As artists across the United States grapple with a surge in politically charged violence, Crazy Rich Asians and Fresh Off The Boat star Constance Wu is stepping out of Hollywood and onto the streets. This weekend, Wu will join ‘The People’s Filibuster’, an all-day protest performance hosted by The Public Theater in New York City, following the ICE killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and Keith Porter Jr.
Running from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on 31 January, on the steps of The Public’s Lafayette Street venue on, the free, live-streamed event brings together “artists, elected officials and community leaders” in a presentation of “seminal, primary source texts from the founding of our nation and writings and songs that articulate our shared ideals and democratic aspirations, not as history alone, but as a living call to action.”
“We stand in solidarity with our neighbors in Minnesota and across the country who are angry and grieving, protesting state-sanctioned violence and abuses of power, and organizing for the safety, dignity, and human rights of all.”
Wu joins a powerhouse lineup including Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Leguizamo, Annaleigh Ashford, Laura Benanti, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and F. Murray Abraham, among others. Together, they aim to turn performance into protest.
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The event comes in response to the latest fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota, which the Department of Homeland Security described as “necessary force.” Yet, as bystander footage suggests otherwise, outrage has spread nationwide. In Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz publicly called for the withdrawal of ICE officers from the state, while demands for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continue to grow.
For Wu, the moment echoes the larger mission she’s embraced in recent years—using her platform to challenge systems of power, both within Hollywood and beyond. “Artists have always been among the first to name the unspoken, to hear the unheard, and to imagine a more just world,” The Public’s website reads.
“In this moment of crisis, our intention is to create a collective interruption that invites reflection, accountability, and recommitment to the values we claim as a nation, protesting and contrasting the abhorrent violence and abuses we are witnessing all around us.”
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As America approaches the midterm elections, ‘The People’s Filibuster’ looks less like a one-off performance and more like a declaration: that art, even on a theater’s front steps, still has the power to confront, to grieve, and above all, to resist.
