{"id":5971,"date":"2020-06-03T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/?p=5971"},"modified":"2020-06-02T18:07:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T22:07:10","slug":"justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/06\/justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Fist-351x500.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5973\" width=\"263\" height=\"375\"\/><figcaption>Black Lives Matter<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">It&#8217;s time (well past time) for old white guys to shut up and to highlight People of Color speaking for themselves about the natural outrage that&#8217;s all around us. Each of the following references are a exceprts from gifted writers. (But please read all of each article.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>New York Times columnist Charles Blow: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/05\/31\/opinion\/george-floyd-protests.html\">The Destructive Power of Despair <\/a><br><em>It is exceedingly dangerous to assume that oppression and pain can be inflicted without consequence, to believe that the victim will silently absorb the injury and the wound will fade.<\/em><br><br><em>The protests are . . . about the savagery and carnage that <\/em>[George Floyd&#8217;s]<em> death represents: The nearly unchecked ability of the state to act with impunity in the oppression of black bodies and the taking of black life.<\/em><br><br><em>Our intransigence on the issue of social justice and use of force by the police is making last-straw extremists of members of a generation that feels unheard and disrespected.<\/em><br><\/li><li>Orchestral conductor Brandon Keith Brown: <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/all-the-black-dots\/notes-on-racism-and-white-supremacy-in-classical-music-291c784b1047\">Notes on Racism and White Supremacy in Classical Music<\/a> <br><em>I was enraged when Chicago cops ran up to my car at night and put guns to my head. I\u2019m enraged I\u2019ll never drive in the US for fear of being shot. I\u2019m enraged that my heart jumps wherever I see police worldwide.<\/em><br><br><em>Republicans and overt racist are not the problem. The problem is silently complacent self-proclaimed white liberal allies. They USE liberality as escapism, eschewing reflecting on their racism, while Blacks remain absent from their daily lives, minds and hearts.<\/em><br><\/li><li>Nonprofit blogger, Vu Le: <a href=\"https:\/\/nonprofitaf.com\/2020\/06\/have-nonprofit-and-philanthropy-become-the-white-moderate-that-dr-king-warned-us-about\/\">Have nonprofit and philanthropy become the \u201cwhite moderate\u201d that Dr. King warned us about?<\/a><br><em>The leaders of color I know, especially Black leaders, are exhausted, driven to burn out and despair, and often it is not because of overt racists and bigots, but by those moderates within our own sector. Often they are our colleagues, our peers, our supporters: board members and executive directors who are most concerned about offending donors or upsetting sponsors<\/em>.<br><br><em>Getting on the right path, the path heading away from white moderation and toward true equity and justice, will be hard to do. Let us take inspiration from Ruhel Islam, the owner of Gandhi Mahal, a beloved restaurant in Minneapolis that burned down during the protests. While white moderates lecture against violence and property damage as the right response to the murder of George Floyd and countless other Black people,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.startribune.com\/let-my-building-burn-minneapolis-restaurant-owner-responds-to-protests-and-violence\/570865902\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mr. Islam said<\/a>: \u201c<strong>Let my building burn, Justice needs to be served, put those officers in jail.<\/strong>\u201c<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-justify\">I believe this is the first post in Engaging Matters&#8217; nine year history that does not attempt to frame itself in the context of community engagement and the arts. <strong>This topic is too important to be subsumed in a discussion of community engagement; however, for anyone who truly understands community engagement, the connection is obvious.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seek justice!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Doug<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Raised_fist\">Image<\/a>: Created by User:KeithTyler. It is a variant of the clenched fist motif which has been widely used by leftist, workers, and liberationist groups since the nineteenth century. The motif itself is not under copyright. &#8211;<br>Uploaded by User:KeithTyler, who created this image., Public Domain, <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=1682523\">https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=1682523<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Essential justice is too important to be subsumed into a discussion of community engagement. But for anyone who truly understands community engagement, the connection is obvious.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Justice: In their own words. People of Color addressing rage and despair.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[100],"class_list":{"0":"post-5971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-overview","8":"tag-justice","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Fist-e1591113009645.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s1G6h9-justice","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5279,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/justice-and-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":0},"title":"Justice and Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In attempting to engage many communities, working for justice is critical; however, advocating for engagement does not diminish the need to work for justice as well.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/JusticeStatue-185x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5285,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/05\/from-the-q-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":1},"title":"From the Q &#038; A","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Re: equity and justice, are we all really \"on the same page\"? And is there a danger that a designated community engagement staff member can lead to \"outsourcing equity\"?","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Principles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Principles","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/principles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Question-143x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1350,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2012\/03\/civic-engagement-by-stealth\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":2},"title":"Civic Engagement by Stealth","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"March 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been waiting to catch my breath in order to comment on Clayton Lord's New Beans post from last October, Directing the Impact Echo. I haven't really caught it, but this is good a time as any. It is possible that some out there may be hesitant to dive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/CliffDiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5516,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2019\/01\/existential-threats\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":3},"title":"Existential Threats","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"January 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Economic viability or cultural justice. Which is the more important rationale for community engagement? Doesn't matter. Both demand deep, meaningful connections with new communities.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ExistentialThreat.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5402,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2018\/10\/the-state-of-engagement\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":4},"title":"The State of Engagement","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"October 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For too many arts organizations, their level of self-focus apparently makes understanding that effective community engagement is something substantially different from traditional sales\/marketing\/fundraising\/education approaches nearly impossible.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Overview&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Overview","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/overview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/PonderingVista.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6034,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/2020\/09\/community-engagement-network\/","url_meta":{"origin":5971,"position":5},"title":"Community Engagement Network","author":"Doug Borwick","date":"September 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Community Engagement Network\u2013offering support to people working in the arts and community engagement.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Community Engagement Network&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Community Engagement Network","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/category\/community-engagement-network\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Network.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5971"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5981,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5971\/revisions\/5981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/engage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}