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The following statement and press release were released by CAATA on 3/24/21. We're sharing here to help boost the signal. 

NATIONAL ASIAN/PASIFIKA/NATIVE/

INDIGENOUS/MENA THEATRE LEADERS ANTI-ASIAN HATE STATEMENT
Click here to add your name and affiliation to the statement.

Before reading further, have you checked and taken actions to respectfully ensure the safety and well being of AAPI staff, workers, family, neighbors, community members and their businesses/organizations?

It has been one week since the March 16th tragedy where eight people were murdered in Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek), also known as Atlanta, six of them Asian American women. The horrifying assault in Atlanta is part of the long history of racial discrimination against Asians in the US, that comes during a rise in violence against our communities fueled by xenophobic politicized Covid-19 rhetoric and white supremacist policies and laws.

We mourn especially the Korean and Chinese victims murdered in the Atlanta shootings. Out of respect for the families who have requested names not be shared, we do not list them here. As we compose this statement, we are outraged and grief-stricken and our hearts go out to the families of the victims.

Over the past year, there has already been profound grief for more than 3,800 reports of anti-Asian racist incidents, mostly against women. We also mourn the recent violent deaths of Pak Ho, a 75-year-old Asian man and Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84 year-old Asian man, among others. We also express sympathetic rage for Noel Quintana, a 61 year-old Asian Pilipino man who lives with severe facial scarring from a violent attack with a box cutter. 

 Infuriatingly, Atlanta Cherokee County law enforcement officials attempted to dispute that the attack was a hate crime against Asians, downplaying the racial aspects of the murder. Instead, the officials relayed the perpetrator’s insistence that the attack was a result of his sex addiction and the Georgia officer said he was “having a bad day.” This erases the racism and misogyny at the heart of the attack. The perpetrator’s exoticizing and fetishizing fantasy is the reprehensible source of this violence. This erasure displays the lengths to which Americans will defend attacks of armed white men against the most vulnerable in our society, Asian/Pasifika and other Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) women.

 As a national organization and theatre sector that advocates for Asian American artists and their communities, we, CAATA on behalf of Asian/Pasifika/Native/Middle Eastern North African (MENA) American Theatre Leaders, are outraged and condemn the attacks in Atlanta as well as the attacks throughout the U.S. during the pandemic. We condemn the cynical fear-mongering and hateful racism still spread by the former Trump Administration that has fueled a 150% increase in hate crimes against Asians.

 We are fraught with exhaustion from working tirelessly to educate with no time to heal from trauma. We are in a constant state of hyper-vigilance to escape further violence as we protect our families, communities, artists, staff, businesses and theatre spaces. As we mourn, we sound the alarm and call on our public officials to take action. We are voicing our demands for local and national leadership to take charge, actively work against relentless implicit bias to end anti-Asian violence in concert with our Black peers calling to end anti-Blackness and systemic racism. 

Our fellow Native/Indigenous, Black, and Latinx Artistic leaders are working in solidarity to demand that our white public officials and local and national theatre leaders and colleagues take action to move into the breach as we are under constant attack by a society that replicates hate, racism and bigotry that all comes from the same root cause: white supremacy. We demand you take action to end white supremacy now.

Many of us signing this statement have been assaulted and accosted with blame for the COVID-19 pandemic, which spread across the world last year. However, many of us have already endured racist verbal and physical abuse throughout our entire lives.

We don’t forget. We demand change. End deadly white supremacy now.

Unified In Just and Right Purpose,

CAATA Theatres & Artists 

Andrea Assaf, Artistic Director, Art2action Inc. (Tampa, FL)

Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker, Associate Professor, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (Honolulu, HI)

Leilani Chan, Artistic Director, Teada Productions (Los Angeles, CA)

Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing Director, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre (New York, NY)

Snehal Desai, Artistic Director, East West Players (Los Angeles, CA)

Moses Goods, Artistic Director, ʻInamona Theatre Company, (Honolulu, HI)

Leslie Ishii, National BIPOC Coalition, Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre (Tlingit Aani, AK)

Stefanie Lau, Producing Artistic Leader, Artists At Play (Los Angeles, Ca)

