own home. CORETTA: Many good whites were affected by his cold-blooded murder.

20 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER THREE: After Medgar’s assassination, the mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, began hiring black policemen and black bank guards. KING: Even a few boards of education, theaters and stores started hiring black folk. 25 CORETTA: Black people began to find positions in city commissions and on civic committees. KING: It was the beginning of Black Pride. To show our strength, on August 28, 1963, three hundred thousand black and white men, women and children, Freedom Marchers, joined hands in front 30 of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. to sing “We Shall

Overcome.”

CORETTA: Never before had such a force for equality been shown, but the fight was far from over. Some of our basic rights were still being denied.

35 VOTER ONE: We also wanted the right to vote. VOTER TWO: We certainly did. In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed us the vote, but a high poll tax and literacy test kept us from the polling places. CORETTA: Many blacks were poor. It was hard to get and keep a good 40 job in a separate and unequal South. VOTER TWO: And few of us Negroes could pass the literacy test.

12 For preview only 1 KING: To make things worse, some Negroes were even killed for trying to register. HARRIET: Things had to change, so we held many peaceful protests. CORETTA: And in 1964, we achieved partial success. The Twenty- 5 fourth Amendment outlawed the poll tax in federal elections. VOTER ONE: But there was still the literacy test. SEGREGATIONIST: We made that literacy test extra hard. KKK MEMBER: I’m still tryin’ to figure out the capital of North Dakota. SEGREGATIONIST: But we’re white, so… well, we could vote. No dumb 10 literacy test was gonna stop us! VOTER TWO: We just wanted to vote—to elect the man we thought was the best man for the job. VOTER ONE: Yes! It was the American way. A citizen was supposed to vote. 15 VOTER ONE/VOTER TWO: It was our duty! KING: In Selma, there were some 30,000 citizens. More than half were black, but 99 percent of the registered voters were white. VOTER TWO: We’d have to register many folks of color to even up those odds. 20 KING: So in 1965, we organized a march from Selma to Montgomery to register black voters. VOTER ONE: I volunteered to register with a few of my fellow black brothers and sisters as a part of our march. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: Many of the marchers were white, like 25 me and my wife and children. KING: We just wanted to vote. It was our right. So we marched… or tried to. (SOUND EFFECT: MARCHING FEET. The ACTIVISTS form a group at CENTER and march in place. The MUSEUM GOERS join them. SOUND EFFECT: GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING. The ACTIVISTS 30 remain standing and slowly begin to sing “We Shall Overcome.”) OLD BLACK MAN: (Sings.) We shall overcome, We shall overcome. CORETTA/MARTHA/KING: (Join. Sing.) We shall overcome someday. 35 STUDENTS/CIVIL RIGHTS WORKERS: (Join. Sing.) Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday. ALL ACTIVISTS/HARRIET/MARTHA: (Sing.) We’ll walk hand in hand, 40 We’ll walk hand in hand, We’ll walk hand in hand someday. 13 For preview only 1 Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday. We are not afraid, We are not afraid,

5 We are not afraid today. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday. KKK MEMBER: (Violently breaking the spell.) I was with Jim Clark when we met them at the Edmund Pettes Bridge with 60 state troopers. 10 HARRIET: Beatings! MARTHA: Tear gas! KING: Seventy-eight of our marchers were beaten so badly, they went to the hospital. As a result, people in support of us marched all over the North. 15 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: We again tried to march to Montgomery, but again we were stopped. CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER THREE: Finally, President Johnson forbade Governor George Wallace from stopping our peaceful marches.

