INCLUSIVITY - DIVERSITY - EQUITY - ACCESSIBILITY - BELONGING
ENGAGE. THINK. REFLECT. CHANGE. DO BETTER.
FOR FOLKS WHO WANT TO LEARN
(A beginning)
ANTI-RACIST, ANTI-OPRESSIVE & EQUITABLE THEATRE TRAINING
Here are some resources
ARTEQUITY Their workshops are TERRIFIC.
HOWLROUND
LORT (League of Resident Theatres) - Resources for racial diversity, equity and inclusion to help you and your organization follow. Jeff Rodgers (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and Elizabeth Doran (Pasadena Playhouse) compiled this initial list as of October 2014. The Chair of the LORT Equity, Diversity, and Inclussion Committee Kelvin Dinkins, Jr and others update it periodically.
ANTI-RACIST & ANTI-OPRESSIVE FUTURES for THEATRE for YOUNG AUDIENCES
CONSCIENTIOUS THEATRE TRAINING Nicole Brewer is a powerhouse, visionary leader, who is at the vanguard of the Anti-Racist Theatre movement. She is the architect of the anti-racist theatre curriculum for CMU and is on faculty at Yale School of Drama. Nicole regularly offers online trainings and below are links to two articles she wrote in American Theatre magazine.
TDF (Theater Development Fund) ACCESSIBILITY PROGRAMS is on this list to encourage people to spend time on their site and begin to figure out how to make their work accessible for ALL. TDF was crucial and generous in helping OUR VOICES learn how to make relaxed performances which in turn opened up our work to more audiences.
A FEW ADDITIONAL WORTHY RESOURCES
ART BEYOND SIGHT has been around for 30 years. Check them out.
SIGN LANGUAGE CENTER This folks are amazing! Alan Roth is the CEO and founder. The roster of teachers is EXCELLENT many of whom are also artists. They offer a range of classes online (so you don’t have to be just in NYC to take them). Check them up and sign up for a class!
THEORY OF ENCHANTMENT Chloé Valdary developed the Theory of Enchantment as a framework for compassionate antiracism that combines social-emotional learning (SEL), character development, and interpersonal growth as tools for leadership development in the boardroom and beyond. To get you started, she offers materials for free to download. Hers is a compassionate alternative to anti-racist programs that create division.
Read. Listen to audiobooks or podcasts. Watch movies and tv shows. There is a tremendous amount of information out there, by brilliant writers and artists, offering a wide-range of perspectives.
BOOKS
I recommend starting with James Baldwin and with his Notes of a Native Son which is a compilation of essays he wrote in the 1950’s on race in America and Europe.
Anti-racist Reading List by Ibram X. Kendi - This list appeared in the NY Times on May 29, 2019 and it offers a range of great reads.
Charis Books and More - This is a stunning reading list compiled by an independent bookstore in Georgia, designed to meet a broad variety of a reader’s needs and experiences.
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson - This should to be mandatory reading for everyone. Need more convincing? Here’s a review.
A Rap on Race - This book contains transcripts of conversations between James Baldwin and Margaret Mead. It’s out of print BUT you can find it in libraries and clips of their conversation on Youtube. It is also worth reading what Maria Popova has written about this cultural document.
American Moor by Keith Hamilton Cobb - The intelligent, intuitive, indomitable, large, black, American male actor explores Shakespeare, race, and America ... not necessarily in that order.
25 Plays from The Fire This Time Festival - Edited and curated by Kelley Nicole Girod, the anthology divides the plays into seven thematic sections concerning multi-faceted aspects of the Black experience, featuring work by seminal writers such as Katori Hall, Antoinette Nwandu, Dominique Morisseau, C.A. Johnson, and Marcus Gardley. Both timely and timeless.
GET INVOLVED
Information courtesy of Tiffany Rachelle Stewart & Tyler Rivenbark