I meant what I said & I said what I meant

In the Dr. Seuss tale, Horton the elephant agrees to sit on an egg so that Maisy the bird can take a break. A task that proves to be harder than Horton anticipated. But he sticks with it because he said he would. Horton knew that keeping that egg warm was important, as was keeping faith and honoring his own integrity.

The past year has thrown new focus onto racial, gender and social inequities here at home and around the globe. Heritage interpreters train to go beyond dominant narratives and include authentic voices from the communities represented at their sites and on their tours.  We are taught to dig into complex histories and science, and to present perspectives fairly, authentically and in ways that provoke thought. So I’ve not been surprised by things like the National Association for Interpretation expanding their commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, Accessibility and Inclusion.

I have been so fortunate in my career to have worked with an amazing cross-cultural group of natural and cultural heritage interpreters who were committed to the ideas of equity, justice, inclusion, diversity and accessibility before they were so widely discussed or understood as they are today. Here at Stage Naked, we focus on belonging and inclusion believing that if we create genuinely inclusive storytelling, if we foster sites and experiences that nurture a sense of belonging in visitors who have not previously felt welcome or seen, we arrive at diversity, equity and justice.

After the events of the last year, when racial and social inequities were exposed to the wider public as the critical issues they are, it is more imperative than ever that we meet the challenge of creating commentary that is authentically inclusive. Restart-ready is more than being ready to engage our guests, it means taking a critical look at the stories we tell and honestly seeing where we are lopsided in our representation, where we are or are not letting communities tell their own stories in their own voices, and where we are oversimplifying issues rather than learning to present them in their complexity.