KING: So once more we marched. Our first full march had 650 people. 20 But by our third march, our numbers had grown to over 30,000 folks of all colors, both Christians and Jews! ACTIVISTS/MARTHA/HARRIET: Together we marched! KING: Sadly, one white reverend who supported us was clubbed to death. 25 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER ONE: And my dear friend, Mrs. Viola Leuzzo— ROSA: One courageous white woman— CORETTA: A mother— ROSA: Was brutally murdered. KING: Yes. Many good folk paid the ultimate price for our freedom. 30 CIVIL RIGHTS WORKER TWO: But together we let the country know— KING: That we would overcome someday! No fire hoses, no KKK, no policeman’s club, no police dog, not even death would deter us from our dream of full equality! CORETTA: No black child, no black man, no black woman would have 35 to suffer the humiliating indignities of racial discrimination. MARTHA: In 1964, the Civil Rights Bill was passed. KING: We achieved much. Right, Coretta? CORETTA: We did indeed, Martin. In 1964, Martin was given the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at nonviolence and world peace. 40 He dedicated that great Peace Prize to the civil rights movement.

14 RIGHTS MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE REPRODUCING THIS SCRIPT For preview only 1 HARRIET: In fact, Dr. King gave the movement all the prize money. CORETTA: Martin would never admit it, but he brought human dignity to millions of black people.

KING: I did what I felt was right. No more, no less. (Crosses to CENTER. 5 Preaches.) I have a dream! (SOUND EFFECT: RIFLE SHOT. KING turns and faces UPSTAGE.)

CORETTA: Martin! ROSA: On April 4, 1968, Dr. King’s life was cut short at the age of 39. CORETTA: Martin’s life may have been cut short, but it was he who 10 said, the quality not the longevity of one’s life is what’s important. SARAH: That is why Dr. King’s dream of freedom and equality must live on. MARTHA: It must now be our dream—your dream. ACTIVISTS/MUSEUM GOERS: (Sing.) The truth will make us free, 15 The truth will make us free, The truth will make us free someday. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,

We shall overcome someday. We shall overcome, 20 We shall overcome, We shall overcome someday. Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday. END OF PLAY

PRODUCTION NOTES PROPERTIES ONSTAGE Stools. SOUND EFFECTS “We Shall Overcome” instrumental, marching feet, riots, gunfire and marching feet, vicious barking dogs, explosions, loud gunshot, gunfire and shouting, rifle shot.

FLEXIBLE CASTING NOTE Though most probably feel that race-specific casting is required, you might consider a more flexible approach, particularly since this is a readers theatre style show. Some smaller black roles may be played by white speakers if some white roles are also performed by black speakers. This can be accomplished through careful attention to the voice and movement. In some instances, the black characters may 15

For preview only have their own distinct speech patterns just as white members of the KKK may have their own unique accents. It is for the director to decide if distinctive speech patterns or accents should be used to separate a “black” voice from a “white” one. Consider your audience and the strengths of your cast to determine whether this type of casting is appropriate for your production. Likewise, gender-specific casting is not required. Many of the characters, like the various students, workers, etc., could be either male or female. Additionally, many of the parts could be combined for smaller casts. For example, FATHER could also be a STUDENT and the VOTER ONE. MOTHER could be VOTER TWO and a STUDENT. The COUNTER MAN could be the BUS DRIVER, etc. Additionally, the character of YOUNG MARTIN could be completely omitted and his lines said by KING as though he were remembering what it was like to be a child. DISCUSSION STARTERS 1. Has Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream been achieved? How was it done or why has it not been done? 2. What is affirmative action? What are its effects? 3. Was Malcolm X trying to achieve the same goals as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? What were the differences between their two methods? 4. How have the following people affected the civil rights movement in recent years? • Al Sharpton • President Barack Obama • Maya Angelou • Rev. Jesse Jackson

5. Are integration/segregation issues limited to race? What other discriminations exist? 6. Can integration/segregation issues sometimes be hypocritical? How?

7. How has the civil rights movement affected your life directly? 8. How would your life be different if the events discussed in “I Have a Dream” had not occurred? 9. What role did the media play in the civil rights movement? What role does it play today? 10. What can the current generation do to continue the civil rights movement and ensure equal rights for all?

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