The Civil Rights Monologues

What are the Civil Rights Monologues? They are what I’m calling the play I wrote, entitled Thank You, Bull Connor, to reduce confusion. Most people don’t know or remember who Bull Connor was, or what the Civil Rights movement really entailed, and I want to change that.

Who am I? I’m Kim, an actress, singer and playwright currently living in Milwaukee, WI. A few years ago, my day job was teaching, and the monologues in Thank You, Bull Connor came to me as I taught my class about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights movement. As I watched their reactions, I started to wonder, “What did the people who lived through these moments really think? How did they feel about what was going on in their cities?” As I tried to answer these questions, the monologues unfolded until I had a perspective from nearly everyone who was affected by the marches in Birmingham, Alabama. The white people in town, the police officers, the onlookers, the firemen, the white AND black people in the North, and the marchers themselves--all these perspectives are represented in the play.

I wanted to create a play that would get people thinking, and talking. What was it like living under a segregated system day-to-day? What was the effect on people of both races? How did people justify it to themselves? I didn’t take the approach that there were monsters on one side and angels on the other, just that there were people in all their many manifestations. If you get the opportunity to see the play, I hope it leaves you questioning.

As we don’t currently have a theater home, my group is booking the play into schools, colleges, churches, senior citizen homes, companies, or anywhere else where they are willing to pay a very reasonable fee for 1.5 hours of quality entertainment. We don’t necessarily need a stage, just an open space where we can put our minimal props, a table, chairs, and be able to walk on- and off- “stage”. You may contact us at destinytheatergroup@yahoo.com for more booking information, if you are interested.