Equity & Justice Resources | New Jersey Theatre Alliance

The links below are meant to offer foundational resources about diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism, in theatre and beyond. Theatre staff, leadership, and artists across the country are eager to make positive change in their organizations. Research clearly shows that organizational change is most lasting and effective when individuals throughout an organization have done personal work to educate themselves about the historical circumstances, current structures, and internal biases that perpetuate a culture that excludes and endangers people of color. As organizational development expert Timothy Kight writes, “You cannot improve what you cannot manage, and you cannot manage what you are blind to in your personal habits and behavior.”

Articles

"The Intersectionality Wars" with Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw by Jane Coaston (Vox)

“The Case for Reparations” by Ta Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic)

"11 Ways White America Avoids Taking Responsibility for its Racism" by Robin DiAngelo (Alternet)

“Calling In: A Quick Guide on When and How” by Sian Ferguson (Everyday Feminism)

“Privilege 101” by Sian Ferguson (Everyday Feminism)

The 1619 Project curated by Nikkole Hannah-Jones (The New York Times)

“Abolish the Ally Industrial Complex” (Indigenous Action)

“When Black People are in Pain, White People Just Join Book Clubs” by Tre Johnson (Washington Post)

“Who Gets to Be Afraid in America?” by Ibram X. Kendi (The Atlantic)

A Brief History of the Disability Rights Movement by Shayna Korol

"Historical Foundations of Race" (The National Museum of African-American History and Culture)

What is Disability Justice (Sins Invalid)

“Erasing New Jersey’s Red Lines” (New Jersey Institute for Social Justice)

“How to join the Conversation on Race” with Ijeoma Oluo by Emily Stewart (Vox)

Moving the Race Conversation Forward: How the Media Covers Racism, and Other Barriers to Productive Racial Discourse (Race Forward)

“America’s Racial Contract is Killing Us” by Adam Serwer (The Atlantic)

‘Doctrine of Discovery’, Used for Centuries to Justify Seizure of Indigenous Land, Subjugate Peoples, Must Be Repudiated by United Nations (UN.org)

Videos

“Let’s Get to the Root of Racial Injustice” TEDX Talk by Megan Ming Francis (18 minutes)

“How We’re Priming Some Kids for College and others for prison” TED Talk by Alice Goffman (18 minutes)

Ibram X Kendi Aspen Institute interview (50 minutes)

Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage TED Talk by Valerie Kuar

“How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion” TEDX Talk by Peggy McIntosh (18 minutes)

“How to Overcome Our Biases? Walk Boldly Towards Them” TEDX Talk by Verna Myers (18 minutes)

Ijeoma Oluo Talk at Google (50 minutes)

Segregated by Design narrated by Richard Rothstein (18 Minutes)

“How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race” TEDX Talk by Jay Smooth (11 minutes)

“The Urgency of Intersectionality” TED Talk by Kimberle Crenshaw (18 minutes)

Intro to Implicit Bias (a series of 2-3 minute videos)

Introduction to Intersectionality (3 minutes)

Reference Documents

These resources are foundational definitions, charts, and info-graphics to support learning.

Continuum on becoming an antiracist organization

The Cultural Iceberg

Equality vs. Equity vs. Justice Graphic

Glossary: Definitions of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Glossary: More Extensive List of Terms

Implicit Association Test for a wide range of biases, including racism

Privilege Wheel Exercise

Pyramid of White Supremacy

Recognizing Microaggressions

Stages of Change

Types of racism and introduction to antiracism

White Supremacy Culture, Characteristics and Antidotes

“Feararchy”: The 5 Fears we all share

“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh (Racial Equity Tools)

Podcasts

On Being: “Notice the Rage, Notice the Silence” with Resmaa Menekem

Unlocking Us with Brene Brown: Ibram X. Kendi on “How to be an Anti-Racist”

Throughline: “American Police” on the Origins of American policing

Kimberle Crenshaw on Another Round with Heben and Tracy

The Nod: “Fearing the Black Body”

The 1619 Podcast

UnCivil Podcast

Code Switch Podcast (selected episodes of varying lengths)

Organizational Change

Ten Lessons for Taking Leadership on Racial Justice from the Aspen Institute

Five Insights from Leaders Sharing Power by Jeanne Bell, Paola Cubías, and Byron Johnson for Compass Point

Guidelines for Promoting Racially Equitable Purchasing from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Influential Leadership by Michael Frisina (Book)

Are you guilty of “Equity Offsets”? By Vu Le

Seeing and Naming Racism in Non-Profit and Public Organizations by Lauren Mayeno

Managing Unconscious Bias: Strategies to Manage Bias & Build More Diverse, Inclusive Organizations from Paradigm IQ

Organization Development for Social Change: An Integrated Approach to Community Transformation

Pushing Back Against Habits of White Supremacy During a Crisis by Kad Smith for Equity at the Center

Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power and Decision Making in Nonprofit Organizations from the Building Movement Project

Theatre Resources

"Eliminating Excuses:" A collection of curated and "opt-in" lists and databases of theatre artists from a variety of identities

Crowdsourced List of Designers and Technicians of Color

Database of Stage Managers of Color from Broadway Beyond Access

We See You, White American Theatre, an initiative from BIPOC theatre makers

We See You WAT Plenary Panel from KCACTF

No More 10/12s Panel Discussion from USITT

“Find Joy in the Destruction of the Lie”: Speeches by Nikkole Salter, Jamil Jude, Monique Holt

Four Black Artists on How Racism Corrodes the Theater World from The New York Times

We Don’t Want Your Statements, American Theatre, or, The Solidarity We Actually Needed (Howlround)

Infographic breakdowns of data from 2015-2019 on “who designs” and “who directs” in professional theatre by race and pronoun

Countingtogether.org: a coalition of individuals and organizations engaged in long-term data collection about demographic representation in theatre

Self-Care

Association of Black Psychologists Self-Care Tool Kit (Spanish and English)

Resources for Black Healing: Healing, Self-Care, Mental and Emotional Wellness for Black People

Self-Care for Activists: Sustaining Your Most Valuable Resource

White People, We Need to Talk about Self-Care

Learning Space

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Antiracism Learning Space Overview

From July to September of 2020, the Alliance offered 6 bi-weekly antiracism learning spaces with the goal of providing a framework and community to begin to engage with the wealth of antiracism resources available. The sessions were designed and facilitated by Paula Alekson (McCarter Theatre Center), Jessica Gaines (Formerly with New Jersey Theatre Alliance, now with New Jersey State Council on the Arts), and Erica Nagel (New Jersey Theatre Alliance).

We may offer another session of the learning space in the future. In the meantime, we have created a document that provides an overview of the material from that learning space.

This document is not meant to replace the group experience of a facilitated learning space, but rather to offer an overview of the content that was shared in that space, and the opportunity to read, digest, and discuss the content with your own convened group if you choose.

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