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Leveraging the Arts for Social Change

Five Tips for Starting Campus Conversations About Diversity Through a Creative Lens

By Texas Christian University

October 8^th, 2021

Ayvaunn Penn didn’t plan on debuting her original work “For Bo: A Play Inspired by the Murder of Botham Jean by Officer Amber Guyger” in early 2020 because she was still developing it. But the Texas Christian University theatre instructor accelerated her timeline as she sensed a growing desire among her students to discuss racial injustice. When another police officer fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson in her home—this time, just four miles from TCU’s campus in Fort Worth, Texas—Penn resolved that “the conversation needed to happen now.” And she knew how to start it.

A classically trained playwright with an MFA from Columbia University, Penn felt called to use her craft as a catalyst to talk about the rise in police brutality against Black citizens in the United States. “Art is a powerful tool that can help people speak out about what is going on in the world,” she says.

Ayvaunn Penn is a theatre instructor and the playwright of "For Bo: A Play Inspired by the Murder of Botham Jean by Officer Amber Guyger," which has sparked conversations around social justice, systemic racism and diversity, equity and inclusion.

A Movement Begins

Penn set the wheels in motion to premiere “For Bo,” assembling a cast of TCU theatre students for a workshop-style production. But the COVID-19 pandemic brought live theatre to a screeching halt, derailing her plans to formally premiere the play. Instead, she worked with an interdisciplinary team to develop a powerful virtual adaptation using illustrations and voiceover work.

Since its unconventional debut, “For Bo” has earned numerous accolades, including being named a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, and sparked conversations around social justice, systemic racism and diversity, equity and inclusion—topics that Penn routinely covers in her classroom.

Reimagined at the height of the pandemic, the "For Bo" virtual production features illustrations and voiceover work.

Here are Penn’s recommendations for how fellow educators can engage students and themselves in social justice issues using the fine arts.

1. Recognize that the Arts are a universal language.

As a dramatist, Penn notes that plays have been methods of communication for thousands of years. “Drama from Ancient Greece to the American Industrial Revolution to today has been used to address social issues and the human condition,” she says.

According to Penn, there is always at least one art form—whether it is theatre, music, dance or the visual arts—that educators and artists can use to engage in social justice.

“People are compelled by stories, which can be told through art,” she says. “When we tell our stories on stage, we’re asking the audience to come with us and see things from a perspective they may not have considered before.”

Penn encourages others to first think about the purpose behind their topic and consider how a story could frame it in a fresh way. She says this artistic approach differs from a traditional classroom setting.

“You are engaging in a learning process by tapping into other parts of your brain that you may not typically exercise in that topic,” she explains. “For instance, a textbook is very objective and analytical, whereas the arts reveal our humanity. Without our humanity, we are nothing.”

“Art is a powerful tool that can help people speak out about what is going on in the world.”

2. Look for opportunities to collaborate with other artists and experts.

Collaboration can occur proactively or by happenstance. In Penn’s case with “For Bo,” it was both.

Unable to produce a traditional play during COVID-19, Penn pursued an illustrated approach where drawings and paintings stand in for the actors, like an animated storybook. To create the illustrations, she tapped into her network, engaging fellow educators and students from universities and schools around the country. Dozens of visual artists contributed to “For Bo,” including many who were unfamiliar with the real-life story behind the play but supported its message.

“In working with the illustrators, we first had to talk about why we were making the play and provide them the script,” says Penn. “The number of people who volunteered their time and talents in another medium to bring the play to life indicates the influence of the story.”

A coincidental request from TCU film instructor Charity Robinson also turned into an opportunity to share the “For Bo” story with a larger audience. Each semester, Robinson selects a topic and asks her class to explore it via the art of documentary filmmaking. For fall 2020, she chose the pandemic’s influence on live theatre; “For Bo” was the perfect case study.

With Robinson’s filmmaking expertise, Penn found the partner she needed to remake her play for the COVID-19 environment.

“It was kind of like barter and trade,” says Penn. “Charity was involved as our video editor at the very beginning.” Robinson took on double duty, editing the virtual production and supervising the student documentary project. The end result was “Let the People Come Inside,” a film that follows both the social justice journey and the behind-the-scenes journey of producing a play mid-pandemic. The documentary will debut during the 2021-22 film festival season, including a presentation at the Topaz Film Festival.

