BWW Blog: Kellie Williams - Broadway Advocacy Coalition's THE INVITATION: Political Participation

On Sunday November 6th, the Broadway Advocacy Coalition held the first in a series of monthly events called The Invitation. The theme was Political Participation. The Coalition has teamed up with professors, lawyers, and students at Columbia Law School in an effort to bring the arts and policies together. The Broadway Advocacy Coalition was formed after a social media post from Amber Iman became a movement. Her fellow Broadway actors Adrienne Warren, Britton Smith, Cameron J. Ross, Christian Dante White, and Jackie Bell came together with her to organize an event to bring to light the plight of Black people in America. After the success of that first event, Broadway for Black Lives Matter, they decided to expand their programming to include The Invitation.

The chalkboard art featured in the picture above was done by Words on White, a group that draws on the work of activists from the past to react to today's issues. The words pictured were written on the board before the event, and afterwards another board was made available for all the attendees to share their thoughts and feelings.

The evening included tap dancing, music, spoken word, panel discussions, and monologues. The Lion King star L. Steven Taylor performed a moving spoken word piece about raising a Black boy in today's society, while his son stood beside him on the stage. It was a truly powerful performance. Denee Benton of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 sang "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles as an ode to the complicated relationship between Black Americans and our country. The panel discussions each posed important questions and allowed everyone to participate by commenting on Facebook or Twitter. Two notable panelists were composer Jeanine Tesori and actress Celia Keenan-Bolger, both of whom acknowledged their own privilege as white people and were open to discussion on how they can use that privilege to expose themselves to experiences outside of their own.

My biggest takeaway from the event was that if we as a community do not reach a place where we can talk honestly about how we're feeling, we'll never be able to make change. Broadway Advocacy Coalition wants to create that place of honesty, discussion, and understanding. I heard about this wonderful coalition through social media and I went because I consider myself an artist who aims to be socially conscious, but I would strongly encourage everyone to participate in this important conversation, whether it's through the live streams or being there physically.