The newly formed Claim Our Space Now collective will mark its founding with a Rally for Freedom, taking place June 27. The gathering, in celebration of Black LGBTQ+ lives and in honor of Black trans folk who are disproportionately victims of violence, will start at 10 AM in Times Square (between 46th and 47th Streets), with speeches and performances beginning around 11 AM. At noon, demonstrators will march to Sheridan Square in the West Village.
Among those slated to perform during the rally—co-created by Krystal Joy Brown (Hamilton, Motown)—are Tina: The Tina Turner Musical star Daniel J. Watts, Charity Angél Dawson (Waitress), Tony nominee Charl Brown (Motown), Jacqueline B. Arnold (Moulin Rouge!), and Anastacia McClesky (Caroline, or Change). Speakers include leaders in the LGBTQ+ community, the Black Lives Matter movement, and elected officials. Free HIV and COVID-19 testing, plus sign-making and voter registration stations, will be available as well.
Claim Our Space Now was co-founded by Marla Louissaint and HIV activist Dimitri Joseph Moïse with the mission to create an intersectional space to educate and mobilize against systems that perpetuate white supremacy. With the affirmation that “All Black Lives Matter,” their calls to action include diverse hiring practices, police accountability, and sex work decriminalization. Brown and the group present the rally in alliance with Broadway for Racial Justice.
Louissaint and Moïse both hail from the theatre community themselves, having performed together in the national tour of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Louissaint hit the scene as a Jimmy Award winner in 2015 after starring in her high school production of Caroline, or Change; Moise has also appeared in The Book of Mormon.
For more information, visit ClaimOurSpaceNow.com.
