We encourage you to join us in supporting Black activists, artists, businesses, and communities through action, donations, and by educating yourself about the history of American racism. We will continue to add additional resources; please check back often.
While not always a theater (we present a wide range of unconventional works in the performing and visual arts), the Armory acknowledges and supports the vital work of We See You White American Theatre (WSYWAT). We embrace the vision for equity articulated by its Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) theater-makers. We fully endorse the principles and goals expressed in the WSWAT letter, which align with our own values and goals.
The Armory embraces diversity in its artistic leadership, and in the artists we support through our productions, commissioning program, artists-in-residence program, educational activities, and artist convenings and public talks. We have acknowledged the original ownership of the land on which our building sits, and in 2018, hosted and supported the first congregation of Lenape Leaders in Manhattan since the 1700s.
But we must do more on an off-stage, recognizing that our efforts are still a work in progress, and there are many more actions we can and will take, collaborating with all our stakeholders, in making diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism a cornerstone of the Armory’s mission.
The Armory is committed to growth, change, and building and improving DEI & in all areas of of our organization and programming, including our staff, Board, and other members of our community. Essential components of our continuing path to change include equitable staff hiring and compensation practices and a culture of compassion, respect, support, and feedback in which our staff can thrive in our collective pursuit of excellence.
We have been planning and implementing new initiatives and expect significant progress by fall of 2021 in the areas of staff and Board diversity, professional development, anti-racism training, artistic programming and audience diversity, communications, and contracting. More specifically, among the initiatives we are and will be working on are:
We will look to the WSYWAT document for guidance as we go on this sometimes challenging but necessary journey towards a more inclusive, equitable, diverse, and anti-racist organization.
Updated January 21, 2021
Listen to Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” from the 2021 Presidential Inauguration
Amanda Gorman made history in 2017 by being named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate in the United States by UrbanWord and the Library of Congress. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she graduated cum laude from Harvard with a degree in Sociology.
Sign the Petition for COVID-19 Relief
Support the Movement for Black Lives’ petition calling on congressional leadership to pass COVID-19 relief that prioritizes Black communities over corporations and does not rely on the militarization of communities of color as a response to the pandemic. Sign the petition.
Explore New Work by Carl Hancock Rux & Carrie Mae Weems
Discover The Baptism, a new Lincoln Center Commission by poet Carl Hancock Rux (Interrogations of Form: The Shape of Things, 2017; Black Artists Retreat 2019: Sonic Imagination) that pays tribute to the legacies of civil rights leaders John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, two towering figures who stood at the front lines of the battle for racial justice. The 11-minute film is directed by Armory Artist-in-Residence Carrie Mae Weems. Explore the work.
Take Action
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Direct Action
Support Black-Led Institutions & Artists
Theater
Dance
Visual Art
Music
Literature
Educational Resources
Books & Articles
Podcasts
Films & Video
Support Local Organizations/Funds
• DreamYard
• Casita Maria
• Brooklyn Community Bail Fund
• Communities United for Police Reform
• Equality for Flatbush
• Liberty Fund NYC
• Safety Beyond Policing
• SURJ: Showing Up for Racial Justice—NYC Chapter
• The Bronx Freedom Fund
• The Bronx Defenders
• Make the Road New York
• John V. Lindsey Wildcat Academy Charter School
• The African American Policy Forum at Columbia University
• Community Connections for Youth
• Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES)
• IntegrateNYC
• Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice
• Vera Institute of Justice
• Urban Justice Center
• The Fortune Society
• Brooklyn Community Foundation
Support National Organizations/Funds
• #BlackLivesMatter
• Equal Justice Initiative
• Color of Change
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund
• The Race Forward
• The Legal Aid Society
