OXFORD, Miss. – During the 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy was a champion and crusader for the American civil rights movement.
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance,” Kennedy said in a 1966 speech.
Nearly 50 years later, the life and times of the former U.S. attorney general, senator and presidential candidate are brought to life in a new docudrama, “RFK: The Journey to Justice.” Part of a worldwide tour by the L.A. Theatre Works, the production focusing on Kennedy’s personal and political journey makes a one-night appearance Feb. 19 at the University of Mississippi’s Gertrude C. Ford Center for Performing Arts.
General admission tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $25. Tickets are available by calling 662-915-7411, by visiting the UM Box Office in the Student Union from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays or the Ford Center Box Office from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays, or online at http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/
“The play chronicles Kennedy’s progression from 1960 to 1968,” playwright Murray Horwitz said.
In 1962, Kennedy played a major role in integrating UM as he dispatched armed federal troops to force the enrollment of the school’s first black student, James Meredith. Campus riots that ensued left two people dead.
“The Ole Miss episode was a very important landmark on that path, teaching RFK and his brother (President John F. Kennedy) about the limits of their essential political approach and raising the stakes in the civil rights struggle,” Horwitz said. “We must never forget that people died that day in Oxford. Robert Kennedy certainly never forgot.”
To coincide with the performance, the UM Department of Archives & Special Collections has arranged a small exhibit of Robert F. Kennedy material to be displayed at the Ford Center. The “Robert F. Kennedy and the University of Mississippi” display is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily until Friday’s performance. Admission is free.
Among the items on display are Kennedy’s statement to the press just after the 1962 riot on campus and a copy of his typed affidavit concerning his role in the events leading up to Meredith’s integration at UM. The exhibit also devotes significant coverage to Kennedy’s 1966 address on campus, including a typed transcript of the speech, protest literature that preceded his visit and positive accolades that followed it.
On Thursday (Feb. 18), members of L.A. Theatre Works troupe participate in a panel discussion at noon in the Ford Center. At 7 p.m. that day, the Ford Center hosts a screening of the film “American Experience: RFK” in the Student Union ballroom. Both events are free and open to the public.
It is important for a new generation to hear the words, feel the tension and explore the issues from the 1960s, Horwitz said. He said he hopes performing the docudrama on campus, so close to where some of the depicted events took place in Mississippi, will have a greater impact on the audience.
“I’ve always said that it’s important to know history to avoid getting trapped by it,” he said. “Live theatre can be enormously powerful in bringing history to life.”
Ford Center director Norm Easterbrook said the performance coincides with the university’s Black History Month celebration.
“We are thrilled to be a part of this global tour highlighting one of the country’s most courageous leaders,” Easterbrook said. “It should be an intriguing performance.”
For more information on performances at the Ford Center, go to http://olemiss.edu/fordcenter/.