Glossary
Paper Bag Test
A test originating out of anti-Blackness and colorism inside of the Black community dating back to the early twentieth century. This test started being used in New Orleans to control entrance to a party when a brown paper bag was held up to a Black person’s skin for comparison. If the person’s skin tone was darker than the paper bag, they were not allowed to enter the party, and those the same shade or lighter were allowed to enter. In its continued use, the paper bag test perpetrated a wide range of harm within and out the Black community. (95)
Paternalism
Term used for actions we take or decisions we make for another person with the intention of benefiting that person. (89)
Pedagogy
The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept. (13)
Pedestals of Influence
Term coined by the BIPOC Living Document describing individuals who externally implement and execute visions and institutional standards of white supremacy.
Roles include: Marketing Directors, Casting Directors, Producers, Production Directors and Managers, Front of House staff, Box Office Staff. (29)
Performative Allyship
The practice of using words, posts, and gestures that do more to promote an individual's own virtuous moral compass instead of actually helping the causes that they are intending to showcase.
Period Piece
A work (as of literature, art, furniture, cinema, or music) whose special value lies in its evocation of a historical period. (5)
Poverty Tourism
A term interchangeably used with “slum tourism” that refers to a type of tour in which people from wealthy countries visit impoverished areas through a tour operator. (55)
Prejudice
Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
Principal Role
A speaking role, without getting too specific about how central the actor’s character is to the story. This distinction is often defined by the type of Actors’ Equity Association contract. (11)
PWI
Acronym for Predominantly White Institutions. Institutions in which white people account for 50% or more of the population. Those institutions whose histories, policies, practices, and ideologies center whiteness or the white majority. PWIs, by design, tend to marginalize the identities, perspectives, and practices of people of color. (54)
Citations
5. The Hobbs Test | Johnnie Hobbs
13. Pedagogy | Definition of Pedagogy by Oxford Dictionary
11. Acting Tips: Defining acting roles on your résumé
29. Action Plan — The Living Document
54. What is Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs)
55. What Poverty Tourism Gets Wrong | Compassion International Blog
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The JJI Glossary defines terms that are necessary in discussing equity in the arts. This glossary is the result of countless hours of thoughtful research and innovation by our team.