06/05/2020
We only know how to speak our truth. Please read in full.
In so many ways, a statement about the brutal slayings of George Floyd in Minnesota, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia from us at Yendor, seemed unnecessary. Dismantling systems of racism and injustice is foundational to our work. It is what fueled our founder, Rodney Gilbert. He dedicated his art and activism to creating change for the many Black people who suffer under the knee of white supremacy in our neighborhoods. To this day, we channel the heavy burden of racial inequity in our art. And while we don’t need a singular statement to live up to our duties in this revolutionary fight, as Black leaders of this organization, we do feel a responsibility to reiterate and restate what countless Black people have been saying for 400 years.
The killing of George Floyd was a modern day lynching. The graphic, traumatic footage serves as a cruel reminder that while systems have changed over the last few hundred years in this country, the base ingredient has been, and still is, anti-Black racism. Racism fueled enslavement (on which America’s ‘wealth’ was established). Racism fueled post-reconstruction Jim Crow laws. Racism fueled segregation (which was, and still is, prevalent up north, down south, east and west). Racism fueled redlining, voter suppression, domestic terrorist groups like the K*K, the destruction of ‘Black Wall Street’, the ‘war’ on drugs, stop and frisk and the prison industrial complex. After 400 years, we are tired.
While we hope these truths aren’t revelations, we feel as if so many of our art partners and art allies, have taken a passive stance. A statement ‘valuing diversity’ is not enough. A statement of love for ‘people of color’ is not enough. A statement dedicated to ‘celebrating’ Black art is not enough. It is time to call these statements out for what they are...Complacency. Any statement that isn’t explicitly acknowledging racism and calling out white supremacy is complacent. You can’t truly love us, if you love our art, our culture or even our individuals, but not our fight against racism and the heinous injustices it produces.
To those who are silent: Remember that silence is a privilege. Silence is a privilege that you may not even recognize as such, but it is most certainly a privilege that we do not possess. Given the state of things in 2020, silence is an act of violence and the antithesis of allyship.
For many years, ‘well-intentioned’ Whites (& Non-Black POC) have drawn the battle lines between themselves and the overt, hatred filled Whites (& Non-Black POC) who actively spew vitriol and violence. We urge our well-intentioned White (& Non-Black POC) allies to see this as a position of privilege and learn how this false division only serves to uphold the system of racism. We urge our ‘allies’ who wish to be true allies to engage in anti-racist practices. ‘Serving’ Black constituents is not anti-racism. Having Black staff is not anti-racism. Producing Black plays or commissioning a Black artist is not anti-racism. (Please note diversity and inclusion are NOT synonyms for anti-racism.)
A statement of anti-racism serves as a starting point, but there is also a responsibility to dismantle racism within your organizations’ internal operating structures. We challenge you to recognize & identify how racist practices & rhetoric have been the very fabric on which most organizations function and to work swiftly and intentionally on developing methods to destroy it. There are great resources that exist to truly engage in anti-racism assessment and work. True anti-racism is not a state of being nor a destination, but is consistent, daily, active, work.
Here at Yendor, through our mural work, Yendor Theatre Company’s theatrical work, our arts education programming, our community engagement, and so much more, we will continue this battle. We will not be silenced; our work is vital now, more than ever.
We stand firmly with the Black community and uplift all those in the fight towards liberation.
In solidarity, activism, & love,
Kareem Willis, Chief Administrative Director of Yendor
Malcolm A. Rolling, Chief Operating Officer of Yendor
Andrew Binger, Artistic Director of Yendor Theatre Company
Nicolette Lynch, Managing Director of Yendor Theatre Company
To Rodney Gilbert, our Founder: We continue this work in your honor; Rest in Power.
✊🏾
