#STOPASIANHATEALBERTA
THE CITADEL THEATRE’S STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY
The Citadel Theatre is in the heart of Edmonton, and we are so lucky to call Treaty 6 territory home. The best part of our community is our neighbours; the individuals that make up our staff, our teams of artists, and our audiences. As a regional theatre, it is our duty and pleasure to serve our community: to reflect your experiences on our stages, and to amplify your voices in the stories we tell.
It is our responsibility to join together with our neighbours to stop hate.
In the last 12 months, we have witnessed a heartbreaking rise in abhorrent violence and hateful, divisive rhetoric towards the Asian Canadian members of our community. These stories are coming out across Alberta and throughout Canada, and while there has been a marked increase over the last year, these stories only contribute to the long history of white supremacy and racial injustice in our communities. We are proud to raise our voice with these communities as they call for the end of racism, xenophobia, discrimination, violence and hate towards our neighbours.
Citadel Theatre has to do our part as well. We commit to dismantling the systems of oppression that our organization has benefited from. We acknowledge our privilege as one of the largest arts organizations in Alberta, and one of the largest regional theatres in Canada; it is our responsibility to enshrine this pledge at the heart of our company. We are building an anti-racism and anti-oppression framework within our organization to address and avoid intersectional bias, inequities and oppression, through training, paid consultation, internal analysis, our commitment to Edmonton’s 35//50 Initiative, and significant systemic changes.
If you aren’t sure where to start to denounce and eliminate race-based hate, here is a list from Linda Hoang and #StopAsianHateAlberta
- Speak out if you see a racially motivated attack.
- Call out jokes that disparage or stereotype any BIPOC community.
- Donate to organizations that support BIPOC community initiatives.
- Support your favourite BIPOC restaurants, business owners, and try new ones.
- Listen and act when BIPOC in your community are sharing their experiences.
- Read and research to learn what is happening and determine how you can best help.
We encourage our followers to work towards racial justice, to advocate against harassment and discriminatory practices, and to support local Asian-owned businesses and organizations that serve our community. We’ve shared anti-racism, community, and intervention resources below.
In Solidarity and Love,
The Staff and Board of Citadel Theatre
RESOURCES
ALBERTA
#StopAsianHateAlberta – bit.ly/LindaHoangStopAsianHateAlberta
A collective show of solidarity on the website of Edmonton’s Linda Hoang, standing united with other Asians in Alberta’s food community against race-driven hate crimes. List of resources available.
Stop Hate AB – stophateab.ca
A resource dedicated to the collection of hate-related incident reports in Alberta.
Alberta Hate Crimes Committee – albertahatecrimes.org
Workshop resources for Beyond Hate (community) and Hate Hurts (diversity and anti-hate/bias education program for junior and senior high).
CANADA
Addressing Anti-Asian Racism – bit.ly/AddressingAntiAsianRacismTDSB
This document provides an in-depth foundation for reflection, discussion, and social justice action, and to build capacity to effectively understand, respond, intervene and act when issues of injustice, human rights, equity, and oppression arise. From Toronto District School Board and Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.
ACT2ENDRACISM – act2endracism.ca
Act2endracism is a national network representing Asian communities and allies across Canada. It offers support to targets of racism and has created a reporting line to capture data of incidents that often go unreported. The site features incredible resources from ACCT Foundation in English, French, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Tagalog.
BUTTERFLY – butterflysw.org
An organization that provides support to, and advocates for, the rights of Asian and migrant sex workers.
STOP THE SPREAD – stopthespread.ca
A campaign to fight against racism in light of COVID-19 by the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice.
FIGHT COVID RACISM – covidracism.ca
Anti-Asian racism is on the rise across Canada. This platform aims to allow individuals to share their experiences of racism and will allow the site to track and record instances of Anti-Asian racism during COVID-19.
US & INTERNATIONAL
Hollaback! – ihollaback.org/bystanderintervention
Bystander intervention guide and training by American organization Hollaback! for to stop anti-Asian harassment and xenophobia.
Stop AAPI Hate – stopaapihate.org
Tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.