BIPOC Affinity Group

Tuesday, July 20th
7pm (EDT)


AATE's Co-Directors of Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, Equity and Justice (formerly EDIA) host this space that is dedicated for those individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous or People Color, members of the Global Majority. This affinity group draws us together to learn how we can support one another's needs, share our challenges, and focus on our collective energy to strengthen representation in our field while still committing to self-care. We invite members to attend both sessions if able, in order to ground our connections to one another and establish communications for sustaining relationships past the conference.

This event is will be kicked off by Kate Rigg. Kate Siahaan-Rigg is an actor, comedian, activist, playwright, TV producer and killer Amerasian spoken word MC. Upon graduation from Juilliard, she immediately hit the comedy clubs, poetry spaces and downtown haunts for multi hyphenate performers with restless hearts. She is an award-winning artist activist who writes, performs and produces work for television, film, stage and dive bars around the world. She is one of only two winners of the Juiliiard Interarts Award given to artists who cross disciplines to create work with collaborations across the school's different divisiions. Her one person shows have won grants and awards from the Canada Council, the Australia Council, the NEA, the Urban Arts Initiative, the National Performance Network, and many more. She has been invited to perform these solo works at the Smithsonian Institute, The Comedy Central Theater, and several theater, comedy and music conferences around the world.  As a playwright, she has been an artist in residence at Manhattan Theater Club, CTGLA Mark Taper Forum, Cape Cod Rep, Cahoots Theater, Theater Passe Muraille, Out North, The Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Center, MACLA, and more. As an actor she has starred in several world premieres including most recently Collective Rage Wooly Mammoth Theater in DC (Betty 4), A Thousand Splendid Suns at ACT in San Francisco (Mariam) and Darwin's Arch for 2G in New York. As a comedian she has headlined clubs in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and appeared at the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, The Toyota Women in Comedy Festival, The Boston Women In Comedy Festival, The Vancouver International Comedy Festival and more. As an activist she is on the Global Leadership Board of TIMES UP and was recently named the Creative Director of the Over The Rhine Film Festival, the nation's only diversity festival led by people in the disability community. She is affiilated and works regularly with the Asian Ameriacn Arts Alliance, The Asian Women's Giving Circle, The Coalitiion of Asian American Pacific Associations (CAAPA) and more. As a killer Amerasian MC she has toured with her rock comedy spoken word duo Slanty Eyed Mama all over the world and recorded two cult hit festival theater/concert hybrids "Happy Lucky Golden Tofu Panda Dragon Good Time Fun Fun Show" and "Zombie Asian Moms". She has toured extensively to colleges with her band, and spoken on race and representAsian to many multicultural student organizations around the country. Her TV work and other fun info you can find at www.katerigg.com