The US Department of Arts and Culture joins with The Theater Offensive and MASSCreative to present the Poetic Address to the Nation, April 22, 7pm ET
The event will be the culmination of the 2021 People’s State of the Union
BOSTON, March 30, 2021 — The US Department of Arts and Culture (USDAC), The Theater Offensive (TTO), and MASSCreative announced today that they will be collaborating to present the seventh annual Poetic Address to the Nation on April 22nd, 7pm ET. Every year, the USDAC sponsors the People’s State of the Union, inviting community members across the country to host story circles in their own homes, schools, houses of worship, and community organizations, engaging in conversations that reveal the state of our union. The Poetic Address to the Nation invites writers, performers, and activists to present work inspired by the stories. TTO will produce the virtual 2021 Poetic Address to the Nation, featuring exemplary Boston-based and national performers, in partnership with the USDAC and MASSCreative.
The USDAC is a people-powered national action network (not a federal agency) composed of artists, activists, and allies inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of equity, empathy, and belonging. Founded in 1989, TTO is a social change organization that presents liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color. MASSCreative advocates for a well-resourced and equitable creative sector that is essential to the economic and civic vibrancy of Massachusetts.
“The combination of national scope and deeply-local roots is precisely what the USDAC stands for,” said the USDAC Co-Director Jordan Seaberry, and Chief Ray of Sunshine, Carol Zou. “The Poetic Address to the Nation seeks to build radically imaginative interventions across the country, and the values of TTO and MASSCreative are the embodiment of those principles.”
This year, community members across the nation were invited to reflect on the interlocking crises of systemic racism, eviction, poverty, access to healthcare, and more laid bare by COVID-19.
“The Theater Offensive’s deep roots in trans and queer communities of color allow us to bring artists and stories to the forefront that often are marginalized, especially as COVID has revealed some of the structural inequalities that have always marked our neighborhoods,” said Harold Steward, Executive Director and Cultural Strategist at TTO.
“We stand with the belief that democracy is not a monologue, it’s a conversation,” said Tri Quach, Director of Engagement and Organizing at MASSCreative. “The Poetic Address to the Nation will demonstrate how vital that conversation will be to the future of our union.”
The Poetic Address to the Nation is historically an in-person event; moving it virtually this year allows partners and participants to expand the event’s accessibility beyond any single space, bridging communities across geographic boundaries. Those connections are the foundation of what Story Circles can weave in communities across the country.
The 2021 People’s State of the Union
April 22, 2021
7 to 8 pm ET
Register by clicking here, or by visiting https://usdac.us/psotu/
About the US Department of Arts and Culture
The USDAC is a network of artists, activists, and allies inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of equity, empathy, and belonging.
The USDAC affirms the right to culture and pursuing cultural democracy that:
Welcomes each individual as a whole person
Values each community’s heritage, contributions, and aspirations
Promotes caring, reciprocity, and open communication across all lines of difference
Dismantles all barriers to love and justice
About the Theater Offensive
The Theater Offensive’s mission is liberation. To present liberating art by, for, and about queer and trans people of color that transcends artistic boundaries, celebrates cultural abundance, and dismantles oppression.
About MASSCreative
MASSCreative advocates for a well-resourced and equitable creative sector that is essential to the economic and civic vibrancy of Massachusetts. Working with its organizational and individual members, MASSCreative advances the public policy, grassroots advocacy learning, and cross-sector alliances necessary to creating a Commonwealth where art, culture, and creativity are a valued part of everyday life.
