Dear Families,

Words are not enough right now. But we will not be silent.

We are outraged and broken-hearted.

We mourn the loss of George Floyd. We grieve the brutal and tragic murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless other innocent Black lives.

Enough. We must do better. And the change we want to see in the world must start with ourselves.

That’s why, at Brooklyn Acting Lab, we are deeply examining our choices and practices as an entity. We are committed to doing the intentional work that needs to be done to build a more just, equitable and anti-racist organization.

Here are the actions BAL is taking:

• Student Diversity: Outreach to students and communities of color, with fiscal support when needed through our Youth Ensembleship Fund.
• Programming: Develop additional programs that explore works by authors, playwrights and performing artists of color and focus on issues of social justice.
• Education: Provide our staff and team of teaching artists with anti-racism trainings and professional development to deepen our understanding of systemic racism and oppression.
• Team Diversity: We recognize the lack of diversity in our team of teaching artists and staff and are committed to addressing this issue.

To the Black members of the BAL community, we can’t begin to feel your pain, or ever truly understand it, but we can start by acknowledging it. We stand with you.

Black Lives Matter.

Kristen and Murat