Dear John,
My name is Robert Meeropol. I am the younger son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 when I was six years old. I respect and admire the passion and eloquence which you bring to your work and to your support of progressive causes. I am writing to ask if you will join Eve Ensler, Angela Davis, political hip hop artists Rebel Diaz, and other actors and activists, at Carry it Forward: Celebrate the Children of Resistance, a benefit event for the Rosenberg Fund for Children (www.rfc.org) that will meld past and present struggles, and celebrate families committed to standing up for their beliefs- families not unlike your own.
The Rosenberg Fund for Children (RFC) is a social justice-oriented public foundation I started in 1990 and still direct. It provides financial support for the children of targeted, progressive activists in this country. We help kids today who are suffering the same sort of nightmarish childhoods that my brother and I suffered when our parents were taken from us and eventually executed because they refused to give in to the McCarthy-era powers that sought to demonstrate that leftists are traitors and resistance is dangerous.
The children who receive RFC aid come from families in which the parents have been attacked because they are struggling to safeguard the environment; wage peace; preserve civil liberties; combat racism, poverty and homophobia; and organize on behalf of workers, immigrants, prisoners, and others whose lives are under threat.
A handful of our beneficiaries are the children (or grandchildren) of high profile activists including Leonard Peltier and other U.S. political prisoners. In fact, I understand you know personally at least one of the families whose children we have supported over the years: the Berrigans. Along with that courageous and principled clan, a number of other Plowshares and Catholic Worker families are among our supporters and beneficiaries. In some cases, our grant recipients are young activists who themselves have suffered repression, whether on the streets at Occupy protests; in their schools; or elsewhere in their communities. But the majority of the hundreds of kids we help each year come from families who are quietly and anonymously working on the front lines of social justice movements and paying a very steep price for it.
The event in which I hope you will participate will be held at New York City’s Town Hall Theater on Sunday, June 16, 2013, in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of my parents’ executions later that week. It is a professionally directed, completely scripted, theatrical program. Angela Davis is returning for a second time as our narrator; she will provide context to vignettes and short scenes presented through dramatic readings, music and poetry. (Performers will use scripts on stage, there is no extemporaneous speech-making and no need to memorize lines.) I would be very honored if you would portray my father, Julius Rosenberg, by reading letters he wrote to my mother, and to my brother and me, from death row. You would share the lead with Eve Ensler, who is returning for a second time to portray my mother, Ethel.
The program honors the legacy of resistance passed on to us from my parents, and celebrates the courage of families who continue to resist today. It embraces the history of progressive activism both through a look back at past generations, and in the context of today’s struggles. It honors the community of people who are working for social justice, and shows activists, and their children, that they are not alone.
David Strathairn and Danny Glover are just two of the actors who have portrayed my father in our past stagings. Other past participants include Howard Zinn, Harry Belafonte, Susan Sarandon, Giancarlo Esposito, Ossie Davis, Pete Seeger, Ani DiFranco, Richie Havens, Ronnie Gilbert and Holly Near. There’s a playlist called “Celebrate the Children of Resistance” on our YouTube channel, containing clips from our most recent staging of a similar program (2007); the direct link is http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAA3F8AF3C23133B2&feature=plcp. The clips include some very powerful moments with Howard, Angela, Eve, and David, among others.
If you agree to participate, you would be billed as one of the headliners along with Eve and Angela. We would send you a script before the event, but no activity (except for one, brief phone call with the director), would be required of you in advance. The day of the show we will have a rehearsal and sound check in the afternoon, and the performance will go on that evening.
The commitment we need from performers is one full day- June 16th, 2013- from approximately noon to 10:00 pm. Though we recognize it’s a challenge, we do need a firm commitment because of the tightly scripted nature of the program. This is a theatrical event, not a collection of speeches, and it is built around the lead roles. We know this is a lot to ask of artists, but we have been fortunate to have had performers who were so moved by this production that they were willing to make those firm commitments to us months in advance. If you are able to participate, we will provide transportation to New York City (including first class airfare if requested), and suitable lodging. Because we would need you present for a full day on Sunday, the 16th, if you would be traveling from outside the Northeast, we would have you arrive in NYC on Saturday, the 15th.
This program grew out of the pain of having an execution in the family, and the enormous courage of our beneficiaries. It brings us together as a community of people who work passionately for social justice and support the families who are harmed in that work. It traces activism throughout the generations and shows the bonds that unite us. It examines the horrors of the past and expresses hope for the future.
I would be happy to answer any questions you may have as you consider this request. Along with the link above to videos from our Boston production from a few years ago, there is more information on these programs on our website at http://www.rfc.org/celebratethechildrenofresistance. Finally, you can see David Strathairn and Eve Ensler reading my parents’ final letter to my brother and me (which would be included in your role in 2013) here: http://www.rfc.org/lastletter.
Please contact me by phone at (413) 529-0063 or by email at rmeeropol@rfc.org to ask any questions and/or to let me know if you are willing to participate.
I hope to hear a response in December as we will need to begin work on our earliest advanced publicity and ticket sales before the end of this year.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Meeropol
Executive Director