Hate Crimes Against Asian Americans Is Focus Of Collaboraction's CRUCIAL CONNECTIONS

Hate-fueled attacks on Asian Americans have spiked as much as 150% over the previous year, even as overall hate crimes have declined.

Responding to this unprecedented string of attacks against Asian Americans is the focus of the next episode of Crucial Connections, Collaboraction Theatre's live, interactive, monthly online talk show, Thursday, March 18 at 8 p.m. CT.

Special guest host Dr. Ada Cheng, a prominent Chicago storyteller, educator, storytelling show producer, facilitator and speaker, will join co-hosts Anthony Moseley, Artistic Director of Collaboraction, and Dr. Marcus Robinson, the company's Executive Director, to lead a live discussion about the increase in violence and rhetoric against the Asian-American community. Joining the conversation is Chicago-based dancer, writer and activist Rohan Zhou-Lee.

The show will kick-off with a screening of Cheng's seven-minute short film A Letter to My Former Self, which premiered as part of Collaboraction's 2020 PEACEBOOK Festival and tells the story about a college professor's response to a young Asian American student who endured a racist incident related to Covid-19.

The conversation will then explore the former president's rhetoric blaming China for Covid-19, and how it spurred scapegoating of Asian Americans by ordinary people angered by the economic and social impact of the pandemic.

Collaboraction, Chicago's theater for social change, produces and presents Crucial Connections live via Zoom on the third Thursday of every month. The 90-minute show brings together social justice warriors, artists and community residents for provocative, entertaining and radically inclusive discussion around different themes about life in a post-Covid world and the reshaping of the human experience.

Crucial Connections is free to watch, but registration is required to receive the Zoom invitation that allows audience members to ask questions via live video or chat. Register now at collaboraction.org/crucial-connections.

Following the show, the March episode of Crucial Connections will be posted on the Together Network, Collaboraction's new member-based virtual platform. The Together Network offers unlimited access to the Collaboraction's deep list of social justice programming for as little as $5 a month while providing steady financial support for the company and its artists. To subscribe, visit collaboraction.org/together-network.

Learn more about Collaboraction at collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.

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