New Episode of The Artists Approach
An Online Q&A Series with leading theater professionals.
Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth chats with Tony Nominated Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw.
Visit The Artist’s Approach for more.
Has there ever been a better time to immerse yourself in the world of podcasts? From finance to theater, politics to popular culture, there’s a podcast for every taste. On this International Podcast Day, staff members divulge what podcasts they’re listening to during this time.
Quarter Life Queens*
Hosted weekly on Instagram Live, this podcast hosted by Atlanta theater artists Candy McLellan and Ibi Owolabi is “trying to make sense of it all.” Conversation topics include celebrity crushes, women in TV and film, imposter syndrome, racial stereotypes and microaggressions, as well with interactive games like Black Jeopardy or Extreme This or That.
Keep It
Each week, Ira Madison III, Louis Virtel, and Aida Osman are joined by comedians, journalists, actors, musicians, activists, politicians and more to discuss the latest ways pop culture and entertainment are intersecting with politics and society. Check out the episodes with Billy Porter and Jeremy O. Harris for your theater fix!
Radio Rental*
It’s officially spooky season, so if you’re a fan of spine-chilling content featuring fan-favorite Rainn Wilson (yes, Dwight from The Office), this is the podcast for you. True horror stories with unbelievable twists from the depths of the internet? Sign us up!
Endless Thread
Reddit is a treasure trove full of stories from people all over the world. If you ever wanted to know the mysterious industry buying huge amounts of glitter, or the odd jobs of Redditors, this is a prime podcast rabbit hole.
How To Money*
The financial space can sometimes feel so mystifying. “Is this a good investment?” “How do I pay down my debt?” In this podcast, best friends Joel and Matt talk about handling your money in a purposeful, thoughtful way that works with your lifestyle.
Code Switch
Fearless podcast about race hosted by journalists of color. From sports to history, race impacts every part of society and we’re all a part of the conversation because we’re all a part of the story.
But Why?
Curious kids deserve their own podcast, and Vermont Public Radio is delivering. But Why? answers burning questions from kids all over the world, with topics ranging from nature to the end of the world.
Cultural Worker Podcast*
Hosted by local theater artist Minka Wiltz, this podcast examines what it means to work in the cultural arts sector. Recent guests include opera performers Jaymie Alilaw, Musa Ngqungwana, and Indra Thomas.
1619
In this audio series observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery, The New York Times examines the long shadow of that fateful moment in this country’s history.
Alliance Theatre Podcast*
Couldn’t do a blog post without mentioning our own podcast, now could we? If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about behind-the-scenes life at the Alliance, look no further than right here. While we’ve been on a little bit of a hiatus during the summer, season 2 is coming your way very soon. Until then, check out our archive.
*= ATL-based (which gives it extra bonus points because we love our city!)
The unjust ruling of Breonna Taylor’s case weighs heavy on our hearts this week. Here are reactions from female-identifying members of the Alliance community in solidarity of Ms. Taylor.
Aierelle Jacob
Dear Black Girl,
I see you. I hear you. I’m mad too.
For me, it feels like a moment to call out the anger, disappointment, and hurt that comes with being a black woman in America and to really speak to us specifically. So often we’re neglected, disrespected, left out of conversations, left out of movements, when in reality, we’re often the backbones of those movements. When in reality, we’re constantly doing emotional labor. We’re lifting up our families, our friends, our children, our partners. We’re organizing. We’re advocating. We’re working. All the while, we’re expected to be strong, but not angry. We’re expected to fight for women, while white women call the cops on Black men. We’re expected to fight for all women, but all women don’t fight for us. That was made abundantly clear in the 2016 election when white women turned out to vote for Trump. We’re expected to nurture, but we’re four times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy related complications than white women. We’re expected to act professionally in our places of work but are forced to navigate the minefield of racism and sexism that is unique to us. We’re expected to exude black girl magic, even when we feel less than magical.
And we are TIRED. At least I am. Black Girl, I see you. I love you in a way that is unconditional and indescribable, and you matter to me.
