A message to the field from TCG’s executive director/CEO Teresa Eyring, deputy director/COO Adrian Budhu, and the team at TCG

We have an important update and message for you regarding TCG’s National Conference. Part 2 of the 2020 TCG Virtual Conference, Convening, will go Dark on Tuesday, June 2 in an expression of solidarity with our Black colleagues who are enduring the pain of continued acts of violence in their communities. We will craft a new way forward for the remaining days of Convening, in order to center the needs of our BIPOC colleagues (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). Just as we have done during the current pandemic, we are taking this emergency action for the safety and well-being of our community members.

This new direction imagines a Convening where resources and energy are redirected in solidarity with the movement for Black lives. We’re currently planning to postpone all sessions on Tuesday except for those that center the immediate needs of our BIPOC colleagues while also organizing the White folx toward anti-racism, accountability, and action. By going dark on Tuesday and refocusing our energies, we can ensure that however the rest of the convening moves forward, it does so from a place of listening, thoughtfulness, and alignment with Black theatre leaders. In this plan, we would invite many of our session leaders to present their postponed sessions in the near future, continuing to be responsive and adaptive.

To our Black colleagues, we know you are exhausted. We see you. We hear you. We are here for you. Your lives matter. Black Lives Matter.

Between today and Tuesday, we will take time to gather feedback and insight, adjust and honor those of you who have registered, prepared content, sponsored, funded, donated to Convening so we can best serve you, this week and beyond. We will also pause and reflect to honor those whose breath was taken from them: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, James Scurlock, and all those whose lives have been taken by anti-Blackness and police brutality.

We will explore how best to create safer spaces online and enhance security before resuming any type of “normal” programming. We will be reaching out to those whose sessions may be impacted on Tuesday by the end of the day today (Monday).,