ANTI-RACISM COMMMITMENT
The Civilians strives to be a vibrant company of artists whose work reflects our celebration and investigation of diverse human experiences. We believe that our work and our lives are infinitely more complex, rewarding, illuminating, and nearer to truth when we have a wider variety of human experiences in our room, at our table, and on our stages.
We have work to do to get there. The Civilians commits to interrogate and act to dismantle racist and oppressive practices in the theatrical community, and to embody anti-racism practices while we continue to produce award-winning work. The Civilians staff and board are currently working on its Racial Justice Action Plan (RJAP) with an artist-led Racial Justice Advisory Group. Our RJAP will be a living document. We commit to publishing it in the coming weeks, along with our progress towards it here on our website thereafter. We aim to be as transparent and accountable as possible to our community.
The Civilians acknowledges the privileges associated with being a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In an effort to be transparent about our financial standings, our most recent 990 tax form is available to view.
Please see our commitments below:
Our commitment to be an anti-racist company:
The Civilians is committed to dismantling racist, sexist and other unjust and harmful systems and we are committed to anti-racism practices that actively promote equity, inclusion and justice for each person in our community, regardless of, and without limitation to, race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation or identity on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, religion, age, economic class, educational level, language, immigration status, physical mobility and ability, and family status. We acknowledge the extensive effort of our BIPOC theater colleagues, the #BlackLivesMatter movement, the We See You White American Theater coalition, and the multiple focused collectives whose generous work has advanced these critical issues and provided instrumental education. We recognize that the current system which underpins American theater favors white and wealthy people; lacks representation in decision-making spaces where resources are allocated; and the voices and stories of BIPOC artists are structurally and systematically excluded. We commit to ending our practices which have perpetuated institutionalized racism, sexism, abelism, homophobia, transphobia, and other exclusionary practices.
Our commitment to be an accessible company:
The Civilians believes that everyone should have equal access to our productions and programs, and that our diverse community should be reflected in all that we do. We endeavor to ensure that the making and consumption of our work is accessible to all. Though we may have financial limitations at times, we commit to provide all the services and opportunities within our best efforts; and we will continue to work on methods to better serve our artistic community and audiences so that The Civilians is inclusive of all bodies, communities, and lived experiences.
Our commitment to indigenous peoples, lands, and stories:
The Civilians acknowledge the Munsee Lenape and Canarsie communities, their elders both past and present, as well as future generations. While we are not physically in our office, The Civilians acknowledges that our office is located on their ancestral land.
Our theatrical approach is a combination of a creative process with field research and in-depth residencies with specific communities beyond the greater New York City area. We recognize our work takes us to homelands of many different Indigenous peoples. We acknowledge the residency communities are on land that was founded upon exclusions and erasures of many Indigenous people. This acknowledgement demonstrates a commitment to beginning the process of working to dismantle the ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.
Find out more about the native lands and communities where you live and work at
https://native-land.ca/
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