Do Black lives matter to you when they’re still breathing or is it just a trendy thing to post on Instagram?
Tinashe Kajese-Bolden
Every day I channel my work through the experiences I have lived as a Black woman on this earth. I work for equality, I argue for diversity in our stories, I champion making safer and more welcoming environments for people of color. But all this work is for nothing if the most dangerous place for me to be is lying in my bed. I must now live with the knowledge that in 2020 America, the murder of a Black woman still leads to a moment where the systems tells us that no moral or legal wrong has been done to her. This is one of the continuing, long standing dimensions of being a Black woman in this society. Justice for Breonna Taylor is not just about one grand jury decision. Justice for Breonna Taylor is living in a world where EVEYRBODY has the same inalienable rights to LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS – even Black Women. #sayhername
Jody Feldman
In this most horrific, unthinkable moment, I am desperate for words. Words that might change the hearts and minds of people who for some unfathomable reason do not see the injustice in front of them. Words that when linked to the words of others, might somehow prevent the needless death of another bright, young black woman. But in the absence of those elusive words, I sadly and proudly offer my love, my support, and my commitment to change.
Collins Desselle
Drywall is replaceable: Breonna Taylor’s life is not. There is no justice for all until there is justice for Breonna.
Amanda Watkins
As I watch RBG be laid to rest, in state, at the U.S. Capitol, the first woman in history to be so honored, I am tempted to be proud of our country’s progress. But that temptation is quickly highjacked in my mind, because of the injustice….the injustice that continues to beat down on my BIPOC brothers and sisters. As a Christian I am outraged; as a woman, I am sad; as a white person I accept my own accountability. And as a friend to all of my fellow BIPOC female identifying co-workers, I send you my acknowledgement that while I cannot know how you feel, powering through work over Zoom calls, I stand with you in this fight.
Allison Hoover
What pains me the most is that Breonna Taylor’s death wasn’t just the result of one moment of injustice; it was a series of injustices. The system isn’t working if there can be so many questionable decisions and points of failure – from the initial warrant process all the way to the execution of the warrant. Our nation should hold itself to the highest standards and not accept haphazard due diligence.
Jocelyn Rick
“I keep wondering how this story would look if Breonna had been white. At which point would the plot have diverged? Before the entry? Before the shooting? At the indictment? Would the cries of protestors be heard – or even necessary? I look at the big picture and feel so overwhelmed and hopeless by the scope that I tend to end up in a motionless puddle. I’m starting to realize though, that the trick is not to submit to a narrative of helplessness or useless wondering. The trick is to take a more active role in my less intimidating, immediate, interactable world. Finding ways to be a positive force in my realm of influence won’t bring justice to Breonna Taylor, but the ripple effect might eventually disrupt the complacent lake that let her drown.”
Cindy Lou Who
No justice, no peace; vote, be counted.
Caitlin Way
Losing a loved one leaves an irreparable hole in our lives, in our hearts. The loss of Breonna Taylor has assuredly left a such hole in the hearts of her family. It has also left a hole in America’s heart and a hole in the very life of our nation. She was one person. She was all people. I am one person. I am everyone. As I learn to listen, I also learn to stand and to ask and to speak. I stand with Breonna Taylor, and add my voice to the lamentations, over the gross and appalling injustice that plagues our country. So that this loss of her precious life, and the gaping hole in the heart of our nation – so that neither go unnoticed, unnamed. “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.” – Albert Einstein
Liz Campbell
Susan V. Booth
Breonna Taylor was denied voice, life, and justice. Those of us accorded all three must use them in her memory and in support of our BIPOC colleagues and friends to call out their value, their rights, their humanity and their dignity. That is our work to do.
