Oh, Ma Dear! What’s Going on?

This chapter explores the use of early twentieth-century Du Boisian community engagement strategies to educate theatre audiences about anti-Black violence in the twenty-first century. Contextualizing her 2016 production of Angelina W. Grimke’s anti-lynching play Rachel within the larger narrative of Missouri’s history of lynching and its simultaneous connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, Persley argues for the power of theatre to connect anti-Black racism movements of the past with the contemporary moment.