The strives and struggles of theCivil Rights movement came to life as the Lacumba Players presented ‘Florence’ and ‘The Meeting,’ in theT.J. Jemison Baptist Student Center March 16 and 17.
The program was titled BlackHistory/Women History and the two plays showcased amplified that.
‘They touched on serious aspectsof the old-time ways,’ said Martha White program honoree and civil rightspioneer of the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953.
‘Florence’ by Alice Childresswas shown first and was set in the south during the 1950s. Mama (Nancy Lynch)was waiting for a train to see her daughter, a struggling actress in New YorkCity.
While sitting quietly in the’colored’ section of the train station she was confronted head on by whiteracism. Mrs. Carter (Dr. Aileen Hendricks) sat adjacent to Mama in a ‘whitesonly’ section.
The two characters engaged inconversations about their travel destinations. This inevitably lead to Mrs.Carter unknowingly offending Mama by offering her daughter a job as a housekeeper for one of her prosperous actress friends in New York.
‘It showed how segregation wasalive and well at that time. We have really been blessed to be able to comefrom that particular movement,’ said Kendrick Dixon a junior physical educationmajor from Houma.
‘The Meeting’ by Jeff Stetsonwas a rendition of how a meeting between Martin Luther King Jr. (Alexander Scott)and Malcolm X (Darren Radcliff) would have taken place.
King”s free America and X”s freeblack attitude laid the foundation for a play with continuous controversy.
‘The play was dynamic. It was atrue tribute to our predecessors that fought for our freedoms we enjoy todayand often take for granted,’ said Jason Hughes, a senior political sciencemajor from New Orleans.
‘The Meeting’ portrayed botharguments equally.
‘This was a good message. It wasthe first time I saw Malcolm X”s point from a good sense,’ said Director of theBaptist Student Center Beverly Pitcher.
White said we should neverforget where we come from.
‘Never forget that we are free,regardless if you are white, black or green. Whatever color you are rememberthat God made you free,’ White said.
