“I know those names!” Regan exclaims as she touches the names of Black activists working in our world today. People dehumanize others “To get what they want, to feel powerful (because of) greed, fear.”Īfter untangling these roots of racism, Regan climbs up out of that dark hole on rungs set in place by Black freedom fighters: historic figures like Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and contemporary fighters like Angela Davis. It is what we most need to talk to our children about. The answer unfolds in exquisite imagery and simple elegant mime. In four short acts over an approximately 60-minute run time, “Asks Why” explains the dangerous belief systems that have perpetuated racism in America for its entire history and, sadly, still today: that white men “discovered” the land that is now the United States rather than stealing it from Indigenous people that light skin is better than dark skin that America is, and always has been, free. The show, created and performed by the diverse troupe members of the New York-based Broken Box Mime Theatre (BKBX), proceeds to dig down into that question in a brilliant mix of pantomime, live saxophone, livestream smartphone videography and auditory storytelling by mime Regan Sims (in the title role of Regan). “Why are Black people being hurt in America?” Finding answers Seattle Children’s Theater’s powerful world premiere production of “ BKBXKids! Asks Why” puts the first question - the difficult, painful, central question - squarely on the conversation table: What if starting – or continuing – a dialogue about racism with your kids were as simple as a one word question: “Why?” And then following that “Why?” to the next “Why?” and the next?
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