01/15/2021
The letter below was written by former GR! organizers to fellow GR! organizers, campers, volunteers, supporters, friends and Richmond Community.
To the Richmond Community,
It is with heavy hearts that we must write this letter to inform you that GR! RVA has been dissolved. As the remaining organizers we are here to outline and provide some clarity as to why and how this came to be. GR!RVA was founded with great intention of excellent vision and a mission we were all lovingly fighting for and has had some great outcomes! There are so many who lovingly stand behind what GR! is, but for the sake of all those who have been harmed, the good intentions of GR!RVA can't justify the perpetual harm it has caused. We would like to thank each and every one of the past GR! Volunteers, campers and families that made our 8 years in Richmond so wonderful. We are forever grateful for the opportunity to make music, art and joy with all of you. We have been uplifting our positive experiences with GR! by donating the remaining funds and resources back to our community. But! GR! isn't the only way for a similar mission or vision to come to fruition. There currently are and will be many other iterations of youth exploring their identity, voice and power via music and creativity.
To bring clarity and closure we will be naming past organizers that we believe contributed the most to our final dissolution. However it is important that we recognize that this was not a singular event, rather a long history of Organizational Trauma that was left unaddressed even after several instances of seeking accountability, which contributed greatly to our need to dissolve. It is with the hope for restorative justice that we name these two people, and with the understanding that we are trying to pursue accountability through a transformative lens that includes acknowledgement of harm and conversations that lead to resolution.
Patricia (Patty) Conway’s abuse of power as Treasurer was consistent throughout the years leading up to the final showcase. She sabotaged the efforts of POC, hid important documents, made unilateral decisions without informing the group, refused to share knowledge of financials, promoted nepotism with white friends, general power-grabbing, and made verbal attacks toward other organizers. Patty resigned at the end of the 2018 showcase. Aaron Kemmerer created an unsafe and hostile working environment for our fellow BIPOC organizers, and then gradually all organizers. We have given this individual a number of opportunities for organizational restorative justice, but he refused to participate or be held accountable directly after his actions at the 2018 showcase. During the dissolution process, we requested the resignation of his position as Executive Director several times after the showcase on August 4, 2018 and did not receive it until October 5, 2018. During this time, many volunteers left as we were unable to move forward with any decisions without the resignation letter from Aaron. Although, in later months he claims to have made efforts to reach out to individuals who he previously harmed. There has not been, until this letter, any public apology or acknowledgement of his involvement in the dissolution of GR! RVA.
Before this, there had been many POC who left GR!RVA due to previous violence from several other unnamed white organizers who also left GR! far before and after the last year of camp, so this has been a cycle present for the history of the org. As white and non-black organizers we also hold ourselves and each other accountable for our inaction and challenges in how to hold effective accountability that does not promote disposability; we continue to reflect and constructively question our experiences and how we contributed to the abuse within GR!RVA. As a step toward transformative justice in accountability, we have also forwarded this letter to the above-mentioned people for their notice, and gave a private invitation to engage in addressing these issues. After receiving this letter, Aaron gave a private response. He expressed that he is willing to address his bad behavior and anyone he harmed. We would like to encourage him to make reparations to anyone that he harmed.
We want to acknowledge and apologize for the effect that the outlined abuse has had on our campers, families and volunteers throughout the years. These spaces were made to uplift and empower our most marginalized people and it became clear that GR!RVA could no longer maintain that mission. We believe what happened with GR! RVA, white supremacy and abuse of power, is plaguing many non-profit and grassroot organizations within the Richmond community and within the greater sphere of Social Justice work. It is important to us that we bring our experience to the public as a call to action for true accountability and sincere transparency within these spaces; we are here to have conversations, share our perspectives and learn from one another.
There has been a long lapse between our last efforts at a dissolution process at the end of 2018. Different volunteers have come and gone throughout this accountability and dissolution process due to burnout, trauma, rest, processing, revisitation, and hesitation to name any abusers. Over these last two years, it has been a collective effort that honored the capacity of those involved, making space for true reflection and accountability in order to arrive at this finalized dissolution of this chapter of GR!RVA.
We have started that process by donating instruments to local organizations such as 6 Points Innovation Center, Beats Rhythm & Life RVA and Sacred Heart Center, who will continue to provide the community with music through their individual initiatives. We have also given a lot of the instruments right back to past GR! Campers, as we are still dedicated in amplifying their power through music. Finally we are creating mini grant opportunities for our Black Campers, their families and Black volunteers, with the remaining $6,000. There is an attached google form for those people to receive funds and/or instruments. With this last effort we encourage anyone who feels willing and capable of starting a new GR! RVA chapter or any collective for that matter, to do so with love, while holding the lessons that we have illustrated here.
In Solidarity,
Former GR!RVA Organizers
