"Breaking Barriers through Drama" 

The YWCA of Greater Atlanta has a 105 year legacy of “Doing Justice” in our community. The city was a hot bed of the civil rights movement. The YWCA played an active role in the movement and bravely and justly opened the first desegregated public cafeteria in the southeastern United States. The YWCA of Greater Atlanta’s bold action to engage in a movement consistent with the YWCA’s “one imperative to "thrust our collective power toward the elimination of racism” set an example for the nation.

In 2005, we answered the call to reorganize our commitment to racial justice and ensure our programs were setting the imperative as a priority.  This project created a collaboration with many local entities, such as the Anti-Prejudice Consortium, Anti-Defamation League and local schools. We identified that youth were in need of the tools necessary to face racism and discrimination non-violently. In light of bullying, shootings, stabbings and riots in their community, and their growing refugee, immigrant and Latino populations, the YWCA of Greater Atlanta created an innovative program to address these issues for at-risk youth in our community.

Empowered Youth Entertainment (E.Y.E.) is a YWCA of Greater Atlanta program that advocates peace, leadership and respect for all of humankind. Using theatre as a catalyst, high school students create and perform in plays promoting racial justice and non-violent responses to racism. Performances target middle school students in the metro Atlanta area. The primary purpose of the program is to eliminate racism by giving youth the tools they need to resist violent reactions to racism. Youth gain opportunities to understand the life experiences of others and open the door to a sustained connection with youth who are different from themselves. The students learn to replace stereotypes with real people, and to encourage and be a catalyst for further dialogue. 

Youth audition to engage in a year-round program preparing them to be ambassadors for racial justice. The youth attend after school clubs, workshops and seminars on issues related to racial justice, conflict resolution, leadership, performance art, history and facilitation. They engage in local teaching opportunities for youth, peers, and adults in their communities and centers of learning.