USDAC CALL: CREATIVITY FOR EQUITY AND JUSTICE

The work of artists and creative activists can help to create a cultural democracy that prizes diversity, practices equity, and brings a deep respect for human rights to every aspect of civil society. Therefore, the people-powered U.S. Department of Arts and Culture* calls on all artists and creative activists to join in the movement to demilitarize the police and bring justice to victims of publicly funded racism.

  • PLEASE SHARE THIS CALL [LINK].
  • Find organizations working on these issues [LINK].
  • Share or download artworks, creative projects, action ideas, and other resources [LINK].

CALL TO ACTION: The USDAC calls on all artists and creative activists to use our gifts for peace and justice, sharing images, performances, experiences, writings, and other works of art that raise awareness, build connection, cultivate empathy, and inspire action.

The murder of Michael Brown (and Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, Jonathan Ferrell, Jordan Davis, Sean Bell, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, and so many others) and the suppression of basic rights in Ferguson, MO (and so many other places) compel us to ask these questions:

  • Who are we as a people? 
  • What do we stand for? 
  • How do we want to be remembered?

As a culture of punishment? Or a culture that values every human life, promoting true public safety grounded in justice and love?

As artists and creative activists, we understand that even as our present crises arise from economic and political conditions, these crises are rooted in culture. 

  • Official violence is a cultural issue. 
  • The denial of human rights is a cultural issue. 
  • Racism is a cultural issue.

We join together in affirming to all public officials and policymakers that a culture of punishment cannot stand. We join together in applying our gifts to the public gatherings, organizing campaigns, and policy proposals that will support positive change. We stand together with generations of creative activists in communities across the nation who have been envisioning and working toward a world of equity and 

We call on all to break the silence that permits injustice, recalling the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

Together, we stand. Together, we speak. Together, we create. 

  • Arlene Goldbard, San Rafael, CA
  • Beth Grossman, Brisbane, CA
  • Lynden Harris, Cedar Grove, NC
  • Adam Horowitz, Brooklyn, NY
  • Dave Loewenstein, Lawrence, KS
  • Liz Maxwell, New York, NY
  • Kara Roschi, Phoenix, AZ
  • Michael Schwartz, Tucson, AZ
  • Jess Solomon, Washington, DC
  • Roseann Weiss, St. Louis, MO
  • Yolanda Wisher, Germantown, PA

*The USDAC is not an actual federal entity

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