All the Voices in the House & Your Voice in this House: Historic Programs Explore Civic Life and Responsibility, Past and Present
Free May programs at Old State House & Old South Meeting House will look back on the power of civic engagement for disenfranchised people & invite people to move from civic bystander to civic agent
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sloane Wilten
BOSTON — A pair of free programs from the nonprofit Revolutionary Spaces will bring to light powerful 17th and 18th century petitions by disenfranchised people in a spoken word event on the balcony of the Old State House, and then invite people to move from civic bystander to civic agent after hearing contemporary stories of civic change agents at the Old South Meeting House.
“In the 17th and 18th centuries, a majority of Massachusetts people were unable to vote, but that did not stop them from using their right to petition the government for change. Hearing these petitions read aloud for the first time—from the same balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time in Massachusetts in 1776—is a powerful opportunity for reflection on our own personal engagement in the civic life of our respective communities, particularly in times of challenge and change,” said Revolutionary Spaces Civic Engagement Manager Ed O’Connell. “With these two events, we invite people to take their place in the unfinished story of American democracy; to hear these powerful historic texts alongside contemporary stories of civic change-makers; and to embrace the opportunity to join them as engaged and empowered participants in civic life.”
All the Voices in the House: Hear My Plea and Know My Truth
May 13 (Rain Date: May 14) at 5:30 pm
Outside the Old State House, 206 Washington St., Boston
For the first time, the eloquent petitions of disenfranchised people seeking their rights in the 17th and 18th centuries will be read from the same balcony where the Declaration of Independence was first read in Boston in 1776. While the vast majority of people living in the Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries lacked the right to vote, many used the right to petition the government for change, asserting that their voices mattered and laying the groundwork for the rights and privileges we have today.
The event, curated by award-winning spoken word artist Amanda Shea, will be performed by Shea and fellow artists Anita D. and D. Ruff, who will reinterpret these powerful petitions to remind us how we stand on the shoulders of so many prior generations who took civic leaps and lifted their voices, even as they faced challenges that seemed daunting and had long odds of success. Petitions include those from Elizabeth Proctor, one of the victims of the Salem Witch Trials, Prince Hall, an African American abolitionist seeking to end slavery in Massachusetts, Belinda Sutton, a formerly enslaved person seeking a pension from the proceeds of her enslaver’s estate, and a petition from the Mashpee seeking greater sovereignty. The petitions were selected in collaboration with Daniel Carpenter, the Allie S. Freed Professor of Government at Harvard University and author of the award-winning Democracy by Petition: Popular Politics in Transformation, 1790-1870.
Your Voice in This House: Taking a Civic Leap
May 23 at 6:30 pm
Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St., Boston
Community members are invited to start (or restart) their civic journey by listening to inspiring stories of Massachusetts-based activists and historians who overcame self-doubt and redefined themselves as civic change agents at the local, state, and national levels – right inside the Old South Meeting House, where ordinary people debated the colony’s relationship with Great Britain in the run up to the American Revolution. The program is aimed to move people from civic bystander to civic agent by demonstrating the intellectual and emotional leaps required to see and believe in ourselves as powerful civic change agents, understanding that there are so many ways to express civic agency, and being ready to handle the ups and downs of working with others to achieve long-lasting change.
These programs are free and open to the public thanks to the generous support of The Lowell Institute.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Amanda Shea is a two-time Boston Music Award-winning Spoken Word Artist. Shea is an artist, performer, educator, artivist, publicist, host, and curator. She co-founded and curated six iterations of Activating ARTivism, a community festival to amplify POC through art, activism, and resistance. Her work can be found in the Museum of Fine Arts, The Boston Globe, TEDX, TEDXRoxbury, Netflix, Prime Video, BBC News, GBH, and much more. Shea will be releasing her first book, Pieces of Shea, in the spring of 2024. Amanda’s work examines her personal life experiences, social justice issues, and healing through trauma utilizing art as the tool.
Anita D. is a spoken word artist from Brockton, Massachusetts. Formally a slam competitor, Dias has been on the San Diego Slam Team as well as the House Slam Team of Boston. She has been a finalist in both the National Poetry Slam and the Individual World Poetry Slam. Her work centers around her personal life experiences and covers topics of generational trauma, mental health, domestic violence, women’s rights, and more. She has been featured on the platforms All Def Poetry and Button Poetry where she was acknowledged twice as “Best of Boston.”
Ruff is a Roxbury-bred spoken word poet, author of Staying on 94: Tales from a Misguided Soul, Creative Director of Boston Pulse Poetry program, and has been the co-host of the “if you can Feel It, you can Speak It” Open Mic movement for the last 13 years. He has been writing and performing for over 20 years, most recently in the NAACP convention and the Isabella Stewart Gardner production called “Dear Mr. McKeller.” Most of his poems stem from personal experiences and his environments and therefore range in topics from black love and heartbreak to inequality and black culture. D. Ruff performs with inspiring passion in hopes that any black body will also want to find a way to express themselves, find that “tribe” and achieve their greatness, with the intention of leaving the cycle of hurt, pain, and negativity, right where it was showcased.
ABOUT THE ADVISOR
Daniel Carpenter is the Allie S. Freed Professor of Government and Chair of the Department of Government in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Professor Carpenter’s research on petitioning appears in his book Democracy by Petition: Popular Politics in Transformation, 1790-1870, which was awarded the J. David Greenstone Prize of the American Political Science Association, the Seymour Martin Lipset Prize of the American Political Science Association and the James P. Hanlan Book Award of the New England Historical Association. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1989 with distinction in Honors Government and received his doctorate in political science from the University of Chicago in 1996. He taught previously at Princeton University (1995-1998) and the University of Michigan (1998-2002).
ABOUT REVOLUTIONARY SPACES
Revolutionary Spaces stewards the historic Old South Meeting House and Old State House as landmarks, museums, and gathering spaces for the open exchange of ideas and the continuing practice of democracy. Viewing history as a powerful tool for today, Revolutionary Spaces brings people together to explore the American struggle to create and sustain a free society.
ABOUT THE OLD STATE HOUSE
The 1713 Old State House served as the seat of government for the province of Massachusetts during the Revolutionary era. Today, it is a museum and historic site offering tours, exhibits, and public programs exploring Boston’s Revolutionary-era history.
ABOUT THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE
The 1729 Old South Meeting House was a Congregational church and the largest gathering place for popular politics in Revolutionary Boston. Today it is a busy museum, treasured landmark, and active center for civic dialogue and free expression.