Hi. That includes me.

I haven’t said a lot on what’s been happening in the world, but I have been thinking a lot.

And reading.

And donating.

Many, many things have stuck with me, but the one that spurred me to finally write down some of my thoughts was this post by J.D. Roth, who I actually respect quite a lot, on the FinCon group – which has pretty much self-imploded over the last few days in way quite reflective of society right now.

It’s pretty long. Feel free to skip over it, if you want. I’ll sum it up underneath.

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Essentially, it’s what are the white folks to do? How can we help?

And a lot of my black friends seem to be saying, stop freaking asking us, it’s not our job to explain.

Which feels about right and probably incredibly tiresome to have to tell people how to fix a problem they didn’t create.

I don’t fully understand the point of social media. I often think it does more harm than good and I don’t use mine for much other than promoting these posts on Twitter and the occasional weird theater meme on Facebook.

I don’t know if a bunch of black squares on everything for Blackout Tuesday was effective or not.

I do know I can spend way too much time thinking over whether or not something is effective and before I know it, the moment has passed and I’ve done nothing.

I don’t think this moment is going to pass quickly though. I don’t think it came on quickly either. It’s been a ready to boil over pot the entire time this nation has existed.

But I am a do-er. That’s why J.D.’s post spurred me into action.

That and I do believe the old quote “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” (Edmund Burke).

Not only am I do-er, but I also write about freaking personal finance, and let’s be real, massive parts of the racial divide here revolve around finance and poverty. I don’t know much about poverty.

But I am financially stable.

I can give money to people who do know about poverty.

I can give money to the legal groups and bail fund groups for the protesters.

I can give money to education groups that serve underfunded schools < – – which is massive, friends, because education is fundamental to the whole bootstrap idea we cling so desperately to as Americans and especially as privileged folks who may have done some bootstrapping of our own.

It seems like everyone can get ahead if they just work hard enough. America tells us we can get ahead if we just work hard enough – it is literally the American dream.

But that assumes you are educated enough to comprehend the opportunities available to you. That you know where to look. That you have examples in your life of ways you can make things better. That super basic opportunities are as available to you as they are to everyone else.

And a lot of that inequality starts on day one of school where a massive quantity of colored kids start getting a substandard education and substandard teachers and substandard living conditions.

Money is a tangible thing you can do to start help even the playing field. It might feel like shoveling sand against the tide, but it can make a difference.

I also think this can feel wildly, wildly overwhelming. Where to even start?

Well. I am a stage manager. And a lot of theater companies talk about trying to diversify, but statistically, we’re not getting far – stage management is still a hugely white field.

So back to the money. If minorities are more likely to struggle financially, how can they ever be expected to join a playing field skewed so heavily towards early career stage managers who have family who can help pay their bills while they take underpaying jobs/free internships in incredibly expensive cities?

It seems like a step in the right direction here, if the goal is to encourage minorities into the stage management field, would be grants that pay rent and living expenses for a year or two post-grad, reflective of the same way so many parents/spouses/family seem to for white early career stage managers from middle and upper class backgrounds.

That financial barrier into professional stage management is no joke.

And if you think I’m making up this idea of outside help, let’s go back to the survey again which shows recent graduates on that top line and the results from the main stage manager survey of all career stage managers on the second line.

I would even offer white stage managers this very specific financial challenge – did you have help starting out?

I have no doubt that some of you managed to make it work on your own against some impressive odds – and kudos to you – but I also personally know plenty of stage manager’s where mom and dad footed the rent (and sometimes more) bills for the first year or two in a big city.

Do the math.

How much did this help you received save you?

Now you know your number.

Make it your career goal to contribute that much to funds for people in the arts who don’t have the same privilege.

I’m not saying pay back $15,000 tomorrow – more power to you if that’s even an option now – but $15,000 over the course of your career. Call it your own personal private privilege tax.

Nobody needs to know your number but you. And now you have a very tangible goal and way to help.

And until there’s a fund specifically for POC stage managers to give back to, check out NEW Black Mutual Aid, which gives to black theater artists in need right now.

I’m sure there are thousands of other ideas people have, and maybe rather than overthinking them or trying to find all the ways they’ll fail or critique how they aren’t optimal (though do use good, common sense and take a hot second to evaluate the ideas), just start moving and see what works.

I have to hope that if we try our best with the best of intentions, it’s the right direction.

Which is a really ugly way to say what Maya Angelou said much more elegantly:

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

Things You Can Do:

• Read everything you can find about racism. I have absolutely sucked at this, so it’s time to get better.
• Listen better.
• Anti-racism Resources
• Antiracist Research and Policy Center
• Scaffolded Anti-Racism Resources

DONATE (here are a list of organizations that support black causes):

• Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
• I Run With Maud
• Justice for Kenneth Walker
• The Bail Project
• The Minnesota Freedom Fund
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund
• Communities United Against Police Brutality
• The American Civil Liberties Union
• Albany Bail Fund for Black Lives
• The Audre Lorde Project
• Bail Out Funds by City
• Black Excellent Community
• BlackLine
• Black Visions Collective
• Campaign Zero
• Color of Change
• The Okra Project
• Rise Up Kingston
• Black Stories Matter
• Equal Justice Initiative

What are you doing to make a change?