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Anti-Racism and Fusion Dance NYC
We believe that we unfortunately exist within a pervasive system of racism in our country. While we have a zero tolerance policy for any kind of harassment, we believe that it is necessary at this time to elaborate on our beliefs and efforts to specifically be an anti-racist organization.
What is anti-racism? Anti-racism is the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance.
In the dance spaces of Fusion Dance NYC, we seek to model social norms that reflect our values. These values may or may not be what we experience in our everyday lives outside of the dance space, but we hope that by living out these values together we can help inform the world outside of our dance community. We can make a difference to the general public, one interaction at a time.
Your Agreement:
By entering the dance space of any Fusion Dance NYC event, you are agreeing to strive towards the normalization of anti-racist behavior.
Our Commitment and Actions:
We as an organization will work to provide you opportunities to learn about anti-racism, we are challenging our staff to be active participants in the journey towards anti-racism, and we will support those who bring attention to racist behaviour or comments in our space.
Process and Conversations:
We acknowledge that regardless of one’s own race or ethnicity, individuals are at various points along an anti-racist journey. We understand that bias can be unconscious or unintentional and that racism is the combination of social and institutional power plus racial prejudice. Identifying these two specific forms of oppression and disparate outcomes do not automatically mean that those involved intended negative impact, but nevertheless harm is done. Having these conversations requires courage, respect and compassion, and may not always be comfortable. We encourage attendees and organizers to be introspective and critically think about their actions, both before they make them, and when feedback is given. It is a gift to be given the opportunity to see how someone else might hear your words or actions, regardless of your intent.
If anyone notices or experiences racism, or harassment of any kind, you are asked to bring it up to our staff so we can monitor and take action on the interactions happening in our space.
Respect and Values:
With the highest form of respect and dignity, without shame or hatred, we ask you to hold each other accountable in this dance space we have created together. We can all strive to be better, together.
Here are some of the values we have always worked to normalize through our dance space. Each of these values is an anti-racist statement in itself:
- The freedom to move all of our body parts, individually, in partnership, and as a group
- Freedom to move our hips without considering it a sexual statement
- Consider all dance forms as equally valued and equally based on technique
- Personal freedom to make our own choices about who and when we touch people
- Exhibiting emotion through movement
- Touch and communication amongst all genders, sexual preferences, and skin colors
- Intimacy, sensuality, and sexuality are all separate concepts, to be combined as you wish at the appropriate times
- The intimacy and gained empathy of connecting to other humans through movement and music is a gift and should be treated as such.
For more information on expectations when attending our dances, please check out our Brave & Safe Policy. If there are parts of this statement that you don’t understand or have questions about, try reading some of the material provided below, and then feel free to reach out.
Anti-Racism Resources
There is an excellent collection of resources on anti-racism from Dance NYC.
Direct Link, with PDF to Download:
https://www.dance.nyc/for-artists/resource-pages/RacialJusticeResources
To make it less overwhelming, we have highlighted some resources by copying them below:
Essay by Robin DiAngelo: White Fragility
– A shorter version of her book.
For Black Folks
- Angela’s Pulse and their associated organizations
- Black Art Futures Fund
- Black Creative Endeavors Grant from Something Special Studios – closes July 31st
- Black Girl Pilates also on Instagram @commandofitnesscollective
- Black-Led Dance Companies and Arts Organizations (also listed below in the Donate section)
- Coalition for Diasporan Scholars Moving
- Ethel’s Club
- Jar of Love Fund from Artnoir
- Love Letters to Black People from Alesha Harris’ What to Send Up When It Goes Down
- People of Color Healing Circle
- Queer Dollar Project is providing financial support to Black queer/trans artists
- Woodshed Dance
- Check full website for mental health resources.
For BIPOC Folks
- Join the artEquity community as they share strategies for interfacing with white leadership; what to do when sh*t goes down; how to navigate white women and their tears; how to cultivate BIPOC solidarity; and how to know when it’s time to go.
