By Terri Roberts
Election Day has come and gone. As of this writing, millions of ballots are still being counted. The process may be slow and frustrating, but taking the time to make sure every voice, every vote, is heard and counted is American democracy in action. It’s why the Fountain Theatre launched its get-out-the-vote project, Raise Your Voice – Vote!, that lived in public spaces across Los Angeles on October 24th and 25th. The fact that you joined us and took action – that you raised your voice, you cast your vote, made your selfie videos encouraging others to do the same – means that you were a vitally important part of the process. And we wanted to say thank you. Thank you for participating, from the bottom of our hearts.
Over that last weekend in October, Raise Your Voice – Vote! actors Victor Anthony, Jessica Emmanuel, Wonjung Kim, Theo Perkins and Rayne J. Rayney – all COVID-tested, properly masked and with a supply of PPE’s – popped up at a variety of culturally different communities across Los Angeles with a mission to activate voter participation via socially-distanced guerrilla-style theatre. Raise Your Voice – Vote! was conceived by the Fountain’s Community Engagement Coordinator France Luce Benson, and co-directed by Benson and dancer/choreographer Lily Ockwell. It utilized some of America’s most iconic speeches about voting rights to create a choreographed collection of 10-minute theatre pieces, augmented with bits of song and movement, that were performed in front of surprised and appreciative audiences at Union Station, Little Tokyo, Fig and 7th Shopping Center, Leimert Park, Pan Pacific Park and Balboa Park.
“We wanted to create an event that was inspirational, but never didactic,” explained Benson. “The performers were in conversation with each other and with the people around them, blending, respecting and embracing whichever community we were in.”
The actors were supported in their travels and performances by Fountain staff and, for the first time ever, a wonderful group of recruited volunteers. (For more information on volunteer opportunities at the Fountain, please email me at terri@fountaintheatre.com.) Raise Your Voice – Vote! was also presented in partnership with the volunteer group Big Sunday and The Social Ripple Effect, a non-profit organization committed to global change through local action. As part of our get-out-the-vote effort, SRE was on hand to distribute literature briefly outlining the significant propositions also on this year’s ballot.
The Raise Your Voice – Vote! performances were live-streamed throughout the weekend on the Fountain’s website and its Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram pages. Those live feeds were supplemented by the afore-mentioned selfie videos, posted hourly, that were submitted by actors, directors and producers; Fountain patrons, staff and board members; colleagues within the LA theatre community-at-large; plus educators and students, business leaders and soccer moms, and more. Dozens of videos flowed in, all of them with personal observations about the urgent need to vote in this, “the most important election of our lifetime.” They were witty. Heartfelt. Serious. Reflective. One video was even sung, a cappella, as a comedic duet version of The Star Spangled Banner! But all of them, in their own unique ways, were impassioned calls to action.
So, thank you for answering the call. For being part of a record-breaking turnout of voters who stood up and had the courage to say, with your vote, These are the people, the propositions and the measures I believe will best be of service to me and my country.
Still, we all know it’s not a fair election unless every voice is heard. And because the laws that govern when ballots can be opened and counted vary by location, a full and complete ballot count is going to take awhile. Unfortunately, there are those who are actively trying to halt this process and silence all those voices. We urge you: Don’t let them.
Raise your voice one more time and demand that every single vote be counted. Send a text, make a phone call, sign the petitions that are probably clogging your inbox right now. Take action. Stay involved.
In the meantime, while votes continue to be counted, enjoy these photos from the many stirring public performances of Raise Your Voice – Vote! And reflect on these words from Lyndon B. Johnson, which were part of the Raise Your Voice —Vote! live experience:
“Our mission is, at once, the oldest and the most basic of this country: to right wrong, to do justice, to serve man…Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy. The most basic right of all was the right to choose your own leaders. The history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the expansion of that right to all of our people. Many of the issues of civil rights are very complex and most difficult. But about this, there can, and should be, no argument. Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. There is no reason which can excuse the denial of that right. There is no duty which weighs more heavily on us than the duty we have to ensure that right.”
— Lyndon B. Johnson, March 15, 1965
Terri Roberts is a freelance writer and the Coordinator of Fountain Friends, the Fountain Theatre’s new volunteer program. She also manages the Fountain Theatre Café.