Andi Meyer, Artistic Director, Tradewind Arts Asian American Artists (Kansas City, MO)

Meena Natarajan, Executive/Literary Director, Pangea World Theater (Minneapolis, MN)

Ralph Peña, Producing Artistic Director, Ma-Yi Theatre (New York, NY)

Joan Osato, Producing Director, Youth Speaks, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)

kt shorb, Producing Artistic Director, Generic Ensemble Company (Austin, TX)

Roger W. Tang, Executive Director, Pork Filled Productions (Seattle, WA)

Chay Yew, Immediate Past Artistic Director, Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago, IL)

Ryan I. Kahaʻiʻōlelo Sueoka, ʻInamona Theatre Company (Kamōʻiliʻili, Waikīkī, Kona, Oʻahu, HI)

Ariel Estrada, Producing Artistic Director, Leviathan Lab (New York, NY)

 

A. Rey Pamatmat, Playwright (Seattle, WA)

Abigail Pañares, BAD REP Theatre (San Francisco, CA)

AC Petersen, Choreographer, Writer & Lyricist (Seattle, WA)

Adrian Budhu, Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer, Theatre Communications Group (New York, NY)

Ako Dachs, Founding Artistic Director, Amaterasu Za (New York, NY)

Alex Lin, Playwright (New York, NY)

Alison De La Cruz, Outside In Theatre

Alison Qu, Chuang Stage, Company One Theater, Pao Chinatown Project, Asian American Theater Artists of Boston (Boston, MA)

Alleluia Panis, Exec & Artistic Director, Kularts-SF,Choreographer & Film Director, APDance Projects (San Francisco, CA)

Amanda L. Andrei, Playwright (Los Angeles, CA)

Amy Hill, Actor, Actor, Director & Playwright (Honolulu, HI)

Andy Chan Donald, Associate Artistic Director, A.C.T. (San Francisco, CA)

Anita Yavich, Costume Designer & Professor (New York, NY)

Anh Thu Pham, Managing Director, Theater Mu (St. Paul, MN)

Ankita Raturi, MFA student, UCSD, (San Diego, CA)

Anne Ishii, Executive Director, Asian Arts Initiative, (Philadelphia, PA)

Anne Yumi Kobori, Playwright, Actor, Founding AD of Utopia Theatre Project (San Francisco, CA)

Annie Jin Wang, Literary Manager & Dramaturg, Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company (New York, NY & Chicago, IL)

Ariana Johnson, Associate Producer, A.C.T. (San Francisco, CA)

Ariel Urim Chung, Actor & Director, Student (Davidson, NC)

Ashley Chang, Dramaturg, Playwrights Horizons (New York, NY)

Audrey Hoo, Production Manager, Berkeley Rep (Berkeley, CA)

Aureen Almario, Artistic Director, Bindlestiff Studio (San Francisco, CA)

Aya Hashiguchi Clark, Dukesbay Productions (Tacoma, WA)

Aya Ogawa, Playwright, Director & Translator (Brooklyn, NY)

Bi Jean Ngo, Actor, Director & Educator (Philadelphia, PA)

Cara Hinh, Director & Educator, (Indianapolis, IN)

Caro Asercion, Artistic Production Associate, Crowded Fire Theater (San Francisco, CA)

Cat Ramirez, Director, Producer, & Creative Director, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists (Philadelphia, PA)

Celeste Den, Actor (Los Angeles, CA)

Chay Yew, Director & Playwright (New York, NY)

Cherry Lou Sy, Playwright, Writer & Teacher (Brooklyn, NY)

Ching Valdes-Aran, Actor, Director & Visual Artist (New York, NY)

Chongren Fan, Artistic Director, Yangtze Rep & Producer, Pan Asian Rep (New York, NY)

(New York, NY)

Christina R Chan, Co-Founder, Asian American Playwright Collective, API Arts Network (Boston, MA)

Christine Fang, Actor & Writer (New York, NY)

Cindy Cesca Yoshiyama, Managing Director, Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company (San Francisco & Berkeley, CA)

Cindy Cheung, Actor & Founding Member, AAPAC (New York, NY)

