This past Sunday and Monday, May 31 and June 1 marked the 99th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Later this summer it will have been 401 years since the first enslaved Africans were brought to what has become The United States. In 2020, Black people still face murder and horrific treatment from this legacy of violence and enslavement.
Today, as righteous outrage and deep collective and compounding grief over the murder of George Floyd by police smolders across the US, the need to interrogate our continuous perpetuation of institutional racism, police brutality, and systemic oppression is urgent, raw, and coursing through the public consciousness. And at N+T we know the work is on us to meet the discomfort head-on with both intentionality and urgency.
First, we acknowledge the spaces we work in, the art world and the public realm, are both designed and built on racist structures. Second, we must reevaluate our commissioning process and center artistic vision and voices from those racially and culturally underrepresented in the art world. Third, we must examine the whiteness of our organization, from staff to board; then turn our reflection into action.
As a young organization built on the values of being brave, open, and sharp we are making new commitments to being vulnerable, actively learning, and being allied with our Black and Brown communities. We have a long way to go. We will make mistakes. We will acknowledge them. And we commit to learning from them.
At N+T we are committed to:
Educating ourselves with books, articles, videos, art, and formalized training
Acknowledging the overwhelming whiteness of the art world and our role in it
Continuing to offer financial and professional support to local artists of color
Promoting Black artists, images of Black joy, and local Black-led/owned organizations and businesses
Sharing ways our friends and colleagues can take action against racism, police brutality, and oppression in Boston
Holding open and candid conversations, geared toward white audiences, that directly address white supremacy culture, white complicity, and ways to unlearn our implicit biases
We’re also preparing the next series of N+T Asks conversations — connecting with artists and leaders in different Boston neighborhoods to learn what they need most right now. Because if we don't talk about how to address the critical challenges they’re facing, there’s no way to deliver #publicart that creates connections and sparks change.
Join us for these discussions and let us know what you're doing to seek #justice right now.