Fort Worth Opera Receital fundraiser
Billy Smith, Kristina, Charles Chatman
I know you all have heard this before but one day I promise I will surpise you and make it to an event with the good camera. Here is an iphone pic of Billy James Smith and Charles Chatman. These two gentleman are among those I consider to be heroes in this world. They spoke at a fundraiser put on by the Fort Worth Opera for the Innocense Project (donations were made out to either the NY branch or the Weslyn University branch). The recital was great. I am sorry to have missed the opera Dead Man Walking after hearing some of the songs from the show. Alas one can not be everywhere and do everything and my husband is getting tired of every night a different event (I am tired too). I digress . . . The speeches made by Billy and Charles were from the heart and as always virtually impossible to hear without some tears escaping. If I have not said it before I meant to a thousand times over, “I am so sorry for what happened to you!” The words feel so empty and useless. They can not change things or turn back the hands of time but an apology is truly the very least we as a society have to give. It is our collective responsibilitiy. We elected the DA. We did allow this to happen. And in my humble opinion, although things are moving in the right direction, there is so much more we could and should be doing! Billy talked about the power of the pen. We can change the world with our pens! Write to your state representatives and senators. Write to the DA. Write to give hope to the one’s left behind and still waiting for their chance to tell their story and prove their innocense. Write a check to an organization you believe in. Thank you Fort Worth Opera, Billy and Charles, and Kerry who was the last speaker. I have been touched by your stories and I will never be the same. Thank you too to Antonio who spoke about Ben’s cause and got a ton of signitures for the petition that evening!