We stand with our students, faculty, and staff as active agents against racism and all of the insidious ways that it has marred our disciplines, our campus, our department, our interpersonal relationships, and our own personal thinking and actioning.
We are eager to lend our voices and bodies to the transformative work that will bring about equal representation and change. Inspired by the power of what we have experienced, lived and learned, we thank the Black Lives Matter movement for galvanizing sharp focus on equitability. In our house, we are proud to say Black Lives Matter, and we are committed to dismantling structural inequities that have historically privileged specific ways of knowing and making over others.
We welcome partnership, collaboration, and dialogue to transform the trajectories of our fields and celebrate Change, Growth, and “Radical Re-Imagining.” In the spirit of John Lewis’ “Good Trouble” we say: Yes please!
Like you, many of us love this work and have re-arranged our entire lives for it. It is important that we create learning and working environments that feel healthy and celebrate the many vantage points and voices within the human experience.
Update: March 19, 2021
In response to the lives so violently taken on March 17th, the Department of Theatre & Dance stands together against the racism and violence perpetrated against Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander people. We acknowledge our country has been built on brutal histories and pledge to work together toward dismantling White Supremacy and ending these acts of hate in our profession, house, campus, country, and global community. We act in solidarity with our colleagues in Ethnic Studies as they recommit to the fight against injustice of all kinds: “Let us fight together to keep decolonial and abolitionist visions at the center of all our collective struggles.”
These endless pains endured by Asian and Asian Americans, particularly women, are echoed in the words of the first Chinese American actress to gain critical acclaim, Anna May Wong (1905-1961), “I have died a thousand deaths.” From being vilified and caricatured in theatre and cinema, to being erased or exotified in media, to the insulting, racist rhetoric of politicians and public figures, we will not ignore the persistent harm that feeds desensitization, dehumanization, and ultimately violence.
We will work to bring light to the memory of those killed March 17th and to all who have been killed, harassed, assaulted, profiled, and verbally abused. In this effort, we reaffirm our pledge to unify against injustice and support Asian and Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Black and Brown people, Indigenous People, and LGBTQIA+ communities. The deep ache we feel for justice will continue to fuel our willingness to work tirelessly, care with sincerity, and hold fast to the liberation of a world that values all people equitably.
Please read the CNN article “To be an Asian woman in America.” and consider taking the 1-hour Hollaback bystander training that Jennifer Ho mentions at the end of her powerful article. We, the faculty and staff of THDN, are committed to doing so.
