AWER'S 64th President, Paige McKay-Kubik welcomed all to the meeting and led the invocation and pledge. Paige shared a poem, "Sermons We See" written by Edgar A. Guest. She heard this poem during an inspirational speech given by District Governor-Elect, Andre Marria at the District Conference.
Our captivating speaker Ms. Adria Kitchens, was introduced by Rose Caplan, who arranged for Ms. Kitchens to be our speaker. As Director of Equity and Activism at Out of Hand Theater, Adria creates and designs spaces for individual and collective transformation via healing, and positive Anti-Racism action. She is a consultant and transformational artist, using relational power as a pathway to celebrating diversity, equity innovation, and empathy to activate inclusion, and belonging. She helps to activate the leadership of others desiring to make positive change individually and collectively in her role as a Coach and Facilitator through Equitable Dinners, the Institute for Equity Activism, and as Faculty in The Institute for Woman-Centered Coaching, Training, and Leadership.
The theater was formed in 2001 to reach new audiences. They intertwine art, social justice, and community engagement to spark conversations among people of different backgrounds to build a better world and address ways to look at our history to move forward positively. Out Of Hand has several sponsors and was voted "Best Theater” by the NY Times. Their areas of programming are Equitable Dinners, Shows in Home, Community Collaborations, and Education. Equitable Dinners bring diverse people together for conversations on race. It includes a one-person play while neighbors and strangers share a meal and stories to make a positive difference. In 2019, it was the Better Together Board that joined forces to start the Decatur Dinners which gained national attention and was featured on "NPR All Things Considered”.
CALF is the current "Show in Home" which is a play that addresses mass incarceration in conjunction with the Georgia Justice Project. It's a one-hour show on how to support people who are reentering society. Out of Hand Theater have other civic collaborations with the CDC, Home Depot, National Center for Civil and Human Rights, and more. A program will be held on June 12th at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The 1906 Atlanta Race Riot will be used to launch conversations in Atlanta for 5,000 guests at 500 different tables. Out of Hand is looking for organizations and people to host Equitable Dinners and Shows in Home.