Rita Kompelmakher
“I am teaching a theatre class and had planned an assignment for this Thursday where the students bring in a newspaper article on a topic they care about. Then they practice a list of Boal-inspired critical reading techniques. Almost all my Black students brought something about the verdict on the police officer in the Breonna Taylor case. A few white students did too. With an article whose title started by naming the “charged” Lieutenant, we agreed we would use a technique to interject with a title focused on Breonna. By the end of class, they added a new technique #SayHerName to the list. Honestly, I wish I had made more space to discuss the significance of this event, but I didn’t. I didn’t even know how to begin. I was just really grateful that the students knew how to make that lesson work better than I ever could.”
To our Atlanta community:
You may have seen recently that The Alliance Theatre was called to account by the We See You White American Theatre coalition for the predominantly white composition of our leadership structure. We acknowledge the exclusionary damage that fact does to both the organization and the community we are meant to serve. We have been making changes in our structures and programming over the course of the last several months to begin addressing that damage, and will continue to do so and to welcome the input and accountability of our artist and patron community. We will soon be sharing our new strategic plan, that centers our goals for diversity and inclusion in all areas of practice and people.
As a white leader of this institution, I understand and accept my own complicity in our flaws. I am daily informed by C.S. Lewis’ dictate:
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
I am deeply fortunate to work with passionate, committed and transparent BIPOC colleagues who hold me accountable and share with me the work of rebuilding our theatre in pursuit of that changed ending. It is not their work to do, and yet they selflessly choose to rigorously participate in it.
Susan V. Booth (Artistic Director of the Alliance Theatre)
A picture may be worth a thousand words but those words can often be misleading and not tell a whole truth. As a Black man, I am too often judged by my image while the truth of my experiences and contributions are too often denied. So in this moment where the Black voice is being heard, I will use my voice to paint a clearer picture.
Contrary to an image, I do not stand alone in the leadership of the Alliance Theatre. I stand shoulder to shoulder with several, powerful individuals of color who are reshaping our arts community on a national level and their contributions will not be omitted. So in this moment of “calling out” I acknowledge the work of our BIPOC leaders….
Skylar Burks, BOLD Producing Associate
Pearl Cleage, Distinguished Artist in Residence
David Flores, Front of House and Patron Experience Manager
Ernie Gomez, Director of Lighting and Projections
Jessenia Ingram, Spelman Leadership Fellow (Senior Staff Member)
Aierelle Jacob, Head of Strategic Initiatives
Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, BOLD Artistic Director Fellow (Senior Staff Member)
Maya Lawrence, Allyship Program Director
Kristen Silton, Education Marketing Manager
Alexis Woodard, Spelman Leadership Fellow (Senior Staff Member)
…and state that our efforts will not be erased as we work daily to make this theater more equitable for people that look like us. We account for the ownership of this theater as much as any white face attached to a title and will not let this ownership be removed.
If this movement is truly about ensuring that faces of color are being “seen” in white spaces and asking us what we are going to do about it, then we ask that you see us and for your patience as we do the work to reshape this space. Trust me it won’t happen overnight, but it IS happening and it is happening at this moment.
Daviorr Snipes (Director of Diversity, Equity & Engagement) on behalf of the EDI Task Force
Our Community Speaks, We Listen
On June 3rd of this year we released a statement of solidarity in response to the unjust killings of Black individuals across our country and the racial profiling and inequitable actions that permeate our institutions.
We acknowledged that what our community needed was more than simply our words, but also our actions to reflect our commitment to these Black lives specifically and to the lives of other underserved groups additionally.
The demands that have been made by our communities are for setting a new standard of equality. They are being made in every area, but especially in the arts. Making it clear that if an institution like the Alliance Theatre wants to have a future of relevance and vitality, it will have to expand its access, examine its programming and develop new strategies to do our part in addressing the skeletons in our closet referenced in our statement and becoming a more equitable theater to meet our community’s needs.
Alliance Theatre Listening Circles
In order to take the appropriate action, we first needed to LISTEN. How would we know which way to go if we didn’t get directions first? So, in the vein of our mission of expanding hearts and minds, we started with ourselves and on June 16th began a series of Listening Circles with Black artists who have worked at our theater.
