Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists

Advancing the field of Asian American theater through a national network of organizations and artists

AAPI Theatre Artists Confront Atlanta Killings

By

Asian American Theatre Leaders Lay Out Actions

On Friday, March 19, 2021, over 200 Asian American and Pacific Islander theatre artists gathered online to discuss responses to the horrific spree killings of Asian Americans in Atlanta earlier that week.

Coordinated by Eric Ting, Jenny Koons, CAATA Board President Leslie Ishii and many others, this meeting sparked a far-ranging discussion ranging from organized responses to coordination with social justice organizations to conversations with PWI (Primarily White Institutions) in the theatre community.

While actions and discussions are still ongoing, several immediate actions steps emerged:

  • CAATA will issue a statement on the killings on Tuesday, one week after the killings;
  • CAATA, in conjunction with HowlRound, will initiate a series of live-streamed episodes addressing the issue;
  • CAATA will also be starting a social media hashtag campaign #HadABadDay
  • There will also release a PSA centering Asian American and Pacific Islander theatres, so stay tuned!
  • There is a Creative Artists Agency Amplify Town Hall: Confronting Anti-Asian Violence. Thursday, April 1st at 10am PT / 1pm ET. Learn more here and register here.

Join CAATA in this effort. These spaces, while oriented towards concrete actions are also intended to support continued community building and will hold space for all needs.

The next meeting will be Friday, April 2, 12-1:30pm EST/ 9-10:30am PST.

All CAATA members can be part of this movement. Attend the next meeting, AND—

  • Join this mailing list here (to receive info on that meeting)
  • Read the Living Doc of Current and Future Actions here.
  • Join the Slack!
  • Read Session Notes for March 19 are available here; raw notes available here

Key for Abbreviations in the Session Notes:

  • [U] Unifying Themes / Threads of solidarity and action
  • [CC] Cross-Coalition/Community-Based Orgs (social service, government, funders) – Hashtag Brainstorming
  • [CT] Community Asks – Theater/Arts – What Are We Asking of Primarily White Institutions, Besides messages of sympathy?
  • [A] Artistic Actions – readings, vigils, etc?
  • [MA] Mutual Aid
  • [S] Self-Care / Support

Some planned options

  • Play readings
  • Funder Collaborations
  • Artist Commissions
  • Vigils (Asians4Abolition and the Song Collective)
  • Amplifying stories of Asian elders (Ferocious Lotus)
  • Affinity and Community Care Spaces
  • Resource Sharing
  • Inter-city Networking
  • Asian and Pasifika ppl within PWI



Resources mentioned in the meeting

AAPAC http://www.aapacnyc.org/

Beyond Orientalism effort: http://www.aapacnyc.org/beyond-orientalism.html

The historical timeline: https://aatrevue.com/Newsblog/info-on-the-revue/timeline-of-asian-american-theatre/

Yellowface Toolkit: https://aatrevue.com/Newsblog/yellowface-what-to-do/