4 minute read
Program Highlight
from Hands Up
TRANSFORMING ART INTO JUSTICE
STORY BY Skylar Burks and Liz Campbell
Last summer, George Floyd’s death as a result of police brutality sparked a racial reckoning that ignited a movement across the country. Atlanta, being the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, took on another major role in this new movement with organized protests and marches.
Before I had the idea to start Atlanta Theatre Artists for Justice (ATAJ), I will never forget the feeling of utter hopelessness. I sat in my room and cried, convinced that there was nothing that I could do as just one person with a degree in theater. I woke up the next day and scrolled through Facebook to see what protests were happening that day, inspired by all my friends and colleagues within our theater community that were determined to continue fighting for justice. I asked my friend Liz Campbell if it would be crazy to make a group just for theater artists who were attending the protests. She wholeheartedly supported it and agreed to help me run it.
We started with basic information sharing locations of protests and meet-up points— and started to grow into a support system. Our Facebook group, which was supposed to be “only about 50 people,” quickly grew to hundreds in a matter of days. Members who were unable to protest in person due to health concerns during the pandemic were able to donate supplies for those who marched. At the height of the protests, we were distributing first aid, water and Gatorade, earplugs, masks, signs, and other supplies to grateful demonstrators throughout the metro Atlanta area. Our initial intent was to support and protect one another on the streets in dangerous and difficult times. What we found, however, was an emotional bond through shared experience, righteous anger, and a profound desire for justice.
ATAJ Staff: Top row (L to R): Amanda Perez, Skylar Burks, Jasmine Thomas, Liz Campbell Bottom row (L to R): Greg Hunter, Lexi McKay, Jackie Lenz
In addition to seeking justice on a national scale, ATAJ turned its attention to the racial reckoning happening within our own theater community. During the Town Hall for Racial Reckoning, an event hosted by CREAT and IDEA ATL, we listened to the voices of our peers and their experiences with racial inequity in our theaters. Many of the same concerns were voiced: “The wig designer didn’t know what to do with my hair as a Black woman,” “the lighting designer singled me out because my skin is darker than the other actors,” and the list goes on.
We listened to this feedback and created our Intensives for Theatrical Mindfulness, a series of virtual intensives that center around issues we know to be problematic in the theater community. So far, we have held instructional sessions on stage lighting for every skin type, hair, makeup, and mindful language. These sessions were donation-based and will soon be available for viewing on our website.
As we move forward, your support can help us continue to expand our conversations and make sure the people who make Atlanta theater address these specific continuing issues surrounding race on the stage. We would like to recognize CREAT, IDEA ATL, BLACT, and the Atlanta Artist Relief Fund for their work alongside us in this pursuit of justice within the Atlanta theater community.
Hands Up is a piece centered on the Black experience in America. It explores different life stories, celebrating unique points of view within this experience. We believe that each voice should have not only the right to be heard, but also listened to. Our group was founded to support those who wished to use their voice for change. It is supported and uplifted by people who want to see an end to police brutality, who want “those cops to be something they were totally incapable of being – protectors,” who hope that “But, officer, there must’ve been a miscommunication” will be someday rendered unnecessary as people finally start to listen and hear each other’s stories.
Like some of the characters in this play, members of our community had reached a tipping point. It no longer felt sufficient to remain silent and complacent for the sake of fitting in or staying out of trouble. As the honorable John Lewis said, it was time to “Get in trouble – good trouble!” We felt it was our role to be a part of that good part of that good trouble, and to support those who helped make it.
We are Atlanta, we make theater, we make art, and we are going to turn Atlanta’s theater art into justice.
