Join us to hear about Meres-Sia Gabriel’s firsthand experience of growing up in the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary movement that changed the course of history. 

I Was There Too is a multimedia spoken word and musical performance about one woman’s inner revolution as she struggles to understand what it means to have been born into the Black Panther Party. Born to two Black Panthers who are now celebrated artists, Meres-Sia describes a childhood of poverty, secrecy, and confusion that she often wished would just go away. Meres-Sia takes the audience through time and space, from Oakland, California in the 1970s to Paris, France in the 1990s, where she hoped she could forget it all. Now Meres-Sia presents this work to continue her journey of individual healing, and to foster community healing.

I Was There Too is written, performed, and produced by Meres-Sia Gabriel. Directed by Ajuana Black. Musical director Dr. Yafeu Tyhimba, with a special musical guest. 75 minutes.

About the artist

Meres-Sia Gabriel grew up in Oakland, California before leaving to study at Howard University and the Middlebury College School in France. After receiving her master’s degree in French, she returned home to pursue her passion for teaching, writing, and performing. In addition to being an artist, she is a French instructor, a teacher consultant for the Bay Area Writing Project, and the founder of Life-Changing Writing. Meres-Sia developed her one-woman show thanks to awards from California Arts Council, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and Center for Cultural Power.

Ticket info

Free program. Seating is limited and unassigned. Tickets are distributed in front of Gunn Theater an hour before the program starts, first come, first served. This does not include admission to the museum. For more information about free and reduced museum admission, please see our Free Saturdays program.

Contact info

Public Programs
publicprograms@famsf.org