Aleshea Harris, Whitney White and The Movement Theatre Company Announce RESILIENCE

Inspired by their work What to Send Up When it Goes Down, Aleshea Harris, Whitney White and The Movement Theatre Company have created Resilience- a digital initiative, which consists of an online love letter drive (@loveletterstoblackpeople on Instagram) and a video titled soft light, written by Aleshea Harris, directed by Whitney White and produced by The Movement Theatre Company. soft light is available to watch now:

"What I recall most vividly about the summer Trayvon Martin was killed was the desire to hold and be held by people who felt as I did. The despair so many are experiencing now is reminiscent of that time, with its challenges to accessing community and the overwhelming images of Black death. My hope for this moment is that we'll find ways to reach for one another across distance, that we'll stand in the truth of our belonging and refuse to abandon joy," stated Aleshea Harris.

Resilience begins with an Instagram love letter campaign via the @loveletterstoblackpeople account. Digital audiences can send messages of love, recognition, and solidarity via email to whattosendup@gmail.com and visit Aleshea's website www.bagofbeans.net/wtsu-resources for access to additional resources related to communal healing and social justice.

Collaborators include director Whitney White (What To Send Up When It Goes Down (The Movement), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (WP Theater / 2nd Stage)), writer Aleshea Harris (Is God Is, What to Send Up When it Goes Down), sound designer Sinan Zafar (What the Constitution Means to Me, And She Would Stand Like This (The Movement)), editors Tarik Smith and Matthew Russell, digital design by Yu-Hsuan Chen (Measure For Measure (The Public Mobile Unit), What To Send Up When It Goes Down (The Movement)), visual artist Byron McCray, and The Movement Theatre Company.

Aleshea Harris' What to Send Up When It Goes Down, directed by Whitney White and produced by The Movement Theatre Company, was created to celebrate the inherent value of Black people, affirm those navigating anti-blackness, and honor those who have lost their lives. After its New York premiere in 2018, the play toured to Woolly Mammoth Theatre in DC, American Repertory Theater in Boston, and The Public Theater's Under The Radar Festival in New York City and will have a future run at Playwrights Horizons in New York.