“Democracy is to be an active citizen.”
Raoul Peck
“First Things First: How Do We Begin To Envision A More Perfect Union?”
By Marvin Jefferson
In 1997, under the mentorship of the late Dr. Clement A. Price and in particular, the late Giles R. Wright, I became a Living Historian (also known as a Chautauquan). Initially, I was commissioned to research and portray the life of the great Artist/Activist, Paul Robeson. Eventually, this led to my researching and portraying the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Lewis and Clark expedition member, York.
To be a Living Historian, one must study rigorously, not only the particular history of the individual you are portraying but also the times in which they lived. One must put aside one’s own personal ideological beliefs and opinions, and by using primary sources as well as objective, factual historical information, craft a monologue about the subject’s life and times. Of course, as more factual information becomes available, the monologue and the portrayal itself must be open to that new information. This approach forces the Chautauquan to view history with a clearer perspective and the understanding that he or she is entitled to their own opinion but not to their own facts…unfortunately, this approach is sadly lacking in our current understanding of history. The lack of historical knowledge coupled with ideological blindness and sprinkled with hysteria has led us to an extremely dangerous moment…
What do I envision to make our nation more humane? How do we live up to those beautiful words of “Liberty and Justice, For All”? Well, first thing’s first: We must learn to own all of our history, ALL OF IT: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly! We cannot, for example, deny the fact of how this nation became the economic power it is today. That came about in 2 ways: The colonization and genocide of the Indigenous people who populated this country by the millions and the kidnapping, enslavement and forced labor of African people. These heinous acts created the primary wealth on which all other wealth was built. This is an objective, historical fact. We must also acknowledge the fact that the concept of “race” (the hierarchy of color, which was infamously written about by Thomas Jefferson in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia) was used to justify colonialism and enslavement. Only when we can come to terms with this part of our history and understand how these sad facts continue to undermine the meaning of those beautiful words “We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal…”. When we can come to terms with how the perpetuation of the poison mythology of racism that came out of this dark part of our history, and continues to affect and infect every aspect of our body politic, only then can we move on to become the nation that we envision ourselves to be.
The mission of our theatre, The TORCH Theatre, is to be an artistic agent to help bring about the realization of who we want to be as a nation, by confronting who we actually are as a nation…through our artistry and historical knowledge…We invite you to join us in our quest to help “bend the arc of the moral universe towards justice”. JOIN US…
Marvin Jefferson,
Co-Founder, The TORCH Theatre
“There is no context anymore, so it’s very difficult. But I am not a prophet. I know humankind can change its fate, but it’s always a matter of do we sit down together and have a long conversation?”
Raoul Peck
TORCH THEATER.org 