Cindy Tsai, Actor, ZAPI Artists, Broadway For Racial Justice (New York, NY)

Clint Ramos, Designer, Co-Founder, Design Action (New York, NY)

DaEun Jung, Choreographer & Performer (Los Angeles, CA)

Daria Miyeko Marinelli, Playwright & Screenwriter (Los Angeles, CA)

Deeksha Gaur, Show-Score for TodayTix Group (New York, NY)

Dominique Nisperos, Circle Comedy Theatre (New York, NY)

Elena Chang, Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Initiatives, Theatre Communications Group (New York, NY)

Elisheba Ittoop, Sound Designer & Composer, Co-Chair of USA 829's Respectful Workplace Committee (New York, NY)

Elizabeth Wong, Playwright & Director (Los Angeles, CA)

Ely Sonny Orquiza, AD, The Chikahan Company & Teaching Artist, Faculty YC EduComm, American Conservatory Theater (San Francisco, CA)

Emika Abe, Managing Director, Woolly Mammoth (Washington, DC)

Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Composer, Lyricist, Playwright & Actor (New York, NY)

Emilya Cachapero, Director of Artistic & International Programs, TCG (New York, NY)

Eric Keen-Louie, Producing Director (San Diego, CA)

Eric Ting, California Shakespeare Theater

Erika Chong Shuch, Performance Maker, Choreographer & Director (Berkeley, CA)

Erin Quill, Diveristy Advocate, Actor & Director (New York, NY)

Eunice Bae, Actor & Graphic Designer (New York, NY)

Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, Playwright (Providence, RI)

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie (New York, NY)

Francis Jue (New York, NY)

Gaven Trinidad, New York Theatre Workshop (New York, NY)

Hahnji Jang, Costume Designer (Brooklyn, NY)

Haley Sakamoto, Actor & Writer (New York, NY & Kāneʻohe, HI)

Hana Kim, Scenic & Projection Designer (Los Angeles, CA)

Hazel Anne Raymundo, Actor (Summit, NJ)

Heath Hyun Houghton, Actor & Writer (Portland, OR)

Jaclyn Backhaus, Playwright, fresh ground pepper (New York, NY)

Jane Kate Wong, Interaction & Digital Design, Architect, Ad Council (New York, NY)

Jane Mantiri, AGE - Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (Portland)

Jeanne Sakata, Actor & Playwright (Los Angeles, CA)

Jeffrey Omura, Actor & Candidate for NYC Council District 6 (New York, NY)

Jenny Koons, Director, Let's Talk About Hard Stuff (New York, NY)

Jessica Hagedorn

Jiyoun Chang, Lighting & Set Designer (New York, NY)

Joanne Javien, Actor & Voice Teacher (Astoria, NY)

Joanne Pan, Stage Manager (New York, NY)

Jon Lawrence Rivera, Artistic Director (Los Angeles, CA)

Jonathan Castanien, Stage Manager, Co-Founder, The Sống Collective (Brooklyn, NY)

Jonathan McCrory (New York, NY)

Josephine Lee, Professor, English and Asian American Studies, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (Minnneapolis, MN)

Josephine Wang, Lighting Designer (Los Angeles, CA)

Julie Kuwabara, Actor, Producer & Comedy Sketch Artist (San Francisco, CA)

Julienne Hanzelka Kim, Actor, Founding Member AAPAC (New York, NY)

Jully Lee, Actor & AD, Cold Tofu Improv (Los Angeles, CA)

Karthik Subramanian, Managing Director (Boston, MA)

Katelyn Trieu, Actor & MFA Student, UConn (Edmonton, AB, CA)

Kathy Hsieh, Co-Executive Producer, SIS Productions, Funder, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Theatre Actor & Activist (Seattle, WA)

Katie Nguyen, Production Manager, Portland Center Stage (Portland, OR)

Kayla Kim Votapek, Anti-Racist Facilitator & Creative Producer (Jersey City, NJ)

Ken Savage, Associate Producer, Oregon Shakespeare Festival & Freelance Director (San Francisco, CA)

Kendyl Ito, Theater Maker (Astoria, NY)

