Talking Back
Talking Back
artEquity’s web series that reveals the movement for justice in the theatre field.
About the Program
Hosted by artEquity founder and executive director, Carmen Morgan, Talking Back is a web series that brings together visionary artists, activists, and cultural leaders to discuss the growing movement for justice in the arts field.
The first season of Talking Back was filmed in September 2019 before the first case of COVID-19 was recorded, and prior to the global uprisings in 2020. Season 1 brought artEquity’s practice of facilitating hard and necessary conversations to a broader audience. In six episodes, the curtain was pulled back and viewers gained insight into the activism and progress achieved by theater practitioners across the field.
The second season of Talking Back was filmed in November 2022. In three episodes, Season 2 engaged with and focused on Black creatives who have operated at all levels of leadership in arts organizations across the United States. In these conversations with creatives, playwrights, producers, performers, and leaders, we were reminded of the ways in which Black folks, in particular, “have a way of converting trauma into other things.” We learn what it takes to transform, not just anti-Black institutions, but an anti-Black field.
This series was created and produced by Sharifa Johka. Funding for Season 1 of Talking Back was provided by Meyer Memorial Trust and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Season 2 of the project was provided in part by the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Thank You to Our Supporters
artEquity provides the tools, resources, and training to support the intersection of art and activism. Our work is made possible in part by the California Arts Council, the Dramatists Guild Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Getty Foundation, Barbara and Amos Hostetter, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the JKW Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Shubert Foundation, Venturous Theatre Fund of the Tides Foundation, and a growing community of individuals and organizations across the globe.