Equitable Dinners Arkansas Peace & Justice Memorial Movement National Day of Racial Healing Anti-Racism and Maternal Health

01.22.23 | 5.00PM Zoom Room

WHAT WE'RE ABOUT VISION STATEMENT Equitable Dinners inspires anti-racism action through art and courageous conversations. We invite transparency, trust, and tenacity through the sharing of personal stories and lived experiences. We embrace healthy conflict and painful truth through dialogue as one key step toward dismantling racism. We build spaces to nurture our complete humanity and realize the untapped strength of our society to shift consciousness.

DAY 2

HOW DO WE DEFINE RACIAL EQUITY? Racial equity is assurance that all people especially, indigenous people, black people, and other people of color, live in a world that acknowledges our full humanity and where we all have the power to operate from a place of, abundance and aspiration. Achieving racial equity requires: Valuing all individuals and populations equally Recognizing and Rectifying historical injustices Providing resources according to need Racial disparities will be eliminated when racial equity is achieved.

DESIGN TEAM ADRIA KITCHENS

CLARE SCHEXNYDER

KERA LAMOTTE

ALLISON BANTIMBA

DIANY RODRIGUEZ

MARTHA CALDWELL

DR. ALEXANDRA PAULEY

DR. DIETRA HAWKINS

MICHELLE POKOPAC

AMEE VYAS

ERIKA MIRANDA

NICOLETTE EMANUELLE

ARIEL FRISTOE

EUGENE H. RUSSELL, IV

NIYA RANDALL

BRITTANY PRINCE

GERARD EGLITIS

NOLAN HUBER-RHOADES

DR. CAMARA JONES

JAMES HARVEY

RAJINI SHANKAR-BROWN

CICELY GARRETT

JILL SAVITT

TERRA GAY

https://www.equitabledinners.com/our-team

Land Acknowledgement

Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams, and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in the hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Truth and acknowledgment are critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage and difference. We begin this effort to acknowledge what has been buried by honoring the truth. We are standing on the ancestral lands of the Creek Indian People: The Lower Muskogee Creek Tribe and the Poarch Creek Indians. We pay respects to their elders, past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of violence, displacement, migration, and settlement that bring us together here today. And please join us in uncovering such truths at all public events.

THE NATIONAL DAY OF RACIAL HEALING Equitable Dinners is proud to join millions across the country today as we DURMERRICK ROSS

reflect on the past in hopes of transforming our future. Founded in 2017 as a part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s national Truth, Racial Healing, Transformation efforts. The National Day of Racial Healing is held each year on the day after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day; this day offers space to reflect and recharge as we prepare for another year in pursuit of equity. Racial healing repairs communities and people that have experienced adversities caused by racism. Racial equity cannot be achieved without healing the communities affected by racism, so this day exists to bring about transformation within us all for sustainable systemic change. Equitable Dinners hopes to face our past, reclaim our present, and transform our future through theater and courageous conversations.

HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED? REDUCING BLACK MATERNAL MORTALITY How can you support pregnant people in your life to reduce factors that contribute to pregnancy-related complications and death? Pregnant people and their families can: Talk to a healthcare provider if anything doesn’t feel right or is concerning. Know and seek immediate care if experiencing urgent maternal warning signs, including severe headache, extreme swelling of hands or face, trouble breathing, heavy vaginal bleeding or discharge, overwhelming tiredness, and more. These symptoms could indicate a potentially lifethreatening complication. Document and share pregnancy history during each medical care visit for up to one year after delivery. Maintain ongoing healthcare and social support systems before, during, and after pregnancy. Healthcare providers can: Help patients manage chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity. Listen to pregnant and postpartum people’s concerns, and communicate with patients about urgent maternal warning signs. Use tools to flag warning signs early so women can receive timely treatment. external icon Coordinate ongoing healthcare for women before, during, and after pregnancy.

DAY 2

Hospitals and healthcare systems can: Identify and address unconscious bias in healthcare. external icon Standardize coordination of care and response to emergencies. Improve delivery of quality prenatal and postpartum care. Train non-obstetric providers to consider recent pregnancy history. States and communities can: Assess and coordinate delivery hospitals for risk-appropriate care. Support review of the causes behind every maternal death. Identify and address social factors influencing maternal health such as unstable housing, transportation access, food insecurity, substance use, violence, and racial and economic inequality.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT ARKANSAS PEACE & JUSTICE MEMORIAL MOVEMENT APJMM embodies a statewide collaborative effort to DURMERRICK ROSS

acknowledge, and to learn from, our shared documented history of hundreds of incidents of extra-legal racial, political and religious violence and injustices, with the goal of creating meaningful avenues for transformative peace and restorative justice through truth-seeking and reconciliation. https://apjmm.org/

