Theater for Humanity
POLICE OFFICERS and formerly incarcerated persons have powerful, opposing mindsets. Formerly incarcerated persons think “fuck the police” and police officers think “do as you’re told”. When these mindsets collide we get Ferguson. We get Michael Brown.
Instead of armed, uniformed officers confronting people of color in poor neighborhoods, Theater for Humanity asks them to meet at the theater.
The state of our nation today demands the swift implementation of new solutions that address the highly visible conflict between police officers and formerly incarcerated persons.
THEATER FOR HUMANITY
WHERE THE POLICE & THE POLICED MEET.DECISION MAKING
Understanding | Healing | TransformationTheater for Humanity addresses the decision making processes of both formerly incarcerated persons and law enforcement officers.
UNDERSTANDING
Theater makers represent and thereby take on the circumstances of the people who live in that world. Theater is a space for comprehension, knowledge and deep understanding.
HEALING
Storytelling allows participants to heal. Acting humanizes the experiences of people who are voiceless and carries a people’s history. When those actors symbolically represent an enemy a powerful change occurs.
TRANSFORMATION
Someone who is understood and healed can change.
Theater for Humanity believes that productive interactions between law enforcement and formerly incarcerated persons require existing relationships.
OPPOSING MINDSETS
POLICE OFFICERS and formerly incarcerated persons have powerful, opposing mindsets. Formerly incarcerated persons think “fuck the police” and police officers think “do as you’re told”. When these mindsets collide we get Ferguson. We get Michael Brown, Rodney King and Oscar Grant.
GROWING HOSTILITY
The dynamic between police officers and formerly incarcerated persons has evolved into a culture that defines how black people and police officers engage, generally. This anti-black, anti-police culture has spread, negatively impacting both police officers and black communities.
ANTI-BLACK
An anti-black culture claims victims like Sandra Bland. The absence of accountability for highly visible officer involved beatings and homicides empowers lay citizens to join law enforcement in taking the lives of citizens.
ANTI-POLICE
In 2016 the FBI reported the highest percentage of police officers killed in the line of duty by people who had never been arrested or incarcerated before. Our society is becoming increasingly anti-police.