Shaping Our Voices Into Movements, Action and Allyship

An Activist Songbook Discussion

Join the Activist Songbook team as fellow artists and activists discuss how we can raise our voices to become agents for social change and what People of the Global Majority (PGM) allyship looks like. 

We grapple with questions like:

  • What are the roles of theatre, art and activism in a highly politicized environment?
  • What responsibility does the artist and the activist have in a ‘democracy’ and how does that responsibility translate into mobilization?
  • What steps are needed to transform art into social action?
  • How does activism directly shape political movements?
  • How do PGM artists and activists support each other and their movements through their artistic voices? 

Moderated by Annie Lin, Associate Director of Arts Programs, Yale-China, the panel features Diane Phelan, Director/Actress and founder of the Broadway Diversity Project as well as the #RacismIsAVirus and #UnapologeticallyAsian movements; Kristina Wong, Performance Artist tackling a wide range of social justice issues and an elected representative in Los Angeles, CA; Lily Tung Crystal, award-winning Artistic Leader and Multimedia Producer currently serving as Artistic Director of Theatre Mu in the Twin Cities, and Adrian Huq, Youth Activist, Artist, and Organizer with a focus on climate justice.

Diane Phelan

Diane is a Broadway actor and director based in New York City. She is a founding member of the #RacismIsAVirus and #UnapologeticallyAsian campaigns. Diane is passionate about making art that redefines what it is to be American, now. As a performer, she has covered the roles of Tuptim in The King and I on Broadway and Patty in School of Rock on Broadway. She was the standby for the role of Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love at the Public Theatre and for Adela in Bernarda Alba at Lincoln Center. Other Favorite Roles: West Side Story (Maria – 50th Anniversary Tour), Oklahoma (Laurey, BTG) Pirates of Penzance (Mabel, CRT) Carousel (Julie Jordan, NAAP). Diane is proud to have been a recent soloist for the Activist SongBook in the piece, Survival is Resistance. She is the Founder for Broadway Diversity Project, a platform on social media that celebrates and encourages diverse casting on Broadway, and was a member of the 2018 SDCF Observership Class. www.Dianephelan.com

Kristina Wong

Kristina Wong was an internationally presented performance artist, writer and elected representative of Koreatown Los Angeles. Before the lockdown, she was set to embark on a now postponed tour of "Kristina Wong for Public Office"-- a campaign/ solo show about her road to election. Now she runs the "Auntie Sewing Squad" a group of mostly WOC volunteers who are sewing face masks because the Federal Government failed to prepare essential workers and first responders with proper PPE. She now spends her time pricing out elastic and 100% cotton fabric while writing "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord," a new show about going from out of work artist to overlord of a volunteer factory of remote workers in ten days. www.kristinawong.com

Lily Tung Crystal

Lily Tung Crystal is the artistic director of Theater Mu in the Twin Cities and the founding artistic director emeritus of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company in San Francisco. She is also an actor, director, mother, and social activist passionate about creating and promoting anti-racist theater. Lily most recently directed Mu’s production of Jiehae Park’s peerless and played Mom in Mixed Blood Theatre’s world premiere of Melissa Li and Kit Yan’s new musical Interstate. In the Bay Area, she directed David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish and Flower Drum Song at Palo Alto Players and the world premiere of Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow at Ferocious Lotus, all for which she was named a Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for Outstanding Direction. As a performer, Lily has worked with theaters across the country, including Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Cal Shakes, Crowded Fire, Magic Theatre, New World Stages, Portland Center Stage, SF Playhouse, and Syracuse Stage. Lily is a 2016 YBCA 100 honoree, named by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, as a “creative pioneer making the provocations that will shape the future of culture.”

Adrian Huq

Adrian Huq (they/them) is a youth climate activist in New Haven, Connecticut. Adrian serves as the Co-founder and Leader of New Haven Climate Movement's Youth Action Team, which advocates for strong local climate action and policies. Prior to graduating, Adrian worked with Elm Energy Efficiency Project to educate local high schoolers on energy efficiency and climate change, and was an advocate for recycling and food waste recovery in their school district. They are also a member of Love Fed Initiative’s Young Adult Food Justice Program, intern with Urban Resources Initiative which plants free trees in New Haven, guest speaker at local climate-related events, and organizer for Activist Songbook. Adrian will study Environmental Studies at Tufts University.

Annie Lin

Moderator & Associate Director of Arts Programs, Yale-China

Annie Lin is the arts program director at the Yale-China Association, working to identify new collaborative and interdisciplinary work in the arts in greater China and the United States. In addition to exploring new methods of cross-disciplinary and intercultural exchanges, Annie manages the Yale-China Arts Fellowship, public programs in the arts, and special exchange programs. Annie was a Yale-China Fellow based in Xiuning, Anhui Province. Annie previously worked at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly University, and San Luis Obispo Symphony. Annie graduated from Yale with a B.A. in music. Annie is a Fellow of Ezra Stiles College, a Fellow of the Community Leadership Program in New Haven, and is from Morro Bay, California.