Our Anti-Racism Commitment and Accountability Updates

We Value Faith. We Respect People. We Celebrate Theatre.

This webpage is dedicated to transparency specifically around Taproot Theatre’s work towards racial equity and anti-racism. It is designed to foster accountability both within the organization and with our larger community. It’s a living document to be periodically updated in response to Taproot’s ongoing journey to learn, to grow, and to do better. We welcome your questions and your feedback as our partners in this journey.

Taproot Theatre Company is incorporated as both a non-profit theatre and a parachurch organization. A parachurch organization is a Christian faith-based organization which works outside of church oversight, and across denominations, while carrying out its mission. At Taproot Theatre, our core values listed above and our identity as a Christian community inform every part of our work. We strive to follow a long tradition of Christian churches and denominations who are actively at work in our world; loving God, loving people, and seeking to create spaces where all people can thrive.

Our commitment to pursue racial equity, true diversity, and greater inclusion within our organization is equally rooted in our Christian identity. We believe that each person is created and loved by God. It is this truth that compels us to change our own systems/structure as we pursue the radical love exemplified by Christ. For us, this work towards greater inclusion within our organization is just one of the many ways that we feel called to live out our faith. We do not do this perfectly; and when we fail, we are pledged to seek reconciliation, learn from our community, and implement change.  As we strive to do better, we are grateful that we do not do this work in isolation.

Taproot Theatre’s Commitment to Anti-Racism and Accountability

As a historically white organization, Taproot acknowledges that we are complicit in the unjust and harmful system of white supremacy culture at work in our world. We commit to working toward being an anti-racist organization.  As a part of this work, Taproot commits to:

• Listen and learn from BIPOC voices, recognizing the pain caused by racism and white supremacy culture.
• Apply what we learn to our work at Taproot Theatre, including our own organizational systems and structures.
• Hold ourselves accountable by reporting our ongoing process to be more inclusive and actively anti-racist to the public, especially to Taproot’s community of artists, patrons, students, and donors.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY

Taproot continues to take steps to expand our understanding of structural racism and racial inequity. In 2020 we established an ongoing BIPOC Affinity Space and a White Learning Group as resources for Taproot staff. We’ve also implemented regular staff trainings, educational opportunities, and dedicated time for staff, artists, and board of directors to discuss what they have learned.

Staff Training and Education:

2022
(divorcing) White Supremacy Culture. All Taproot staff are reading and discussing this series of readings created by Dr. Tema Okun.

2021
Taproot all-staff training. Operationalizing Racial Equity and Understanding Institutional Racism with Tony Nabors

Talking Back series presented by artEquity. Taproot staff and other artists in the Taproot community gathered once a month to discuss the video episodes in this series.

Taproot leadership training. #StopAsianHate: Leading Anti-Racist Efforts in Organizations with Lily Zheng

Taproot leadership training. Decolonizing Theatre Basics with Groundwater Arts

2020
Taproot leadership training.  Finding the Keys: Antiracist Approaches for Radical Recruitment in the Arts by Sharifa Johka

Taproot leadership training. “Anti-Racist Theatre: A Foundational Course” by Nicole Brewer –sponsored by Seattle Theatre Leaders Group

2017
Taproot all-staff training. The Foundations of a Social Justice Framework with Dr. Caprice Hollins, Co-founder of  Cultural Connections

Equity and Inclusion in Casting with Kathy Hsieh with SIS Productions –sponsored by Taproot Theatre and open to Seattle theatre artists

2014
Taproot leadership training. Centering People of Color in the Racial Equity Movement with Carmen Morgan (Founder and Executive director of artEquity)–sponsored by Theatre Puget Sound

2011
Rehearsal Trainings. The John Perkins Center for Reconciliation, Leadership Training, and Community Development at Seattle Pacific University–customized trainings with Caenisha Warren and W. Tali Hairston

HOW WE APPLY THIS TO THE WORK OF TAPROOT THEATRE COMPANY

Specific actions and changes in practice and policy have grown out of what we are learning about ways to create a multi-cultural, anti-racist organization. Here are a few specific examples:

• At the beginning of 2019, Taproot’s leadership team included no one who identified as BIPOC. Through intentional work to diversify this team, it is currently made-up of more than 30% BIPOC.  Leadership team diversity makes Taproot stronger by creating a broader range of skills, ideas, and perspectives.
• We See You White American Theatre (WYSWAT) put forth a definition for white supremacy culture. As we learn to interrupt this culture, we have implemented changes within our rehearsal structure. These changes include meeting accessibility needs, establishing a clear set of rehearsal expectations, and protocols for recourse if those expectations are not met.
• A land acknowledgment now resides on our website and will be incorporated into all live events and performances. This is a first step to show respect and honor to the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which Taproot Theatre resides.
• We are in the process of reviewing and updating the employee handbook to include policies around equity and inclusion, pay equity, and paid time off, in order to ensure our intentional work towards anti-racism is built into the bones of our company structure. This focus on policies is important to us because it ensures that our improvements to company culture will be ongoing and not simply based on current good intentions or the values of current staff members.
• When updating Taproot’s mission statement, all staff and Board of Directors were invited into the process of creating and evaluating the statement. This is a step toward inclusivity, ensuring that a variety of diverse voices are heard, understood, and considered.

Working with the greater Seattle theatre community:
One of the first things we learned about the process of becoming an anti-racist organization is that we can’t do it alone. We are actively seeking partnership within the Seattle Theatre community to address shared inequities and create lasting, systemic change in the field of theatre.

• Taproot Theatre’s Producing Artistic Director, Karen Lund is an active participants in the Seattle Theatre Leaders group.

GOALS FOR THE FUTURE

Taproot has much more work to do as we continue to acknowledge, understand, and change our role in the perpetuation of systemic racism.  Here are some of the areas within our own organization that we are currently reviewing:

• Evaluating hiring practices and policies with the goal of including more BIPOC staff and artists, in performance and production roles, across all administrative departments and at leadership levels, including the Board of Directors.
• Evaluate policies and internal best practices to ensure they are in support of a more diverse workforce.
• Evaluating partners, memberships, and financial practices to ensure that they align with Taproot’s goals around anti-racism.
• Invest in BIPOC theatres and leaders, present and future, in Seattle.

Interested in learning alongside Taproot Theatre?

Check out the resource page and find podcasts we’ve been listening to, videos we’ve been watching, and books we’ve been reading. We’ve included a downloadable list of terms defined throughout this article. We also encourage you to learn more about and support the amazing educators and organizations that we’ve link to on this webpage.

QUESTIONS? You can email us at info@taproottheatre.org