BWW Blog: Black Voices Matter

Hey everyone! My name is Isa Peña and I'm super excited to join the BWW team as a student blogger for the summer! I'm from Miami, FL, and I just finished my first year in the dual degree program at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music. I initially wanted to use my first blog to talk a little more about the theater program at Harvard, and how I incorporate Broadway into my life at a non-conservatory school. However, given the injustices that occur consistently throughout our country being brought to light, I feel that talking about my program would be superficial, and have decided to write about that in a future post. We are living through a major turning point in history, and not addressing it would feel dismissive and an abuse of my non-black privilege.

The tragic death of George Floyd has brought to light many of the structural issues of long-standing American institutions. However, his death was certainly not the first of its kind, and it wasn't the last either. Racism did not just up and disappear in 1968, and it is clear now more than ever that prejudice against black people needs to end now. There are major differences between equality, equity, and justice.

As someone studying both music and political science in college, I've realized that in many ways, politics drives theater, and theater pushes difficult conversations about political change and the human existence. The two fields coexist, and they can often bring about beautiful work or incredible change.

Theater, for me, has always been an inclusive space. Broadway is where people go when they want to feel like they belong. This should not be denied to anyone of a specific race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity. There are many different organizations at Harvard that serve to highlight people of color in theater, including the Asian Student Arts Project (ASAP), ¡Teatro!, and BlackCast. As a member of the board for ¡Teatro!, the Latinx theater company on campus, I have done a lot of deep introspection throughout the past week and realized that we must do better not only as an organization, but as people fighting for human rights. Harvard BlackCast, an organization focused on supporting black theater on campus, released a statement that states, "Our organization seeks to provide space for Black people to liberate themselves from such oppression through freedom of expression (artistic and otherwise), community building, and meditation" (@harvardblackcast). While there are organizations on campus dedicated to creating spaces for black artists and creatives, many other organizations, theatrical or otherwise, are neither diverse nor inclusive, and these groups must do better. I'm very grateful to feel comfortable being vulnerable with castmates and production teams on campus. However, I know this is not a universal experience.

I will never understand what it means to be a black person living in America right now. I cannot say better what has already been said. However, I will use my voice in any way I can to fight for justice.