Copy / Paste: Written by A. S. Leckrone // Alison

Recently, Sandeep and I have been talking about creating and running a group called People of Color, LGBTQA, Women Alliance of Arts. Basically, a place for seemingly underrepresented people to express themselves, and have a space to feel safe and encouraged to do what they love. After helping run a house venue and being in and around the music and arts scene for a while, it doesn't take long to notice how a lot of bands and artists see to be dominantly white males, here in America. 

Which is all well and good, nothing against those white male people. But, it speaks to a larger issue at hand. And brings about an important question, which is, "why is there not more diversity within the performing arts community?" And I think the answer is simple, yet complex.

First of all I think that women, queer people, and people of color may feel less supported in general, but this leads to the start of a cycle of not seeing anyone like them in the scene, and therefore not wanting to pursue their passion, since they feel like they may not have a place within it. I recently read an article that stated how performing people of color either felt like a token or invisible…And how neither feel too great. As a white queer woman, i can only identify so much with that..Because although people can judge your sexual orientation based on your style, there is still no way for people to absolutely know sexual preference until asking…Whereas race is much more visible. It is one of the first things people notice about a person. And sometimes seems like a lot of difficulty gets thrown at any individual that is somewhere in between any genre, or reads as something or someone that is not necessarily recognizable right away…Like anyone in between genders, races, or sexuality. Some people are not easily categorized into one or two boxes, in fact many of us are not easily definable, and it is not only silly but harmful to think that we can continue to try and cramp all of our arms and legs into one simple categorical cage.

Might sound cheesy and old-fashioned, but i am a strong believer in getting to know people, before speaking of them. I try my hardest not to judge anyone, or to let any preconceived notions about their appearance affect the way I think of them, prior to meeting them. I am a true believer in viewing race, age, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, and style as all separate entities, and just because one person might fit into a few recognized categories of those things, does not mean they necessarily fall into the rest that you have seen in the past. I personally believe and promote the concept of spectrums and think that every person lies on a different part of the spectrum for each category. Like colors, flavors and scents, etc I believe personalities to have infinite possibilities, and therein lies the magic of meeting new people, and hearing new stories. I think that just knowing this, and respecting people's differences is at the core to creating a more cohesive environment where we can all coexist. I'm not saying we all have to agree or like each other, but at least respect one another, and understand that we really are all different. That phrase and concept is preached in grade school, etc, but seems to almost be forgotten in the "adult" world. There seems to be this magical age range, at least for me, (if you are lucky to be around kids that have not been brain washed by parents), that everybody seems to get along regardless of race and gender. At a younger age, boys and girls have more physically in common, and race doesn't hold as strong of a political voice in our five-year-old heads. Something to take from this youthful view on life, and relationships.

Not to say I think we should take this back to pre-school, but hopefully you catch my drift. There is something to be learned from the naivety behind being a child. Our brains are so much more fresh and malleable, ready to receive new knowledge, and not be tainted with dogma and politics regarding harmful stereotypes. If we could combine that fresh open-minded outlook on life, with the more mature reality of our individuals struggles, that would be effective. If we could be able to relate to each other beyond surface level, superficial bullet points, I think that that is a good start to improving this community, and hopefully contribute to making this world more pleasant for everyone.