Art Practice Stands In Solidarity with the Black Community
As a community of artists and educators, Art Practice encourages critical and imaginative thinking. We are committed to building a learning and working environment for all students, staff and faculty where the numerous operations of white supremacy are challenged and dismantled. Those operations include colonialism; systemic and institutional racism; cultural genocide; rationalized state violence against Black and Brown bodies, and current and historical racist discrimination against Asian and Asian American/Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples. Artists’ actions and works build community, discover and reveal histories, fight hate, and create new and more just worlds.
Following the conviction of Minneapolis Police Officer Derik Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, Vice-President and Oakland native Kamala Harris pointed out that “a measure of justice isn’t the same as equal justice,” adding, "Here’s the truth about racial injustice. It's not just a Black America problem or a people of color problem. It is a problem for every American. It is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all."
We recognize that the outcome of the Chauvin trial is only a small step towards police accountability, restitution for a 400-year history of systemic racism in America, and the creation of a world where Black people don’t have to live in fear from the violence of racist policing and the injustice of the new Jim Crow prison industrial complex.
During and since the trial in Minneapolis, Black people have continued to be killed by the police, including thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo on March 29th, 20-year-old Daunte Wright on April 12th, sixteen-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant on April 20th, and Andrew Brown Jr. on April 21st. This reminds us that what happened to George Floyd is not a mystery, not an exception, not an “accident,” but yet another manifestation of the ideology of white supremacy in America, which is also responsible for the drastic and ongoing inequality of Covid’s impact on Black and Brown bodies through illness, death, and job or housing loss.
Art Practice stands in solidarity with those who seek justice for Black and Brown communities, including those who continue to fill the streets to demand it. We affirm peoples’ rights to protest and organize, including in our art community, and demand the end of police violence.
We urge individuals in our community to seek support through their peers, teachers, and friends, or from the resources UC Berkeley can provide. We share a short list of useful links below. For other relevant resources, please see the Equity Resources page on our website.
Art Practice unequivocally asserts the value of BIPOC and AAPI lives. In our teaching, curriculum, hiring, programming, and resource allocation we endeavor to express and affirm that value, to redress the past failings of our institution, and to condemn white supremacy in all its forms.
Resources, both on and off campus, which you may find useful or supportive:
Antiracist Pedagogy: Video of Colloquium via Texas A&M Featuring Art Practice Chair Allan deSouza
Mental Health Resources Specifically for the Black Community
Compassion in Oakland Organization
University Health Services Therapy Assistance Online (TAO)
Berkeley Diversity Anti-Racism Resources