COCO’S CODE OF COMMUNITY
Our Code of Community is a living document that we commit to updating, revisiting, and consistently offering room for edits in order to remain in alignment of anti-racist practices, inclusivity, and the spirit of true collaboration.
Dated: October 18, 2020
YOU ARE WELCOME HERE
At Colt Coeur, we welcome and embrace all human beings and safeguard and embolden our differences.
Our company will not stand for racism, sexism, queerphobia, ableism, entitlement and any other conduct that threatens to destroy the fabric of the socially equitable industry we are creating.
We would like to acknowledge the variety of visible and invisible access needs of our community of artistic collaborators and audience members and make a commitment to supporting those needs to the best of our abilities.
We recognize the delicacy of theatrical performance and of the social aspects affiliated with theater - but we place the health and well-being of our company and community as paramount. We nurture and prioritize personal investment in our artists, students, community and all we come in contact with.
Action Items: · We are doing away with ‘10 out of 12’ rehearsals and the 6-day work week.
· We hire intimacy directors when needed for productions and we will encourage our company to stay home when sick.
· We cover transportation costs for interns and would never ask them to work more than 10 hours a week.
· We also support our collaborators who are working parents by offering flexible rehearsal schedules, as well as private lactation rooms.
SOCIAL JUSTICE STANCE AND COCO
To ensure that we are a community that commits itself to the We See You White American Theater document, social equity and anti-racist practices, we heavily consider who we work with and make a promise to prioritize BIPOC collaborators and works that reflect our core values and our mission. We are grateful for the generosity of the WSYWAT creators and acknowledge the deficiency in the make-up of our programming and collaborators historically. We commit to amplifying and nurturing the work of Black, Indigenous and POC artists and recognize the tremendous value these artists add to our company and our world.
Action Items:
· The majority of our Colt Coeur community participated in Nicole Brewer’s Anti-Racist Theatre: A Foundational Course in September and October of 2020; additional members of our company and board will participate in this training in November. We commit to a continued engagement with anti-racism training and education.
· We commit to reaching 50%+ BIPOC representation by 2022 across our Board, Company and production teams.
· We continue our longstanding commitment to 50%+ BIPOC representation within our Residency Program and Education Initiative.
TRANSFORMATIVE ANTI-RACIST PRACTICES
We make a commitment to uphold transformative and anti-racist work as a company and expect all who collaborate with us to join us in this work. We consistently seek opportunities to grow and to learn how we participate in antiquated, problematic systems. We dedicate our time together to not only champion the arts but also to reflect and assess how we can DO better and BE better for our BIPOC artistic community.
Action Items: · We are currently creating flow charts to make transparent our points of access, as well as offering artists, staff and audience open and clear channels of communication with the goal of becoming a more equitable institution.
· We are also working on updating our Handbook so our mission and goals can be laid out clearly for all to see.
OUR IMPACT
We recognize that everything we do in this industry has an impact not only on our artistic community but on our local and global community as well. Our goal is to positively impact the land we utilize for rehearsal, productions, and education; and the communities therein.
We acknowledge that the land upon which we gather to rehearse and present our work in NYC is part of the traditional territory of the Lenni-Lenape, called “Lenapehoking.” We commit to anti-racist practices and uplift the Lenni-Lenape (and any other indigenous tribes) as the original people of this land and acknowledge the erasure of their history, the loss of their ancestors and culture at the hand of colonialism and continuing practices of racism still present in our industry and our society.
We nurture the next generation of theater artists by offering in-depth exploration of artistic expression through our annual Education Initiative, Mentorship and Internship programs. Since 2010 the Education Initiative has served students from under-resourced NYC public schools; in 2020 we operated virtually and worked with students across the country.
Action Items:
· We commit to continued focus on our Education Initiative, to growing our Mentorship program for the public school students in our community, and to supporting more students in ongoing and authentic engagement.
· We also build community relationships and support local businesses by hosting events at neighborhood establishments and by offering exposure to our audiences via ads or offers in our programs.
· We support continuing our relationship with the Lenni-Lenape people and territory by sharing a statement at every one of our gatherings, public or internal.
GROWTH AND ACCOUNTABILITY
Growth and adaptation can only happen with accountability. We vow to hold ourselves accountable to the mission of our company and this code of community and openly invite any feedback from the people with whom we work.
Along with this document, we are a work-in-progress. This code and our company must never stop growing, improving, and adapting. We are open to always learning and to becoming better.
Action Items:
· We invite you to engage with us and help us with this call to accountability. Please contact us via email at coltcoeur@gmail.com.
· We will update this document and provide dates accordingly as we do the work.
ASPIRATIONS
As part of our ongoing efforts to improve, and continually move towards equitable practices, the following items have been identified as important, but due to a myriad of reasons, we are unable to change in the immediate.
Our hope is that this section clearly lists out our planned initiatives, and provides a way to hold ourselves accountable to seeing them through.
· Create a position called Community-Impact Liaison, who works towards engaging with both the current, and the Indigenous peoples of the communities we rehearse and perform in to create authentic, lasting relationships, and opportunities of collaboration and fellowship.
· Hold Town Halls consistently throughout the year in order to provide accessible opportunities to meet with the communities we work and give them the space to give us feedback, or other offerings that will improve the way we move through the world.
We would like to acknowledge the following people and organizations that have provided incredible resources and information that have helped guide our efforts and research.
· Nicole Brewer’s Anti-Racist Theatre Training