W42ST Daily 6/1/2020
When we have no words, sometimes it’s even more imperative that we speak. Because to say nothing would be to normalize what we see around us, to be complicit. But what to say? Because words, surely, are not enough.
White people, we need to do the work. We need to listen. And research. And read. And call out racism whenever and wherever we see it. We need to give money or donate our time to groups doing important work (there’s a list at the end, thanks to our friends at Ensemble Studio Theatre). We need to be brave.
But the world really doesn’t need another privileged white woman telling them what to do. So I found this thread of ten steps to non-optical allyship, from Mireille Harper, incredibly helpful, and this from Rachel Rodgers.
Watch Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, which includes dynamic learning companions. “And trust me,” she says, “this ain’t your grandma’s study guide.”
I remain personally and professionally committed to telling the stories and lifting up the voices of people of color (email me – I want to hear those stories), while acknowledging I still have so much to learn.
Groups to give to
Black Lives Matter
Color of Change
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Black Visions Collective
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
The Bail Project
Reclaim the Block
Communities United Against Police Brutality
Justice for Tony McDade
Justice for Breonna Taylor
I Run with Maud
What to Send Up …
SPONSORED
In half a century, TF Cornerstone (TFC) has transformed the Long Island City waterfront, developed some of the first residential buildings in the Financial District & Hudson Yards, and revitalized the Meatpacking District. TFC continues to cultivate the surrounding community long after a project’s completion date. Learn more…
NEW YORK STORIES
As AIDS killed a generation of queer people, Brian Belovitch was front and center, watching his community fight the stigma and the disease. But he was watching as “she” – Tish Gervais, a transgender woman who was a fixture on the NY club scene of the 1980s.
“I’ve had guns pulled on me by tricks that didn’t know I was trans,” he says. “The scariest night … was one night I met Mr Goodbar. I picked up this sexy, dark-haired Eric Roberts lookalike at a hustler bar in Hell’s Kitchen. He took me back to his apartment in TriBeCa and threatened to force me into whoring for him. He took a pair of scissors and was threatening to castrate me. He stuck the scissors up my nose and was going to cut up my nostrils. Finally, he took me at gunpoint to the ATM where I escaped.”
Diagnosed HIV positive in 1987, he recovered from addiction to crack and, shortly after, transitioned back to male.
DO THESE THINGS
Last night, the New 42 cancelled its virtual gala in solidarity with black communities around the country fighting systemic racism. Some of these events might also be cancelled.
See the stars
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Meryl Streep, Alicia Keyes, Daniel Craig, and a cast of other stellar names take part in The Public Theater’s virtual gala tonight. Jesse Tyler Ferguson will host. All the info is here.
Stream live theater
Red Bull Theater is live streaming The Revenger’s Tragedy, a Jacobean thriller written a few years after Hamlet. Described as part black comedy, part social satire, this unrehearsed reading features Michael Urie. Tune in here.
Tune in for some chat
That Michael Urie is a busy bloke. He appears on The Debrief today too – an Instagram Live series of conversations with writers, directors, and performers discussing the making of theater in the digital space. Find out more.
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