When Azuka Theatre made our statement that Black Lives Matter on May 31, we committed to anti-racist work, and promised to share more. This is the beginning of that more -- the first few steps in an ongoing process to address Azuka’s complicity in the system of white supremacy that pervades the nation. We want to create meaningful and lasting change in our organization, and we understand that in order to do so, we must reassess our company structure, staff, and culture.

We are committed to being transparent about our plans as they evolve, so that we may be held accountable by our community. The plans we can share today are the following:

* Azuka’s staff and board are fully re-evaluating our procedures for receiving and handling claims of racism, sexual harassment or assault, or discrimination and will provide these procedures to anyone hired by Azuka and to the general public.
Azuka’s staff and board are committed to doing anti-racism training conducted by professional facilitators; that work has been prioritized in our FY21 budget.
The membership of Azuka’s board is being reevaluated, and a concerted search for BIPOC candidates is underway.
Azuka recognizes that the whiteness of our staff is unacceptable and is in the process of shifting our staff structure to develop new positions – including artistic leadership – that will play pivotal roles in creating company culture.
Azuka’s current staff and board is working through Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy and attends weekly check-ins, even if individual members have previously completed the workbook.

We realize that beginning anti-racist work now does not absolve us of our past mistakes, but is simply a step forward. We know that there is much healing to be done between Azuka and the artistic community, and we are working on finding the best format for hearing from that community. We know we have a lot of listening to do.

* Added 7/14/2020