- Friday Forum Sessions 1:30p – 3:30p ET – Registration is required for all sessions and open to all BIPOC.
- Sunday Support Sessions 1:30p – 3:00p ET – Registration coming soon.
On Asian Americans and Black Solidarity
- Asian Communities Must Desert the American Empire and Protect Black Lives by Xoài Pham
- Black Power, Yellow Peril: Towards a Politics of Afro-Asian Solidarity by Diane Wong, Professor at NYU
- Black and Asian-American Feminist Solidarities: A Reading List by Black Women Radicals and the Asian American Feminist Collective
- South Asians and Black Lives by Deepa Iyer
- Talking to your Asian immigrant family about race by Eda Yu and Heji Rashdi
On Latino/a/x Experiences and Black Solidarity
- Dismantling Anti-Blackness Together by Lorgia García Peña
- Rosa Clemente on Allyship and Confronting Anti-Blackness by Latino USA
- The Latino Community is Finally Coming to Grips with Its Own Racism by León Krauze
On Arab Americans, Afro-Arabs, and Black Solidarity
- “Arab-Black” Solidarity Shouldn’t Erase Afro-Arabs and the Racism They Face in the Arab World by Lama El-Hanan
- Arabs and African Americans: A complicated relationship between solidarity and bigotry by Ali Harb
- Reciprocal Solidarity: Where the Black and Palestinian Queer Struggles Meet by Sa’ed Atshan and Darnell L. Moore
On Disability and Race
- Disability Solidarity: Completing the ‘Vision for Black Lives’ by the Harriet Tubman Collective
- Jina Kim discusses Disability, Race, and Infrastructural Neglect by the Wesleyan Argus
- Museum, Arts and Culture Access Consortium (MAC): July 26, 2020 marks the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Join MAC throughout the month of July to celebrate this landmark civil rights legislation and its impact on the arts.
- A People’s History of the ADA – July 15th, 2:00 pm EDT
- Disability Studies and Self-Advocacy in the Cultural Field – July 22nd, 5:00 pm EDT
- Police Violence Frequently Targets Black People–and we hardly ever talk about it by Rachel Anspach
- Response: Concerns re Disability/Deaf Rights Communities’ Response to Policing System’s Violence, and other publications by Talila A. Lewis
- Statement on Disability Justice by Showing Up for Racial Justice
- Voices of Black disabled people and resources for accessible protests by Alice Wong
For LGBTQ+ Folks
- Callen Lorde Community Health Center provides sensitive, quality health care and related services for New York’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community
- Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS) provides post-incarceration support for trans New Yorkers, as well as career training, housing referrals, and clothing referrals
- Queer Detainment Project assists folks coming out of immigration detention in securing structural, health/wellness, educational, legal, and housing services
- Revolutionary Hope: A Conversation Between James Baldwin and Audre Lorde
- The Ali Forney Center provides LGBTQ young people housing and a continuum of supportive services to help them thrive and prepare them for independent living
- The Trevor Project provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth ages 16–25 with their 24/7 helpline
- Trans Lifeline peer support service run by trans people, for trans and questioning callers, as well as microgrants for trans BIPOC to fund documentation changes
Guided Self-Reflection
- AWAKE to WOKE to WORK: Building a Race Equity Culture by Equity in the Center
- Dismantling Racism Works Web Workbook
- Expressive Writing Prompts to Use If You’ve Been Accused of White Fragility, Spiritual Bypass or White Privilege by Leesa Renee Hall
- Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
- Notice the Rage, Notice the Silence by Resmaa Menakem
- Reflection resources for non-Black POC by Carry Our Weight
- The Guide to Allyship
- Your Black Friends Are Busy app
Go to the site for much more:
Videos, Listening, Places to Donate, Workshops to Attend, Organizational Resources, etc
Fusion Dance NYC is only facilitating the sharing of information. We bear no responsibility for the accuracy or legality of content on external sites. Please contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content.