On the day of the Michael Brown shooting Mason, an African American man, arrives home to see his white wife MaryAnn watching the news as it unfolds. Mason wants to take action and stand with people protesting. He sees this as his time to stand for what he believes is an injustice. MaryAnn doesn’t understand why this is so important. Through the scene we get to see how Mason feels about this shooting as it relates to his life as a black man and how MaryAnn works to understand this life through his eyes. She is opinionated and supports him but is nervous about what the cause is exactly. Their relationship is based on love but it is situations like the one at hand that makes both of them look at their lives and accept that love may be blind but in life they are black and white. Mason desperately wants MaryAnn to support his decision and MaryAnn wants Mason to follow what he believes is right while seeing the dangers of his decision.
Duo/ Duet- Hands Up
- (Scene open with MaryAnn, a white woman in her mid-twenties watching the television laughing. She takes the remote and flips a few channels. She stops on a station, frozen. To audience.) MaryAnn: Life changing moments. For this generation it’s, “Where were you on September 11, 2001?” I was in my college sociology class arguing about the importance something that was of no importance when the head of the program came in and whispered something top secret to my professor. At that point I never would have imagined I would become an elementary school teacher but I love kids and they need love and understanding to learn. (Beat) We were all making jokes that her car had just been hit by some drunk kid but she sat at her desk, started crying and told us the news. Today August 9, 2014 a little after noon I am standing in the living room of my home in a suburb outside of St. Louis waiting for my husband to get home for lunch. That’s where I was when the breaking news came in- Reporter: We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this breaking news out of Ferguson, MO right outside of St. Louis. An unidentified black male has been shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer. Reports are coming in that this young African American man believed to be a teenager was unarmed and hands raised when the officer shot him. We will keep you posted as this story unfolds. MaryAnn: Only thirty miles away. Neighbors. (Mason enters upset. He takes the remote from MaryAnn, turns the volume up as they both stare at the television.) Mason: What have they been saying on the news? MaryAnn: Just that he got shot. Mason: By a police officer. MaryAnn: Yes. Mason: A white police officer. MaryAnn: And a black kid. Mason: You say it like it’s not a big thing. MaryAnn: Of course it’s a big thing. I teach my students that we are all the same on the inside God just made us look different on the outside.