Professor Pens Short Play Exploring Racial Healing

Professor Lisa CollinsEducation in Leadership Professor Lisa Collins can add playwright to her long list of scholarly achievements, having had her third short play accepted to the Pacific Northwest Multicultural Readers Series and Film Festival.

The Pacific Northwest Multi-Cultural (PNMC) Festival’s website describes the Portland-based event as an inclusive multicultural festival that gives space and highlights the artistry of the under-represented playwright, filmmaker, and actor. Our goal is to provide an artistic and professional environment where under-represented artists can showcase their works to the general public and each other. It took place August 17-20, 2023.

Collins’ most recently accepted play is titled “I Have to Pray” and uses her auto ethnographic experiences to discuss the racial trauma and aspects toward healing.

“I Have to Pray features my experiences as a Black woman educator who struggles with the depth of white supremacy as it shows itself in Oregon school systems,” says Collins. “It demonstrates the complexity of race, gender, class, and power and the need for healing and survival in educational systems for Black educators.”

This is Collins’ second year being featured at the Pacific Northwest Multicultural Readers Series and Film Festival. Her film debut “Be Careful What You Ask For” and second play, “Hwy 8”, were accepted in 2022.