SANFORD, Fla. — A movement that started in Central Florida is using theatre and the arts to encourage people to vote.
Award-winning actress and playwright Mzuri Moyo Aimbaye is taking her one-woman play about civil rights and voting activist Fannie Lou Hamer on the road again. It’s all part of “The Voice of the Empowered Tour.”
Already, they have made local stops in Winter Park and Sanford. This time, Aimbaye is heading to Fort Worth, Texas, at the request of the grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee.
Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Chris Anderson says the show encourages people from all walks of life to cast their ballots.
“It’s a wonderful story that encourages everybody — Black, white, green and all in-between — on voting and registering to vote,” Anderson said.
The production centers on Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper from Mississippi, who fought tirelessly for equality, focusing voting rights, and doing all she could to ensure Black people could cast their votes just like everyone else.
“I have to keep this message going. If we have to tell our children over and over again to go vote, or say to them you don’t know happened, (it) just tells me that this story needs to keep being told,” Aimbaye said.
Aimbaye has been sharing the story for more than a decade and she isn’t stopping anytime soon. Her wig, dress, and entire ensemble are part of the transformation as she becomes Fannie Lou Hamer, taking the stage and embodying her presence.
The production is part of a 20-city tour, and it may go beyond that, because Aimbaye says she’s hoping they can reach people even up until the midterm elections. Her “can’t stop” attitude, she says, started with a dream: a conversation with Fannie Lou Hamer herself.
“Not long ago, I had dream, and she came to me on her sickbed, and she told me I could tell everybody that she was my mother, and it left me with renewed confidence in the work that I’m doing around telling Mrs. Hamer’s story,” Aimbaye said.
And now, she and her husband are bringing the show to Fort Worth at the request of Opal Lee. Lee is known for efforts to help make Juneteenth a national holiday.
“Mother Opal, who is 98 years old, is bringing the play two days before the election. She decided two weeks ago that she wanted to encourage undecided voters to get out and vote,” Aimbaye said.
Aimbaye is remaining hopeful that her upcoming show just days before Election Day will help all people go out and exercise their right to vote.
“I believe in democracy and I definitely believe that everybody should have a vote and everybody should express it,” Aimbaye said.
Sunday’s performance will take place in Fort Worth, Texas at the IM Terrell Performing Arts Center. Plans are in the works now for another Central Florida stop on The Voice of the Empowered Tour and The Fannie Lou Hamer Story.
For more information on the tour and production, check out this website on Fannie Lou Hamer's story.