Good Stuff from Joan Eisenstodt

Today, Sat., 13 September, my husband and I and our friend, Bev, had an experience that left all of us a bit drained while also giving us so much food for thought.

The experience was "Resurrection", a play at Arena Stage in DC, that runs until 5 October.  Its playwright, Daniel Beaty, says in the playbill "I have always been interested in exploring issues surrounding black men.  When I read the [National] Urban League's 2007 Report, it became clear to me that it was time to focus on writing this play."  Mr. Beaty has done a remarkable job of providing a play that is about hope and about supporting others and .  Or that is my thinking.

Let me digress a bit first and tell you a bit about my background, which is relevant to the emotional experience of the play.  I promise to tie this into our world and our industry.  (This is long .. come back and read it later if you don't have the time now.)

My life began in the late '40s in Dayton, Ohio.   A year after my birth, my parents, taking advantage of the GI Bill, purchased their first (of only 2 ever) house.  It was the house in which I lived until I left home in my 20s.   In the early '60s, 'blockbusting' came to Dayton.   Our neighborhood was already diverse economically and religiously; there were a few Negro (the term used then) families. My parents, painfully aware of housing discrimination [in Dayton, like many other cities of that era, there were many places we, a Jewish family, could not live] and were not about to play into the issues the blockbusting realtors used to prey on families.  My parents worked with others to ensure that Negro families were welcomed into the neighborhood.

In my youth, I marched in civil rights marches and worked with the YWCA in the Y-Teens program and on various city-wide actions to foster relationships across races, religions and economic levels.  My father, when the company for which he worked was sold in the mid-'60s,  agreed that we would not move to Arkansas; he believed we'd have a cross burned on our lawn for our views and actions.  

All this is to say that my life has been about justice and civil rights from the very early days.  I learned by example.

Today, in the theatre, my emotions were raw as I watched unfold on a stage in a must-see play  the lives of 6 Black men ranging in age from 10 to 60 who struggled with issues such as addiction [one of the more interesting issues in the play], culture, perception, hope, fear, desire, and above all, what can be. 

It was emotional on a personal level because there are so many today who will not vote for Barack Obama for President of the US because of the color of his skin and his parentage and because I can't understand that.  It is not what my parents worked for nor what my life has been about.

It was emotional because, since I joined this industry some 35 years ago, and saw  few people of color, so little has changed even after the "Unity Team", in the early '90s, did a study on diversity and promised to ensure inclusion.

It was emotional because the hospitality industry continues to wonder why the "Coalition" (National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners) exists yet thinks nothing of holding events over the MLK, Jr. Holiday  because it isn't 'for all of us.'

It was emotional because I listened to Barack Obama try to bring the United States to a broader conversation on race and too few understood.  And because the American Society of Association Executives & The Center on Assn. Leadership had devoted a total of one-hour to diversity at their annual meeting and will conduct an invitation-only Diversity Summit this December. [The Summit is not on ASAE's calendar of events; contact ASAE for more information.]  Of course others have not even devoted an hour; maybe I should be grateful.

It's not enough.  In a diverse world, we need to talk more and we need to begin at home.  Dre, a character in "Resurrection", asks why so much is being done in Africa about AIDS when we have issues here at home.  Like Dre, I wonder why we aren't talking and doing more.

Why has our industry has not continued a conversation some of us started years ago? Perhaps those who see "Resurrection" will ask; perhaps those who are unable to see the play will ask the questions and open the conversation.

Like Eric, the 10 year old in the play, I have to believe I can help us find the right formula.

Mr. Beaty - thank you for an extraordinary experience today.