70 days.
10 weeks.
2 months.
1,680 hours.
100,800 minutes.
6,048,000 seconds.
No. This is not the lyric sheet to some RENT musical remix. This is the amount of time that stood between Theatre as we knew it and one very sweet moment of reuniting on June 8, 2020.
On April 1, 2020 at 12:01am, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser officially put in place the stay-at-home order in Washington, DC. Shows were cancelled, performances were abandoned and many, many contracts were revoked. In an instant, the theater community relinquished its foundation of togetherness to venture into indefinite solitude.
But, just like everything else in the world even a pandemic is not exempt from injustice. On May 25, 2020 George Floyd was brutally murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin on the streets of Minneapolis. His death woke the world up to the fact that even in a worldwide pandemic the Black community is still not absolved from police brutality.
In response, the world fought back in a demand for justice. Real justice that extends beyond any one life sentence. Just like that, without hesitation, our country abandoned the national quarantine to fight for what we knew should be a birthright; and amidst that turmoil came a solidarity unlike anything we’ve experienced yet.
On Monday, June 8th, a day traditionally reserved for rest within the theatre community, artists from all over DC gathered for one reason: To honor the life of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Amhaud Aubrey, Tony McDade, Erik Salgado, David McAtee... Take a moment to contribute three names to the list I provided. I’ll wait, I know you can recall. I know you can recall because every month there are at least four new lives lost at the hands of police brutality; and those are just the names we know.
At a safe distance, we shared space for the first time in a long time. We breathed together. We bore witness to the beautiful art harbored within the creases of our quarantine existence. Together we made space for healing. Together we took time to honor the lives of those we lost, while also taking the space to honor the lives we are still trying to live.
This is my record of this beautiful moment of healing. Thank you to organizers Galvanize DC and Actors Arena of Making Space to Breathe/Gathering to Grieve, to Arena Stage for making space, and to the presenters: Jefferson A Russell, Jade Jones, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, Temídayo Amay, Psalmayene 24, Felicia Curry, KenYatta Rogers, Kasai Rogers, Inès Nassara.
Photo gallery by Billie Krishawn
Video capture of the June 8 vigil, Making Space to Breathe/Gathering to Grieve
Thank you for this, Billie.