Common Ground Arts Society recognizes injustice and racism are deeply entrenched in our society. We acknowledge that the current oppressive systems of power advance non-racialized groups. We recognize that silence makes us complicit in these oppressive systems.
Black Lives Matter.
Change must come. Change starts with the individual, it starts in community, it starts with us. We commit to being part of that change.
The work we do will be ongoing. We commit to doing this work within our organization and in collaboration with the greater Edmonton arts community.
We commit to:
- providing and requiring anti-oppression training for our board and staff;
- developing and implementing an anti-racism policy that all board members, staff, artists, and volunteers must commit to;
- increasing the representation of Black and Indigenous artists in our programming;
- changing our recruitment practices to improve BIPoC representation on our staff, on our board, and in our volunteer program;
- developing an organizational succession plan that invites BIPoC artists and administrators into the core of our organization;
- working to secure funding for a Black, Indigenous, PoC emerging artist in residence program, including paid mentorship from established BIPoC artists;
- offering ongoing mentorship to BIPoC artists, technicians, and arts administrators;
- listening to and uplifting the voices of BIPoC artists in our community;
- continuing to educate ourselves around anti-racism practices; and
- implementing these commitments into our organizational strategic plan, including timelines and accountability measures.
Below is a list of resources we have found helpful in our ongoing education. We will continue to update this list as we learn and grow.
- Anti-Racism Resources
- Edmonton Anti-Black Racism Toolkit
- Scaffolding Anti-Racism Resources
- Whiteness at Work
- Gesturing Toward Decolonial Futures
- Accomplices not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex
- MoMA: A Place to Start
- 12 (mostly) Canadian Books about Racism, Anti-Blackness, and Anti-Racism, Plus Places to Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
- Me and White Supremacy
- Dear White People, This is What we Want you to do
- Indigenous Awareness
- Normal Isn’t Working
- An incomplete list of Edmonton-based Artists of Colour
- Black Lives Matter Edmonton
- Black Arts Matter YEG
- 3.7% Initiative
- Black Women United Edmonton
- Rarica Now
- Shades of Colour
- Hip Hop in the Park
- The Come Up
- Pepper’d
- Africa Centre
- Ribbon Rouge
- 5 Artists 1 Love