FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAATA MEDIA CONTACT
Ariel Estrada, Marketing Director
Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists
[email protected] | 347.581.3047
Tuesday, April 16, 2021 (New York, NY): Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) announces its second statement in response to the rise of anti-Asian hate and violence that resulted in the murders of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, six of them Asian women, on Tuesday, March 16, 2021.
Says CAATA President Leslie Ishii (Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre, Tlingit Aani, AK), “Through this statement and our ongoing actions to combat anti-Asian hate, we honor and uplift the beautiful lives of the victims of this mass shooting, their loved ones, as well as the experiences of so many AAPI elders and community members who have been subjected to anti-Asian xenophobia and violence during the pandemic.”
Ishii adds, “This new statement draws clear connections between the Covid-19 rehetoric, historical racist tropes, silencing by being preferably unheard, and lack of representation of AAPI’s and the murders and violence against our communities. We are voicing our demands, in solidarity with our fellow Native/Indigenous, Black, and Latinx artistic leaders, for our white public officials and local and national theatre leaders to take charge and actively work against relentless implicit bias to end anti-Asian violence, anti-Blackness, and anti-Indigeneity. Systemic racism against Black and Brown peoples–deadly white supremacy must end now.”
The full text of the second statement can be found here. BIPOC/global majority theatre makers and organizations are invited to add their names in support here.
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ABOUT CAATA’S ACTIONS TO COMBAT ANTI-ASIAN HATE
Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) is currently engaging in a four-part initiative to combat the rise of anti-Asian hate and violence that resulted in the murders of eight people in Atlanta, Georgia, six of them Asian women, on Tuesday, March 16. They include:
A Statement on Anti-Asian Hate
The initial statement made on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, condemned the Atlanta murders and the rise of anti-Asian hate during the pandemic. The statement is signed by Asian/Pasifika/Native/Indigenous/MENA Theatre Leaders from across the country. Theatre makers who wish to add their signatures to the statement can continue to do so here. In addition to this initial statement, this coalition will also announce a list of demands for accountability and another statement on the effect of anti-Asian hate on the Asian American theatre community over the coming days. The initial statement can be found here, and all subsequent statements will be available on CAATA’s website here. AAPI artists and organizations can add their names in support of the first statement here.
A PSA to Honor the Victims of the Atlanta Massacre and Condemn Anti-Asian Hate
The video, produced by CAATA with support from Theatre Communications Group and released on Thursday, March 25, 2021 featured playwrights, writers, directors, actors, and leaders from the AAPI theatre community. The PSA included appearances by Chay Yew, Lily Tung Crystal, Qui Nguyen, Young Jean Lee, Christine Toy Johnson, Leslie Ishii, Nandita Shenoy, Francis Jue, Emika Abe, Seema Sueko, May Adrales, Christopher Chen, Clint Ramos, Diep Tran, Ruthie Ann Miles, Liz Casasola, Adrian Budhu, Emilya Cachapero, Conrad Ricamora, David Henry Hwang, Telly Leung, Marc de la Cruz, Jenna Ushkowitz, and more. The PSA can be found here.
The #HadABadDay Social Media Campaign
The week-long campaign which ran from March 22-29, 2021 shared real stories of anti-Asian discrimination and violence during the pandemic to counter the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department’s racist message that the alleged perpetrator of the Atlanta massacre was merely “having a bad day.” The campaign also amplified the efforts of Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States and provides resources for survivors.
Healing Over Hate: A Series Responding to the Rise In Anti-AAPI Hate and Violence
CAATA will lead a webinar series featuring anti-violence and bystander trainings from Hollaback!, with support from Theatre Communications Group and HowlRound Theatre Commons over the course of 2021, with upcoming dates to be announced. The first episode of the series, featuring CAATA Vice President, kt shorb, and Ginger Klee, Family Therapist/Clinical Counselor, shares an illuminating history of anti-Asian Hate in the US, followed by a powerful presentation to encourage our healing during these traumatizing times. The episode was broadcast on Monday, April 12, it can be found here.
Continuing updates to our actions can be found on CAATA’s website at www.caata.net.
ABOUT CAATA
The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) envisions a strong and sustainable Asian American theater community that is an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future.
Our mission is to advance the field of Asian American theater through a national network of organizations and artists. We collaborate to inspire learning and sharing of knowledge, and resources to promote a healthy, sustainable artistic ecology. As a collective of Asian American theater leaders and artists, we bring together local and regional leaders to work nationally toward our shared values of social justice, artistic diversity, cultural equity and inclusion. We hold national conferences and festivals biennially in different parts of the country, reaching as wide a range of Asian American populations and communities as possible. We survey Asian American theater artists and organizations to find out their foremost concerns. We form alliances with other theater groups of different affinities to advance mutual goals cooperatively and to exchange ideas and strategies. www.caata.net