Equity Statement
Third Rail Repertory Theatre commits to dismantling the entrenched, institutionalized racism and systems of white supremacy that make it possible for centuries of violence against our BIPOC colleagues and community members to continue. We commit to uplifting, centering, and financially supporting voices who have been historically subject to gatekeeping, tokenizing, and harm in the American theatre, including BIPOC artists, queer artists, and artists with disabilities. We commit to seeing our work through an antiracist lens, and we commit ourselves as individuals and as an organization to centering equity work in all aspects of what we do. We commit to assessing the gap between what we say and what we do by regularly evaluating where we spend our money, where we spend our time, and where we spend our art so that all three reflect our commitment to equity and justice.
Resources
Anti-Racism Resources for White People
Albina Vision Trust
The Albina Vision Trust is the largest restorative redevelopment effort in America. It is a community-driven non-profit created to buy back land, rebuild community, and reroot Black legacies and Black futures in the heart of Portland’s central city.
Don’t Shoot Portland
Don’t Shoot Portland is a Community Action Plan that incorporates activism, education and strategic partnerships to foster community liberation from violence and oppression.
Black United Fund
For over 30 years, Black United Fund of Oregon has been committed to providing financial support and life-changing programs for low-income communities and communities of color in Oregon. The ultimate goal of the Black United Fund of Oregon (BUF) is to increase opportunities for growth by encouraging philanthropic activity in our state and putting funds in the hands of organizations providing resources for underserved communities.
Coalition of Communities of Color
The Coalition of Communities of Color’s mission is to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by our families, children and communities; and to organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice and prosperity.
Imagine Black
Imagine Black (formerly PAALF) helps our Black community imagine the alternatives we deserve and build our political participation and leadership to achieve those alternatives.
NAACP of Portland
The NAACP of Portland works to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and discrimination.
The Urban League of Portland
The Urban League of Portland’s mission is to empower African-Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security and quality of life.
Seeding Justice
Seeding Justice (formerly MRG Foundation) builds collective power by transforming philanthropy and funding movements, in the pursuit of justice and liberation for all communities.
Stop Asian Hate and Asian American Pacific Islander Solidarity Resources
Gathered by people and co-conspirators of the Calling Us In Network.
Ecotrust – From Acknowledgement to Action
Land Acknowledgement
Third Rail Repertory Theatre lives and works on the stolen ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and many other Tribes who made their homes, and continue to make their homes, along the Willamette and Columbia rivers.
We acknowledge that Third Rail’s previous administrative offices in the Alberta Abbey resided in a building that was historically a religious and community gathering place in a predominantly Black neighborhood, and that the Black community members of the Albina district have been displaced through decades of systemic racism. It is important to note that this displacement contributes to community violence, and we hold ourselves accountable to act in service of dismantling the systems that feed racism and anti-Blackness.
While it is important to acknowledge the lands we occupy, and the continued presence of the Indigenous communities from whom the lands were seized, these words are meaningless without direct action to address the injustices faced by Indigenous members of our community. There are many Native-led local organizations on the ground every day working on policy initiatives, providing education, offering resources, and more. Learning about these organizations, supporting their work, and joining in their efforts are a few ways all of us can take action right now.
Below are just a handful of the organizations we can all uplift and support.
Future Generations Collaborative
The Future Generations Collaborative is a collective impact partnership between Native serving and Native specific organizations, institutions, governments, and community members. They achieve this through community engagement, re-indigenizing research and evaluation, strategic policy advocacy, innovative education and technical assistance.
Native American Youth and Family Center
Founded by the community, for the community, NAYA is a regional center for Native resilience and self-determination. They wrap community in culturally specific programs, steward generational impacts, amplify community victories, and share a culture of reciprocity. Together, they heal historical traumas, restore balance to lives, and achieve thriving Indigenous futures.
Northwest Native Chamber
Northwest Native Chamber is dedicated to working with all members of the community to transform the economic landscape for Native and Tribal people in the Northwest.