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Mother’s Day Tribute to Rosa Parks Benefits Ensemble Heart of the Theatre
- By Marvin D. Cloud
- Published 05/6/2009
- Entertainment
- Unrated
Marvin D. Cloud
Marvin D. Cloud is Web Developer and a writer for the African-American News&Issues.
HOUSTON– In America’s Black community, the most famous “mother” is not Mother Theresa, the Albanian Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India in 1950. Although Mother Theresa ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, while guiding the organization’s expansion worldwide, the “mother” who gets the most acclaim among Blacks in America is Rosa Parks. Characterized in most church and community theater skits as “an old lady whose feet hurt” after a long day’s work, Parks will forever be tied for a calculated stand (seat?) that launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for 381 days.
However, Parks was more that an unwilling figurehead who had the misfortune of being in the right place at the wrong time. According to her autobiography, “My Story,” the volatile circumstances of the era, made it impossible to ignore racism especially when the Klu Klux Klan marched down the street in front of her house. After marrying Raymond Parks, in 1932, the former Rosa Louise McCauley registered to vote—although it took her three tries. Jim Crow laws at the time, made political participation by Blacks almost impossible. In December 1943, Rosa became active in the Civil Rights Movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary to its president, Edgar Nixon.
Worldwide fame ensued after a day at work at the Montgomery Fair department store on December 1, 1955. She boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus around 6 p.m., in downtown Montgomery. She sat in an empty seat in the first row of reserved for “coloreds” behind the ten seats reserved for Whites.
The driver, James Blake said, “Y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.” Three of them complied. Rosa continued, “The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn’t move at the beginning, but he says, ‘Let me have these seats.’ And the other three people moved, but I didn’t.” .
In “My Story,” she states, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
The story of Rosa Parks will be presented by the Ensemble Theatre during a special performance on Sunday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m., for the 9th Annual Heart of the Theatre subscription drive celebration at the Wortham Theater. Actress Ella Joyce (Roc, My Wife & Kids), will perform her one-woman show entitled “A Rose Among Thorns: A Dramatic Tribute to Rosa Parks.” The tribute invokes the quiet dignity and strength that brought the world’s attention to the bus incident that ignited the Civil Rights Movement.
“From the time Ms. Joyce stepped on stage, audiences were enamored with her resemblance, her delivery, and her passion filled with truth and the delicious portrayal of Rosa Parks,” said Eileen J. Morris, artistic director of The Ensemble Theatre. “She embraced the essence of a woman that humanized the world.”
Joyce is best known for her television role of “Eleanor” on the family sitcom Roc. Stage work includes creating the role of Risa in August Wilson’s world premiere of “Two Trains Running at the Yale Rep,” and the original role of Tanya in August Wilson’s world premiere of “King Headly II”.
Joyce keeps Rosa Parks’ story alive orally, while seeking to infuse others with her spirit to seek social change, and to choose involvement with political and civic issues concerning us today. In the play, Mrs. Parks tells her story simply as she speaks of things past, present, and eternal.
“We were happy to honor Ella Joyce with The Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Actor of the Year’ Award in August, and we are delighted that she is returning to Houston to be a part of our 9th Annual Heart of the Theatre subscription drive celebration,” said Hasting Stewart, The Ensemble Theatre board president. The Ensemble goal of reaching 3,000 subscribers for the “Passport to Adventure: Embrace the Journey” 2008-2009 season. Subscribers and those who purchase subscriptions leading up to the Heart of the Theatre performance are invited to attend the event at no cost.
For more information visit www.ensemblehouston.com or call (713)520-0055.
Rosa Parks, the Mother of the Civil Rights movement died on
October 24, 2005.
Famed actress Ella Joyce portrays Rosa Parks in “A Rose Among Thorns.”
However, Parks was more that an unwilling figurehead who had the misfortune of being in the right place at the wrong time. According to her autobiography, “My Story,” the volatile circumstances of the era, made it impossible to ignore racism especially when the Klu Klux Klan marched down the street in front of her house. After marrying Raymond Parks, in 1932, the former Rosa Louise McCauley registered to vote—although it took her three tries. Jim Crow laws at the time, made political participation by Blacks almost impossible. In December 1943, Rosa became active in the Civil Rights Movement, joined the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP, and was elected secretary to its president, Edgar Nixon.
Worldwide fame ensued after a day at work at the Montgomery Fair department store on December 1, 1955. She boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus around 6 p.m., in downtown Montgomery. She sat in an empty seat in the first row of reserved for “coloreds” behind the ten seats reserved for Whites.
The driver, James Blake said, “Y’all better make it light on yourselves and let me have those seats.” Three of them complied. Rosa continued, “The driver wanted us to stand up, the four of us. We didn’t move at the beginning, but he says, ‘Let me have these seats.’ And the other three people moved, but I didn’t.” .
In “My Story,” she states, “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
The story of Rosa Parks will be presented by the Ensemble Theatre during a special performance on Sunday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m., for the 9th Annual Heart of the Theatre subscription drive celebration at the Wortham Theater. Actress Ella Joyce (Roc, My Wife & Kids), will perform her one-woman show entitled “A Rose Among Thorns: A Dramatic Tribute to Rosa Parks.” The tribute invokes the quiet dignity and strength that brought the world’s attention to the bus incident that ignited the Civil Rights Movement.
“From the time Ms. Joyce stepped on stage, audiences were enamored with her resemblance, her delivery, and her passion filled with truth and the delicious portrayal of Rosa Parks,” said Eileen J. Morris, artistic director of The Ensemble Theatre. “She embraced the essence of a woman that humanized the world.”
Joyce is best known for her television role of “Eleanor” on the family sitcom Roc. Stage work includes creating the role of Risa in August Wilson’s world premiere of “Two Trains Running at the Yale Rep,” and the original role of Tanya in August Wilson’s world premiere of “King Headly II”.
Joyce keeps Rosa Parks’ story alive orally, while seeking to infuse others with her spirit to seek social change, and to choose involvement with political and civic issues concerning us today. In the play, Mrs. Parks tells her story simply as she speaks of things past, present, and eternal.
“We were happy to honor Ella Joyce with The Ensemble Theatre’s ‘Actor of the Year’ Award in August, and we are delighted that she is returning to Houston to be a part of our 9th Annual Heart of the Theatre subscription drive celebration,” said Hasting Stewart, The Ensemble Theatre board president. The Ensemble goal of reaching 3,000 subscribers for the “Passport to Adventure: Embrace the Journey” 2008-2009 season. Subscribers and those who purchase subscriptions leading up to the Heart of the Theatre performance are invited to attend the event at no cost.
For more information visit www.ensemblehouston.com or call (713)520-0055.
Rosa Parks, the Mother of the Civil Rights movement died on
October 24, 2005.
Famed actress Ella Joyce portrays Rosa Parks in “A Rose Among Thorns.”