3. Root everything in evidence.

While the fine arts are a creative pursuit, discussing complex social justice issues requires objective facts. “There is a special responsibility that comes with presenting something that is not purely for entertainment,” says Penn.

In the classroom, she gives students an assignment to write a monologue or short play that explores a social justice issue.

Similar to the character research that actors often do, Penn requires that students find a scholarly journal, national organization or reputable news source related to their topic of choice. But rather than writing a traditional essay, students give voice to a real issue through artwork rooted in research.

During rehearsals for the virtual production of “For Bo,” members of Botham Jean’s family shared crucial information with the cast and crew, akin to a primary source, to provide more basis to the story.

“Botham’s sister shared things that she wanted the cast members to keep in mind, like that he died at hospital, not at his apartment,” says Penn. “It gave our actors insight about what it was really like to be on the inside and how to handle moments like that in the play.”

To ensure that students’ artistic creations are based in reality, Penn recommends educators ask their students:

What did we know about this issue at the start?
Based on our research, what do we know about this issue now?
Does the art you have created accurately reflect your research and your learning progression on this issue?

A series of illustrations bring the script of "For Bo" to life along with voiceover talent from TCU theatre majors. Illustration by TCU art education student Brian Dickson Jr.

4. Remember that learning often comes from uncomfortable conversations.

“You should never just watch a play or look at a work of art and go home,” says Penn. “You have to talk about it.”

That’s why she hosts discussions between the cast and audience after readings or performances of “For Bo.” The goal is to foster healing, examine issues within the American criminal justice system and promote healthy relationships between all. Penn even provides starter discussion questions to facilitate greater understanding among the participants.

She says this same approach can be translated to the classroom, noting that it is important to prepare yourself and students for the difficult conversations that can come from discussing social justice.

Penn’s recommendations:

Set ground rules up-front so everyone feels comfortable contributing their thoughts.
Encourage all questions and answers for a productive conversation.
Discuss the origins of outdated ideologies as a group, so everyone can learn.
Tell students to be gentle with themselves. We are all learners and thinking or hearing something that’s now considered outdated or wrong doesn’t make you a bad person.

“There’s value in really digging in,” she says. “By reflecting on what you have just watched or viewed with people outside of your bubble, you’re able to explore different perspectives. Otherwise, it’s very easy for your own ideologies to just be reinforced.”

5. Ask students to tap into their empathy to explore important social issues.

“No one sits down to write something if they don’t have a message to share,” says Penn. “I train students to find the message in existing plays, and then I have them write their own theatre for social change piece.”

To translate this charge into their own classrooms, Penn says educators can simply ask students, ‘What is something about the world that you feel should be different?’

“By asking open-ended questions and having students think about what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes, you are asking them to tap into empathy,” she says. “That empathy triggers humanity and gets students thinking about things that they may not previously have thought was a social issue.”

With a variety of backgrounds and topics of interest, presenting these projects in class often sparks conversation and fosters greater empathy among the students.

“Creativity is so powerful,” says Penn. “It helps them learn about things that they didn’t even think of as an issue or problem. It’s a really enriching aspect of a course.”

Her students have created monologues, short plays and stories on topics including date rape, immigration, gender roles, veterans’ issues, mental health, socioeconomics, race and religion.

“They will often say that in my classroom is where they most felt free to share,” Penn says.

Since its unconventional debut, “For Bo” has earned numerous accolades, including being named a finalist in the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference. Illustration by Brian Dickson Jr.

The Future of “For Bo”

In the near future, "For Bo" is going on the road, premiering at film festivals including:

Silicon Valley African Film Festival (October 2021)
Gary International Black Film Festival (October 2021)
Lone Star Film Festival (November 2021). "For Bo" and its corresponding document "Let the People Come Inside" will be screened together.

Penn’s ultimate goal is for the grassroots efforts of “For Bo” to continue in classrooms and on stages around the country. She hopes to publish the play soon, but for now, interested parties can request to read or perform the text on the #ForBoInitiative website.

The #ForBoInitiative provides organizations and educational institutions with guidance and tools to host their own productions or readings paired with community discussions to eradicate racial bias, racial injustice and police brutality.

“In the long run, I hope ‘For Bo’ achieves changing hearts, minds and souls,” says Penn. “I want this piece to be a learning tool both inside and outside of the classroom to reflect how we as a society can do better.”