3 days Ago By CHRISTINE COMPTON [email protected]
After hearing people hurled anti-Black insults at visiting Grandstreet Theatre actors, interim Managing Director Danielle Wineman began organizing with local businesses on how to fight discrimination. On Thursday, Grandstreet Theatre hosted the Helena Business Coalition for its second meeting. Grandstreet Theatre interim Managing Director Danielle Wineman speaks at a meeting with Helena businesses about preventing discrimination.
The group was created in November after multiple Black actors hired by Grandstreet Theatre for the summer experienced racism in Helena, theater officials said. Two Black actors were called the N-word while walking downtown, Wineman said. Later, a patron yelled anti-Black insults at an actor in the Grandstreet parking lot after a show.
That actor left her contract early for fear of her safety, Wineman said. “There are only so many times you can say, ‘This isn’t Helena,’” Wineman said. She said it was deeply embarrassing and shameful to witness.
After another Helena organization reached out describing bigotry one of its employees had faced, Wineman created a group dedicated to helping Helena businesses handle discrimination. The goal is for Helena businesses to develop a code of conduct so that discrimination can be prevented rather than just reacted to. “These things shouldn’t only matter to people when something unfortunate happens,” Wineman said.
“If we build momentum, we can be there for people and help them consistently.” Helena business and organization representatives sign into a meeting about preventing discrimination and harassment. One way to do that is by organizing training for Helenans on how to respond to bigotry, she said.
“It’s hard to know what to say, what you’re supposed to do in the moment,” she said. “Even harder to know how to handle it as a business.” Thursday’s meeting had around 25 attendees, some representing businesses or health organizations.
They included St. Peter's Health, Helena BID, the Holter Museum and Carroll College. Attendees were asked what training would benefit their respective groups best.
Some said they'd want to collaborate on things like bystander training, which teaches people how to intervene or react when they witness harassment. Grandstreet Theatre hosted a meeting with Helena businesses about preventing discrimination. Sarah Dassinger, managing director and instructor at at Cohesion Dance Project, said she was eager to see what projects the group led to.
She moved to Great Falls from Topeka, Kansas, and remembered the shock when her LGBTQ pride flag was burned in her front yard. She hadn’t seen that level of bigotry in Helena yet, but she couldn’t bring herself to be surprised that others had. “What matters is doing something about it,” Dassinger said.
While she wasn’t sure what to expect, she plans to come to future meetings. Wineman was pleasantly surprised with the turnout given it was only the second meeting. When she first launched the meetings, she emailed over 100 Helena businesses and received several replies saying Helena didn’t have a problem with racism, sexism or other harassment.
Some asked for proof, Wineman said. It was disappointing. Helena business and organization representatives discuss preventing discrimination at a meeting hosted by Grandstreet Theatre.
But many replied in support, she said. Multiple attendees of Thursday’s meeting had heard about it through word-of-mouth. The next steps are to advertise the meetings to generate public support, she said.
She also hopes to get these training ideas and projects in motion. “We get stuck in analysis paralysis,” Wineman said. “At some point, it doesn’t matter if your idea is perfect.
It just needs to happen.” Those interested in attending future meetings should email Wineman at [email protected] .
She aims for them to meet roughly once a month as people are available. Christine Compton is a reporter for the Helena Independent Record. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
