Tori Sampson, a Boston, Massachusetts-based human rights activist and playwright, has developed plays at Great Plains Theatre Conference and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. She received a Bachelors of Science in Sociology from Ball State University and went on to receive her MFA in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama. Sampson has obtained several awards for her work, but some notable top mentions include the 2016 Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting from The Kennedy Center and she was a finalist for the 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn prize. Her works include, If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfuck a (Playwrights Horizons, 2019), This Land was Made (Vineyard Theater, 2018), and Cadillac Crew (Yale Repertory, 2019). Inspired by her mother, Sampson infuses the true power of storytelling and comedy into her work.
Cadillac Crew premiered at Yale Repertory Theater on April 26th, 2019. It was directed by Tori Sampson and Jesse Rasmussen. The play is fresh from development, but has already made a name for itself. For example, The New York Times stated “ though mostly fictional, the play is thus an effective form of historical reconstitution” (Green). SUNY New Paltz is the second place to produce Cadillac Crew.
Sampson introduces the story of Abby, Dee, Rachel and Sarah who strive for Black women's equal rights. On the eve of Rosa Parks' speech, these four civil rights activists gather to share and maintain the Black women’s narrative in this historical moment. They work on these key goals by gathering communities to raise sexual assault awareness and registering Black voters. Their purpose is to reverse the erased Black women's impact on history. This story is historical fiction, inspired by real events and people. Some key women mentioned in this story are Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm and Dorothy Height.
Some of these powerful women's impact have almost been erased in history. Parks is known for her refusal to give up her seat on the back of a bus, though her impact in the civil rights movement goes further than that. She was an activist for the anti-rape movement and fought against racial segregation. Height is a Black woman almost erased from history too, but her work for African American women has helped keep her story alive. She worked on projects that ranged from voter awareness, illiteracy, and unemployment. Height was also the president of the National Council of Negro Women for forty years. last, but not least, Shirley Chisholm is another Black woman where some of her most notable accomplishments and actions have almost been forgotten in history. For example, she was the first Black woman congresswoman and the first Black candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States.
Sampson's story is essential now due to the world's political climate towards the Black community. Black women continuously move the movement forward and are the key to the change, yet their stories get lost. Black women's stories matter and should be told. Cadillac Crew gives them the chance to have part of their story told. This is a transcendent story, especially for youth groups as they will be able to share what they have learned today to the new generations to come.
Interview with Tori Sampson by Dramaturg Halle Paz
Picture by Playwrights Horizons, https://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/players/tori-sampson/
In the ending of the play the journalist says "Rachel Helen Christopher, who was she?" and Alicia responds with "I wish I knew." We find out that Rachel Helen Christopher is a forgotten Black woman activist. What was your intention with this addition?\
This play is essential about the dangers of erasure. Why precedence is so valued in our country and how when we ignore the contributions of women, we force the conversations around our capabilities as leaders, thinkers, inventors, etc to the beginning. Again. This is a successful tactic of the patriarchy. Of White supremacy. And it works. It's why people don't know Shirley Chisholm's name. Why Hillary Clinton's leadership was questioned. It's we, collectively, don't know the names of the three Black women who started Black Lives Matter.
Cadillac Crews are not fictional. They really happened. But we don't know the many names of the women who, on them, helped to integrate the American south. Rachel represents those women. She represents the many women before and after her that have shaken the world with their unparalleled contributions only to be erased from the history books.
Many of your plays introduce or touch base on American history ranging from the 1960's and 1970’s. Some of your plays like This Land Was Made also introduce Black women activists. Can you speak on what inspires/motivates you to write about these era’s and female characters?
Two of my plays, Cadillac Crew and This Land Was Made, are history plays. They live in moments (for better or worse) that've deeply impacted the United States we reside in now. The plays are about moments that sparkled movements and the people behind both. I'm interested in the fascinating yet often dismissed trajectory of women in US history. So I research and write about them. I place them in "the room where it happens" because they were actually there.
Activism is not an easy calling. Oftentimes, activists put their lives and dreams at stake to work for the people. To fight for the people. To bring upon much needed social change for the betterment of humankind. However, activists are people and all people are selfish to an extent. This intersection is of great interest to me as a writer.
As an activist yourself, what would you say to those who are finding the courage to continue the fight for racial and gender equality?
I'd say, thank you to each and every person active in the fight for equality. This work isn't easy. Often, it's thankless. But it's so necessary. Please be kind to yourselves. Be graceful towards others. Love on your comrades. When joy sparks you, celebrate BIG. Drink water and read, read, read.
Our era is witnessing a crucial time for Black history while facing a pandemic. How would you say your play relates to the world today? Why is this play significant during this time?
I'm not sure this moment is any more crucial than that of yesterday. I question what about this moment is more significant than the last to the White people whose participation this go round seem to be the deciding factor. I feel the same pain for each Black person slain by the state and then posthumously blamed for their own murder. As long as the lives of women, particularly Black women and even more specifically, Black LGBTQIA+women are disregarded, Cadillac Crew will be a relevant play.
My work's purpose is to activate the people who will help bring about changing these realities. And then, one day this play will be a history lesson and not a shiny mirror. That is the intention.
