Santa Monica College play canceled amid race-related controversy and criticism
AfroLA is committed to centering the communities we cover. Sometimes that means turning over the mic to let them speak for themselves. Additionally, part of our approach, emphasizes outreach for contributions from the area’s many community college students who are often left out of the classroom-to-newsroom recruitment pipeline. To that end, AfroLA joined Santa Monica College’s student media company, The Corsair, in reporting on the controversy surrounding a new theater production on campus (which was ultimately canceled before opening night). We republished their work as a show of support. Their ambitious reporting—which predated The Los Angeles Times’s story by more than TWO weeks—was foundational to new stories we reported with their help to further amplify the issue.
Read the latest coverage from The Corsair and AfroLA below. Read The Corsair’s October 2023 print edition dedicated to reporting around the play and impacts on SMC’s campus community (which includes the stories below as a beautifully-designed news magazine) here.
Read the “By the River Rivanna” script here. (Note: This is a later version archived online, but not the final version that was to be performed on Oct. 20.)
Special thanks to SMC student journalists Cebelihle Hlatshwayo, Renée Barlett-Webber, Samayia Kirby, Victor Chambers and Akemi Rico.
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