POWERFUL AMERICAN PERFORMANCES – April 27-30, 2023
In a span of the past 4 days I have been blown away by two live theater performances and a keynote preacher at a synod Assembly of the Minneapolis ELCA.
The first was a powerful performance of “We Shall Someday” a musical by the Theater latte da at the Ritz Theater. A storyline of the roots of resistance and resilience which ran deep through three generations of a Black family grappling with inequality, violence and oppression. This intimate new musical, performed by four actors in tour de force performances asks us to contemplate the cycle of racism in America and how we might commit to creating real change, set against the backdrop of everyday Black America and the historical events that echo the conversations surrounding civil rights today. From Freedom Riders to Rodney King, this story explores the bonds of family ties that hold us in our most uncertain times, the opportunities and pitfalls of living under oppressive systems, and the decisions we make when given the choice to stand in solidarity with our loved ones – and ourselves. WE SHALL SOMEDAY . . . “Get on the bus” (a reference to the freedom riders).
The second was a powerful presentation by the Rev. Otis Moss III, starting with his insightful conversation referencing the passage from the writings of “Matthew 5 vs. 1-20.” Jesus got out of the boat and went to the tombs (a graveyard) where he met a man. Jesus asked him for his name. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went …(Legion – noun: a unit of 3,000–6,000 men in the ancient Roman army, adjective: a great number). Legion was incarcerated to keep him quiet and out of sight by the Romans and had been persecuted and rejected by both Rabbi’s and “the church.” When he had been made clean by Jesus they were afraid of him. They weren’t afraid of him when he was incarcerated. The Pigs that were filled with the legion of demons committed (“pigicide”). Jews do not eat pork so it would make sense that the 2,000 pigs were probably a for profit black market industry, a for profit industrial complex of capitalism within their midst. Graveyard religion . . . what is the church? . . . Living out FAITH”
The third was a powerful Broadway performance of “Hamilton” at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. A story of the beginning time of America then as told by today’s American musical theater. Hamilton follows the young immigrant Alexander Hamilton from the West Indies on his way to becoming George Washington’s right-hand man through the Revolutionary War and the new nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury through a mixture of impeccable music and an insightful message of American history.
Addendum of Fact:
The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, put in the fundamental law the principle that the federal government trumps state power. It reads, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws,” and it gives Congress the “power to enforce…the provisions of this article.”