SAN FRANCISCO-Ms Soskin has among her many accolades and awards, the Bay Area famed "Golden Girl Award" of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc. San Francisco Chapter; the West Contra Costa County School District renaming of a middle school in her honor on her birth date, September 22nd and Sunday, September 26ththe Rosie Riveter Trust honors Ms. Soskin at their sold out in-person gala.
SFBATCO is honored to be the first theatrical company to tell the Reid Soskin story in support of lead artist Jamie Zimmer, who has created a musical based on Reid Soskin's book, "Sign My Name to Freedom: A Memoir of a Pioneering Life" with original music by Ms. Reid Soskin. "The planning of the 'New Roots Theatre Festival' has been underway for months and we are pleased to have the distinct honor of telling Ms. Soskin's advocacy and lifelong community service," said Mecca Billings, President of the Board of Directors of SFBATCO. "We are doubly honored that her daughter, Di'ara Reid will be at the debut performance of 'Sign My Name to Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin.'"
Accolades for Ms. Reid Soskin's accomplishments and the SFBATCO production "Sign My Name to Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin" are being expressed. "As a board member for Rosie the Riveter Trust, I'm delighted to see SFBATCO celebrating Betty Reid Soskin on the occasion of her 100th birthday. As the oldest active park ranger, she is dedicated to sharing her experience as a file clerk during WWII, and she has given a much-needed voice to the experience of Blacks and other minorities during World War II. She is a treasure to the National Park Service and also to Rosie's, women in the workforce, and people of color all across the country," said Michelle Fadelli, Secretary of the Rosie Riveter Trust Board of Directors.
"As Jamie Zimmer, an LBGTQ Chinese-American artist along with Joanna Haigood, Laura Elaine Ellis and Dr. John Calloway pay tribute to Ms. Soskin, an African American Woman, 'Sign My Name to Freedom: The Unheard Songs of Betty Reid Soskin' is a manifestation of the SFBATCO mission to produce compelling theater that builds community, fosters cross-cultural dialogue and promotes social justice," said Rodney Earl Jackson Jr., Co-founder of SFBATCO.
