Submitted By Bob Bartlett
This is exceptionally powerful, particularly when you listen to the comments following the performance. This short 40 minute play was written by two brothers-in-law, one a history professor in Maine and the other Bob Bartlett, a Sociology Professor at EWU, then updated for a fundraiser on Zoom held by St. Stephens Catholic Church in in inner-city Minneapolis to benefit a couple African-American Civil Rights non-profits who literally work in the neighborhood where George Floyd was murdered.
These two talented professors teamed up to imagine a conversation on race relations between President Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas at the conclusion of the Civil War. A conversation 150 years ago that still resonates today. The reaction to this play also needs to be heard, it revealed lived inner-city experiences and truths that I frankly needed to hear. It influenced me enough that I called Bob, and gained his permission to share this you.