BLACK LIVES MATTER

7 Stages Theatre fiercely condemns racial injustice and complicit silence. We knock down systemic barriers with our art and actions.  

We condemn the racist murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Mubarak Soulemane, and countless others. We surround their families and communities with support. Let us remember their names. 

While we continue to re-define our role as artists, our social, political and spiritual mission guides our programming by telling stories of the othered and representing what our city looks like on our board, staff, and on our stages. This work continues to remind us that oftentimes we do not get it right. We need to do better! We must continue to examine how we are still complacent and still fail. By acknowledging that we are a white led organization, we actively work to dissolve our own connections to the binary systems that support white supremacy. The work is messy and uncomfortable.  Heidi S. Howard, our Artistic Director likes to use the phrase, “keeping our feet in the fire”. Now the fire is spreading. 

As the world experienced a shared threat in the pandemic, our teams, leadership, and core artists began to imagine a new business and programmatic structure.  Despite isolation, the time seemed like an opportunity to create a new norm, one that does not return to the broken American Theatre system that works to uphold racist power structures. Our priorities included connecting with our local, national and international colleagues and artists to examine, imagine, and create a new way forward. We challenged ourselves to be bold in analyzing our internal systems and programs, and to find ways to better serve Atlanta, and our national and international communities. 

Then the pressure cooker of over 400 years of murder, brutality, and disregard of black lives opened up once again. Despite the shared experience of fighting covid-19, the division of our people is exposed now more than ever in the light of center stage.

This is another wake up call. Now, we ask our white and non-Black staff, board, audiences, artists, donors, and partner organizations to listen, learn, and be fierce in finding ways to actively engage in solidarity, build empathy and form actionable steps. 

To our Black artists and community members, the 7 Stages board, staff and artistic family supports you in your grief and anger. Our platforms and space are yours to create, to organize, to activate leadership, to LIVE!

We are here for you!

Please take care, share your ideas and needs. 

…AND PLEASE VOTE!

With love, 

~ 7 Stages Family