Black Lives Matter

This statement was issued by the leadership of Theatre@First on June 3rd and shared with our participants and supporters via email.  We continue to explore ways that we can dismantle barriers, create change, amplify the voices of BIPOC, and support the protests against racism and police violence as a theatre community. 

BLACK LIVES MATTER

The murder of George Floyd has been added to the list of too many Black lives that have been taken by police and other perpetrators of white violence. While live performance at Theatre@First is on hiatus, we are still here and we are grieving and raging at the specific injustices and systemic racism that yet again echo across our screens and through our streets. 

We are particularly concerned at this time for the Black artists and other people of color within our community, who are especially impacted by the cruelty of recent events.  We see you, you are an important part of our community, and you are not alone. 

Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, already disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, have endured systemic and specific racism for too long.  At Theatre@First we are committed to listening to the voices of those primarily and directly affected by these poisonous aspects of our society, joining and supporting anti-racist protests, and following BIPOC leadership toward essential change.  

The core mission of Theatre@First is to provide the space and support to bring the artistic dreams of our theatre community to life and to enrich our wider community by sharing those visions.  Dismantling the racist systems of our culture depends on creating and sustaining visions of change.  Theatre@First stands with BIPOC and all who envision anti-racist change.  Now is the time to bring those dreams to life. 

BLACK DREAMS MATTER

Resources from StageSource

StageSource, the arts service organization for the New England community, has compiled a list of resources to help us direct our donations, focus our action, and educate ourselves on the roots of the current crisis and visions for change.  We are grateful to their leadership and share some of those resources below.  Please visit their site for an evolving anti-racism resource.

PLACES TO DONATE & LOCAL RESOURCES MA Bail Fund The Massachusetts Bail Fund posts bails of up to $2000 in Essex & Suffolk Counties in Massachusetts. Black Lives Matter Boston BLM Boston centers work against racist policing and police violence, abolishing mass incarceration, economic disparities and factors that allow the school to prison pipeline to exist. Families For Justice And Healing Fund the movement to end the incarceration of women and girls! SURJ Boston: Standing Up for Racial Justice A local chapter of SURJ National and volunteer-run program of CCI, SURJ Boston moves white people to take action for racial justice. Black Visions Collective (MN) Black Visions Collective is a QTPOC run organization dedicated to Black liberation and to collective liberation. Reclaim The Block (MN) Reclaim the Block began in 2018 and organizes Minneapolis community and city council members to move money from the police department into other areas of the city’s budget that truly promote community health and safety. North Star Street Medic Collective (MN) The Revolution Will Not Be Hospitalized! Rolling Stone Aggregated List of Organizations Bail funds, legal aid, and other organizations working to help activists seeking justice for George Floyd and other victims of police violence

LEARN MORE Why Is This Happening? An Introduction To Police Brutality by 100 Year Hoodie A history of police brutality, to give framework for where are and how we got here. Keywords in Black Protest: A(n Anti-) Vocabulary Our goal is to destabilize the contextualized veracity of four of these words — Thug, Leader, Riot, Gang — which are keywords at the core of conversations pertaining to current events. 28 Ways To Be In The Struggle Beyond The Street This list is designed to celebrate all the ways that our communities can engage in liberation. Building A Police-Free Future: Frequently Asked Questions MPD150 is an independent, community-based initiative challenging the narrative that police exist to protect and serve. 12 Things To Do Instead Of Calling The Cops This short zine offers 12 suggestions that people can do instead of calling the cops. What To Do Instead Of Calling The Police: A Guide, A Syllabus, A Conversation, A Process An in-process list of resources on alternatives to policing, which range from the theoretical to practical. Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? A free e-book courtesy of Haymarket Books, by Joe Macaré, Maya Schenwar, Alana Yu-Ian Price, and Alicia Garza What The Prison Abolition Movement Wants No Class op-ed column writer and radical organizer Kim Kelly dives into the prison-abolition movement. Critical Resistance Abolition Toolkit A comprehensive toolkit on prison and police abolition. Black History Month Library by Charles Preston A comprehensive collection of books and media by black writers and artists.