• George Floyd Memorial Fund
• I Run With Maud
• Fight for Breonna Taylor
• Art for Justice Fund
• Campaign Zero
• Northstar Health Collective
• Louisville Community Bail Fund
• Atlanta Solidarity Fund
• National Bail Fund Network
• Prosecutor Impact
• RAPP Campaign: Release Aging People in Prison
• Dream Defenders
• Common Justice
• Center for Policing Equity
• Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
• Drug Policy Alliance
• National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls
• Use of Force Project
• Grassroots Law Project
• Black Youth Project
• National Police Accountability Project (project of the National Lawyers Guild)
• The Marshall Project
Direct Action
• Movement for Blacks Lives: Week of Action
Theater
• Billie Holiday Theater
• The Fire This Time Festival
• Black Revolutionary Theatre Workshop
• Black Spectrum Theatre
• Classical Theatre of Harlem
• Harlem 9
• Harlem Repertory Theatre
• Impact Repertory Theatre
• Liberation Theatre Company
• The Movement Theatre
• National Black Theatre
• Negro Ensemble Company
• New Federal Theatre
• New Heritage Theatre Group
• New Professional Theatre
• Rooted Theater Company
• Shades of Truth Theatre
• Broadway Advocacy Coalition
Dance
• Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
• Dance Theatre of Harlem
• New York Live Arts
• Urban Bush Women
Visual Art
• The Africa Center
• The Studio Museum in Harlem
• The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
• Weeksville Heritage Center
• Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA)
• The Vision & Justice Project
• The Black School
Music
• The Apollo Theater
• Castle of Our Skins
• Harlem Chamber Players
• Music by Black Composers
• The Sphinx Organization
• Videmus
Literature
• Cave Canem Foundation
• Voices Unbroken
• NYC Black-Owned Business
• Black-Owned Etsy Shops
• Black-Owned Brooklyn: A Curated Guide to Black Brooklyn’s People, Places and Products
• Official Black Wall Street
Books & Articles
• The 1619 Project | The New York Times Magazine
• “Talking About Race” | The National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Dr. Brittney Cooper
• How To Be An Antiracist by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Raising Our Hands by Jenna Arnold
• Redefining Realness by Janet Mock
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs
• The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
• When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America by Ira Katznelson
• White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo, PhD
• A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Caught by Marie Gottschalk
• Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
• The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
• The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The Free Black Women’s Library
• “How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change” by President Barack Obama
• “Building Trust After Inclusivity Failed: Lessons for the Theater” by Helen Shaw | Vulture
• “Reflecting on Violence Against African Americans” | The Rockefeller Foundation
• “8 Black Artists on Life in America Right Now” | Vogue
• “Not a Moment but a Movement: Toward an Anti-Racist American Theatre” | American Theatre Magazine
• “BIPOC Demands for White American Theatre” | We See You White American Theatre
• Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields
• Contemporary Artists Reflect On Life in America | VOGUE
• Anti-Racist Resources: For Families, Educators, and Students | WNET
Podcasts
• 1619 | The New York Times
• Code Switch | NPR
• Intersectionality Matters! Hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
• Lineage
• Still Processing
Films & Video
• 13th (Ava Du Vernay) | Netflix
• Black Power Mixtape: 1967–1975 | Available to Rent
• Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler) | Available to Rent
• I am Not Your Negro (James Baldwin Documentary) | Available to Rent on Kanopy
• If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins) | Hulu
• Just Mercy (Destin Daniel Cretton) | Available to Rent
• Selma (Ava DuVernay) | Available to Rent
• Strong Island | Netflix
• Notes from the Field | HBO
• The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution | Available to Rent
• The Hate U Give (George Tillman Jr.) | Hulu with Cinemax
• When They See Us (Ava Du Vernay) | Netflix
• Know Your Rights as a Protestor | ACLU
• TED: Talks to help you understand racism in America
• “Respectability Politics’ Won’t Protect Black Americans From Racism” featuring Bryan Stevenson | Now This
• Eulogy for George Floyd by Reverend Al Sharpton | CSPAN
• “8:46” by Dave Chapelle | YouTube
• “Omar Victor Diop’s Photographs Celebrate the History of Black Resistance through Vivid Symbolism” | Artsy