Support These New Works:

=A gala concert for a PBS film

=Bibbs' introductory program on The Hyers
=Distribution of Bibbs' the Award-winning Meet Mary Pleasant Film

Project 1 : HYERS GALA CONCERT & PBS FILM:

The Voices for Freedom Concert
-This will be a public concert, featuring acclaimed singers, narration, spoken word and wonderful music is planned for San Francisco and Sacramento. It will produce a CD and DVD.
-As well, Susheel Bibbs' next PBS film -- a documentary on the Hyers --will use excerpts from this concert.

We need you to help bring this wonderful story to stage and later, to the screen!

Who were the Hyers?
=Two sisters from Sacramento and the SF Bay Area--Emma and Anna Madah, who started as teen-aged opera singers and finished as famous singer-activists for their people.
=The First black opera singers to succeed in touring the US on the operatic concert stage
= The first to form a successful comic opera troupe (called one of the best in the US)
= The first troupe to chronicle the black experience from slavery to freedom in no fewer than seven original musicals
= The first to sustain employment of black singers, actors, and dancers who did not wish to be defined by minstrelsy in the dark days of lynchings, oppression, and the KKK that followed Reconstruction. They debuted as teens in 1867 and deserve to be known!

=The first to integrate casting on the American music-theater stage! The Hyers brought humanity and harmony as they gave voice to their people!

What your donation will do
It will help
1) CONCERT: Help produce a public Hyers concert & video taping at a cost $20,000. The concert will include music performed by acclaimed aritsts, spoken word, video, visuals, and expert narration by America's Heartland's Akiba Howard. Our first concert venue partner will be The Bayview Opera House, the oldest opera house in San Francisco (1888). -a place where the Hyers might have sung.

2) FILM: Help produce a concert that will be an essential part of Bibbs' forthcoming one-hour "Voices for Freedom" documentary on The Hyers Sisters. The film will feature a host (Metropolitan Opera diva Denyce Graves), narration, concert excerpts, spoken word, expert commentary, re-enactments, photos, and footage to bring the Hyers lives and times to life. It will air on PBS. The film is now sponsored for tax-deductible donations by the San Francisco Film Society.

What can you do?
= Donate via the Urbanfunder Website (Info, promo, credit card donations, tax-deduction link, perks for donations too) -- CLICK HERE

= Make a tax-deductible gift now here -- DONATE
or by mailing a check-- payable to the San Francisco Film Society. On the check note write: "for Voices for Freedom.". Address: Attn: Finance Department of the San Francisco Film Society, Suite 110, 39 Mesa Street. The Presidio. San Francisco, CA, 94129

= View the promo -- The Hyers promo was created from Susheel's introductory Hyers program to help you experience the Hyers' times --what they felt and saw: PROMO

=Book Dr. Bibbs' new Hyers program -- An Offering in Word and Song: The Hyers Sisters--Voices for Freedom -- as a fundraiser or presentation by emailing --mepleasant1@yahoo.com
This 90 min program is like a live documentary -- Bibbs tells The Hyers story through word, song, and video and includes guest artists.

The impact of our Program, Concert, & Film
The new works will inspire our audiences by showing how our rights, though easily lost, can be preserved by those who care, and how those not usually regarded as powerful can make a positive difference in the quest for human dignity. Today many rights are being challenged. as they were for the Hyers. Their story can illumine and inspire.

Other ways to help
Some folks just can’t donate, but that doesn’t mean they can’t help: Please view the Web site, and pass the word to your friends and social networks. That means a lot. Thanks so much

Project 2: SUPPORT FREE "MEET MARY PLEASANT" DVD DISTRIBUTION TO SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES:

Have you seen this inspiring, award-winning film on PBS or purchased the DVD on this site? Give a student or yourself that inspiration!! Help distribute a winner -- the PBS DVD to millions and as a gift to California, HBC colleges, and many national libraries. Awardwinning PBS film, "Meet Mary Pleasant" (Mother of Civil Rights) -- now extended on PBS to 2014!! Any amount will help.

We need only $15000 more. Give generously, please, to help youth Meet Mary Pleasant. Check out the trailer below and purchase one here under the "Our Store" link

Trailer: Here is the trailer for the film--

Press play to begin

Donate online (tax deductible). Select this link: Donate to Meet Mary Pleasant

To Donate by Mail (tax deductible)
(checks to the San Francisco Film Society . Note on check: "for Meet Mary Pleasant"), Mailed: Attn: Finance Department of the San Francisco Film Society, Suite 110, 39 Mesa Street. The Presidio. San Francisco, CA, 94129

To Donate via PayPal (not tax deductible)
To go to www.PayPal.com and send money tomepleasant1@yahoo.com, select the button below: