We were lucky to catch up with Claudia ALick recently and have shared our conversation below.

Claudia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I find all my projects deeply meaningful. WeChargeGenocide.TV is an interactive database, community record, and organizational tool for us to share work, lead discussions, inspire actions, host collaboration, and accurately reflect the current and historical conditions of QTBIPOC and Disabled under Genocide. We have produced live streamed performances, hackathons, playlists, and continued to update this site. WCGTV using the arts as a tool to make the case for the crimes of The US against QBIPOC and Disabled, actively confronting the direct and indirect effects of genocide in our communities, providing a platform with an invitation for healing and action.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Calling Up Justice (CUJ) was formed by Claudia Alick in 2018. We began with a vision of decolonization, accessibility, and racial justice through transmedia. The first projects were presentations on Transmedia Producing, collaborations with Fool’s Fury theater company to produce a festival and a new BIPOC leadership position, TCG for EDI trainings for theaters, produce a decolonized board with EP, and producing a digital poetry slam for CalShakes. Maiamama joined as admin. Then COVID-19 hit and increased our digital practice with projects like the Build Convening and Festival of Masks. We were able to add full time practice members and interns like Dani Bae, Khloud Sawaf, and Sabina Unni. In 2021 many of our practice members had to return to full time jobs and we leaned more strongly into project based collaborations and part time support from Rebecca Pengree and Heather Ondersma. Today we are focused on digital productions, spaces, and platforms like our CripTech metaverse work, Cricreate, and Dis/Rep. Currently, CUJ has 4 core collective members and 7 partner organizations.

Our organization centers the leadership of those most directly impacted by our issue areas through deep and diverse relationships cultivated over the years. We actively partner and work with organizations that share our values of prioritizing the leadership of those most impacted by supremacy culture. Our staffing and content curation efforts focus on engaging BIPOC, MENA Disabled, and LGBTQ communities as collaborators. We produce content in decolonized forms that encourage individuals to build leadership practices, and we operate within ensembles to foster collective leadership. Our crip-time producing framework allows for short-term and spontaneous programming which increases our pool of collaborators and audience. We believe that our lived experience gives us a unique expertise and we produce accordingly. Our intersectional lens permeates all our decision-making processes, ensuring inclusivity and amplifying our voices and practices.

The future will remember Calling Up Justice, a powerful force in dismantling oppression and creating a just society. Rooted in anti-genocide principles and employing decolonized, racial justice, and disability justice, and just transition frameworks, we use cutting-edge technologies and indigenous wisdom. We craft original works for physical and digital stages, analyze narratives to challenge supremacy culture, and advise other cultural producers. Collaboration and international cooperation define our approach, as we create digital spaces and engage diverse communities through various mediums. Our philosophy centers on radical generosity, making our platforms and productions accessible to all. Calling Up Justice is a living example of an accessible justice-based approach, with projects like the Mosaic Network Platform, The Build Convening, and programs like Accessible Innovation. Our emotionally engaging and educational work impacts leaders and individuals, inspiring change and fostering a more livable world. Future generations will remember our transformative force, challenging norms and paving the way for inclusivity and equity.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

If all the world is a stage: How do we escape the trap of colonialist performance scores? Theater makers have learned that casting diversely results in aesthetically more powerful work. Expanding on this principle, culture makers know that empowering marginalized community is the only way to build a stronger society. When I began my latest practice I began by asking myself-How can we truly build liberatory practices outside of colonized scripts? At first I thought the answer was writing new scripts myself. Then I realized that wasn’t thinking expansively enough. The better question is- How do I empower all of us to improvise better ways every single day? My mission is fueled by a desire for everything to be designed less perversely. My goal is a society where people can live their lives with pleasure and support. This world is killing us. So my work fights the on-going genocide to disabled and QTBIPOC. I am prolific and find pleasure in painting, digital arts, poetry and other writing. I perform on screen and in real life both fiction and non-fiction. I value agency and efficacy. I’ve found a way to embrace education outside of hierarchies through peer exchange, mentorship, sharing resources on our website, and other models of exchanging knowledge. We are growing our collective resources and engaging with entrepreneurship. We use technology to increase the accessibility we center. This results in multi-media art, metaverse explorations, digital spaces for communities, transmedia productions, video-games, hybrid conveneings and more. I started this way of working from a young age and by necessity. This is about building a future for all of us.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is that I am a creator. I am never without entertainment. I make stories, visual art, films, and music. I don’t need to panic. I am never more than a few thoughts away from a solution. I use my creativity to build community. I am never alone. I am a multi-hyphanate and add skill sets and aesthetics to my artistic vocabulary often. I am always growing. There is something deeply satisfying with receiving feedback from audience and product users expressing how their lives have been improved by my work. I am connected. I love collaborating with others because there is an exponential effect that increases the impact of our work. I am powerful. I believe that everyone is creative and can accomplish everything I have.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callingupjusticenow/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/claudia.alick
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-alick-aa90741a4/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/claudiaalick
• Youtube: @ClaudiaAlickCallingUpJustice
• Tiktok: claudiaalicklove

Image Credits
Claudia Alick. California Shakespeare Theater