WOMEN AT VIGIL
A day of peace
A day of pride
A day of justice
We have been denied
Let the new day dawn
Oh, Lord, I pray!
(We are outside the impressive facade of the Morgan Library. 36th and 37th streets have been cordoned off form Madison
Avenue to Park
There is a cluster of POLICE and REPORTERS
J.P. MORGAN trying to impress a flustered DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES S. WHITMAN of the gravity of the situation. Also present
Is a thoroughly wretched WILLIE CONKLIN who is being made to repair COALHOUSE'S car, and FATHER.)
WHITMAN (raises a megaphone)
Mr. Walker. This is District Attorney Charles S. Whitman. Do you hear me? I have Fire Chief Willie Conklin with me
He is restoring your car. Will you come out, sir?
WILLIE CONKLIN
You gonna let me be a martyr!
WHITMAN
Mr. Conklin will receive due process. You both will!
MORGAN
How much longer are you going to stand for this? Give him his car and then hang the savage!
WHITMAN
I'm doing my best, Mr. Morgan
CONKLIN
This is a conspiracy of n*gger lovers, that's all it is
FATHER
Sir, if I might suggest
WHITMAN
Who the hell are you?
FATHER
You sent for me. I know Mr. Walker and I believe there's one man he'll listen to
Mr. Booker T. Washington
VIGIL WOMEN
Justice! Ah!
(The focus now goes to WASHINGTON, as the people on the street move away. It should seem as if he has been admitted to the
Library, and is now addressing COALHOUSE directly.)
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
For the sum of my life I have lived in hope
We might all be Christian brothers
I have worked to persuade
Every white-skinned man
That he need not fear our race
What has your selfish recklessness cost us
We who work so hard
To still the white man's hate
Look what you've done
VIGIL WOMEN
Day of peace...
Day of pride...
Justice!
Justice!
(As the conversation continues, and escalates, the lights dim on the library and come up on the people outside. Over the
Following, the VIGIL WOMEN continue to hum.)
WHITMAN
You are surrounded by militia. They are cutting off your water even as I speak
J.P. MORGAN
Four Shakespeare folios! A Gutenberg Bible on vellum
The treasures of civilization are at stake! You've got to do something!
WILLIE CONKLIN
White people should be grateful for what I done!
EMMA GOLDMAN
I deplore the taking of human life, but I applaud Mr. Walker's capture of the Morgan library. His actions speak for all
Oppressed people. It is the cry of revolution
VIGIL WOMEN
Justice!
(Lights come up inside the library)
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
With guns and dynamite, you are destroying everything I have fought for, sir
COALHOUSE
Despite the respect I have for you, Mr. Washington, you have come in vain
WASHINGTON
Had you been ignorant of the tragic struggle of our people, I could have pitied you this adventure. But you are a trained
Musician, an educated man
COALHOUSE
It is true, sir. But I hope that I might suggest to you the solemn calculation of my mind
We are both men of colour who insist on the truth of our manhood, and the respect it demands!
(Lights come up outside the library.)
MEN, FATHER
Hours pa**ing by and
Not a sign from Coalhouse!
Hours pa**ing by
The situation hopeless!
Hours pa**ing by...
Hours pa**ing by...
WOMEN
Hours pa**ing by and
Not a sign from Coalhouse!
Hours pa**ing by
The situation hopeless!
Hours pa**ing by...
(Lights dim on the chaos outside the library, and come up inside again. It is apparent that time has pa**ed. They are tired
They are disheveled. The guns have been lowered.)
WASHINGTON
Your situation is hopeless. And you will be responsible for the d**h of these young men
COALHOUSE FOLLOWER #1
Don't listen to him, Coalhouse
COALHOUSE FOLLOWER #2
They're using him to get to you
COALHOUSE FOLLOWER #3
We're not giving up
WASHINGTON
And you dare to teach your lessons
To these wild, unthinking youths
Yet your own son, you abandon
To be raised on white men's truths
Look what you've done
Think of your son
(COALHOUSE reacts to this blow. All at once he hears SARAH's VOICE, humming "Your Daddy's Son".)
SARAH (offstage)
Oooh...
WASHINGTON
Is this the legacy you would bestow upon him? Are these the shoulders you would have him stand upon? Let him be the son of a
Man who had the courage to tell the truth in a court of law. Make your case, and if the verdict is d**h, go to it proudly
Knowing that you have been heard. The truth is all. If you do this, you will have the thanks and respect of every decent man
Of colour and of all those children of our race whose way is hard and whose journey is long
Think of your son
COALHOUSE
I would need a hostage and safe pa**age for my men
WASHINGTON
It is done
YOUNGER BROTHER
You can't change your demands. You are betraying us. You said we would all go free or we all would die!
COALHOUSE
And the promise of a fair trial
YOUNGER BROTHER
No!
WASHINGTON
You have my word. I am their mediator, sir, not their fool
COALHOUSE
Then they will see me come out with my hands raised, and no further harm will come to any man from Coalhouse Walker, Jr
WASHINGTON
God bless you sir
(WASHINGTON and COALHOUSE shake hands. WASHINGTON exits. The FOLLOWERS and YOUNGER BROTHER surround COALHOUSE in furious
Agitation.)
FOLLOWER #1
You said we'd fight to the finish
FOLLOWER #2
Yeah, you can go out there, man. We ain't
FOLLOWER #3
We're all ready to die as Coalhouse
FOLLOWER (leaping toward the detonator)
Push the plunger! Blow it all up!
FOLLOWER
We're not going. You've lost, Coalhouse. We've all lost
COALHOUSE
I don't believe that