Photo by Michelle Nealy. From left, Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown; Judge Thurman Rhodes, District Court for Prince George’s County; Judge Larnzell Martin, Jr., Circuit Court for Prince George’s County; and Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Published on: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

By Michelle J. Nealy

Special to The Sentinel

A group of local judges are trading in their black robes for acting hats to tell the “Full Truth” about Thurgood Marshall, a Maryland native and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court.

On Feb. 25, the judges, along with Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, will portray members of the Civil Rights Movement.

The play, a staged reading written and directed by District of Columbia Administrative Law Judge Paul Handy, takes audiences on a journey to a time when Jim Crow segregation reign Supreme in the South and African Americans were denied access to equal education.

Thurgood Marshall, played by Maryland Court of Appeals’ Chief Judge Robert Bell, challenges the University of Maryland School of Law that denies him admission and later bucks the institution of Jim Crow by challenging the 1896 statute of “separate but equal” in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.

Handy was drawn to the story of Thurgood Marshall after reading “Dream Makers, Dream Breakers: The World of Justice Thurgood Marshall,” by Carl Rowan.

“I have long admired Justice Marshall based on his unceasing devotion to social justice,” said Bell, playwright for 11 other shows that have been publicly performed.

“Brown v. Board is an amazing story of endurance. The attorneys who developed the long-term plan to eliminate the Jim Crow laws achieved great things with few resources and many obstacles in their path,” Bell added.

Bowie State University’s Performing Arts Center and The Elder Theodore L. Barber Scholarship Foundation are sponsoring the play. Proceeds will go toward scholarships for Bowie State students.

“This is an opportunity for people to relive the era when Marshall made so many significant contributions in the area of Civil Rights,” said Claudia Barber, District of Columbia administrative law judge and board chairperson of the Elder Theodore Barber Scholarship Foundation.”

Not only will this play introduce audiences to the lesser-known characters in the story of Brown v. Board, but the play will also provide insight into the personal relationships of the characters, said Brown who plays the role of Spottswood Robinson.

Robinson, Marshall’s colleague, would later become the first African American appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

At a recent rehearsal, the cast paced floor of a courtroom in Upper Marlboro reading through the script, trying to perfect their pitch and cues.

Bell, who met the real-life Marshall years ago, is heartened by the opportunity to portray him in this presentation.

“I am a product of the Civil Rights Era. I have never lost touch of those days when there was a difference between black and white, with the white having superiority,” said Bell. “One of the reasons that I am pleased to do this is to keep before the young folk what preceded them, what their legacy is and who their heroes were.”

Other members of the ensemble include: Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Sheila Tillerson-Adams who will play the role of Buster, Marshall’s first wife; Prince George’s County Judges Thurman Rhodes and Larnzell Martin who will portray Robert Carter and Walter White, colleagues of Marshall; U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Gauvey of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland who will portray the University of Maryland admissions officer who denies Marshall admission to its law school in 1930.

Prince George’s County Circuit Court Judge Albert Northrop will play the voice of the Supreme Court and D.C. Administrative Law Judge Nicholas Cobbs who will portray John Davis, Marshall’s opposing counsel who argued Brown v. Board before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954.

WHEN YOU GO

WHAT: “Full Truth”

WHEN: Feb. 25, 7 p.m.

WHERE: BSU, Samuel Meyers Auditorium, 14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie

TICKETS: $20 for general admission; $10 for students with identification. 

INFORMATION: 301-442-2166