StatementS of Support for Black Lives Matter
Statement on April 21, 2021:
The verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, guilty on all three counts, is a landmark moment. It signals acknowledgment of accountability long overdue. But it is not enough. As a nation, we must do more to address the violent underpinnings of white supremacy and lethal anti-Blackness in our communities. In this moment, Z Space reasserts our commitment to amplifying voices of color, to fostering new narratives that more equitably define who we are, and to more deeply examining racist systems that persist in our organization and all around us.
If you are in a position to donate, please consider: Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Color of Change, HandsUp United, Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp
In love and solidarity, the Z Space staff and board
Statement on June 9, 2020:
On Monday, June 1, 2020, the Z Space staff and board met as a group to discuss our organizational response to the ongoing inhumane police violence against Black people, which has been made more visible by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, David McAtee, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others before now. Their murders are the direct result of a system of oppression, perpetuated by a cruel culture of white supremacy built into the foundations of this country. We join our community in outrage, mourning, reflection, and remorse.
Black Lives Matter. We stand with the movement and its commitment to “struggling together and to imagining and creating a world free of anti-Blackness, where every Black person has the social, economic, and political power to thrive.” We must work to end police violence and the lack of accountability around it. We must speak out, vote, and take action.
If this message from Z Space feels late, that’s because it is...because we wanted to authentically and deliberately speak as an organization but we have not yet had enough practical and direct conversations about addressing racism. As an organization, we have allowed ourselves to stay in a predominantly theoretical framework, and that is in fact a privilege.
While many on our team are protesting, donating, and sharing resources as individuals, we know that is not enough. In order to build a just society, we have to urgently confront racism and white supremacy in ourselves, in our community, and in our homes. For Z Space, doing the honest work of dismantling systemic racism and advancing justice must include rigorously interrogating ourselves with an anti-racist framework about our own behaviors and practices on and off stage. As a predominantly white institution, we acknowledge the racist systems and practices we have perpetuated and from which we have benefited.
We have to do better. We will do better.
Like many peer organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic had already brought Z Space to an existential moment, one that will require us to make big decisions about the future of our organization, its identity, and the way we embody our values. As we face that uncertain future, we accept the responsibility to engage in ways that more actively work to dismantle racist systems and end racialized violence embedded in the fabric of our country. It is a process, but an urgent process.
Visit the Equity Action Updates page to see what Z Space is putting into practice.
