516 ARTS stands with Black lives

516 ARTS acknowledges the recent murders of George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, James Scurlock, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop among countless others.

We are committed to working against anti-Black violence, racism, and inequity in all forms. At this moment, we are in the process of evaluating and strategizing specifically how 516 ARTS can take clear actions to stand up against racial injustice and white supremacy in the arts and beyond.

We pledge to continue to work with artists and our community directly and let their voices rise above our own. All organizations, ours included, must examine their role in a system that disenfranchises, abuses, and marginalizes Black people. We believe that communities must have venues of expression, and that culture is a human right.

While 516 ARTS is not a social justice organization, themes of social and environmental justice are at the core of our work. We will continue to provide space, time, partnership, financial support, and resources that help center, amplify, and materially support Black, Indigenous, and other artists of color, and to help artists and communities come together to grieve, celebrate, learn, and unlearn.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

DONATE & SIGN:

• Text DEMANDS to 55156 to sign Color of Change’s petition demanding justice and systematic change

• ACLU New Mexico

• Color of Change

• Black Lives Matter

• Equal Justice Initiative

• The Bail Project

• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

• Official Georgy Floyd Memorial Fund

• Justice for Breonna Taylor Go Fund Me Campaign

• Center for Policing Equity

• Reclaim the Block

• ACLU New Mexico

• Minnesota Freedom Fund – criminal bail and immigration bond relief

• Justice for Breonna Taylor – sign the petition to bring #JusticeforBre

• Justice for Ahmaud Arbery – sign the petition & make calls to bring justice for Ahmaud Arbery

EDUCATE:

• An Essential Reading List for Black Liberation

• Institutionalized Racism: A Syllabus - articles

• Showing up for Racial Justice

• White Fragility Mixtape - music, podcasts, books

• BOLD Podcast - conversations about race

• 1619 Podcast - 400th anniversary of the first ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia

• CODE SWITCH Podcast - Fearless conversations about race

• The Nod - Black history you might have missed in school

• The Daily The Sunday Read: “The Condition of Black Life is One of Mourning”

• The Stoop - Powerful stories that celebrate black resilience

• All My Relations - Highlighting issues Native Americans are facing through shared experiences, culture and identity

• Broken Boxes - Interview format podcast which centers Indigenous artists, activist focused artists, Queer artists, women identifying artists, artists of color and mixed/lost/stolen heritage artists