Hello Lovers of theater and history!

A Call to Conscience (c2c) is a Readers Theater Group committed to facilitating transformative, social change by reacquainting audiences with some of the great leaders and speakers of our time.  Using a variety of speeches, essays, adaptations and dramatizations of historic moments in a mixed media format (theater, music and the visual arts); we revisit the contributions of many of our historic icons and the moments that have changed our history.   

Founder/producer/writer, Linda Jo Smith, was inspired by a discussion on the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Mountaintop Speech” choosing the reader’s theater approach to “call” the public to consciousness by focusing on historic leaders of our time. Linda is a graduate of Community Arts in Training fellowship of the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission and has worked for the St. Louis Public Library for over 13 years where she is responsible for the planning and implementation system-wide community programming. 

In June of 2014 we plan to present a screening of Hole in the Head: A Life Revealed.  This award-winning documentary tells the story of Vertus Hardiman and nine other children who lived in Lyles Station, Indiana, in the 1920s.   In 1927, African American families were approached by doctors deliberately misleading them into thinking that their purpose was to fight a ring worm epidemic. In reality the children were irradiated as a medical experiment sponsored by the local county hospital. 

Vertus Hardiman

c2c intends to invite the filmmaker to the Missouri History Museum for a screening of the documentary.  This will require flying him in from Long Beach, CA and paying for hotel and ground travel.  Readers from c2c as well as volunteers from the community will “read” events from a timeline listing victims of unethical human experimentation throughout human history as a prelude to the screening.

We need your help to take A Call to Conscience to the next level!

We  plan to offer adults, as well as middle and high school students, the opportunity to experience history through the words of dynamic icons of politics, music, theater, the civil rights movement and a variety of other platforms. Single presentations and tailored workshops are designed to meet the Common Core Standards of the English and Language Arts curriculum set by the Missouri Department of Education.  All workshops end with culminating performances. 

We need funding to submit our application for 501(c)(3) tax exempt status to make us eligible to apply for grants that will help retain staff and operating expenses.  

What We Need & What You Get

Budget: A Hole in the Head

Wilbert Smith (filmmaker)

Honorarium  $2,500.00

Airfare/Hotel,  Round trip  from Altadena, CA  $1,000.00 (approx.)

Taxi (round trip)       $80.00

Event Expenses

45-day Public

  Performance License    $199.00

Promotional materials

 26”x39”Posters @ $13.95    $55.80

Refreshments  (Bixby’s)     $250.00

Total    $4,084.80 (documentary

501 (c)(3) Tax exempt application/consultation   $1,200.00

Total request  $5,284.80

Founder Linda Jo Smith is a writer/storyteller and author of the Treasury of Twisted Tales and a collection of poetry entitled Involuntary Traveler.  Inspired by a discussion on the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Mountaintop Speech” Linda chose the reader’s theatre approach to “call” the public to consciousness by focusing on historic leaders of our time. Linda earned a B.S. degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Fannie Bell Lebby, co-founder and artistic director of A Call to Conscience is an actress and director who received rave reviews for her one-woman act as Alberta Hunter and Moms Mabley.  Fannie has her Master’s degree in Theatre/Cinema from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.  She is committed to the philosophy that the arts are essential in the effort to bring about social change.

Co-founder Linda M. Nance's singing takes you from the realm of opera to the soul of gospel. A talented writer, Linda is also key to the development of the concept for the group, Linda serves as Financial Officer and brings strong program management and fundraising skills to the team. She holds Bachelor degrees in Sociology and Psychology from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri.

LaVelle Wilkins-Chinn has thirty-plus years of performing arts experience with several St. Louis theatre companies and writes under the nom de plume, Loue Chinn. She has been a participant of the Hurston-Wright writing conferences and is currently she’s scribbling out a novel.

The Impact

The writers, director and performers experience history as speeches and historical accounts of icons, such as Nelson Mandela, are adapted to create a “conversation” between the performers on stage as well as with the audience.  While in rehearsals, adults and teens either experience for the first time or are reacquainted with the impact the subject has had on American and/or world history.  Emotion is heightened with the music that was prevalent during respective historical context of the time which leaves the performers and with a sense of understanding of the subject and the times in which they lived.  The audience is always supplied with lyrics to sing along with the cast and we often invite readers to be a part of our program that achieves our objective to be interactive which  furthers our goal to bring about transformation and  to be inspired to become involved with organizations committed to bring about social change.

Our perks offer an opportunity to show your desire to bring about social change through the arts.  We have t-shirts with our c2c logo and key tags in addition to our literary and storytelling talents.  

Other Ways You Can Help

Help us spread the word about A Call to Conscience by attending our events and telling your friends on Twitter, Facebook, etc.and post and share how you were impacted by our performances and programs.  “Like" us on Facebook at A Call to Conscience.