LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Lawrence community can gather to celebrate Juneteenth on Saturday by attending a stage play by a local playwright who is telling the story of her parents' migration from Mississippi to Kansas in search of better opportunities.
Rita Rials' "Panther Burn: From the Fields of Struggle to the Road of Hope" will take the stage at the Lied Center of Kansas in Lawrence this Saturday.
Her parents were sharecroppers in Panther Burn, Mississippi, and moved to Kansas in the early 1960s in search of better opportunities.
“While we think about Juneteenth and it being recognized as the freedom day, this is just one example of how that struggle for freedom and for equal rights was still continuing and is still continuing," Nicole Rials, Rita's sister, said.
Rita and Nicole were two of 13 children in the Rials family. They grew up in North Lawrence.
“In our eyes, we lacked for nothing, but we didn’t know what their (parents') struggle was, we didn’t know what it took for them to provide us with everything that they did," Rita Rials said.
Nicole Rials said the play will help "open up our eyes to this experience and how it was similar for many Black families around that time."
"The struggles during this time as it related to sharecropping was that this was post-slavery time, but in a lot of ways it was another form of slavery," Nicole Rials said.
While their mother will be in the crowd on Saturday, their father passed away in 2000. Nicole Rials said she thinks their dad would be "incredibly proud."
“Our parents were real supporters of education, of giving back to your community," she added.
Nicole helped Rita with the production of the stage play. It's their seventh time presenting at the Lied Center.
“All of our products are original, centered around culturally relevant, diverse, social justice-themed opportunities to spread important messages," Nicole Rials said.
The play is written and directed by Rita Rials. In addition to the Lied Center, Life Restoration Ministries — which both Rita and Nicole help lead — will present the play at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. You can learn more here.
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