TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been 65 years since a group of brave teenagers took part in Tampa’s lunch counter sit-ins.

Now, people from all ages and backgrounds will have the opportunity to learn about the story of the young protestors who fought for equality.                     

The play chronicles the lives of the young Black students, pastors and leaders of different races who helped to end the Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins.

“This was an opportunity to say no, that’s enough,” said Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa attorney and former state senator. “If I can go in Woolworth and buy anything in here, then I should have the right to sit at the lunch counter and eat like everybody else.”

Joyner was one of the Tampa high school students who took part in the 1960 non-violent Woolworth sit-ins that helped prompt the desegregation of the city’s lunch counters.

“We, as students, were actually demanding the right for respect and dignity so that we too could enjoy America and get all of the benefits that go with being American citizens,” she said.

Jim Davis said he was so moved when he first saw the play a few years ago at Stageworks Theatre, he helped raise more than $500,000 to bring it back, this time at the Straz.

“The play is about (NAACP Florida president) Rev. A. Leon Lowry and (Tampa) Mayor Julian Land and Clarence Ford,” Davis said. “But Mayor Lane had created a biracial commission. A group of leaders in the business community, white and Black establishments, to work together behind the scenes.

“My grandfather was the chairman of that biracial commission," he said.

Making sure the message from the play reaches a larger audience is something Davis said is important for the past and the present.

“I think we’re at a point in our history and our country where we need to take a deep breath and work together,” he said. “Reflect on times in our history when we did that — and this play captures a very important chapter in our history that I find very inspiring and unifying.”

It’s the kind of message Joyner said they could only hope for as they risked it all in 1960. It’s a message she hopes resonates with everyone who watches this play.

“This is a learning opportunity, and hopefully, an inspiration to young people and others that you too can make a difference,” said Joyner.

Showings of the play, "When the Righteous Triumph," start March 6 and run through the 16th at the Straz Center. So far, dozens of schools have signed up to attend. Organizers with the play say they’re hoping to draw in people of all ages.

For more information on the play, visit the Straz Center for the Performing Arts website.