Teacher Talk
Take part in A NATION ACTS: A play reading of Now Let Me Fly
On May 17th, 2004, join thousands of others in schools across the country in readings of Now Let Me Fly by Marcia Cebulska. This inspiring play is based on the real people involved in the struggle leading to Brown v. Board.
With the leadership of Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP, Brown v. Board jump-started the civil rights movement by overturning "Separate But Equal." Years before that landmark court case, brave citizens held grassroots meetings across the nation in homes, schools, church basements and barbershops. In honor of their courage, A NATION ACTS will take us again to our community meeting places, this time for an uplifting play that brings to life the unsung heroic individuals who set the stage for legal action.
Join in this exciting theatrical act of unity. Open hearts and minds, bringing the issues of race, education and equality to the forefront of the national dialogue.
Everything you need to plan your reading is available at the A NATION ACTS website. This site provides a step-by-step guide to organizing a successful reading and the script of Now Let Me Fly. Two youth versions of the script are available.
Dialog From Some of the Characters
"Are you with me? Are we gonna walk? Are we gonna fly?"
Barbara Johns -- Scene 7
"We got some grassroots people getting together to gripe. It doesn't change the law. What does it have to do with me?"
Thurgood Marshall -- Scene 6
"A little less 'mad' and a little more 'do.'"
Gardner Bishop -- Scene 5
"Isn't that what we are sayin' when we quiet about this? I ain't gonna say it no more. God did not make the Negro child out of a cheaper cloth."
Sarah Bulah -- Scene 9
"And there is no equality in enforced separatism and there is no freedom in racism."
Reverand J.A. DeLaine -- Scene 11
"The train is moving with or without you."
Charles Houston -- Scene 13
"We'll keep trying till we get it right. We'll keep trying till we get our rights."
McKinley Burnett -- Scene 13
"The only way to reach the light is to start our children together in their infancy and they come up together."
Silas Fleming -- Scene 13
Opening Night
Now Let Me Fly
Monday, May 17, 2004
7:00 p.m.
At 7 p.m. Monday, May 17, the play Now Let Me Fly by Marcia Cebulska will be performed at the Topeka Performing Arts Center. Or join thousands of others in communities and schools for play readings across the country that day. The play, based on real people involved in the struggle leading to the Supreme Court decision, can be downloaded at the A NATION ACTS website
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Now Let Me Fly is the sole property of playwright Marcia Cebulska and is protected by copyright. No changes may be made to the script. Now Let Me Fly may be presented in the form of a dramatic reading only. Any other form of presentation, including a fully realized production, requires the written permission of the playwright. No profit may be made and no proceeds may accrue to the presenters.