What I Fear

While driving home from work last night I heard people on the radio discussing their fears – people of color are afraid of whites, Muslims are afraid of everyone, Jews are afraid of the swastikas showing up on playgrounds. I am scared for my neighbors but I am also afraid that fear will make people less likely to mix with people who don't look like them. This is playing right into the hands of white nationalists – it is exactly what separatists want us to do!

For years I have worked to bring together a diverse group of people once a week for an Aerial Dance class by offering a scholarship for dancers of color to study with Fly-by-Night. This program has never been funded and I do not make a living through the class. I simply realized that the opportunity was there for us to bring people together and I acted on that opportunity. The program has been successful – our weekly class does looks like the rest of the city in terms of a mixture of ethnicity. The class is small but over the years the number of people who have come together has added up to hundreds.

I believe that experiencing this intimate work together strengthens the bonds between diverse communities.

The first year I offered a scholarship to dancers of color I got a letter of hate mail saying that the program was wrong - it discriminated against white people. The letter was a little scary; it was unsigned and left no return address. Our program was so small and new that I couldn't believe it had caught the attention of anyone. I put the letter away and forgot about it.

Now I am hearing interviews with white nationalists on radio programs and these nationalists are saying exactly what the hateful letter did – espousing the idea that we should keep white people separate from others. It feels like a tapestry I have been cultivating for years is unraveling in my hands.

As an Aerial Dance group we can't rent spaces for workshops or performances without liability insurance

To continue our programs we need to purchase insurance and fund raising is how we do it.

If you believe in our mission, please take action now and donate HERE.

If you can't donate, come take a workshop or attend a showing or performance (sans the fee).

The simple act of coming together with a diverse group of people is what is needed now.

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Upcoming Events:

Sunday, November 27 @ 6 pm

Pre-Tour Studio Showing

281 N. 7^th Street, 2^nd Floor

Williamsburg

December 3 @ 8 pm

Performance

Carolina Coastal University

Conway, SC

January 15 @ 4:30 pm

Scholarship Audition Class for Dancers of Color

281 N. 7^th Street, 2^nd Floor

Williamsburg

January 22, 29 & Feb. 5 @ 4:30

Introductory Trapeze Dance Workshop

281 N. 7^th Street, 2^nd Floor

Williamsburg