The ongoing violence toward and repression of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) points to an ongoing disease, a pandemic of racism and discrimination that has plagued America for over 400 years. We believe that #BlackLivesMatter and that we must as a nation work together to dismantle the structural racism that dehumanizes and destroys the Black, Indigenous, Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander, Latinx, Middle Eastern, multiracial, and all BIPOC members of our community.
As a predominantly white institution we at TheatreWorks are interrogating our organizational policies and practices that we acknowledge are upholding harmful perspectives and marginalizing BIPOC voices. We plan to create a more equitable and pluralistic culture on our stages, on our Board of Trustees, and at our workplace. We pledge to interrupt racism and bias towards anyone due to race, ethnicity, gender identity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, ability, class, or age and are excited to engage in community partnerships that reflect our renewed commitment to more inclusively celebrate everyone’s human spirit.
With tremendous gratitude we acknowledge and honor TheatreWorks’ beloved community of trailblazing BIPOC artists who worked to bring change. These artists – on the stage, behind the scenes, and in our offices – travelled from all over the Bay Area and nation to tell stories that were not often told, performed in roles they had traditionally been excluded from playing, and made their voices heard. Their brave and beautiful work is a large part of the foundation on which TheatreWorks was built and we pledge to remember their extraordinary efforts while also acknowledging the harm done by our institutional shortcomings. We rededicate ourselves to build upon the foundation of that good work to become a more inclusive and actively anti-racist organization.
We have much work to do as a company. We invite you to join us as we explore new ways to place anti-racism at the heartbeat of our work on and off our stages, our engagement with our multicultural community, and how we welcome a more diverse audience. We aspire to a transformative and transparent process that ensures lasting and long-term change. We will uplift the voices that more fully represent the diversity of our region. We will focus on repairing the harm we have caused and build on our past successes while never resting on our laurels. We will include all in our journey – our loyal TheatreWorks community as well as new friends and partnerships.
This is hard work, but it can be joyful work. We will share our progress with you and, toward that end, we offer our most recent update below.
Here are the steps that we have put in place to build a deeper and longer commitment to change and systematically do this work:
CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIPOC ARTISTS AND STAFF
PRODUCTION POLICIES
HIRING PRACTICES
ONGOING ANTI-RACISM WORK
As of February 19, 2021
Here are the steps that we have put in place to build a deeper and longer commitment to change and systematically do this work:
As of September 28, 2020
Here are the steps that we have put in place to build a deeper and longer commitment to change and systematically do this work.
Open letter from TheatreWorks' leadership, May 2020
To the TheatreWorks Family and Community,
TheatreWorks has, since inception, had at its very core a belief in the shared humanity of all the world’s citizens from every race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability. The recent brutal murders of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and Ahmaud Arbery in Southern Georgia point to an ongoing disease, a virus, a pandemic of racism and discrimination that has plagued America for over 400 years.
We are devastated about the senseless violence that has broken the hearts and trust in justice of so many of our fellow citizens. As an arts organization we stand firm in our resolve to continue to tell the stories of those whose voices are too often silenced. We hope and believe that the theatre we produce and the resulting democratic dialogue we engender can be an essential component in our society’s ability to one day achieve justice and equality for all. We believe that Black Lives Matter and that we must as a nation work together to dismantle structural racism that dehumanizes and destroys the Black body.
In this moment of national anguish and profound unrest we have decided to temporarily suspend our online programming for a period of reflection and out of respect for the gravity of these concerns. The upcoming online reading of Pandora, by Laurel Ollstein, will be rescheduled at a time to be announced at a future date.
We are committed to making theatre that celebrates the human spirit and builds bridges between communities and individuals from diverse backgrounds. We recommit our theatre to seek ways to connect and engage more deeply with communities of color in and around the Bay Area. We stand in solidarity with our Black artists, staff members, board members, audiences, donors, and volunteers. We encourage you, our community, to seek ways you can contribute to making the world a more equitable place for us all. Below are some resources we would like to share.
May we all someday be able to equally celebrate the human spirit in harmony and peace.
