Florida Studio Theatre Statement

“America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!”
-Langston Hughes

Dear Friends and Patrons,

We stand with our Brothers and Sisters. We stand with the Fallen.
Say their names. Out loud.
George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. Tamir Rice. Emmett Till.

Say them over and over.

They are like prayers beckoning us.
Their last breaths plead with us.
Demand of us.

To listen.
To act.

We stand with them.
We stand in solidarity with their heartbroken families, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and citizens—a whole country.

The recent act of unchecked violence upon the neck of George Floyd that caused his death, and the violence that causes the death of so many others, is not the America we want.
This is not the America our forefathers fought for.
This is not the America that is an experiment in hope for all humanity.

As Artists, Staff, Board Members, Company Members, and all people of good conscience, we promise that we shall stand together against—

Hatred.
Injustice.
Racism.
Violence.

We stand with our Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Indigenous Brothers and Sisters. We hear you. We see you.

And we swear this oath.

This theatre will stand for what is good and right in the American experiment. We will stand for that forward movement where ALL people are treated with equality and justice under the starry nights and light-filled days. Our plays, our forums, our classes, and our in-school programs will not only continue to reach deep into our shared humanity—we will face this festering wound: we will address it.
We will demand this of ourselves, each other, and our audiences. We will demand it of our playwrights and the plays we choose.

This is the only road to the America we can believe in.

Say their names out loud.
They are all of us.

“O, yes, I say it plain.
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath-
America will be!”

Everything is at stake.

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