Six Questions Special #BLM Edition: Broadway and Cabaret Star T. Oliver Reid

In light of the worldwide protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, and the subsequent energized Black Lives Matter movement (#Black Lives Matter/#BLM), NiteLife Exchange has renewed its own commitment to social justice and equality. NLE stands by Black Lives Matter and is proud to provide this platform of expression and advocacy for change.

Singer-dancer-actor and cabaret star, T. Oliver Reid, was born into a musical family. He’s been performing since he could walk and talk, with appearances in his native North Carolina through his childhood and adolescence. After graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a Bachelor’s degree in Music, he went directly into the Second National Tour of Once On This Island and then performed in the Second National Tour of Guys & Dolls and regionally before beginning his Broadway career. He credits on the Rialto include Chicago, Kiss Me Kate, Follies, Thoroughly Modern Milllie, Never Gonna Dance, La Cage Aux Folles, The Wedding Singer, Mary Poppins, Damn Yankees, After Midnight and most recently, Hadestown. As a cabaret performer, Reid has performed in major rooms, was a featured artist in The 21st New York Cabaret Convention and was the 2010 winner of the Metropolitan Room’s 2010 Metrostar Challenge.

NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asks T. Oliver Reid (TOR) Six Questions:

NLE: As a starting point, we’d like to examine the systemic roots of racism, beginning with the economics of the slave trade feeding colonial European development. This model persists in the white patriarchy, predatory capitalism, and what Cornel West calls the “gangsterization” of America. Thus, racist ideas derive from policies and will continue to exist as long as these policies exist. What will it take to really reform this system that hits Blacks the hardest?

TOR: Reforming the system will require so many levels of things, micro and macro. We have to look at our constitution and our state constitutions and finally remove language and laws that have been kept, “in the event” they can be used against black citizens. We have to make sure that we are teaching the next generation of students the history of this country, the true history, and not what three early 20th century white supremacists wanted the south to know. We have to build schools and pay teachers a living wage to do their jobs. We have to reform and RE-FORM our police departments so that Protect and Serve is meant for all. We have to stop wishing and hoping and do the work. We have had 401 years of this current form of government, the work ahead won’t happen overnight…. but it will happen.

We have to remove from office, those who don’t have democracy and/or equality for all citizens as the cornerstone of their work and ideology.

Blacks and the poor are hit the hardest because the system was not built for them, so the system has to change.

NLE: Recent thinking identifies the deeply ingrained human notion of tribalism (us vs them) as an overarching, problematic world view and a contributing factor of racism. Is there more that can be/should be done beyond education of the “you have to be carefully taught” mode?

TOR: EDUCATION is key. We need to know why we find comfort in the “like” and fear in the “different.” We all are human. We all want the best for our children. We all need love. We must stop teaching our children to fear. If there is no fear, then there will be no need for tribalistic actions. This will not happen in a single generation but we have to start the work of healing.

NLE: Is unity within the Black community (internecine bias) a factor? If so, what can be done from within and without to level the playing field?

TOR: Unity is an issue but when generations of Black Americans have been pushed aside and not given the bare essentials that Americans are promised, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” it becomes almost impossible for the haves and the have nots to find common ground. We all have fallen short of the goal of helping our brother. Whites have stood silent when laws were passed and vigilante justice was delivered to blacks, thinking that the outcome had nothing to do with them. When school systems were overlooked because of the black and brown kids in them…. it had nothing to do with Susie’s school so why care? Well, Susie is now living in a world where the lack of nurturing and care has raised a generation of kids who are un-nurtured and angry… that’s on America. Within our on people, it’s still a fight for the haves and the have nots and how to help our brothers. We know that aggressive policing is not the answer. We’ve missed the boat for so many when it comes to schooling. Again, we need to start the work for the next generation.

NLE: People outside the Black community can be well-meaning but unaware of certain behaviors or uneducated about how they can help make a difference toward authentic equality. What do these folks need to understand the most?

TOR: We see and hear you. Words are meaningless without actions. ACT!

NLE: Will the Black Lives Matter movement stick this time? Why or why not?

TOR:  I hope so…time will tell. The fight has to be multi-generational. While the young folks are protesting and marching, the elders must do their parts too. We all have to stop giving our money to companies that do not value what we value. Our power is within our purse strings. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted more than a year… #BLM can and will do what it needs to. We have no choice.

NLE: What are your thoughts about being an artist of color and your role in working toward justice and equality for Blacks and ultimately for all?

TOR: I feel saddened and yet fortunate that my journey has been less painful than those of my brothers and sisters in this business. When I started, I felt like there was a group of “golden” dancers… dancers who were black and brown but not so much that they pulled too much focus on the stage. I was one of them but now I look at the number of my beautiful black brothers and sisters and see how many were excluded because of a director or choreographer’s “vision” or lack thereof or unawareness of the racist implications in their hiring. Until we all speak up, we will keep circling the problem but never effecting change.

The stories that we have been hearing can not be dismissed or pushed away because they are hard to hear…imagine how hard they are to withstand? ACTION is where we are…. #the talking phase is over.