Act for a Change: Improvising Answers to Hate Speech

A customer raging in a coffee shop, saying that all brown people should go back to where they came from. Two work colleagues laughing about the “DEI,” hire after meeting a new employee. And a group of young men carrying Nazi flags at a community theater production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Situations like these happen every day.

We want to speak up, but sometimes we don’t know what to say.

As the activist and author Lily Starling wrote, “Everyone likes to think they will do the right thing because they have the correct attitude, values and intentions. But humans are shockingly bad at translating beliefs into action in novel periods of intense conflict and stress. So you need to practice.”

This is your chance to practice.

Workshop Details

Act for a Change uses theater improvisation, Nonviolent Communication techniques, and group discussion to help us find the words we need, when we need to speak up. Here’s how we’ll do it:

· Pam Winthrop Lauer, an expert in Nonviolent Communications, will show us how to find the words to protect the subjects of hate speech

· We’ll watch compelling performances of the kinds of hate speech our friends need the most help confronting, improvised by actors from zAmya Theater.

· We’ll break up into groups to discuss how to handle these situations

· And finally, we’ll all have the chance practice, as participants, Pam, the artists and experts from affected communities explore together how to handle these kinds of situations effectively

By the way, you won’t be expected to perform—you can participate at whatever level you feel most comfortable.

This workshop is created by: Dream Lab, Jewish Community Action, Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood as zAmya Theater

Host or Publisher Cherie Anderson - Dream Lab