The Living Document of BIPOC Experiences

“The testimonials name the impacts of incidents on BIPOC artists and creatives include: comments and behaviors, emotional impacts, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, economic and financial impacts, and professional impacts.”

RESEARCH PROJECT: The Living Document Testimonials, Themes and Takeaways

RESEARCH PARTNERS: Ely Sonny Orquiza

COVERAGE: Past and present experiences as early as 2010.

In the face of injustice, our duty as active participants of society is to fiercely call for change: our responsibility as artists and creatives is surely no different. As activists, organizers, and community members call for racial reckoning and a nationwide Uprising, sparked in earnest in late May 2020 due to the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black people, the discussion of white supremacy, anti-Blackness, and anti-racism has spread with urgency from city halls to kitchen tables, from virtual classrooms to the streets. These challenges are hardly new and communities of color have been organizing around these issues for generations; yet this moment calls on all of us to see how the violent and racist roots of this country permeate the very institutions promising us safety, well-being, and livelihood. In the midst of a global pandemic, paired with compounding crises of democracy, income inequality, and climate change, the racialized lines of inequitable access, resources, treatment, and opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) across countless sectors are finally entering the mainstream conversation. 

Against this historical and ongoing backdrop, BIPOC theatremakers formed a multi-generational, multi-disciplinary national collective “to address the scope and pervasiveness of anti-Blackness and racism in the American theater.”[1] In their own words: “What began as a conversation between 3 theatremakers concerned about the devaluation and violence against Black bodies in the world, quickly evolved into a Zoom call with 30 people, discussing the way racism and white supremacy have also shaped and corrupted our theater institutions, ranging from the universities to not-for-profit and commercial houses.” Together over 300 theatremakers contributed to their testimonial letter, “DEAR WHITE AMERICAN THEATER,” published on June 8, 2020. 

Catalyzed by the nationwide movement and rooted in ongoing regional conversations about racism and white supremacy in theater spaces, a Bay Area-based community document was created, entitled “Living Document: POC Experiences in Bay Area Theater Co.” Published on June 9, 2020, this document garnered nearly 600 testimonials within 72 hours. The Living Document sought to chronicle the extent of racist behaviors and culture of white supremacy within the Bay Area theater industry, while protecting BIPOC artists and creatives with anonymity. By collecting and sharing these painful experiences, the Living Document hopes to highlight central ongoing issues within our industry and call for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive theater community that fully affirms and celebrates all artists, especially BIPOC artists who have too long been silent out of fear of retribution.

FINDINGS: Testimonials offer critical themes and takeaways we have summarized on The Living Document webpage. The testimonials name the impacts of incidents on BIPOC artists and creatives include: comments and behaviors, emotional impacts, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, economic and financial impacts, and professional impacts. All of these categories are artificial divisions; in reality, many overlap and intersect.