“When you come for them, you come for us.”

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.

The murder of innocent Black people has – again – been catapulted to the forefront of our national conversation. Streets in cities across our country are flooded with thousands of people in protest, putting people of color, already adversely affected by COVID-19, at additional risk. In America, “the land of the free” is only an idea. It has never been a reality for everyone. It cannot be when the systemic injustices against Black and Brown people are woven into the fabric of our society.

We at Central Square Theater pledge to stand up for and with our Black and Brown community members. We will protest for you, march with you, dig deeper and do better.

Art is our Activism. How do we respond? We are a primarily white, women-led organization. How do we harness the privilege of white people (friends, patrons, subscribers, donors) to put ourselves squarely in step with our Black and Brown community members? Radical action is needed, designed in conversation with our Black and Brown colleagues.

We are deeply considering these questions and ask you, members of the Central Square Theater Family, to work with us. We pledge towards using this platform to create change, to learn how to stop the normalization of oppression and to find the courage to call out bias.

But today, for our Black and Brown family members, know this: We see you, hear you and recommit to you that an attack on one of us, is an attack on all of us. You are not alone.

The Staff and Board of Central Square Theater