Straz I.D.E.A Plan Strives to Fight Racial Imbalance

Tampa FL

03 August, 2021

10:00 AM

Description

A little over a year ago, the Straz Center created an Inclusion Diversity Equity Access (I.D.E.A) plan, committed to ensuring that people are treated with equity and that Straz Center has a diverse institution and all programming and services include diversity. The goal is to eliminate racism and the racial imbalance, providing Black, Indigenous, People of Color (B.I.P.O.C.) opportunities that they did not have before. Fred Johnson, Straz Center Community Engagement Specialist and Artist-in-Residence, spoke about this ten-point plan. "While we've always had a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the horrific murder of George Floyd shifted many conversations in the United States. We want to be even more committed to things that can be done more effectively to eliminate racism or those structures and practices that have been racially imbalanced. A deeper commitment and conversation is happening here at the Straz Center so that we can identify the structures that exist that cause black and brown people not to be fully and completely a part of the full measure of the working experience." From the executive staff and board to Center staff and volunteers, this effort identifies areas where changes can happen for those who have been the victims of racial discrimination. "We want to learn more, listen, and have deeper engagement in the community, and what came out of that is a ten-point action plan that has ten specific points that the Center wants to work on to eliminate imbalance and to be a more diverse and inclusive organization." One of the first opportunities that came out of the action plan was the Center offered internal and external listening sessions to recognize societal changes that B.I.P.O.C. needs to see happen and put in place a mentoring program. "One of the biggest imbalances in performing arts are members of the B.I.P.O.C. community that are in executive leadership positions. There's an effort to design a mentoring program and internships to create opportunities to learn more specifically about administration and the ins and outs and specific workings of performing arts institutions. We can enrich the pool of candidates and give black and brown folk opportunities to be able to have the unique experience of learning the nuances of being part of a performing arts center." Voices of the Community, monthly town hall meetings hosted by Fred, began virtually in 2020 and are the fourth Thursday bi-monthly at 8 PM online. In September, the next topic is "Giving Voice," discussing the power of spoken word, poetry, and literature to give voice to the B.I.P.O.C. community. The town hall will feature local spoken word artists, poets, and storytellers. "We have direct conversations with the community, albeit virtually, to make them more aware of our commitment to the Tampa Bay community. We've really begun to listen and hear members of the B.I.P.O.C. community who have significantly impacted Tampa Bay from an artistic point of view. They historically talk about the impact of B.I.P.O.C. Tampa residents have made on the history of art," he said. "We have an opportunity for the community to ask questions and to be more engaged so that we are really beginning to make allegiances, alliances, and having communication that we haven't had before. We've begun to identify folks in the community that can become part of an advisory committee that we're putting together." The ten-point plan is as follows: Conduct internal and external listening and learning sessions in order to implement an organizational learning plan enabling all in our organization to recognize the societal challenges of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color while rejecting white privilege in all its forms. Diversify further our recruitment and hiring practices with an emphasis on executive leadership and upper-level management positions. Increase board member diversity. Create a mentorship program in arts administration for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (B.I.P.O.C.). Provide training and enrichment opportunities for internal B.I.P.O.C. staff to encourage career advancement. Create a Community Engagement External Advisory Committee. Expand current internal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee by transitioning to an I.D.E.A. Committee model in alignment with national diversity conversations. Increase intentional representation to amplify the voices of B.I.P.O.C. artists on our stages through programming branded #BlackStoriesMatter. Conduct monthly town halls, each focused on a piece created by a B.I.P.O.C. artist. Continue to grow community partnerships to provide arts education and social issue conversations in schools which serve B.I.P.O.C. students and families. "The journey begins by a deepening into learning more, a deepening into creating an authentic framework that is a continuum. This is not an effort to quiet the masses, answer questions now and move on. This is a commitment from everyone at the Straz Center, a real transformation, an opportunity to embrace the whole community and make real change." To learn more, visit https://strazcenter.org/Community-Impact/Mission-Statement and to register for the town hall or see past events, visit https://strazcenter.org/Community-Impact/Cultural-Institute/Voices-of-the-Community.