Kim Montelibano Heil, Associate Producer & Casting Director, San Diego Repertory Theatre (San Diego, CA)

Kristin Villanueva, Actor, The Actors Center's Equity Assessment & Oversight Team Member, ShopRunner's DEI Council Member (Astoria, NY)

Krystin Matsumoto, Production Manager, Center Theatre Group (Los Angeles, CA)

Lanxing Fu, Co-Director, Superhero Clubhouse & Theater Artist (New York, NY)

Lauren Yee, Playwright (New York, NY)

Lavina Jadhwani, Director, Adaptor & Activist (Chicago, IL)

Lawrence Siulagi, Theatre & Film Maker, Resident Artist, Bag&Baggage Productions (Portland, OR)

Leah Vicencio, The Broadway Sinfonietta

Liana Shou Irvine, Dramaturg & Lit Manager, Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists (Philadelphia, PA & San Francisco, CA)

Lily Tung Crystal, Theater Mu (Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN)

Lina Patel, Writer & Actor (Los Angeles, CA)

Linda Cho (New York, NY)

Lipica Shah, Actor, AAPAC, 1497 (New York, NY)

Lisa Gold, Executive Director, A4 (Brooklyn, NY)

Lisa Sanaye Dring, Associate Artistic Director, Circle X Theatre Co. (CA)

Lloyd Suh (South Orange, NJ)

Lois Shih, Actor & MFA Student, UCSD, (San Diego, CA)

Lydia Tanji, Costume Designer (Berkeley, CA)

Maria Ta, Program Director, Ujima Company, Inc. (Buffalo, NY)

Maria-Christina Oliveras, Actor, Writer & Teacher

Marilyn Abad Cardinalli (Gilroy, CA)

May Adrales, Artistic Director (New York, NY)

May Liang, Artistic Director (San Francisco, CA)

Meena Malik, NEFA/API Arts Network Consultant & Musician (Torrance, CA)

Mei Ann Teo, Artistic Director, Musical Theatre Factory (New York, NY)

Mel Ng, Wingspace Theatrical Design, The Syndicate (New York, NY)

Micah Rosegrant, AATAB/API Arts Network; Arts Connect International (Shawmut, MA)

Michael Locher, Director of Design, Alley Theatre (Houston, TX)

Michelle Fujii, Co-Director, Unit Souzou (Portland, OR)

Michelle M. Aguillon, Asian American Playwright Collective (Boston, MA)

Mike Lew, Playwright (Brooklyn, NY)

Mimi Lien, Set Designer (Brooklyn, NY)

Mina Morita, Artistic Director, Crowded Fire Theater Company (San Francisco, CA)

Minita Gandhi, Actor & Playwright, AGE - Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (Los Angeles, CA)

Miranda Cornell, Director & Maker (New York, NY)

Nicole Apostol Beuno, Actor, Playwright & Movement Artist (San Francisco, CA)

Naho Shioya, Theatre Artist & Educator, Race & Social Justice Consultant (Seattle, WA)

Nana Dakin, Director (Brooklyn, NY)

Nandita Shenoy, Actor & Writer, AAPAC (New York, NY)

Naomi Iizuka, Playwright & Teacher, UC-San Diego (San Diego, CA)

Narea Kang, Actor (San Francisco, CA & New York, NY)

Nelson Eusebio, Director (New York, NY)

Nikki Meñez, Director, Casting & Educator, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Awesome Theatre (San Francisco, CA)

Oanh Nguyen, Artistic Director (Anaheim, CA)

Ogie Zulueta, Actor (New York, NY)

Ova Saopeng, TeAda Productions (Los Angeles, CA)

Penny Pun, Playwright, Dramaturg & Producer (New York, NY)

Philip Kan Gotanda, University of California at Berkeley (Berkeley, CA)

Raksak Kongseng, Thai Theatre Foundation, Theatre Communications Group (Little Ferry, NJ)

Ralph B. Peña, Artistic Director (New York, NY)

Rehana Lew Mirza, Playwright (Brooklyn, NY)

Roberta Uno, Theater Director & Director, ArtChangeUS (Amherst, MA)