Tim Bond, Artistic Director Designate
Robert Kelley, Artistic Director
Phil Santora, Executive Director
ORGANIZATIONS FOR DIRECT ACTION
National
Color of Change
https://colorofchange.org/
Anti-Racist Research and Policy Center:
https://antiracismcenter.com/
Black Lives Matter - What Matters 2020
https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-matters-2020/
In the Bay Area
San Jose African American Community Service Agency:
https://www.sjaacsa.org
San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP:
http://www.sanjosenaacp.org
Silicon Valley Debug:
https://www.siliconvalleydebug.org
Showing Up for Racial Justice Bay Area Chapter:
https://www.surjbayarea.org
FURTHER RESOURCES
Letters for Black Lives: For those of us who come from immigrant families, Letters for Black Lives offers explanations of the Black Lives Matter movement in dozens of languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and more.
Black Youth Project: Video on the differences between being "non-racist" and "anti-racist."
The Okra Project: The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home-cooked, healthy, culturally-specific meals and resources to Black Trans people wherever they can reach them.
Anti-Racism for Asian Americans: A three-pronged approach for Asian Americans who want to begin cultivating an anti-racist mindset.
Shifting the Culture: An organization founded by three POC women that do consulting, training, and workshops on anti-racism, Equity Diversity and Inclusion, and sexual harassment prevention.
New York Times "Anti-Racist" Reading List
Anti-Racist Reading List from Ibram X. Kendi
'White Fragility' Author Robin DiAngelo on What White People Can Do to Address Racism on KQED
'Interrupt The Systems': Robin DiAngelo On 'White Fragility' And Anti-Racism on NPR
Brené Brown with Ibran X. Kendi on How to Be an Antiracist
Black-Owned Restaurants, Pop-Ups, and Caterers in the Bay Area
FAITH-BASED RESOURCES
Jewish Racial Justice Resources:
https://jewishsocialjustice.org/jewish-racial-justice-resources
Muslim Anti-Racist Collaborative:
http://www.muslimarc.org
Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S.
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Young Readers
Books:
Juneteenth Jamboree (Grades K-5)
Juneteenth for Maize (Grades K-5)
All Different Now (Grades K-5)
The Story of Juneteenth (Grades 6-8)
Juneteenth: Freedom Day (Grades 6-8)
Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom (Grades 6-8)
The Story of Juneteenth: An Interactive History Adventure (Grades 6-8)
Other Learning:
CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall on Racism
PBS K-5 Learning Resources - Explore the origin and importance of Juneteenth. Additional materials provided.
Books:
Come Juneteenth (Grades 9-12)
Tiny's Emancipation (Grades 9-12)
Other Learning:
Museum of African American History and Culture - Founding Director Lonnie Bunch III leads a tour through the Slavery and Freedom exhibition to celebrate Juneteenth. (Grades 9-College)
Miss Juneteenth - A Sundance supported film release
Built like a bird, Turquoise Jones is a single mom who holds down a household, rebellious teenager, and pretty much everything that goes down at Wayman's BBQ and Lounge. Turquoise is also a bona fide beauty queen-she was once crowned Miss Juneteenth, a title commemorating the day slavery was abolished in Texas. Life didn't turn out as beautifully as the title promised, but turquoise, determined to right her wrongs, is cultivating her daughter, Kai, to become miss Juneteenth, even if Kai wants something else.
History of Juneteenth provided by AL.com (4:33)
"Words for You" a Juneteenth slam poem by Ben Aragbaye (1:50)
Teacher Resources
Juneteenth Resources - Suggestions for Juneteenth Awareness and Reflection activities for teachers or families by Issaquah School District 411
ACCESS is the concept that all people have equal chances at advancement, learning, participation, and leadership regardless of physical, economic, social, or cultural differences. A commitment to providing access for all means we must continually question and rebuild all systems, practices, and structures at TheatreWorks that lead to the exclusion of any individual or group.
ANTI-RACISM is actively and continuously working within ourselves, our networks and our institutions to identify and oppose racism in order to create a more just and equitable society.
DIVERSITY is the presence of differences that may include race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, culture, nationality, socioeconomic status, language, ability, and age. A commitment to diversity means acknowledging populations that have been—and remain—underrepresented and marginalized in the broader society, and welcoming them at all levels of leadership and participation in our artistic process and institution.
EQUITY is promoting justice, impartiality, and fairness within our procedures, processes, and distribution of resources. To achieve equity for TheatreWorks requires a continual and vigorous interrogation of the policies and systems within our society and theatre company that lead to inequality and disenfranchisement.
INCLUSION is inviting and valuing all diverse communities with true and radical equity. We strive to become a welcoming organization, especially for those who have been underrepresented on and off our stages including all artists, audience members, trustees, technicians, educators, teaching artists, volunteers, donors, and staff.