Land Acknowledgment
Pony World Theatre acknowledges that we live, work, and play on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people past and present, including the Duwamish, Stillaguamish, Muckleshoot, and Suquamish indigenous nations. We honor these people as the original caretakers and storytellers of this region. We pay tribute to their resilience, sacrifice, and contributions, and acknowledge we would not be here in this place telling stories without all they have done.
Words are stronger when accompanied by action. We invite our audiences to join us in making donations to Real Rent Duwamish. Theatre lovers can also visit Red Eagle Soaring to learn about the live art they make with Native youth.
Other Organizations providing vital services include:
The Potlatch Fund is a Native-led nonprofit organization that provides grants and leadership development to Tribal Nations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho.
Chief Seattle Club is a Native-led housing and human services agency.
Anti-Racism Pledge
Theatre is a reflection of the society that produces it. Therefore, we acknowledge that as a Predominately White Led Institution (PWI), Pony World Theatre is complicit in the systemic harm often inflicted on BIPOC members of our industry and the wider community. These harms can often be overt, covert, ingrained, and unexamined.
We must fight racism not just with the stories we tell but the ways in which we tell them.
Pony World Theatre commits itself to examining our practices and behaviors. We pledge to do better in our storytelling and in our collaborations. We will strive for more inclusive hiring and healthier work environments. All theatres, including our own, should listen to BIPOC artists and amend behaviors both active and passive that create toxic and unwelcoming conditions.
These pledges are only early steps in a much longer journey. Larger and more specific changes lay ahead. While theatre is a reflection of the society that produces it, theatre can also stand as an aspiration to what a society would like to be.
Black Lives Matter
The world as we currently know it needs to be broken, and at Pony World Theatre we believe the right story at the right time can break it. But we have not done the hard work yet. We have been complicit in the systemic racism that has failed our BIPOC colleagues in theatre and the wider world. We acknowledge our white privilege. We state unequivocally that Black Lives Matter.
We also know that words and stories are not enough.
We will investigate our organization for failings and shortcomings and learn from past mistakes. When we make mistakes in the future, we will work hard to make changes and repair relationships. We will hold ourselves accountable and encourage others to hold us to account.