Solidarity Statements
One of the many ways (but not the only way) that Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed can support global movements for social change, Pedagogy of the Oppressed praxis, and Theatre of the Oppressed practice is by issuing Solidarity Statements.
Anyone may request that PTO consider developing a Solidarity Statement about a particular concern, question, or situation. Whether PTO ultimately can issue a statement will depend upon several factors, including but not limited to the following: ethical alignment of the request with PTO mission and values, the capacity of board members or other people collaborating with PTO to write the statement itself, potential conflicts of interest, US not-for-profit law, etc.
Sometimes people ask us: Why did PTO make a statement about X topic but not about Y topic? To be transparent, we are an all-volunteer organization, and, while we are eager to issue statements of support and solidarity when we can, we lack the labor capacity to write statements about every form of oppression in every place around the world (and to translate quite so many documents). To do so would be impossible. In addition, while statements of solidarity are valuable, we do not believe that statements are the primary way that organizing for change happens. For those practical and philosophical reasons, our process for solidarity statements works on a request model: we consider issuing solidarity statements when either 1) a board member or group of board members initiates one or 2) someone from the broader PTO community asks PTO to make such a statement.
Below are just two examples of a range of statements we have issued:
Statement of Abolition Solidarity – June 2nd, 2020
Solidarity in the Time of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV2) – April 24th, 2020
How to Request a Solidarity Statement
Initiating a Statement: To request that PTO consider making a statement about a particular situation or struggle, please contact the coordinator of the Global Solidarity Action Group at kellybhowe@gmail.com.
- One way to initiate a Solidarity Statement is for you to write a draft of a statement & submit that first draft to the Global Solidarity Action Group for revision and consideration for possible publication by PTO. (Before preparing a draft, check with the Global Solidarity Action Coordinator to make sure the topic is something that PTO could likely speak about in some way. If necessary, the Global Solidarity team will confer with the PTO co-presidents to determine whether it will be possible to issue a statement.)
- You can request that the Global Solidarity coordinator initiate a first draft of a statement. If the coordinator thinks that PTO can potentially issue such a statement, the coordinator can either write the first draft or ask someone on the Global Solidarity Action Group or a board member to write the statement.
Once reviewed, edited, and finalized, the final version must be approved by the Global Solidarity coordinator, the PTO co-presidents, and, if different from the Global Solidarity coordinator, the author of the first draft. When translation does not prohibit the necessary timely release, solidarity statements will ideally be released in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Sometimes, however, for reasons of timeliness and the urgencies of the topic at hand, we might issue a statement in one language only and try to facilitate additional translation later.
Please Note: In situations where PTO determines that, for whatever reason, the organization is unable to issue a solidarity statement, we may still be able to share links or other documents that help generate awareness about a particular topic or situation. It is our goal to be in solidarity with struggles against oppression in any way that we can.