#makeroomforoak

Power drives everything. Whether it’s political, economic, online — power makes the rules and makes things move. At Session 2 of TED2019, we explore how different centers of global power are dramatically playing out across the world stage.

The event: Talks and performances from TED2019, Session 2: Power, hosted by TED’s Chris Anderson and Whitney Pennington Rodgers

When and where: Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 8:45am, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC.

Speakers: Rafael Casal, Jack Dorsey, Adena Friedman, Peter Beck and Julius Maada Bio

The talks in brief:

Rafael Casal, poet, filmmaker, actor (you know him from Blindspotting), activist, incorrigible Tweeter

Big idea: Online protest travels fast. Justice can be delivered quickly — but the argument can also quickly devolve into a loud, angry mess. How do we mix activism and nuanced debate?

How? Rafael Casal tells the cautionary tale of a 2016 Twitter firestorm he helped spark. The hashtag he started — #MakeRoomForOak, a campaign for the actor Oak Onaudowan, who was asked to step down as the lead of a new Broadway show — blew up, kicking off a debate about representation and diversity in the arts. But within a week, the hashtag turned into an ugly shouting match, coopted by misinformation, threats and abuse. This, says Casal, is part of a massive cultural shift in what activism looks like. We’re still on the social media learning curve, and, sure, the nuance gets lost sometimes. But these debates are bringing long-unheard issues to center stage — and making impact. It’s on us to keep failing loud, teaching others to succeed and steadily arriving at justice.

and it sucks, because if we want change, if we want diversity on broadway, companies and casting directors have to be willing to take a chance on poc even if “they don’t sell” and take those changes again, and again, and again. they can’t just pick and choose when to have a black, or a latinx, or an asian, or a native american lead. pick and choose the best actor, and if that actor is a poc, hire them, every fucking time. but the mentality the great comet has shown w/this is “if we have two black leads we are Diverse so come see our show!! we’re the best xD xD” (even though they have many, many other diverse cast members) and yeah, sure. that would be great if the great comet let oak finish his run, which iirc was supposed to run FAR longer than one month. it makes sense with ingrid michaelson to give her one month because she’s just stepping in for someone who WILL RETURN. but oak was supposed to be the new face of the great comet on broadway. he is their star, right now. he is their face. and it’s essentially spitting in his face to say “you need to wait and let this other actor pass you up, even though this is your role right now.” 

honestly, it hurts. it hurts even though he’s gotten rave reviews, and many people have bought tickets to explicitly see him BECAUSE of those rave reviews, the great comet is still seeing him as a pawn that they can brag about. that they can say he “graciously agreed,” even though someone on twitter commented to rafa - “he needed to agree otherwise his career would be over.” god. that’s horrible, that he has to lay down and act docile because they thought an established white actor could do better than him. the great comet is not going to fall off of broadway because it isn’t hitting the company’s target for sales, and it isn’t right that “ticket sales” are the reason for oak’s removal. and the worst thing is that this isn’t the first time, and honestly probably won’t be the last time. it’s only getting so much attention because oak & rafa are known in lots of circles. which means that we need to keep bringing up this discussion, again and again, until it doesn’t have to be discussed because it is a fact: poc will NOT be stepped on on broadway.

i don’t know. i’m just tired. and the trump trans soldiers nonsense is making me mad, too, and this morning was just a sensory overload.