Walking the Beat 2020: An Emergency Convening, a virtual social justice project with youth and officers  

Jefferson Arts High School Students and Elizabeth Police Officers during a workshop lead by Kariotis on Zoom.

Walking the Beat is a creative writing, theater, and multi-media workshop for students grades 9-12 and local police officers, designed to establish a groundwork for conversation and create real, achievable actions for specific communities across the country.

The workshop is facilitated by Seton Hall faculty Angela Kariotis Kotsonis, an instructor of communication in the College of Communication and the Arts. In 2019, the workshop was lead between youth in the Hollywood High School school district and officers from the Los Angeles Police Department.

This summer, at the height of Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, structural racism, and white supremacy, 13 students and 7 local police officers from Elizabeth, NJ, participated in the program, committing to listen. Due to COVID-19, this summer's workshop took place on Zoom through a virtual social justice experience.

Walking the Beat 2020: An Emergency Convening.

The ten week creative workshop culminated in a global presentation, open to the public. Along with leading the workshops, Kariotis is the playwright charged with synthesizing readings, original writing from participants, interviews and other creative work into the the script performed by the cast of students and police officers.

The special premiere screening of Walking the Beat 2020: An Emergency Convening used theater, film, and spoken word to share meaningful takeaways from this past summer.

Kariotis integrates many of the communication techniques used in the Walking the Beat workshop while teaching her classes here at Seton Hall. Art and artists have an integral role during this transformative yet fragile time.

Walking the Beat is sponsored by Warner Media, the City of Elizabeth, and Elizabeth Public Schools.

Categories: Arts and Culture