Ron P. Muriera, Arts & Culture Consultant, Advocate and Activist (San José, CA)

Sango Tajima, Actor & Theatre Administrator (Tokyo, Japan)

Sara Carminati, National Performance Network (New Orleans, Bulbancha, LA)

Sarah Shin, Multi-Disciplinary Artist, AATAB/API Arts Network (Boston, MA)

Seema Sueko, Director & Consultant (Arlington, VA)

Sophia Skiles, Head of Acting, Brown Trinity MFA

Stefanie Lau, Artists at Play (New York, NY)

Steven Zhang, Lighting Designer (Brooklyn, NY)

Sunny Hitt, Choreographer & Movement Director, Social DisDance Party (NY)

Sunshine Lampitoc Smith, General Manager, Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company (Walnut Creek, CA)

Susan Chinsen, Creative Producer, ArtsEmerson, Boston Asian American Film Festival, API Arts Network (Boston, MA)

Susan Lieu, Author, Performer, Playwright & Producer (Seattle, WA)

Taiyo Na (Queens, NY)

Thelma Virata de Castro, Playwright, Founder of San Diego Playwrights, Dramatists Guild San Diego Co-Ambassador (San Diego, CA)

Thomas Pang, Artist (New Haven, CT)

Tiffany Villarin, Actor (New York, NY)

Tonilyn A. Sideco, Writer, Director, Performer & Creative Educator (San Francisco, CA & Brooklyn, NY)

traci kato-kiriyama, Writer, Performer, Educator, Organizer, Director & Co-Founder, Tuesday Night Project (Los Angeles, CA)

Valérie Thérèse Bart, Costume Designer, Design Action, NO MORE 10 out of 12s, Wingspace Theatrical Design (New York, NY)

Velina Hasu Houston, Writer, Distinguished Professor, Director of MFA Dramatic Writing, University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA)

Victor Malana Maog, Director, Producer & Educator (Berkeley, CA)

Vivian Liu-Somers (Boston, MA)

Yohei Darius Suyama (Brooklyn, NY)

 

AAPI Designers of Design Action

Asian American Arts Alliance

The Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) 

National JACL, David Inoue

National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CAATA MEDIA CONTACT: Ariel Estrada, Marketing Director, Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists, ariel@caata.net | 347.581.3047

The national advocacy organization to issue several statements and demands from the national Asian American theatre community, featuring a PSA to honor the victims of the Atlanta massacre and condemn anti-Asian hate, the social media campaign #HadABadDay, and community anti-violence training sessions.

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 (New York, NY): Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) announces a 4-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.

Says CAATA President Leslie Ishii (Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre, Juneau, AK), “Through these initiatives, we honor and uplift the beautiful lives of Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Sun Cha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, and 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.” 

"TCG calls on all theatres and theatre people to follow CAATA's leadership and support this initiative to end anti-Asian hate and violence," said Adrian Budhu, deputy director and COO of Theatre Communications Group (TCG). "API theatres and theatre workers have brought their artistry and activism to strengthen our theatre ecology for generations. Now it's time to show up for them--to show up for us.” 

Jamie Gahlon, Director and Co-Founder of HowlRound Theatre Commons shared, “We are proud to stand in solidarity with AAPI communities and thrilled to continue our partnership with CAATA to amplify these critical conversations and training to stop Anti-Asian hate. Through HowlRound TV all of these trainings will be made freely available and accessible to theatre makers who wish to take action now."

The initiatives include:

A Statement on Anti-Asian Hate

The statement, issued today, condemns 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, organizations and BIPOC artists and theatres will be able to add their names in support of these statements. 

A PSA to Honor the Victims of the Atlanta Massacre and Condemn Anti-Asian Hate

The video, with a creative team of playwrights , writers, directors, actors, and leaders in the AAPI theatre community, includes: 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, will be released at the end of the week. 

The #HadABadDay Social Media Campaign

The campaign will share 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 will also amplify 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. Survivors can share their stories here. 

Anti-Violence Training

CAATA will lead a webinar series featuring anti-violence and bystander training, with support from Theatre Communications Group and HowlRound Theatre Commons over the course of 2021, with dates to be announced.

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