ARTISTS NIKKI YOUNG - PLAYWRIGHT Lisa Nicolle “Nikki” Young began performing at the age of five as DURMERRICK ROSS

a dancer. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, Nikki has been involved in television, film and stage productions – either behind the scenes or as a performer - since childhood. Nikki earned a BA in English from Georgetown University in Washington, DC where she was artistic director of Black Movements Dance Theatre. During her tenure, she produced and choreographed the showcase work “Transcendence of Dance through the African American Experience” which enjoyed a sold-out run in Georgetown’s Black Box Theatre. Nikki was named an August Wilson Center Fellow in 2013. Through her fellowship, she developed a feature film script, “Things Not Seen” which explored a range of social issues through the context of a conspiracy drama. A member of SAG-AFTRA, her stage, screen and production credits include For Colored Girls, West Side Story, Silence of the Lambs, Drumline, Abduction, Jack Reacher and the Netflix film adaptation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

Virtual Dinner Party Appetizer One person play "Black Mother Joy" by Nikki Young

Main Course Community Breakout Conversations





COURAGEOUS DIALOGUE SHARED COMMITMENTS Welcome to our shared commitments for courageous dialogue! These will guide our conversation tonight. Courageous presence. We commit to staying in the conversation even when our feelings may seem big and seem uncomfortable. Courageous listening. We commit to listening to hear what others are saying instead of forming a reply. Courageous inclusivity. We make room and we make time for everyone's voice at the table. Courageous hope. We commit to being open to the possibility that things can change.

DAY 2 Courageous kindness. We commit to engage each other with kindness and commit to being considerate even when we disagree. We are here to dialogue not debate. Courageous sharing. We commit to share authentically from our personal experiences. Courageous care. We commit to care for each other by holding each other's stories in confidence. We commit to care for ourselves and our own feelings and needs.

COURAGEOUS DIALOGUE CONVERSATION Welcome to the conversation! Use these questions as a guide to honest, courageous dialogue. Question 1: Introductions Share your name and what came to mind during the play? Were you aware of the inequities experienced by Black mothers? Question 2: Share an experience you’ve had or of someone you know who had a traumatic birth experience. How did you feel valued, devalued, protected or taken seriously by the system? For those who have not had a pregnancy/birth experience, share what you know about the birthing experience(s) of your closest relative(s)? Question 3: What role does systemic racism play in how people have DAY 2 experiences in our healthcare system? How do the values show up different in how people are treated? Question 4: Are you aware of resources or policies that can help to end maternal death and disease in Black communities based on personal experiences and needs?

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Are you looking for how you can do more? Are you looking for how to create lasting change? Are you looking for a community to connect, engage, and grow together?

Partners & Sponsors

Out of Hand was started in 2001 to create a new kind of theater. Out of Hand works at the intersection of art, social justice, and civic engagement. We spark conversations to build a better world by using the tools of theater to support and enhance the work of community partners. Out of Hand has three programming areas: In-Home Shows, Community and Civic Collaborations, and Creative Kids. Whether we’re performing in a living room, launching discussions about race and equity with art, or making plays with and for students facing the largest opportunity gaps in our community, we’re doing it because we believe in the power of story to bring us together, to change lives, and create a stronger, healthier communities.

STAFF THOMAS BRAZZLE, OPERATIONS MANAGER GERARD EGLITIS, EQUITABLE DINNERS PROGRAM ASSOCIATE ARIEL FRISTOE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ADRIA KITCHENS, DIRECTOR OF EQUITY & ACTIVISM CHRISTY LITTLE, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER ERIN PARKER, MANAGING DIRECTOR NIKKI YOUNG , ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

BOARD OF DIRECTORS KORRI JONES, PRESIDENT MICHAEL KALUZNY, SECRETARY MICHAEL ERTISCHEK, TREASURER

TERRENCE BURROUGHS

BONNIE LEVINE

JOY DYESS

MAX LEVENTHAL

TERRA GAY

SHANE LITTLE

DANITA HARRIS

CHERROD PATE

LETRICIA HENSON

KRISTEN SILTON

DESHAWN JENKINS CHAUNDRA JOHNSON

SEAN WALKER

ADVISORY BOARD FOLASHADE ALAO EZRA BARZILAY MATT BECKETT IMARA CANADY JOHN CHILDS JERMAL COLLINS SCOTT GARDNER

CHARLIE HENN

DAVID LYNN

KAREN PATY

PAM HUGHES

ROSEMARY MAGEE

BILLIE PRITCHARD

LARA FERREIRA

NATHALIE MASON-FLEURY

MISTY ROBERTS

JENNIFER FINDLEY

ATIBA MBIWAN

RAJNI SHANKAR-BROWN

ALEX JOSEPH

SARAH PARKER

DOUG SHIPMAN

NICK JULIANO

KAEANNE PARRIS

DAVID STEVENS