Dear Fellow Citizen,
It's difficult to find words to describe the emotional roller coaster we've all been on these last few weeks - visceral, nauseating, terrifying, daunting, and just plain icky! Now we must move beyond shock and disbelief into action because one truth is self-evident -- The election may be over, but now the real fight begins!
Trump is a dangerous loose cannon and Pence is beyond regressive. The stakes are very high. And that's motivation to be more outspoken than ever as we collectively resist the reversal of our hard-won progressive achievements. And, as we have for the last six decades, the San Francisco Mime Troupe will be at your side.
Shoulder to shoulder we'll challenge this new surreality while supporting each other's causes in a united front of renewed urgency. Together we marched against Vietnam, Watergate, and the Gulf War and its spawn; stood in solidarity with people's causes from Nicaragua to Palestine and with striking workers in the US, France, and Belgium; and championed rights for our planet and for all of its residents. We've spoken out against everything from GMOs to 3-strikes to police militarization. We're certainly not going to shut up now.
Challenging times demand fresh ideas and we're ready to fight back! And , our weapon is our work. We are:
- Inspiring future activist-artists in our Youth Theater Project whose voices need to be heard;
- Facilitating collaborative play making workshops in in schools as well as rural and urban communities;
- Touring and Performing nationally again after 15 years and, as always, still free in the parks;
- Ready to use our stage as a bully pulpit for the disenfranchised and marginalized and preparing to use our Mission Studio as a center for resistance-based arts and organizing.
This critical moment in history is calling on us to be hyper-vigilant, to find new ways to collaborate and resist and to reach new audiences. But we literally cannot do it without you. With a Republican Congress, grant cuts are inevitable, which only increases competition between our fellow non-profits for both foundation and individual donation dollars. Without a Hamilton-sized box office, we continue to look to you, our partners in revolution, to give what you can to keep SFMT out-front and outspoken. Now more than ever, we need your financial support to keep our voices heard.
Together we'll also apply the lessons of the 2016 election to foster a kinder, more just and inclusive America. And along the way, we'll pepper our efforts with good-spirited ridicule (note to Trump), as well as rousing stories and songs. The good news is that there are more of us than ever and the whole planet is watching as if the world depended on it, because it does.
