The Bitter Game: Get Involved

If The Bitter Game inspired you to learn more about and/or get involved in addressing issues raised by the play, please check this growing list of local resources and organizations. And please be part of expanding this locally crowd-sourced list by sending in(link sends e-mail) your suggestions for Boston-area groups working for change in the areas of policing and criminal justice reform, racial and economic justice, and youth empowerment.

Keep the conversation going online at @americanrep, #TheBitterGame.
POLICING & CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

BLACK AND PINK is an open family of LGBTQ prisoners and “free world” allies who support each other. Their work toward the abolition of the prison industrial complex is rooted in the experience of currently and formerly incarcerated people.

The CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON INSTITUTE FOR RACE AND JUSTICE at Harvard Law School (CHHIRJ) pursues the long-term goal of ensuring that every member of our society enjoys equal access to the opportunities, responsibilities and privileges of membership in the United States. The Institute serves as a critical bridge between scholarship, law, policy and practice and is well-positioned to bring together critical players from many spheres to devise and implement research-based solutions and remedies.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY COALITION is a member-based, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of effective, just, and humane criminal justice policy in Massachusetts.

The EDLAW PROJECT is dedicated to ensuring that Massachusetts’ highest risk children receive a quality education and avoid the school-to-prison pipeline.

The JOBS NOT JAILS COALITION advocates to redirect costly prison spending towards jobs, training and support for Massachusetts’ lowest income communities.

The LOUIS D. BROWN PEACE INSTITUTE serves as a center of healing, teaching and learning for families and communities dealing with murder, trauma, grief and loss. Committed to restorative justice theories, the Peace Institute provides programs, services & trainings that are thorough and relevant with a multi-cultural lens.

The mission of MOTHERS FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY is to end neighborhood violence. By empowering our members to be effective change-makers, we reclaim the identity of our communities and restore a sense of hope and purpose for our children.

 

RACIAL & ECONOMIC JUSTICE

BLACK LIVES MATTER – CAMBRIDGE is part of the movement to end structural racism both locally, nationally and internationally.

BLACK LIVES MATTER – BOSTON remains committed to being active in the movement against racist policing and police violence both locally and nationally.

CITIZENS FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE is the only independent, non-profit, statewide organization working exclusively to improve the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts.

CITY LIFE / VIDA URBANA is a 40-year-old bilingual, community organization whose mission is to fight for racial, social and economic justice and gender equality by building working class power through direct action, coalition building, education and advocacy. Currently working against evictions, CL/VU views the current displacement crisis as an issue of racial equity, as well as economic and housing justice.

COMMUNITY CHANGE, INC. has been educating and organizing for racial equity since 1968. Community Change Inc. offers public discussions, events and workshops on antiracism related topics.

HALEY HOUSE uses food and the power of community to break down barriers between people, transfer new skills, and revitalize neighborhoods. It believes in radical solutions: solving problems at their root by challenging attitudes that perpetuate suffering and by building alternative models.

SURJ BOSTON is a local chapter of Showing Up For Racial Justice, a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. We work to connect people across the country while supporting and collaborating with local and national racial justice organizing efforts.

The Massachusetts YOUTH ADVOCACY DIVISION ensures that every child from an indigent family in Massachusetts has access to zealous legal representation that incorporates a Youth Development Approach, resulting in fair treatment in court.

The YOUTH ADVOCACY FOUNDATION protects the educational rights of vulnerable children to keep them in school and out of prison. Our work is focused on shutting down the School-to-Prison Pipeline, primarily through supporting the EdLaw Project.

 

YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

ACTORS’ SHAKESPEARE PROJECT YOUTH PROGRAMS Each year, ASP teaching artists work in residential programs for court­-involved youth aged 12 – 21 under the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS). Over a period of 8 – 12 weeks, teaching artists and youth create an ensemble who explore Shakespeare’s plays and write, sing, dance, rehearse, and perform. ASP also works with youth in transition out of DYS facilities through our after­-school and summer programming, and our programs are featured at the annual statewide DYS Youth Arts Showcase.

THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON works tirelessly to ensure all young people in our community have the opportunity to realize their full potential. The Boys & Girls Club is hosting a touring performance of The Bitter Game at The Mattapan Teen Center on Wednesday, Sept. 20 at 7PM.

BOSTON CENTERS FOR YOUTH AND FAMILIES support children, youth, individuals, and families through a wide range of programs and services. Managing 36 facilities, including community centers, their mission is to enhance the quality of life for Boston residents by partnering with community center councils, agencies, and businesses to support neighborhood needs. BCYF is hosting a touring performance of The Bitter Game at BCYF Perkins on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 8PM.

THE CENTER FOR TEEN EMPOWERMENT is a youth organizing and social change program that has sites in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Somerville, MA, and in Rochester, NY. At each site, Teen Empowerment hires a group of youth, ages 14-21, and trains them as community organizers, providing them with the support, resources, and ongoing training they need to organize initiatives that involve both youth and adults in addressing community issues.

The CAMBRIDGE COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN is a City department whose purpose is to ensure equity for women and girls in all economic, social, and educational opportunities throughout the city.

The COMMUNITY HEALTH TRAINING INSTITUTE provides targeted skills development to individuals and teams working to build healthy communities in Massachusetts. They customize our in-person trainings and webinars around core competencies that include: Coalition Building; Leadership; Policy and Systems Change; Communications; Health Equity; Youth Development; Strategic Planning and Evaluation.

CITIZENS FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE is the only independent, non-profit, statewide organization working exclusively to improve the juvenile justice system in Massachusetts. CfJJ advocates, convenes, conducts research, and educates the public on important juvenile justice issues.

FATHERS’ UPLIFT programs and therapeutic interventions support fathers in overcoming barriers so they can be positively and sustainably engaged in their children’s lives.

STRATEGIES FOR YOUTH is a policy and training organization dedicated to improving police/youth interactions through community engagement, police training, outreach programs for youth, and proactive use of multi-disciplinary approaches to problem solve and build relationships between police and youth.

The TRINITY BOSTON FOUNDATION develops safe and supportive communities in which youth of color can thrive. It does this in its own direct service programs and by embedding clinical supports in schools and partner organizations with a focus on trauma, racial equity and restorative justice and circle practices, three key competencies that help interrupt the school to prison pipeline.

QUEST (Quality for Every Student) is an organization of parents fighting for equity and equality in the Boston Public School system.

YOUTH ON BOARD: Since 1994, Youth on Board (YOB) has been a leader in the field of youth organizing in the Boston area and beyond. YOB is a youth-led, adult supported organization where young people of color have the space and tools to recognize and utilize the power they hold to dismantle political and economic structures that reinforce inequity. We believe in the power of students to transform their communities by  recognizing that when young people are fully engaged—when their voices are heard, their opinions matter, and their unique perspective is respected—they commit themselves to making their schools, their communities, and their own lives better.