I DON’T HAVE A GUN, STOP SHOOTING! An American Tragedy (the title is drawn from the final words of 18 year-old Michael Brown who was fatally shot by a Ferguson Police Officer on August 9, 2014.) bears theatrical witness to the barbarity, humanity, and violence of two historic moments that helped birth the current Black Lives Matter Movement. The play draws inspiration from two political speeches from President Barack Obama that addressed the murders of Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida and the mass shooting of nine parishioners at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, North Carolina on June 17, 2015.

The play puts a human face on the headlines. The play makes us long for grace, peace, and mercy as three ancestors, Breonna, George, and Ahmaud take us on a journey through the power of Sankofa. As they tell the story, they transform into Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin, and three of the members of the Mother Emanuel Church, Rev. Pastor Clementa C. Pinckney, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, and Tywanza Sanders, to bear witness to each of their journeys. As ancestors, they represent the countless African American citizens who have been murdered due to bigotry and gun violence in the United States of America throughout time and space.

I DON’T HAVE A GUN, STOP SHOOTING! An American Tragedy is activist theater that reclaims the stage for its crucial role as a leader in defining and acting out that ongoing experiment called American Democracy.