OntheWilderSide

A poetry play about diversity, white privilege, and racism in the Riverhead School community

No child is safe — not black children, not Latino children, not white children — from the consequences of the bullying, name calling, and conflict created as you press us down with your steady hands.
-A Chorus of Riverhead Families cries out in this poetry theater performance

The video above is a live performance of “My Privilege”, a Poets Theater piece performed on September 12, 2023 at the BOOG City 17 Arts Festival. A three member troupe traveled from Long Island to Brooklyn to perform this piece.

“My Privilege” was written by Riverhead community activist Kimberly Wilder. This premier performance stars local actors Jim Navarre as “Wallis” and Alan Stewart as “Wallis’s True Heart.”

Kimberly Wilder is the parent of a student who resides in the Riverhead Central School District. Ms. Wilder coordinates a family business called Riverhead Area School Info/RASi which includes a circle of families trying to heal Riverhead schools.

The core of the piece is a found poem. “My Privilege” quotes and explores a speech made by a school leader at a school board meeting after a board member was convinced to resign. “Wallis” is the character who gives the speech. The board member — named “Lottie” in this piece — had made disparaging comments about Latinos to the press. In addition, the piece includes many direct quotes from “Tia”, the character name for a real life community activist who spoke out and spoke up at the meeting.

Unfortunately, the message about a diverse community in conflict and pain rings too true with current events. The Riverhead Central School District is in the news again. This time, it is about some Riverhead students who said the n-word and bullied younger children at a Riverhead School football game.

Local News story about racial slur incident: https://riverheadlocal.com/2023/09/15/racial-slur-hurled-at-young-children-by-teens-at-riverhead-football-game-cannot-be-tolerated-great-grandfather-demands-action-by-district/

It is our hope that this poetry piece and the work of our Riverhead RASi families, might help to heal these wounds and make sure that more incidents like this one do not continue to happen.

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