Risk/Reward supports the current national uprising and stands in solidarity with those working to fight for Black lives. We believe that Black Lives Matter, and we affirm the power of performance to shape and disrupt society and build new possible worlds.

As a producing organization, we have been complicit in the exclusion of Black leadership. We are making ongoing efforts to diversify BIPOC representation on our Board, and we still have a long way to go. This work is important because Black Lives Matter and Black leadership matters. We are an organization that aspires to fight racism and police brutality, so we will continue to study, work, and listen in order to create the conditions that prioritize, support, and uplift different voices, including POC leaders, especially Black leaders, and call out racist behavior and police brutality when we see it happening. We are motivated to learn, listen, and continue the work to remake our city and country.

We will be donating all proceeds of the digital showings of Renée’s Queer Cabaret to Portland’s Don’t Shoot PDX organization. Get pay-what-you-can access to the Cabaret video link here and watch any time between now and June 13.

We invite our community to donate, volunteer, make calls for, and/or share resources with some local and national organizations engaged in the fight for Black lives:

• Support Don’t Shoot PDX with us by donating: here.
• Donate to Black Lives Matter via their donation page: here.
• Donate to a bail fund: There’s a crowdsourced list that keeps growing on Google docs: Google Doc
• Volunteer your time, energy, and money with Don’t Shoot PDX. More info here.
• Give to the Black Visions Collective: here.
• Sign a petition: Black Lives Matter’s Defund the Police petition can be found here.
• Follow black-led organizations like House of GG, Trans Justice Funding Project, The Okra Project, and Youth Breakout to support queer, LGBTQ+, and trans youth and adults.
• Call your State representative and demand that voting by mail be allowed in your state in November if it’s not already: Find their contact info here.
• Support Black-owned restaurants and businesses. There’s a great directory of restaurants here.
• Learn more about Portland Community-Based Organizations by visiting Greater Portland 2020.

Portland-based media artists Jodi Darby, Julie Perini and Erin Yanke, co-directors of documentary film Arresting Power: Resisting Police Violence in Portland, Oregon, is available to view entirely free here.

Black Lives Matter.

Sincerely,
Risk/Reward