OUR MISSION
The Straz Center’s mission is to inspire, educate and enrich our entire community through the transformative power of the performing arts.
OUR COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM
We promise to do more to support the lives, art, stories and culture of those who are Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color. And, we promise to hold our institution accountable.
We promise to listen, to learn, to share, and to take action. We promise to advance ideas and solutions to accelerate social justice demands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color.
Changing the world requires the efforts of everyone. Now, more than ever, each of us has an indispensable part to play.
HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION
HOW THE STRAZ IS TAKING ACTION
Our Commitment to Anti-Racism
We at the Straz Center are committed to being an anti-racist organization. We will expand the depth and breadth of opportunities for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), including staff, artists, board members and community members. This commitment is ongoing and represents our desire to create and nurture an organizational culture that espouses anti-racism, equity and belonging throughout the entire Straz family. We devote ourselves to setting higher standards for how we conduct ourselves and our business every day.
Led by the Straz Center’s Community Engagement team, we are building on work that has already begun at The Straz. Below are pursuits which we will prioritize and weave throughout the fabric of our institution. These are not intended to be immediate solutions, but rather iterative strategies that will help us reach our goals over time to foster anti-racism within The Straz and across the performing arts.
- Conduct internal and external listening and learning sessions in order to implement an organizational learning plan enabling all in our organization to recognize the societal challenges of Black, Indigenous and People of Color while rejecting white privilege in all its forms.
- Diversify further our recruitment and hiring practices with an emphasis on executive leadership and upper level management positions.
- Increase board member diversity.
- Create a mentorship program in arts administration for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
- Provide training and enrichment opportunities for internal BIPOC staff to encourage career advancement.
- Create a Community Engagement External Advisory Committee.
- Expand current internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee by transitioning to an I.D.E.A (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) Committee model in alignment with national diversity conversations.
- Increase intentional representation to amplify the voices of BIPOC artists on our stages through programming branded #BlackStoriesMatter.
- Conduct monthly town halls to provide a safe space for sharing stories and experiences serving to educate those who seek more profound understanding of Black lives and the contributions of the Black community. Each town Hall will also highlight a subject or piece created by a BIPOC artist.
- Continue to grow community partnerships to provide arts education and social issue conversations in schools which serve BIPOC students and families.
#BlackStoriesMatter EVENTS
We have a commitment to bring our community together and to encourage everyone to take part in the movement to ensure civil rights for all. To this end, the Straz Center will be announcing a series of events focused on promoting racial equality and social justice. Check back as we confirm how and when you can participate in those initiatives. To view past town halls, go here.
RESOURCES
to advance ideas and solutions
Here you can find resources that will help you take action and better understand the issues of social injustice in the U.S. Join us here to learn more, do more and help our nation achieve the more perfect union it always promised.
FOR EVERYONE
WATCH
- A Love Song for Latasha – Netflix; A Love Song for Latasha is a 2019 American biographical documentary short film directed by Sophia Nahli Allison. Drawing on memories from the subject's cousin and best friend, the film reimagines the life of Latasha Harlins, a Black Los Angeles girl shot and killed by a convenience store owner in 1991. It is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject at the 93rd Academy Awards.
- Waffles and Mochi – Netflix; Curious puppet pals Waffles and Mochi travel the world exploring the wonders of food and culture while learning how to cook with fresh ingredients.
- Amend: The Fight for America – Netflix; Will Smith hosts this look at the evolving, often lethal, fight for equal rights in America through the lens of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment.
- Black Theater United: Activating Black Artists and Allies for Racial Justice – A virtual town hall with Sherrilyn Ifill, Audra McDonald, Wendell Pierce and LaChanze
- Disclosure – Netflix; In this film leading trans thinkers and creatives present an unprecedented, eye-opening look at transgender depictions in film and television, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures our deepest anxieties about gender.
- Race in America by Phil Vischer; Let's take a look at race in America. Why are people angry? Didn't we elect a Black president? Pass Civil Rights laws? Isn't racism illegal now? Three years ago, Phil and his brother Rob co-taught a class that discussed issues of racial injustice. That class turned into a popular podcast episode, which has now been turned into this video.
- The Uncomfortable Truth – Amazon Prime Video; In this documentary, the son of civil rights hero, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, dives into the 400-year history of institutional racism in America and is confronted with the shocking reality that his family helped start it all from the very beginning.
- 13th – Netflix; In this thought-provoking documentary directed by award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who also directed Selma and When They See Us, scholars, activists and politicians analyze the criminalization of African Americans and the U.S. prison boom.
- I Am Not Your Negro – Amazon Prime Video; Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, director Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished, Remember This House. This visual essay explores racism through the stories of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. connecting the Civil Rights movement to #BlackLivesMatter.
- The Hate U Give – Amazon Prime Video; In this powerful drama based on the best-selling novel, when a teenager witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood friend, she must find her voice and stand up for what’s right.
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man - Emmanuel Acho offers a safe space to have an “uncomfortable conversation” with White America, in order to educate and inform on racism, systemic racism, social injustice, rioting and the hurt African Americans are feeling today.
- Twilight: Los Angeles – PBS; A stunning film of Anna Deavere Smith’s acclaimed solo portrayal of a city in crisis – in the wake of the 1992 riots sparked in Los Angeles when the police, caught on videotape and accused of excessive force in the beating of Rodney King, were acquitted.
- Voting Matters – Amazon Prime Video; More than 50 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most extensive pieces of civil rights legislation, people of color across the United States still are engaged in a battle to protect their right to vote. Voting Matters follows one dynamic woman working tirelessly on the ground and in the courts to ensure that they are not denied this right.
READ
- White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo; The New York Times' best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, how these reactions maintain racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad; Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey of how to dismantle the privilege within themselves, so they can stop inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better too.
- The 1619 Project – This ongoing initiative from The New York Times Magazine began in August 2019, the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
LISTEN
FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
WATCH
- Systemic Racism Explained – This animated explanation takes a closer look at what systemic racism is, how it affects every area of life in the U.S. and how we can contribute to solving it. From incarceration rates to predatory loans, trying to solve these problems requires changes in major parts of our system.
READ
LISTEN
FOR EDUCATORS
SUPPORT
We encourage you to volunteer, donate, and support these organizations that are working hard to impact change.
Black Lives Matter
