Comedy on ColorismSkin color is a loaded signifier of identity and value. Though deeply tied to racism, colorism has its own histories, power structures, and consequences; and it deserves attention in its own right. Moreover, colorism is not a uniform concept across the globe. The dynamics of colorism are culturally (and temporally) specific and vary widely across and within cultures, ethnic groups, and racial categories. That is, the colorisms in Black communities in the U.S. are different than those in the Caribbean or Africa. The colorisms in East Asia manifest themselves in different ways than in Southeast Asia, in South Asia, in the Pacific Islands or in the multitudes of Asian and Pacific diasporas. The same can be said about Latinx, Chicanx, Afro-Latinx countries, communities, and diasporas. Also, we can't leave out how colorism has deep impacts on mixed raced struggles, identities and politics. Colorism affects our daily lives – how we groom ourselves, our relationship with the sun, what we buy, how we vote, and how we perceive each other. It is such an everyday, insidious oppression that has utterly absurd day-to-day effects. Simply put, it's ripe for comedy. |
As people of color, we are regularly told to "lighten up" when we speak up about the racism we experience and witness. We are expected to "whiten up" our experience of racist humor, to "learn how to take a joke." We are reclaiming the phrase "lighten up," writing our own stories, telling our own jokes on our own terms, redefining dark humor, and challenging the claim that lighter is better.
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Tickets |
Pigott Theater | Stanford University
Show 8:00 | Doors 7:30 Accessibility Info | TAPSinformation@stanford.edu |
Lighten Up: Comedy on Colorism
Performed by Stanford artists Thursday, May 30 ASL Interpreters available this show Lighten Up Tickets $5 |
Lighten Up and Brouhaha
Go to both shows! For $8, get 2 tickets: 1 ticket to either Wed or Thu and 1 ticket to Fri! Festival Pass $8 |
Peacock Rebellion QTPOC activists, community organizers, and the cutie down the block as cultural organizers for collective liberation. Their services and programs are vast, including:
For more info on Peacock Rebellion's revolutionary art-making and community organizing, see: peacockrebellion.org
- Brouhaha: Trans Women of Color Comedy Storytelling - a comedy-based storytelling workshop series and show that gets a long-overdue mic to trans women of color activists and mic checks the rest of us.
- Brouhaha: QTPOC Stand-Up Comedy - a stand-up comedy workshop series and show that’s building a corps of activist-comedians who get positive, life-affirming social justice messages to people who aren’t already at the march or rally.
- STAY: An Oakland QTPOC Resilience Festival - trainings on dance, theater, DJing, meditation, herbal medicine, building community-based safety teams, radical mental health, and more, all for social justice.
For more info on Peacock Rebellion's revolutionary art-making and community organizing, see: peacockrebellion.org
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