BRIC Commits to “Be A Light” as Part of The Ghostlight Project

By · Friday, January 20, 2017 - 11:15AM

Last night, on the eve of Inauguration Day, BRIC joined with over 650 theaters across the country in launching The Ghostlight Project: a nation–wide commitment by theaters, theater artists and audiences to support and protect inclusivity, freedom of speech, and compassion. During this collective ritual, BRIC joined neighborhood theaters including Theater for a New Audience, BAM, Irondale, Actors Fund and others to create a “light” for dark times ahead, and pledged to protect core values of inclusion and equity for everyone, regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, age, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Deputy Director Emily Harney and Director of Community Media Anthony Riddle spoke on BRIC’s behalf, and publically committed to these core values:

BRIC’s stated mission to present and incubate the work of artists and media makers that reflect the diversity of our city and to make that work accessible to all. It is our strongly held belief that art and culture are fundamental rights of every person and are inseparable from our humanity. But our commitment to inclusion and equity go far beyond what these, or any, words can contain. We try to live it every day in our actions – as individuals, as a staff and as an organization.

We commit to supporting bold and courageous artists whose stories and voices are underrepresented, complex and challenging.

We commit to curating inclusively.

We commit to doubling down on freedom of expression and making space for creative democracy – always improving our ability to nurture the voices of our communities and expand their reach and impact.

We commit to having truly open doors, recognizing that merely saying everyone is welcome is not enough, but creating the conditions for vulnerable communities to feel empowered in our spaces is necessary. We acknowledge that for some the stakes are not comfort, but survival.

We commit to sharing our resources as best we can with our neighbors and finding ways that our relative privilege in our changing landscape can be of service beyond our own doors.

We commit to fostering dialogue – around arts and media, but also around life – and to being a place where people have the opportunity to connect across difference.

We commit to using art and media to resisting the normalization of offensive and hateful behavior and the silencing of dissent.

We commit to being a respectful neighbor and an open and caring partner.

On behalf of BRIC, we PLEDGE TO STAND FOR AND PROTECT THE VALUES OF INCLUSION, PARTICIPATION, AND COMPASSION FOR EVERYONE REGARDLESS OF RACE, CLASS, RELIGION, COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, IMMIGRATION STATUS, (DIS)ABILITY, AGE, GENDER IDENTITY, OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION.

We reaffirm these values today, with gratitude to those –inside and outside of our organization – who have lived them before now and with a commitment to keep focused on social justice going for as long as we are around and it is needed.

A special thank you to a Theater for A New Audience for hosting BRIC and sharing this light-filled moment with us, and to David Andrako for photography.