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Seattle Journalist Writes A Play To Pass The Torch On Conversations About Race

Five of Marcus Harrison Green's friends read for characters in his play "Caucasians Anonymous" at Town Hall in Seattle in June. From Left: Diana Falchuk, Anne Althauser, Marilee Jolin, Evan Clifthorne and Matt Aspen

Marcus Harrison Green says people of color tend to be responsible for talking about racism to each other and to white people. But what does it look like when white people talk to each other about race?

Green is the founder and editor-in-chief of the South Seattle Emerald. He was also recently a scholar-in-residence at Town Hall. 

As part of his residency, he wrote a play called "Caucasians Anonymous." The play is about five white characters who are participating in a 12-step program to treat what Green calls an "addiction to whiteness." 

He and Emerald Executive Director Marilee Jolin, who read for one of the characters at a staged reading in June, sat down with KNKX reporter Simone Alicea to talk about the "intoxication of whiteness" and how Green was inspired to pass the torch on the conversation about racism.

A Seattle native and former KNKX intern, Simone Alicea spent four years as a producer and reporter at KNKX. She earned her Bachelor's of Journalism from Northwestern University and covered breaking news for the Chicago Sun-Times. During her undergraduate career, she spent time in Cape Town, South Africa, covering metro news for the Cape Times.