Organized by our theater’s EDI Task Force, an internal group of diverse employees with backgrounds in equitable work, these sessions were to be held with our Artistic Director, Susan Booth and our Managing Director, Mike Schleifer. They would allow us, as an organization, to fully listen to what our community had to say.
So we put out calls to Black artists from every background who had worked with us in the past 3-5 years: staff members, actors, directors, education artists, playwrights, designers, fellows and interns, all for the purpose of telling us the truth of their experiences in working at the Alliance. The job of Susan and Mike was simply to listen. To listen to what these experiences had been, become aware of our shortcomings regarding the needs of Black artists and hear suggestions on how we can make our theater more accommodatable overall.
The sessions lasted for two months, ending on August 19th. During which time over 100 Black artists were contacted. The information we received was invaluable to challenging our own perceptions of where we were in this journey of equity and how much work we still needed to do. To properly serve our communities and give back to them for what they had put on the line in confession to us, we wanted to act quickly. Based on their suggestions the following standards have either been put into place or are in process at the Alliance Theatre:
- Mandatory anti-bias training for all Board of Directors
- Mandatory first day anti-bias training for cast and crew members of all productions moving forward
- Mandatory anti-bias training for ALL Alliance Theatre staff
- Developing an anti-bias training program for the entire Woodruff Arts Center including the security and parking garage staff
- Having the Director of Diversity, Equity, & Engagement (myself) serve as the point of contact for all BIPOC cast & crew members to report to when they need a source outside of the rehearsal room for specific matters
- An EDI Task Force representative to serve on the hiring team to review all job notices, incoming resumes and be a part of all phone and Zoom/in person interviews to create more equitable hiring procedures and increase the diversity of our theater’s staff
- Instituting a Stage Manager fellowship program for Graduate student, BIPOC stage managers to work with us for a yearlong residency to increase minority access into the field and provide the necessary professional opportunities
- Instituting a Production Assistant fellowship program for BIPOC undergrad students or recent high school graduates with backgrounds in theater to jump start their careers in the local community and provide them essential exposure and contacts
- Working with the Woodruff Arts Center to open our rehearsal rooms and Blackbox spaces for free usage to BIPOC organizations for meeting spaces, rehearsals, presentations and productions
Know that this is more than simply a list, but a mandate from our community. To give each item on this list a greater context and understanding, future blog posts will have a dedication to each item. Each action will be provided with detail on how it came about and why it is necessary in progressing our theater to being a more equitable home for all.
Racial Reckoning Town Hall
Our listening circles were specific to the Alliance and the work we had to do, but a larger listening circle was very much needed for the Atlanta theater community as a whole. So two organizations, CREAT & IDEA ATL, both composed of a diverse group of local artists with a passion for racial justice, organized an unprecedented event.
The arts leaders of our city were called together for the Town Hall for Racial Reckoning in Atlanta Theater. The event took place June 28th – 30th and brought our community face to face with the unavoidable truth about the inequitable practices that have been in place for far too long. This 3-night event allowed Black artists from all disciplines and backgrounds to come forward and recount firsthand experiences of traumas, unjust operations and inferior treatments they had experienced in their careers while working in Atlanta.
Over the course of the event, nearly 50 speakers had their voices heard by more than 50 local theaters representing professional and semi-professional levels. These accounts were honest and heartbreaking and fully displayed the work that we needed to do for our theater community to uphold its mission of truly making a fully inclusive space for all.
Next Steps
So now that we are aware of the problems, what do we do to fix them?
This blog will be a regular space used to inform you of the work we are doing to address these issues. We want you to be assured that your voice is not only being heard but is necessary in us doing the work we MUST do in order to uphold our mission and values as a theater.
Stay tuned for more updates to come!
Daviorr Snipes
Director of Diversity, Equity, & Engagement
New Episode of The Artists Approach
An Online Q&A Series with leading theater professionals.
Associate Producer Amanda Watkins chats with Tony Award Winning Playwright Itamar Moses.
Visit The Artist’s Approach for more.