Perspectives Series for School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play
Please join us for a post-show discussion for School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play with moderator Ruby Joy White, Director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Reed College, T. Aisha Edwards, LMHC, somatic trauma therapist and writer based in Vancouver, Washington and Renate Ray, Census Equity Manager at the Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF).
Topics will cover colorism from the perspective of a South African woman/femme (Ray), a Jamaican-American, discussing the historical trauma of colonization on African Diasporian subgroups (Edwards), and how similar stories impact communities here and around the globe.
"Perspectives" discussions are a series of 1-hour post-show discussions following select weekend matinee performances of School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Hear and share personal reactions and thoughts inspired by the play, filtered through the perspectives of local artists, educators, activists and community leaders. Join us and discover how School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play connects directly to our Portland community.
Ruby Joy White (She/Prince) serves as the Director of the Multicultural Resource Center at Reed College, and is a consultant for equity, anti-racist, & identity/positionality workshops. Additionally, Prince curates music/creative spaces and is a Content Writer for Art For Ourselves, an online grassroots community publication for QTBIBPOC artists, activists, and cultural workers. You can find Prince on Instagram and Twitter @rastaroo.
T. Aisha Edwards, LMHC is a somatic trauma therapist and writer based in Vancouver WA. She holds a Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Pacific University and has training in Gestalt therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Emotion Freedom Techniques and touch based trauma practices from Somatic Experiencing. She has over a decade of experience specializing in complex trauma involving interpersonal violence and socialized oppression in communities of color and queer communities. She is licensed in Oregon and Washington.
Renate Ray is a first-generation immigrant from Cape Town, South Africa. Born into the apartheid system, Renate is classified as ‘coloured’ on her birth certificate.
Back home, Ray worked as a journalist telling stories about marginalized communities. Outside of South Africa, Ray has worked as a model, teacher, speaker, master of ceremonies and organizer.
After a trip to Portland, OR during the 2016 election season left Renate feeling isolated and invisible, they are now working to build a Portland where all people of African descent count, and where they feel connected and affirmed.
Currently, Ray serves as the Census Equity Manager at the Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF). Ray also serves on the board of directors for the PDX Alliance for Self-Care, the VISTA Community Advisory Board for Campus Compact of Oregon, and is a proud ambassador of the Pan African Cultural Foundation.
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