Equitable Dinners Atlanta A COLLABORATIVE CITY-WIDE EVENT COMBINING THE ARTS, LOCAL HISTORY, AND CONVERSATION TO INSPIRE POSITIVE COMMUNITY ACTION FOR MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER. Equitable Dinners is a collaboration between Out of Hand Theater, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Fulton County Remembrance Coalition, The King Center, Partnership for Southern Equity, among others. Equitable Dinners is a free public event geared towards community learning.

VISION ATEMENT

DAY 2 Equitable Dinners inspires Anti-Racism action through art and courageous conversations. Launched by a short one person play, each unique table will:

share a meal, share stories, connect with strangers and neighbors, participate in a guided conversation with a trained facilitator, be inspired to make a positive difference.

COURAGEOUS DIALOGUE SHARED COMMITMENTS Welcome to our Equitable Dinners Shared Commitments for Courageous Dialogue! These will guide our conversation. 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. 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.

CONVERSATION Welcome to the conversation! Use these questions as a guide to honest, courageous dialogue. Question 1: Share your name. What was your reaction to the play? What surprised you? What feelings came up for you? OR Where did it land in your body? Question 2: How did you first become aware that people are treated differently? Have you ever accepted responsibility for treating someone differently? Question 3: When have you heard the terms riot and massacre and what do they mean to you? Does it make a difference if you add the word race in front of either of those words? Question 4: What are you inspired to do differently after today’s event?

(c) 2022 Out of Hand Theater

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.

(c) 2022 Out of Hand Theater

1906 ATLANTA MASSACRE In Remembrance: Lynching in America

The Soil Collection Project Equal Justice Initiative

The Atlanta Massacre of 1906 (commonly referred to as the Atlanta Race Riots of 1906) began the night of September 22nd and lasted through September 25th. But this tragic event did not occur without prior provocation. Part of the cause for this tragic event were the inflammatory political campaigns that urged white voters to suppress black peoples’ civil and economic rights, incited by candidates Hoke Smith, former publisher of the Atlanta Journal, and Clark Howell, editor of the Atlanta Constitution. These men also used their influence within the media to encourage racist media coverage to promote sensationalized reports of assaults by black men on white women, which aroused deep racial hostility and anger toward the African American community. The stoking of these racialized fires led to an explosion of unjustified vengeance from 10,000 white men and boys going to terrorize the African-American community. The racial terrorism inflicted by white mobs during the Atlanta Massacre sought to maintain white supremacy and dominance by burning down black-owned businesses, instilling fear in the entire black community through unpredictable, arbitrary, and brutal violence. While over 25 African American people were confirmed killed that weekend, many estimate that there were closer to 100 total, with several accounts depicting the merciless attacks on these innocent people. As the violence and police arrests of black Atlanta residents continued, black leaders and white officials met privately to discuss plans for ending the terror, and the city’s Chamber of Commerce held a public meeting. Though the massacre had been the product of white mob brutality, these meetings insisted on a narrative that the violence was due to black Atlanta residents failure to protect white women. The Chamber of Commerce conversations also revealed that, among white residents, the primary incentive to end the massacre was to end its disruption to local business. In the aftermath, grand jury investigations concluded that city police had failed “signally and absolutely in the performance of their duty” and led to the death of many African American Atlantans. Citizen groups made up of white and black community leaders met to determine how to provide aid to those most affected. Despite the massacre's roots in racial hostility, more Jim Crow laws would later be developed to further restrict the rights and freedoms of black people in Atlanta, preventing them from living in certain residential areas, disenfranchising them, and forcing black-owned business out of the central business district. With the rise of social media platforms and numerous ways to communicate with people across the world, we must be vigilant and even more aware of the rhetoric being shared and broadcasted around our country. If we are to combat systemic racism and enact change through our efforts with social justice, it starts with acknowledging the ugly history that exists in our city and reconciling with these events in order to move forward in unity. Furthermore, these people should not be forgotten in history. Although they were victims of this terrible event, they were also shopkeepers, business owners, veterans, and everyday employees: William Welch, Frank Smith, Will Marion, Leola Maddox, Annie Shepard, Milton Brown, Zeb Long, Sam Macgruder, Frank Fambro, Clem Rhodes, George Wilder, Will Moreland, James Fletcher, Sam Robinson. (Edited narrative prepared by John Settles)

(c) 2022 Out of Hand Theater

The National Day of Racial Healing Equitable Dinners is proud to join millions across the country today as we 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.

(c) 2022 Out of Hand Theater

PRESENTING SPONSORS

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OUT OF HAND IS ALSO SPONSORED BY

Out of Hand Theater is supported in part by an American Rescue Plan Act grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support general operating expenses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. This program is supported in part by the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs.

(c) 2022 Out of Hand Theater