Equitable Dinners commemorate Atlanta Race Massacre

The City of Atlanta marks the 116th anniversary of the Atlanta Race Massacre with ambition and conviction this month, as Equitable Dinners’ Atlanta 2022 series connects residents, businesses, and community organizations in various locations for a play and a meal, paired with constructive dialogue and call to action. By the time the event ends, over 5,000 guests — including Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens — will have sat down at over 500 tables across the city, participating in important conversations about racial equity. 

Atlanta-based social justice theater non-profit Out of Hand Theater helped to launch the Equitable Dinners initiative in recent years, building on the Decatur Dinners model that had started with a mom’s desire to end racial disparities in Decatur city schools. This past weekend was Equitable Dinners' largest coordinated program to date. In partnership with community organizations like the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Fulton County Remembrance Coalition, Equitable Dinners brought diverse groups of guests together in homes and businesses across metro Atlanta, with an aim to increase awareness and inspire positive change. Each event involved a performance of the short one-person play “Welcome to Normal” by Marlon Burnley and facilitated discussion over breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  Our experience at Constellations Community — where Verse has its office space and co-hosted four tables at Sunday’s event — was deeply fulfilling, with moments of joy and of pain, leaving us with the promise of lasting connection and with many troubling truths on which to reflect.

Organizations and individuals wishing to begin or continue their journey are invited to explore the customized suggestions on Equitable Dinners’ website. If you did not get a chance to attend Equitable Dinners’ Atlanta 2022 series, you can still join the network here to register for the tables hosted in late September and October. We also invite you to check out the local businesses, community organizations, and artists involved in Sunday’s event at Constellations, including Out of Hand Theater, fellow Constellations tenant Music in Common, Actor Tyren Duncan, Creator / Producer / Actor Marlon Burnley, and local Chef / Caterer New Age Vegan.

Please sign the petition to formally change the name of the 1906 massacre.  

Note: Bonnie Levine is a member of the Board of Directors of Out of Hand Theater.