Arthur Griffith, the interim president of the (rebel) Irish congress, was in jail the day Ireland declared independence from Britain. So he sent a memo to other members of the congress instructing them to go to France to the Peace Conference, and talk to everyone they could about supporting the sovereignty of Ireland. Talk to U.S. senators sympathetic to the cause. Talk to leaders of countries whose rebellions Ireland support.
And…
“Mobilise the poets….Perhaps Yeats would use his muse for Ireland now.”
It was the year 1919, and he meant it. While Griffith had some heavyweight poets in mind, the term has a broader meaning. A poet is any “person who has the gift of poetic thought, imagination, and creation.”1 In other words, everyone.
You are a poet and we need you.
This work celebrates ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. And it embodies that same ethos. We have a grand, audacious vision to share history in a new way, to produce incredibly impactful productions, and to bring them to as many people as possible.
And carrying out this work requires the support of the community.
Do you believe in this work? Do you believe that connecting with the lives of the past can transform us here in the present? Do you believe that everyday people who have done extraordinary things deserve to be celebrated? Do you believe that to really understand history, we have to do more than just hear or read about it, we have to feel it, experience it?
If this is you, then we need you.
It’s time to mobilize the poets.
We are a new organization. So step one is spreading the word.
There are a few very simple things you can do, that would help us immensely. If everyone reading this message did just one of these things, the impact would be incredible.
- Invite people to the show on November 11 – No one is better than you at describing what we do, what these shows are like. And there’s no better way of understanding what we do than attending a show.
- Share digitally – Share this post, our emails, or our website; like and share our Facebook and Instagram posts.
- Post flyers – Place them in your workplace, your home, your favorite coffeeshop and hang out place. Email remember (at) mobilizethepoets.com and we’ll get you flyers.
Thank you for all you do,
Ken
Written by: Ken Fitzsimmons
Ken Fitzsimmons has worked in music for 30 years, receiving a Bachelor of Music under the tutelage of jazz bass great Richard Davis, and an MBA from the Bolz Center of Arts Administration. He is the bassist in Milwaukee-based Little Blue Crunchy things and co-founder of the nationally touring Irish rock group The Kissers.
He has taught music privately for three decades and serves as the Education Director at Madison Music Foundry. In 2018 he was the Artistic Director for the multimedia “rock and roll history show” The Greatest War: World War One, Wisconsin, and Why It Still Matters produced in partnership with Four Seasons Theatre and Antishadows Theatrical Design.
