Antiracism Statement

June 24th, 2020

The Hashtag Comedy Co. is committed to investing ourselves and our resources into building an equitable, diverse and antiracist comedy space. 

We believe this effort is critically important in comedy and the arts, where safety and belonging are integral to the joy of creation. And we think the work to be done to create an intentionally antiracist comedy space is a necessity for building a comedy community that accurately reflects and celebrates the diversity of our city. 

But words are one thing, action is another. 

In the light of the above statement we...

1. Recognize that being well-intentioned doesn’t mean that we don’t need to dig deep, confront and educate ourselves on ways we have offended, excluded or tokenized BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ individuals in our business. We commit to confronting these biases and norms and creating a better, safer and more inclusive space for our cast members, staff, students and audience.  

2. Understand that we cannot--and should not--take on the work of building an equitable, diverse and antiracist comedy company alone. We commit to assembling a creative board composed of diverse voices from our community that oversees and sets the tone for the company. This board will hold ownership accountable for what we say we wish to build and how we build it. 

3. Commit to transparency, listening to feedback to those gracious enough to give it and changing as we need to change.

Perfection is the enemy of action. We’d rather move forward in kindness and with intention and get checked when necessary, than sit in silence and cause harm by doing nothing. While we take this message seriously, we know that the work we put into this will result in more joy for all.

We have also made a $250 donations to Kaleidoscope Youth Center, Columbus Freedom Fund, Motherful, and the YWCA. If you are able, please consider joining us in donating to these incredible organizations.

#BlackLivesMatter