Advocacy Get Involved

Advocacy at Aurora Theatre Company

Theatre is a space of shared imagination. A space where stories allow us to relive and reexamine our past, and envision bold new futures. Theatre allows us the opportunity to step outside the boundaries of our own lived experience to gain greater understanding of our shared humanity -- to build compassion, empathy, and solidarity.

Commitments

Here are the steps Aurora has taken and the commitments we make in the service of dismantling the systems that feed racism, anti-Blackness, and other forms of oppression:

IN OUR COMMUNITY
- We will continue our Community Partners program, which builds meaningful two-way relationships with new segments of our community, leading to more authenticity in our work, new audiences in our theatre, and new representation in our Advisory Council and eventually on our board.
- Our 2020 annual fundraiser surpassed its income goal, and we will donate a percentage of that surplus income to organizations dedicated to anti-racism and anti-oppression. 10% of past-goal income will go to the Fund for Black Theatre in the U.S., and 10% to Black Futures Lab.
IN OUR LOBBY
- We will continue to center our Commitment to the Community, which is intended to discourage microaggressions in our lobby and theatre so that everyone feels welcome in our space. We will review and revise the text of the Commitment as our understanding deepens and our situation changes.
- We will continue regular anti-bias and anti-oppression training for front-of-house staff, including bystander intervention training.
- We will create clear guidelines for front-of-house staff for responding to microaggressions, racist behavior, and questions about our policies.
- We continue the conversation begun and act on the discoveries made in Welcome To Our Space?: A Town Hall On Audience Interactions, exploring what theatres can do to discourage microaggressions, including microaggressions among our audience members.
ON OUR STAGE
- We will create an anti-racism policy sheet, to be shared with all artists and production staff and discussed at the first production meeting and first rehearsal. We will update the sexual harassment policy already shared in this manner.
- At least three of the six plays we produce each season will be written by BIPOC playwrights.
- We will continue our commitment that at least three of the six plays we produce each season will be written by women.
- We will continue our commitment that at least three of the six plays we produce each season will be directed by women.
- We will actively seek out plays by transgender, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming playwrights.
- We will continue to commission and develop scripts by BIPOC playwrights.
- We will increase the percentage of BIPOC designers and production staff working on our productions.
IN OUR ORGANIZATION
- In the 2020/2021 Season, every new board member will increase the board’s racial or ethnic diversity. Additionally, we will work with our community to develop and implement strategies to further diversify our board.
- We have eliminated the minimum financial contribution for board members and will continue to work to diversify the board across socioeconomic lines, making the board more representative of our whole community.
- We will continue regular anti-bias and anti-oppression training for our staff and board.
- We’re replacing the phrase “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” with “Confronting and Dismantling Oppression” throughout our organization.
- We will continue holding monthly volunteer Confronting and Dismantling Oppression meetings with staff and board participation.
- We have created a Confronting and Dismantling Oppression task force composed of staff and board members, including the Artistic and Managing Directors and a member of the board Executive Committee.
- We will report on and discuss anti-racism and anti-oppression activities as a regular part of our staff and board meetings.
- We will view our strategic planning process through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens, and will include a section on anti-racism and anti-oppression in our new strategic plan.
- In July 2020, we adopted a new mission and values statement that includes a commitment to anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.
- We will review and revise our employee handbook and all internal policies through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens.
- We will review and revise our job posting language and hiring policies through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens.
- Josh and Julie commit to listening without defensiveness when we are called out for failing to embody anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.
- Josh and Julie commit to not using our fear of getting it wrong as an excuse to stay silent.
- We commit to reviewing and evaluating our progress at least twice each year and sharing the results publicly, holding ourselves accountable to the commitments in this list.

Resources

ORGANIZATIONS TO SUPPORT

TO READ

Articles:

Books:

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (Seal Press, 2019)
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X Kendi (Bold Type Books, 2017)
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (New Press, 2010)
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors Asha Bandele (St. Martin’s Press, 2018)
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations about Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Basic Books, 2017)

TO WATCH AND LISTEN

Podcasts:

Movies and TV:

13th (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix
Dear White People (Justin Simien) — Netflix
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) — Available to rent
I Am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin doc) — Available to rent or on Kanopy
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) — Hulu
Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) — Available to rent
See You Yesterday (Stefon Bristol) — Netflix
Selma (Ava DuVernay) — Available to rent
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution — Available to rent
When They See Us (Ava DuVernay) — Netflix