To our community,
We add our voice to the call for a long-overdue end to racial injustice and inequity and unequivocally affirm that Black Lives Matter. We denounce police brutality and its murderous results. We stand united with all people peacefully organizing to speak the truth about racial violence in all its forms.
The pervasive suffering experienced by Black people and communities of color, tragically compounded by COVID-19, is unacceptable. Only by facing uncomfortable truths and complicity in a broken system do we honor the lives of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Eric Garner, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, as well as Bay Area citizens Sean Monterrosa, Mario Woods, Luis Góngora Pat, Jessica Williams, Amilcar Perez-Lopez, Alex Nieto, Oscar Grant, and many more.
We demand accountability and transparency in government, law enforcement, and in all areas of private and public service. When leadership is absent or hostile towards those it represents, it becomes a human rights imperative to organize peacefully and demand change. The current system must be rebuilt with the voices of the underprivileged at the center.
We in cultural institutions must also undertake the difficult work of resisting racism, systemic oppression, and inequity in all corners of society. McEvoy Arts aims to support culturally diverse artistic projects from all over the world and provide access freely to all communities. We believe in the arts as a powerful and innovative form of expression that shapes people for a lifetime. The staff of McEvoy Arts are listening and engaging in discussions, inside and out, to fortify and amplify our commitment to Black narratives and anti-racist work of Black Americans in our activities. We look forward to sharing developments with you as they unfold.
Clearly, we all have a role and work to do. Please consider getting involved with one or more of these powerful organizations [hyperlink] that support Black lives and voices. Please also register to vote and complete your 2020 Census.
In solidarity,
We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions at info@mcevoyarts.org. Thank you.
Susan Miller
Executive Director
BAY AREA ACTIONS
- Anti Police-Terror Project
- Bay Area Anti-Repression Committee Bail Fund
- Black Bay Area
- Black Earth Farms
- City of Dreams
- East Bay Queer Arts Center
- East Oakland Collective
- Help Fund the Fannie Lou Hamer Black Resource Center at UC Berkeley
- National Lawyers’ Guild SF Bay Area
- Oakland Indie Alliance
- People’s Breakfast Oakland
- Prison University Project at the San Quentin State Prison
- Showing Up for Racial Justice Bay Area
- SonSon
- SoOakland: Rebuilding Oakland Black businesses
- Support Black-Owned Restaurants/Pop-ups
- TGI Justice Project
NATIONAL ACTIONS
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- Act Blue Bail, Mutual Aid, and Racial Justice Organization Funds
- Black Futures Lab
- Black Lives Matter Global Network
- Black Visions Collective
- Black Voters Matter Fund
- BTFA Collective (Black Trans Femmes in the Arts)
- Campaign Zero
- Color of Change
- Communities United Against Police Brutality
- In Memory of Tony McDade
- Innocence Project
- Know Your Rights Camp
- National Bail Out
- Official George Floyd Memorial Fund
- Reclaim the Block
- Southern Poverty Law Center
- The Bail Project
- The Okra Project
- Use of Force Project
SUPPORTING BLACK ARTISTS
- Activation Residency
- Afrotectopia
- Arts Administrators of Color Network
- Art Hoe Collective
- Black Artists and Designers Guild
- Black Artists Network In Dialogue
- Black Art Futures Fund
- Black Girl Magik
- Black Lunch Table
- Black Trans Femmes in the Arts
- Black Women’s Blueprint
- Black Youth Project
- Bklyn Boihood
- Brown Art Ink
- By Us For Us
- East Bay/Oakland Relief Fund for Individuals in the Arts
- (Fem)power
- Harlem Arts Alliance
- Life Pieces to Masterpieces
- The Sphinx Organization
- Spicy Zine
- Tessera Arts Collective
- Women’s Center For Creative Work
LEARNING MATERIALS
- What We’re Missing When We Condemn Violence at Protests (Vox)
- Presumption of Guilt (Equal Justice Initiative)
- The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism by Audre Lorde (BlackPast)
- The Frustration behind the George Floyd Protests (The New Yorker)
- The State is Failing Black People (The New York Times)
- Minneapolis Activists Aren’t Surprised a National Movement Started There (Time)
- The 1619 Project (The New York Times)
- Code Switch: Fearless Conversations About Race (NPR)
- The Bad-Apple Myth of Policing (The Atlantic)
- Mapping Police Violence
- The Road Not Taken Study (Othering and Belonging Institute)
- A History of Race and Racism in America (The New York Times)
- An Anti-Racist Reading List compiled by Ibram X. Kendi (The New York Times)
- This List Of Books, Films And Podcasts About Racism Is A Start, Not A Panacea (NPR)
This is an incomplete list of resources with thanks to the Museum of the African Diaspora, Berkeley Arts + Design, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Artnet for their research.